Darkonda

"Well, look who's still alive! Hello, Coffin Dodgers."
-Darkonda establishing his nickname for the adventurers

Herald of the Void

Paladin of the Void by SteveSketches

Darkonda's incomplete form (left) and full form (right)

The entity called Darkonda is the size and shape of a humanoid, but is certainly no mortal creature. It's incomplete body was made of some form of dark, smoky matter pockmarked with pinpricks of light. These smoky shapes poke out of its robes resembling hands and the lower half of a skull, which releases a tendril of dark smoke through its open top half. Whether its robe is something it wears or part of its form is unclear. Furthermore, it's robe and the smoky material that comes from its body always seems to billow as if blowing in the wind, even if no wind is present. Over time, it's body became more and more flesh as the ritual to restore itself progressed until it final managed to regain its flesh & blood form.
Darkonda's motives are just as unknown as it's species and identity as it wanders the Underdark for reasons all its own. It can sometimes be seen observing at a distance, though no one seems to know why. Those few who have attempted to communicate with Darkonda say that it rarely speaks, and that when it does it is never above a whisper & always in an inconclusive, cryptic fashion. This was later revealed to be a limitation of its incomplete form, as Darkonda is much more chatty now that he has regained his full body.
It has a special relationship in the adventurer Jake F. Statefarm, who it cursed as part of its plan to free itself from a trap that had gotten it stuck between worlds. Each time Jake died and revived, part of Darkonda was pulled back into the Material Plane until it was freed completely. Darkonda has made it clear that with this ritual now complete, Jake and his friends have outlived their usefulness.
Table of Contents

Pre-Campaign

Some years before the future members of the Thaig Expedition met, Darkonda attempted to plane shift to Nexus from the Void only to be caught in a magical trap set by ███████████. The trap prevented his spell from completing, leaving him stuck between planes and only able to send a sliver of his power to Nexus. After years of isolation, he saw an opportunity to escape when he chanced upon a betrayed bugbear attempting to survive the Underdark alone. He used what magic he could to link their spirits, giving bugbear magic that would aid in his survival. There was some irony to this, as what Darkonda actually needed was for this man to die. But not yet, not until the bugbear had allies. For simple death would not suffice; Darkonda needed this man to be revived after dying, and more than once at that. Each time his soul crossed planes, it would pull part of Darkonda free as it returned to the Material Plane. Just three deaths, and then Darkonda would be free.

Journey Into the Underdark Arc

Early Sightings

The first expedition member to spot Darkonda was Jake, who noticed it while with Bertrand Thaig, Ernest Thaig, Itassis, and Villamax. Jake was the only one to initially notice it, his darkvision having a greater reach that that of his companions thanks to his gloomstalker abilities. He approached cautiously (after Villamax cast a tongues spell on him) and Darkonda commented that he was "Entwined". As Jake asked for clarification, Darkonda referred to him as a puppet which Jake adamantly denied. Darkonda responded by showing him his empowered Threads of Fate and told Jake to keep killing & spilling blood while dancing at the tug of his puppeteer, for Darkonda wanted to see what he and his had to offer. It then evaporated into smoke, disappearing to parts unknown.
Darkonda was next seen by Leh'ct at the village of Glogdolp, just as the adventurers of the Thaig Expedition finished fighting a frog-like OoPA. Leh'ct caught sight of Darkonda for only a moment, the entity vanishing in the blink of an eye before he had the chance to take any action regarding it. He later informed his companions about the sighting, at which point Jake mentioned his own previous encounter with the mysterious entity.
When the adventurers went to investigate a disturbance at the mind flayer colony of Gyan'dis, Darkonda appeared shortly after an argument between Sunny and Leh'ct. It did not speak to them, despite their many attempts to communicate with it, and simply stood & stared instead. However, during this time Sunny felt the anger from his argument with Leh'ct resurfacing and beginning to turn into murderous rage before he realized those feelings were not his own. Though he suspected Darkonda was the culprit and openly asked it about this, still Darkonda did nothing but stand & stare. The adventurers ultimately decided to retreat since it didn't seem openly hostile, though Sunny left behind a landmine for good measure.

