When to introduce one half of the BBEG
Forgive me in advance for my explanation in written form is not as good as my verbal.
My campaign is set in Eberron and it has just begun. The players are escorting someone and en route to the way to the city where the BBEG will be.
The city is a sanctuary for all that are lost, heartbroken and abandoned from the war. The BBEG is actually the leader of the city. Helping all those in need because he generally wants to. His end goal is to help rid the evil every where. Mainly demons and devils. I have something called the dreamlight grid to help the civilians with their emotional pain, ptsd, and help them sleep.
The kicker is that the dreamlight grid serves another purpose as when a civilian dies their soul becomes part of the dreamlight itself. And the BBEG is a summoner and is using their souls to create more summoner creatures, as I have it written where that is how they can make more Eidolons instead of random ones that aren’t as strong.
I have a 12 ft Eidolon for him already that serves as a protector of the city or an operative trying to achieve goals outside the city or inside that the players run into
I have some enemies trying to get into the city, like an artificer who helped build the city and the dreamlight grid. And a demon that is trying to take the souls for himself.
I want the leader of the city to be a friendly ally to the players and to even help them out when they need to because he generally is a nice guy and doesn’t quite lie. He makes allies easily. However my question is how and when do I introduce the Eidolon??? I don’t care if he comes off as evil or not. The Eidolon can die and come back a few times per the pathfinder rules. I could change anything up. I’m open to suggestions. I just had a great thought of what if they were blindsided by the leader of the city turning to be the endgame. I suppose I’m also asking what is the best way to bring the players in to help the city and the leader without making it seem like they aren’t needed if the Eidolon is a protector?