3 AM Thoughts on King Crocodile

[Speedwagon]

I had recently picked up Islands of Terror on DM's Guild and got around to reading the Wildlands section. I know that today the Wildlands are a part of the Verdurous/Steaming Lands Cluster (alongside Saragoss and Sri Raji) and that they were planned to be covered in one of the Gazetteers, but that sadly didn't come to pass. So, I looked at King Crocodile and thought, "what can be done to improve this guy?" I'm not against the concept of inhuman Darklords, in fact I find them oddly charming in a way that the others don't manage to evoke. The Illithid God-Brain, the Nightmare Court, Gwydion the Sorcerer-Fiend, the Ebonbane, even Vecna who's a god: they all make me even more interested in Ravenloft and the Dark Powers, for I always ask myself what the Watchers in the Dark see in these creatures. What laws did they break? So, when I looked at King Crocodile as I stayed awake at the unholy hour of 3 AM with nothing else to do and sleep not coming, I decided to try my hand at making this guy more interesting. If anyone who browses the forums was thinking "man if only King Crocodile was cooler", here's a possible remedy to that disappointment. Even if what I make isn't as good as what the Fraternity of Shadows will come up with when they get to the Wildlands, it's at least something to tide us all by until then.

KING CROCODILE
-It's mentioned in his backstory that he ate his brethren and his parents, along with King Crocodile being a supernatural blight upon the land (the banks upon which he rested turned black and evil and what not). To make King Crocodile more gothic, perhaps we ought to reframe this section? Maybe, instead of King Crocodile immediately devouring his brethren after getting hatched, the beast is pushed to such an action.
NEW Backstory:
In the Wildlands, when King Crocodile was born, he was the weakest of the eggs hatched by his parents. Compassion was a quality that was not typically found amongst his fellow crocodiles, but his parents were bizarre among their kind. Despite his weakness, not only his mother, but even his father were willing to raise the young crocodile from infancy to adulthood, with the level of care and nurturing that was only seen amongst the elephants and the monkeys. Of course, King Crocodile had always resented this, believing the kindness of his parents to be nothing but pity, for King Crocodile was ultimately the only crocodile hatchling to have survived the harsh summer drought and flooding that had either battered the other eggs into ruin or forced the other, hungrier crocodiles to eat the eggs that did not belong to them. Yet the future King Crocodile survived regardless, growing larger and larger despite being hunted at every corner by opportunistic predators of crocodiles (like hippos and leopards). The future King had moments of happiness and contentment amidst his harsh existence, whether that be in dominating his crocodilian rivals and prey or in basking in the light of the sun on the river banks. His greatest joy was in his mate, who he had managed to gain the affections of through his own hard work and effort.
Eventually, his parents grew old and infirm, so the future King, who had never truly believed in the concept of parental love amongst animals like them (for they were animals! not those strange hairless apes!) did them a 'kindness': unbeknownst to the others, he drowned them, and made sure to eat their corpses. This was not done out of a desire to eat, nor out of simple survival. This was done out of hatred and spite, on such a level that it attracted the attention of the Dark Powers. From that day on, the land felt blighted in the presence of the future King. The water turned poisonous as he swam, the reeds withered and died as he grew near, and the banks upon which he rested turned black and foul. Though none, not even his mate, dared to say it at the time, they knew that the crocodile had done something so foul that the spirits of the forest and the rivers condemned him. The soon to be king payed them no mind, for he was still the mightiest crocodile of them all, and he felt both a new power surging within him, and a hunger greater than any other. With this hunger, the King Crocodile went on a gluttonous feast of death, eating all that he came across. Finally, he was greater than the hippos that had tried to eat him when he was young and weak! Finally, he was able to launch himself out of the water with such speed that he could catch the birds that stole mere grains of food from him! Finally, he could drown and eviscerate the leopards and jaguars that had felled his lesser kin and thought him to be easy pickings! And devour them the king did, but not with the dignity that even animals ought to have been capable of affording one another. The King Crocodile took a sick sort of pleasure out of his hunt, with his favorite tactic being of crippling two creatures (usually of the same species) and then forcing one to eat the other in front of him, in exchange for going free. The voracious monster would then renege on his promise anyway.
So his feast went, until he fought a mighty hippopotamus mother and was crippled, after trying to distract her in order to eat her weaker child. So badly wounded he was, that King Crocodile ought to have died, but he thrashed about and managed to return to his marshy den. It was only in the dark of night that he could spy upon his mate, in the company of another crocodile, laying eggs that were not born of King Crocodile. King Crocodile did not act upon this yet, deciding to let his fury simmer. The following day, The King Crocodile decided that the Wildlands must belong to the crocs above all else; yes, a war, no a feast, must be had! A slaughter of all the other animals of the Wildlands, to sate the crocodiles and their King. The crocodiles dared not protest this, with the exception of King Crocodile's mate. She knew that her mate was slipping into incorrigible madness, and pleaded with him not to disrupt the natural order. What would the future hatchlings eat, she pleaded. King Crocodile smiled at this, for he knew that those hatchlings were not his own. He made a display to all the other crocodiles, including his mate, of what happened when his orders were not obeyed. Making sure to cripple his mate so that she could not stop him, he then ate the eggs she laid for all to see. He left one egg for her to eat, which she refused to do. Angered, King Crocodile ate her instead, and got the aftertaste out of his mouth with the remaining egg. The other crocodiles, sufficiently cowed by this display of savagery unknown to even them, carried out his wishes. He was left alone in the marsh, to be given the occasional offering or sacrifice, as the swamp itself had grown so corrupted by his evil that the others could not stand to be in his presence. Within that time of solitude, King Crocodile finally wept. The one and only crocodile willing to mate with a creature that was once so weak, the one and only crocodile who did not look down upon him or regard him with eyes of pity, is now dead. King Crocodile consoled himself by remembering that she had betrayed him, so his actions were justified. Yet that did not stop his tears, which had grown magical in nature as a result of his reflections upon his crimes.
Meanwhile, so terrible was the slaughter of the animals of the Wildlands that the other animals decided to bring in the hairless apes, only to suffer further from the trampling of nature by men. Thus, the animals of the Wildlands approached the lonely King Crocodile with an offer: save them from the hairless apes and he will receive their servitude. He would be King of not only the crocodiles, but of all the animals in the Wildlands, with an oath enforced by the spirits of the wilds, the sun, and the moon. Roused from his melancholy, King Crocodile accepted this offer, and tricked the animals into giving them all of their powers. Only the python refused to give anything, and the snakes soon left the Wildlands. The lowly fly was refused. King Crocodile came upon the hairless apes and slaughtered them all, but refused to give back his borrowed powers when the deed was done. This was the last offense that the Dark Powers had allowed this creature, and thus the Wildlands were drawn into the Mists.


