IMO the Vadeli see themselves as pursuing good works - insofar as destroying glorantha is a good work.
The best example of a Vadeli plot that I can think of is a personal anecdote so bear with me. Quite a few years ago when I was playing Diplomacy, I made a deal with someone to launch a risky invasion and he would back me.
Now I didn't trust him. So I began thinking of every contingency in which he would betray me and so I prepared myself to be in a position to launch instant and massive retaliation when he did so. As it turns out, there was one contingency I failed to think of.
He kept his word. And screwed up me no end in the process. And that is how a Vadeli should work.
They work best when their villany is off the screen. When met, they are polite to a fault with no evidence of their atrocities at hand. At the same time there are disturbing stories and things that don't add up around them. When working against the Player Heroes, they will be busy tackling the parts the Heroes have forgotten about or decide to put off. If the Heroes hear about an important contact and decide to do something else first, while they are doing that, the Vadeli will be busy disappearing the contact so that when the Heroes return they will find only clues that the contact has met a horrible yet unspecified end while the Vadeli are long gone.
Even when the Vadeli plots seem to be thwarted, there should always be the feeling that something's wrong and that the Vadeli really wanted you to succeed so they could spring something horrible upon you in the future.
--Peter Metcalfe
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