Adventure hook needed!

[Gruns]

Well, it's Wednesday evening, and I have to work all day tomorrow and Friday. Next game session is Friday night. I intentionally left off last session as an open-ended cliff hanger, but am experiencing a bit of writer's block, and can't come up with anything that isn't overly cliche. I just need a few ideas thrown my way to get me started. Don't need an entire adventure, just need some thoughts to get the ball rolling.
Here's some quick background: Level 3, party of four. Just killed someone they probably shouldn't have, as he had ties with the local thieve's guild. A rival thieve's guild heard the news, and as a 'Thank you' to the PCs, suggested that news would get around fast, and they should get out of Dodge ASAP. So the PCs found a job investigating rumors of a newly discovered adamantine mine on an island a few days away. They book passage on a boat, and take off. After a day at sea, a sudden storm strikes, and the boat is more or less obliterated. Captain tries to head ashore to a nearby random island, and almost makes it. All but one of the crew is lost/killed, but "luckily" the PCs all survive. At shore, the surviving NPC gives a dramatic speech. Points to a ship closing in from the sea. (Storms have mysteriously stopped at this point.) Yells something about endangering the mission. "Hortivert is with them! Run! Now!". Pulls out a vial, drinks it, and foams at the mouth before slumping over dead immediately. Off in the distance on the island, the PCs see smoke rising over the hills... [End Game Session]
What next? Hortivert is a lvl 6 druid, and he brought a lvl 4 rog with him. The PCs should have a hint that they're both part of the thieve's guild that they recently irked. While I expect some sort of hunt/chase, I just can't decide what I want to be on this island. If I can't think of anything, I'll fall back to unfriendly lizardmen. The smoke is some sort of tribal bonfire that is always burning. Surely the EN World thinktank can save me from resorting to such a cliche' adventure?!
Thanks!
Gruns

 

[VirgilCaine]

A) Natives are evil, will attack the party. May/may not cooperate with the guild agents.
B) Natives are good, will shelter the party against the guild agents.
C) Natives are neutral, will help the party [trade food/weapons/etc.] but will/will not betray them to the guild agents.


Natives are...
Locathah?
Grippli?
Island Elves?
Halflings?
Dwarves?
Orcs?
Kobolds?

 

[Steel_Wind]

Natives are not natives at all. The natives are, in fact, pirates. The pirates work with the local thieves guild the PCs ticked off and while the bad guys you mentioned are on their way to the Island, they don't know the PCs are there as they think they drowned at sea. They think this because that's what they intended to happen.

The fire is a signal from the pirates to Hortivert's ship. It's meant to tell Hortivert that the PCs ship was, indeed, sunk. Hortivert's ship will go and explore the wreckage while the pirates will look for floating cargo of value.

Other possibilities:

- the pirates have a pinnace they use to go row out to check out the cargo. It's big enough the PCs could steal it and use it to get away, without being too big that they cannot crew it.
- Hortivert casts water breathing on a few pirates to permit them to investigate sucken wrecks to recover cargo and, in this case, to verify the PCs are dead. He needs to rest before these spells can be prepared though. (time limit until search parties underway)
- a pirate den is useless without a cool anchorage the bad guys can sail a vessel into.

Here's a map to use: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mapofweek/PirateRoost2_bj43a.jpg

Hortivert thinks the PCs are already dead because he had a hand in the "sudden storm" that sank the PCs ship. Hortivert has an item - druid specific - that works once a month for members of his sect (ie. this thing is not usable by third level PCs) that permits a control weather spell to be cast.

That's also why the stomr was sudden and disappeared unnaturally. It was, after all - an unnatural storm.

Hortivert used it on the ship to kill the PCs. It also explains why the Pirates work with Hortivert - he takes down the ships every now and then with minimal loss of life for the scallywags.


In the Castle...Aaaaaaaaaaaaa......

The guy who drank a potion and died drank the wrong one in a panic. He carried a few potions - two of which were polymorph potions - two of which were poison. He panicked and killed himself.

Inspection of the potion bottles shows a small chip on the lip of the poison potion. The chip is also present on the one the sailor drank.

The two potions of polymorph might permit the PCs to infiltrate the pirates and learn more about "what's going on".

Take it from there...

 

[Gruns]

More please!

Thanks for the input so far, but I'm still looking! I don't think I was clear: there aren't necessarily natives on the island. The smoke could be from anything. Volcano and bonfire are the 2 obvious choices I'm trying to get away from. Then again, I don't want anything too far out there... (No planar gate that just let in a balor, for example...)

I like the pirates idea, but I don't feel like I have enough time to properly flesh out the camp. And I'd prefer something neutral that just may aid the PCs enough. Be it an item, location, or lastly, a tribe of neutrals. Then again, I'm not a fan of this quasi "bail the PCs out with more powerful NPCs" kind of thing. I should just let the druid waste them. That will teach them not to kill people they shouldn't be killing...

Oh, and yes the druid is responsible for the storm, of course. Lesser Globe of Storms(no Storm of Vengeance ability) that the PCs likely won't get their hands on.
Thanks again!
Gruns

 

[BiggusGeekus]

This is an ideal place for pirates and dinosaurs.

The pirates use the island as a base because it is insanely dangerous (c.f. dinosaurs). There also needs to be some kind of underground cavern there. Mabye the pirates live in a secret underground cavern only accessible via the old behind-the-waterfall trick. The only clue to thier existence is that their fires have to have some kind out outlet, so there are grates they use for chimneys.

But you gotta have dinosaurs.

 

[Tinner]

The natives are lizardmen who worship a slumbering giant lizard.
The smoke is from the lizard's fiery breath.
The lizardmen are neutral, and how the PC's treat their "god" will influence how they deal with the PC's.
For the lizard god(zilla) look in the Creative Exercise threads.
There's a dire/fiendish/T-rex (iirc) in there that is literally heck on wheels!

 

[Gruns]

Dinosaurs

Heh.
I was actually browsing the MM in the dinosaur section last night. Problem is, the PCs can't really handle _a_ dinosaur, let alone many dinosaurs... The only thing they stand a chance against would be the velociraptors. (or whatever they call them in there.) On the other hand, this does give a good escape plan, if a bit insane, a la Han and the asteroid field...
"You're not actually running INTO a dinosaur infested area are you?!?"
"They'd be crazy to follow us."

Sounds exciting, and as a bonus I don't have to write up any back story for the individual dinosaurs. Dinosaurs win. And maybe not just pirates, but kobold pirates. Yeah, underground kobold pirates...

Thanks again!
Later.
Gruns