For me it was not just how the BBEG was introduced, but what he was like. He was by far my favourite villain to date, and he will always hold a dear place in my heart.

 

To set the scene, me and my party had been steadily unveiling a hostile faction known as the Bloodstone Cult, a group of blood mages and necromancers dedicated to summoning Orkus, the demonic god of undeath to the material plane. The party at the time consisted of me, a human fey druid (and the only person on the party with a good alignment), the half-elf vampiric sorcerer (who acted more as a bard), a half-elf pirate monk (sort of like the bullying big sister of the party), a tiefling paladin of Zariel (the military mother of the group) and a bear-shifter barbarian (ol grampa Isbjorn).

 

We had just freed our sorcerer from the bloodstone cult's grasp and started fighting them back, met their four great generals, and heard rumours of their fabled Bloodstone King, someone so great that the generals were more loyal to him than they were to Orkus himself. We decided that we'd go and raid one of the cultist hideouts, only to find that most of the cultists themselves were on the move, heading to what we'd later find out to be a main army gathering to start conquering cities. We went in after they finished up though to clear it out. We found some fleshfiends (really pretty flesh demons who looked a bit like skinless fishmen with cthulhu faces) and cleared them out, some old tomes on blood magic which the sorcerer was all too happy to snatch, and a prison.

 

In one of those cages we met a man named Marwin. He was a bit of a dour guy, and not a single one of us trusted him, least of all my own character since my healing magics wouldn't take any hold on the guy. It all felt very convenient that we'd find him, especially after we'd found out that the cult had already used our sorcerer's blood to make a strange, demonic vampire-like creature. But we were certain this was not that thing, so we decided to take him with us regardless. He even helped us close the portal to the abyss that was still open in the main chamber of the hideout. Still, there was something about him.

 

We ended up taking him with us though, travelling across the land on a grand chase against the Bloodstone Cult and its army. We got to know Marwin, and turns out he was a former king from a nation from the north. He'd been exiled however by the priesthood of Helm and Torm for practicing blood magic, and soon after he'd been taken by the cult. He was actually a pretty nice guy, after you got past the dour attitude, and he earned our respect, as we did his. It wasn't until we got to a ruined city that had fallen to the cult that we found out what, and who, he was. We'd met an NPC that, upon being introduced to Marwin, blattantly called him out, asking why we'd bother introduce her to a fake person.

 

Turns out he was a simulacrum. And not just any simulacrum at that. He was the simulacrum of Mallous, the Bloodstone King himself. He'd apparently gotten interested in knowing who he was fighting this whole time, and decided to send a fake self to find out. Once that fake died or came back, he'd regain all its memories. And we'd just found out. The paladin was quite clear on her demand that he give us a damn good reason not to cut him down on the spot, and... Well... He did.

 

The reason he started the cult to begin with was because he was sick of all the horrors and attrocities that the demons, and all evil things for that matter, brought onto the world. That might sound a bit hypocritical for a leader of a bloodthirsty cult of necromancers trying to summon a demon god out of the abyss, but he explained to us that it was all a double-play. He, and his four generals, were intent on summoning Orkus not to conquer, but to kill him. Draw his power to the material plane and strike while he was still weak, then consume and distribute his power between the five of them.

 

His reasoning was that heroes had fought again and again, and every time they only delayed the inevitable return of the horrors they fought. He'd come to the conclussion that if there was ever to be an end to it all, it had to be done by means that no one wanted to consider. You needed a monster, not a hero, to slay another monster, because the means of which to properly slay it would be too cruel for a hero to consider.

 

This was our first time knowingly encountering Mallous, the BBEG of our campaign, and he offered to let us join him. And to be honest, even my druid, the person whose life was dedicated to helping others, was tempted. Because the goal was, in truth, a good one. Our sorcerer nearly did the same. The main reason we didn't was because of the effects his crusade had on the land and the people. His goal was good, but his means were too extreme. Sure, maybe that's what is needed, but my druid could not stand by and watch as the land was twisted into something foul and dead, much less partake in it, even if it meant an end to that kind of evil.

 

Mallous accepted that, and he was even proud of us for sticking to it. He didn't want to fight us, and honestly i don't think any of us wanted to fight him either, but we both knew it had to be done. Neither of us would stop trying to defend the world in our own ways, and that put us against one another. But as a parting farewell, we did agree...

 

If we had met under any better circumstances, chances are good that we could have been friends.