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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nyeshet" data-source="post: 3263883" data-attributes="member: 18363">I'd first ask, what are their interests, their motivations, their current goals (personal and as a party)?For second considerations:You said they were afraid to consider dealing with the dragon, and they have learned that any battle that occurs will only empower it - even if its own forces are overwhelmingly lost, as it is souls the dragon is interested in, not victories, etc (for the present). What if some clue came from the north, suggesting that the dragon had risen before? The necropolis and its library are probably known to the players as being amongst the most ancient ruins they have ever encountered, so perhaps they might think to look there. Obviously, the clue should come via a friend or agent of theirs, perhaps a high-ranking individual from the northern territories where incursions, raids, scouting parties, etc occur more often (than further south). Also, as a side question - have they told anyone of their discovery of the necropolis? Perhaps another might make the connection and request permission to look through its libraries? As for the Drow Lich, is she now wandering the surface world? Could she be looking for the necropolis and its vast collection of ancient / potent knowledge (perhaps to re-invigorate her drow before the elves are similarly re-invigorated should the knowledge go public)? If she attacks the two protectors of the necropolis, perhaps the sorcerer would receive a warning from them. A meeting between the two PCs and the drow lich - even if she escapes - might allow a few clues to slip out during the combat (re: she now follows orcus, she intends to soon become far more powerful than a mere lich, etc). Perhaps orcus has left out some bits of knowledge on how to become a demilich - either to test her or for his own amusement - or to force her to seek out and find / steal some artifact or bit of ancient knowledge that could prove useful to him.As I recall (and it's been a while since I last used that pantheon), Erythuul is a deity of death, slaughter, etc. Is there any connection (in your campaign world and specifically its ancient history) between this deity and the others mentioned (demi-deity dragon, quasi-deity emperor, archdemon orcus, lolth, etc)? For instance, Lolth has lost the worship of the drow. Could she be in (temporary) alliance with the dragon or its father? What of the quasi-deity to the south? While he is LE and the dragon is probably CE, I can't imagine that the dragon would not have secretly sent emisaries south to try to convince the emperor to either stay out of the coming conflict or to join with him - crushing the non-evils in between the two of them. True, the dragon would certainly betray him, but I can see the LE quasi deity emperor being convinced or bribed to stay out for now. As for the third plot path, at present it seems secondary. The Far Realms do not necessarily run on normal time. It could be hundreds of years before their foe returns - or perhaps he already did, arriving in the ancient past and aiding one side or the other during the epic battle(s). He can be dealt with after the other two points are dealt with. As mentioned, I think the use of NPCs to put together a few of the clues (leaving the rest for the PCs to work out) could be useful. So too could be using encounters to re-focus attention on core concerns. Suppose the lich tries to enter the necropolis but is forced away. Suppose this happens 2-3 times in different ways. She never succeeds, but her attempts should encourage the PCs to wonder why she is attempting it so stringently. Perhaps they will realize the importance they overlooked?</blockquote>

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