Dread Possibilities for King Crocodile
-Dread Possibility: King Crocodile wants to become a dragon. With such a body and with such power, he will be able to escape the marshy jungle he wastes away in and eradicate the sleeping sickness that ails him so.
-Dread Possibility: King Crocodile wants the power of the snake to shed his skin, hoping beyond hope that this will get rid of his sleeping sickness. He has heard of a race of snakes that looked like hairless men (Yuan-Ti) either in neighboring Sri Raji or in faraway lands, and he wants to entice them into setting up a base of operations in the Wildlands, hoping to convince them that such a camp would be far and away from the prying eyes of Arijani.
-Dread Possibility: King Crocodile is old, and he desires a mate. Unfortunately, there is no crocodile of an even approachable size as he. The King has an answer to this: make one! He has bullied a Lamordian scientist who foolishly found himself in the Wildlands to create a Queen Crocodile.
-Dread Possibility: King Crocodile has decided to beat the hairless apes at their own game by making his own version of humans, born of crocodile flesh. These unique lizardfolk are utterly subservient to King Crocodile and do what he cannot (cross the Mists into other lands and even wage war upon neighboring Domains like Sri Raji), for he is like a god to them.
-Dread Possibility: King Crocodile has a humanoid handler that he does not kill. She is the only person allowed to get near him, and she gives some twisted companionship to the beast, even feeding him at times. Little do the animals know, this 'handler' is yet another child of the Gentleman Caller, who has whispered into the King's ear to marshall his lizardfolk and his undead shades of animals he has devoured and start a war with Arijani of Sri Raji. Inspired by Betty White in Lake Placid.
-Dread Possibility: King Crocodile has taken note of the people of Sri Raji's increasingly frequent incursions into the Wildlands. He plans to somehow entice them to create an elaborate sewer system that would allow for sewer crocs to thrive in. Those same crocs will spread a cult in his name and give the monster more food. That same sewer system might even get connected out into the sea of Saragoss, so the saltwater crocs can bring back new fish and foods from that domain as a tribute to the King as well.