Opening Hostilities

It wasn't too long before the adventurers saw Darkonda again, days later on Cairnhollow Isle. After the Conclave of the Fleet was attacked by members of the Architects of the Awakening, Lord Varl hired the adventurers to pursue several cultists who'd escaped the battled as his own people were all either injured, treating the injured, or honoring the dead. As they prepared to leave, Leh'ct spotted Darkonda lingering at the very edge of his darkvision. He pointed it out to his companions and Ban shined a light in the entity's direction, prompting Darkonda to float back into the darkness beyond the light's range. Though the adventurers did not pursue, they saw Darkonda still their before them when they moved to head west in search of their targets.
While they debated what to do, the adventurers took their eyes off Darkonda for a split second and suddenly it was much closer. It slowly raised a hand, open palm up, until it was level with its shoulders. It snapped its fingers and the world around the adventurers changed; darkness surrounded them as they found themselves under a dome made of some strange energy that looked like it would be painful to the touch. They questioned where Darkonda had taken them, and why. It bent down, sticking a hand through the ground, and that had was missing when it stood back up to its full height. A large hand came up out of the ground around Jake, turning into tendrils of smoke and shadow that cocooned him. With its remaining hand, Darkonda snapped its fingers and two pockets of air around it twisted and folder, space collapsing in on itself, until two waterkleddes appeared with a pop. Though the confused demons didn't know where they were or how they'd gotten there, they wasted no time in attacking the mortals just as Darkonda vanished.
It didn't reappear until after the waterkleddes were slain, appearing right behind a heavily injured Elycia. Her mind and reflexes still in combat mode, she struck out with her magic spear. Though the weapon went right through Darkonda, it seemed to have no effect on the entity whatsoever. It reached its hand forward, pointer finger outstretched and aimed for Elycia's forehead, when suddenly a moth appeared between the two of them. As Darkonda's hand approached the insect, a barrier appeared that prevented it from touching Elycia. The entity looked at the moth and Elycia sensed contempt from it, the first sign of any emotion Darkonda had given in all their encounters. It flicked its hand-free wrist, causing its hand to reappear there and freeing Jake from his confinement, and prepared to snap its fingers again. But before it could, the moth gave its wings a mighty flap and let out a burst of blinding light that teleported the adventurers elsewhere.

Floating in the Void

Darkonda appeared again shortly thereafter, though this time was seen only by Jake just after the bugbear was killed in the trials of the Lost Catacombs of Auldbaern. As he floated in an endless darkness, Darkonda appeared. It floated fifty feet away from Jake and raised a hand, releasing a wave of light that once again made the ranger's Threads of Fate visible as it washed over him. Though this time, the threads appeared slightly frayed.
Jake questioned what interest Darkonda had in him. It's lower jaw opened and, for the first time since Jake had first encountered it, it spoke, "A Ka Dua No Ra." A sheen flowed over Jake's Threads of Fate, restoring them to flawless condition. Then the Threads began to move, turning their angle until they ran parallel to each other straight past Darkonda. It grabbed the Threads and pulled Jake five feet closer.
Jake reached for his weapons that were no longer there, stuck back in the Material Plane on his corpse. He tried to pull back on the Threads as Darkonda pulled him closer yet again, this time using its other hand and beginning to pull Jake in hand over hand. Jake next tried to flee in the opposing direction, but this worked no better than his last attempt to stop himself from being reeled in. With fleeing apparently not an option, Jake instead chose to charge Darkonda instead. It released the Threads it held as Jake charged it, opening its arms in a welcoming embrace.

The Void Again (Briefly)

When Jake was killed fighting the Light Gundam, he remained dead for a mere 30 seconds before Leh'ct managed to revive him. But in that time, he saw Darkonda once again. The entity looked even more complete than the last time Jake has seen it with more than half its skin and a near-complete skull that now contained one eye. Jake once again questioned what Darkonda wanted with him, venting about his desire to be left alone. He also stated he wouldn't be dead long, his friends would revive him soon, which prompted a verbal reply from Darkonda, "Your time will come. As will mine." Before Jake could question this statement, his soul was pulled back to the land of the living.

Darkonda Restored

Weeks later, Jake once again lost his life while the adventurers were battling a kangaroo-like OoPAs accompanied by a flock of eyebats. The flying vermin, eyeballs the size of small humanoids spouting bat-like wings and scorpion-like tails, swarmed over an injured Jake when he retreated and isolated himself from his allies. Though they stung him to death, his friends won the battle and Bogo revivifed him shortly afterwards. This was the final revival Darkonda required to free himself.
As Jake reacclimated himself to breathing, Darkonda pulled himself from the bugbear's shadow. Skin grew to cover the exposed muscles on his form and shadows swarmed around him as they transformed to cover him with armor. Darkonda reveled in finally being freed from ████████ trap, laughing heartily (and wickedly) as he thanked Jake for his unwilling and unwitting assistance. It didn't take more than a look for the adventurers to tell Darkonda was bad news; Jake and Elycia both moved to attack him. But it was to no avail as Darkonda blocked Elycia's spear with his gauntlet and Jake's arrow dissolved into dust upon striking him. Darkonda decided to "thank" the adventurers for their assistance by blasting the roof and bringing the cave down on them, seeing as they were no longer useful to him. He teleported away laughing, without bothering to see if the cave-in had in fact finished them. Even if they had survived, they were no threat to him.

Collecting a Crystal

After Santaura was defeated in the tunnels beneath Brazenthrone, Darkonda appeared to collect the magic red crystal she'd used to transform the remains of the Light Gundam into a Void Knight. He was surprised the adventurers had survived not only the ceiling he'd dropped on them but also one of Santaura's "games", dubbing them the Coffin Dodgers for their successes. He even "rewarded" them by teleporting away with the Void Knight and Diir, once again leaving whilst neglecting to finish off the adventurers who were clearly no threat to him.