Pre-Xanathar's Guide, one of my party members wanted to start a Hexblade warlock. The main story beat she loved was the idea of somehow having a sword made of lightning. So, I spun that into having an Elder Tempest as a patron. And, while I've got an initial story arc for what the patron wants from her/why it granted her its power, I'm trying to look beyond the conclusion of that piece and am having a hell of a time figuring out the goals/motivations/schemes of a titan of the plane of air. Other than not liking the earth plane? (Elemental Evil wasn't as helpful as I hoped it might be)
Does anyone out there have any pre-5e references? Fantasy sources outside of D&D? Or your own wonderful imaginations that might inspire what the ultimate goal of an elder elemental being might be?
One thing to consider, looking at the stats of the Elder Tempest, is that it doesn't have high intelligence (-4 modifier), but it has high wisdom (+5) and charisma (+4). What that says to me is that an Elder Tempest doesn't have plans or ideas, but works on instinct and intuition. That being said, I think the instinct for an ancient creature made of elemental air would be to turn everything in the universe into elemental air. This could be accomplished by encompassing worlds into the Plane of Air, or simply destroying what gets in the way of air (anything earth).
Basically, its hard not to go immediately apocalyptic on this one. XD
That said, an elemental that's survived long enough to become an Elder Tempest has done so by defeating and eating rival elementals. So another motivation could be defeating powerful opposing elementals (specifically air) and feeding them back to the Elder Tempest so it can grow stronger.
In elemental evil, we see elemental entities that eclipse all others, beings that are borderline deities. Couldn't an elder elemental want godlike power too? A Warlock sent forth to seek out items of incredible power, such as the infinity spindle that elevated Raxivort to a demigod, could be a fairly good motivation for an inscrutable cloud snake of immense power.
My personal opinion, I think you'd be far better off making the patron a primordial than one of the greater elementals. Take a look at Akadi the Queen of Air. She is essentially the strongest elemental being that represents air and the de facto ruler of the plane of air. Akadi along with Grumbar, Isithia, and Kossuth, collectively dubbed the elemental lords are four primordials that chose not to participate in the dawn war and have come to be seen as elemental gods (a purposeful misrepresentation).
Akadi embodies freedom and change so she need not be evil or overly destructive, all of the elemental lords are neutral. Elder Tempests are almost raw elemental power made manifest with little cognitive functioning other than seeking entropy, so they don't make the best patrons. A being like Akadi is powerful enough to create them at her whim.
One thing to consider, looking at the stats of the Elder Tempest, is that it doesn't have high intelligence (-4 modifier), but it has high wisdom (+5) and charisma (+4). What that says to me is that an Elder Tempest doesn't have plans or ideas, but works on instinct and intuition. That being said, I think the instinct for an ancient creature made of elemental air would be to turn everything in the universe into elemental air. This could be accomplished by encompassing worlds into the Plane of Air, or simply destroying what gets in the way of air (anything earth).
Basically, its hard not to go immediately apocalyptic on this one. XD
That said, an elemental that's survived long enough to become an Elder Tempest has done so by defeating and eating rival elementals. So another motivation could be defeating powerful opposing elementals (specifically air) and feeding them back to the Elder Tempest so it can grow stronger.
In elemental evil, we see elemental entities that eclipse all others, beings that are borderline deities. Couldn't an elder elemental want godlike power too? A Warlock sent forth to seek out items of incredible power, such as the infinity spindle that elevated Raxivort to a demigod, could be a fairly good motivation for an inscrutable cloud snake of immense power.
My personal opinion, I think you'd be far better off making the patron a primordial than one of the greater elementals. Take a look at Akadi the Queen of Air. She is essentially the strongest elemental being that represents air and the de facto ruler of the plane of air. Akadi along with Grumbar, Isithia, and Kossuth, collectively dubbed the elemental lords are four primordials that chose not to participate in the dawn war and have come to be seen as elemental gods (a purposeful misrepresentation).
Akadi embodies freedom and change so she need not be evil or overly destructive, all of the elemental lords are neutral. Elder Tempests are almost raw elemental power made manifest with little cognitive functioning other than seeking entropy, so they don't make the best patrons. A being like Akadi is powerful enough to create them at her whim.
As far as her motivations go, I got you.