Curses and Torments
King Crocodile is proof that cruelty, malice and even regret on par with humanoids lies within the souls of beasts. Thus, King Crocodile is tormented in the following ways
-The creature is slowly dying due to the wasting disease caused by the flies
-The creature misses the companionship of his fellow crocodiles, or even of the snakes that have left the Wildlands
-King Crocodile is envious of the freedom and power wielded by the hairless apes, in how they go as they please and kill as they please
-King Crocodile is sterile, he cannot sire any children yet he fears greatly for his legacy.
-King Crocodile's appetite may be bottomless but his stomach is not; he overeats and throws up his food constantly, turning his lair into a disgusting display of wastefulness and gluttony for gluttony's sake
-King Crocodile fears the hippopotamus from his time as a weakling; anything imitating that form frightens the beast away, but only for a time
-King Crocodile regrets the murder of his mate, and every year, he must wrestle with an invisible zombie crocodile that takes the form of his mate and admonishes him as they fight (an effect of the Dark Powers). If King Crocodile wins, he keeps the stolen powers of the other animals. If he loses, the animals get back their powers until King Crocodile and his mate duel again next year.

[Manofevil]

And he'd feast, and he'd feast, and he'd feast feast feast feast! He'd feast on swamp pudding, and rare stray roast beast, though roast beast was a feast he could't stand in the least!

[Speedwagon]

And he'd feast, and he'd feast, and he'd feast feast feast feast! He'd feast on swamp pudding, and rare stray roast beast, though roast beast was a feast he could't stand in the least!

I hope that means that you liked what I had to offer!

[Manofevil]

I did, yes. In fact I thought it might be cool is one of King Crocodile's children got overlooked, survived but was gathered by the Mists and gets taken to another realm very similar to Neverland where he bites off a pirate's hand and swallows a constantly ticking clock.

[Speedwagon]

I did, yes. In fact I thought it might be cool is one of King Crocodile's children got overlooked, survived but was gathered by the Mists and gets taken to another realm very similar to Neverland where he bites off a pirate's hand and swallows a constantly ticking clock.

Y'know, the idea of King Crocodile having missed a few of his spawn could definitely be an adventure or even a campaign concept. Perhaps some of the eggs got sold off to Markovia or Valachan (either 2e/3e or 5e works). Dr. Markov could make an uber-powerful creature with a King Crocodile egg, or Urik von Kharkov would be interested in the very fact that there's a Domain out there where he can be a beast while still engage in social conventions similar to humanoids (as the beasts of the Wildlands have engaged in un-animal-like behavior) and may use the egg as leverage. Chakuna could raise the egg into a mighty beast for her to either hunt or to turn into an ally of hers for her Trial of Hearts. King Crocodile's minions would be fighting a proxy war with these forces to get the eggs back. And if you factor in the Spawn of the Lizard in the sewers and countryside of Falkovnia, that could make things extra spicy. That and the Neverland croc could be taken to the Shadow Rift to fit the fairy tale idea.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

All in all, I liked it. Especially the idea of King Croc making his own Lizardmen.

It'd be poignant if he completely misunderstood the situation between his mate and the unknown male, like Tristan's ancestor and Anton Misroi.
What if the other croc was a loyal subject, there only to guard the exhausted queen, whose egg-laying cycle had been twisted like all other nature around King Crocodile, but remained true to him?

[Mistmaster]

All in all, I liked it. Especially the idea of King Croc making his own Lizardmen.

It'd be poignant if he completely misunderstood the situation between his mate and the unknown male, like Tristan's ancestor and Anton Misroi.
What if the other croc was a loyal subject, there only to guard the exhausted queen, whose egg-laying cycle had been twisted like all other nature around King Crocodile, but remained true to him?

