ph0rk
Friendship is Magic, and Magic is Heresy.
I'd be strongly tempted to make the old PCs small-time legends (big time legends have a greater come-home rate), and make new PCs in that world. They might be relatives, friends, or otherwise attached, but they might be entirely new unattached characters (as some will want that option, I might).
It could be a generation later, five years, or a couple months - any can work, and there is now some rich backstory for the players that want to work with it, as well as a chance to do something different for those that want that.
It could be a generation later, five years, or a couple months - any can work, and there is now some rich backstory for the players that want to work with it, as well as a chance to do something different for those that want that.