Pirates and merchants alike fear the kraken. Most humans see these creatures as savage monsters, but the sahuagin know better. Sahuagin legends hint at aquatic battles between dragons and krakens taking place as far back as the Age of Demons. The Lords of Dust manipulate the surface lands, but krakens and aboleths are the ancient horrors of the ocean floor—brilliant and mighty creatures that manipulate the powers of the deep. Some sahuagin clans willingly serve these mighty creatures; others violently oppose them, seeking to destroy and devour them in accordance with the rituals of the true sahuagin god.
In recent months, kraken activity has increased in the Thunder Sea. The sahuagin who deal with the sailors of Stormreach say that this is the work of the kraken Zlortharkis, an aquatic fiend of tremendous cunning and might. A number of ships have fallen to the mighty tentacles of the King beneath the Waves, but the kraken has never struck a Lyrandar vessel. This fact might simply be coincidence, but a myth within the house claims that the first Lyrandar lords live on as krakens in the depths. If there is any truth to this legend, the kraken Zlortharkis could be Lyran himself, and his actions could be the beginning of a new campaign to ensure that his children have supreme dominion over the waves.
Whether Zlortharkis has the mind of a fiend or a Lyrandar patriarch, he is a threat to the sahuagin of the region and the people of Stormreach. He might seek to subjugate the sahuagin or demand tribute from the Storm Lords. A quest to defeat the King beneath the Waves could lead to an alliance with the sahuagin, as adventurers from the surface world join forces with the heroes of the deeps to hunt down this mighty beast.