I agree, and I would invert his "election" to king of all animals and his crimes against his queen, hatchlings and people. So that killing his las egg would be his Act of Ultimate Darkness.

[Speedwagon]

All in all, I liked it. Especially the idea of King Croc making his own Lizardmen.

It'd be poignant if he completely misunderstood the situation between his mate and the unknown male, like Tristan's ancestor and Anton Misroi.
What if the other croc was a loyal subject, there only to guard the exhausted queen, whose egg-laying cycle had been twisted like all other nature around King Crocodile, but remained true to him?

Yeah, I think I'll definitely use that as less of a Dread Possibility and more of a Dread Certainty! King Crocodile was not in the most approachable of moods after his near-death experience with the hippopotamus, so he probably saw what he thought to be him getting cuckolded instead of the truth. When King Crocodile sheds his crocodile tears and consoles himself that his mate and queen betrayed him first, it's nothing but a lie. But not even King Crocodile knows it. Maybe there was an observer in the treetops while this was all going down? One of the birds or the monkeys, or maybe even the flies? Perhaps they might be willing to share this information (so that all this backstory doesn't go to waste cuz otherwise my players are just gonna think it's a really big croc that's evil but otherwise bog standard) to a group of explorers that the other animals think would be capable of finally ending the menace of King Crocodile?

All in all, I liked it. Especially the idea of King Croc making his own Lizardmen.

It'd be poignant if he completely misunderstood the situation between his mate and the unknown male, like Tristan's ancestor and Anton Misroi.
What if the other croc was a loyal subject, there only to guard the exhausted queen, whose egg-laying cycle had been twisted like all other nature around King Crocodile, but remained true to him?

I agree, and I would invert his "election" to king of all animals and his crimes against his queen, hatchlings and people. So that killing his las egg would be his Act of Ultimate Darkness.

I was honestly hesitating on whether I wanted to keep the Islands of Terror Act of Ultimate Darkness for King Crocodile (his refusal to give back the animals their powers) or change it to the devouring of his own hatchlings. I decided to keep the link to Islands of Terror so that there'd be at least a shred of familiarity in this otherwise canon-divergent write-up. However, I think there's a way to have our cake and eat it too. Perhaps the devouring of King Crocodile's eggs did lead to the Wildlands getting ripped out of their Prime Material outlander world of origin and into the Mists, but as an oubliette at first, not an Island of Terror. The Dark Powers, highly intrigued by the extremely uncharacteristic traits of this animal that reminded them of their beloved Darklord collection, decided to give this animal one last chance to walk away from all of this (metaphorically speaking). All King Crocodile had to do, was just follow the terms of the deal. There are demons in the Abyss that can delay instant gratification and understand the repercussions of such oath-breaking and refrain from it just fine, so how hard could it be for a crocodile? And yet, King Crocodile could not do even that. So the Dark Powers made his Darklord position official. That still doesn't change the fact that the devouring of the hatchlings brought the Wildlands into the Mists, but King Crocodile's final deal-breaking was the straw that broke the camel's back. It's also possible that the Wildlands weren't an Island of Terror but part of the Verdurous Lands Cluster, with the "hairless apes" that invaded the realm being Rajians from Sri Raji that were eager to exploit the newfound natural resources in their backyard.

Ultimately, I'm just really happy that I managed to attract an audience for a Darklord that seemed pretty surface-level. I've got quite the fondness for the 'inhuman' Darklords, and I plan to post a write-up on Gwydion the Sorcerer-Fiend that is less 'cosmic horror from the Plane of Shadow that's vibing in the most fey-dominant domain ever' into something more tragic but also a bit like Morgoth or Sauron from high fantasy, with a sprinkle of the original 'cosmic horror from the Plane of Shadow' added in. To me, whenever the Dark Powers bring in 'inhuman' Darklords like Ebonbane, the Illithid God-Brain, Vecna, Arijani or even Urik von Kharkov and Harkon Lukas, there's something unique about that particular creature to warrant such Darklordship that makes them worth using just as much as the usual human or 'made from/was once a human' Darklords like Ivana Boritsi or Strahd von Zarovich.