Help wanted tying plot threads together... (lengthy)

[morrolan]

I am trying to tie together some plot threads from my campaign, and hoped the gathered sages might provide some fresh ideas. Basically the story so far has been a bit patchwork... some elements of homebrew stuff, third party scenarios run whole cloth, and scavenged bits and pieces augmented to fit the story so far.

The basics:
Party
1st level Rogue, 5th level Bard, Human
6th Level Druid, Elven
6th level Fighter, Dwarf

Bit O' Background:

The heroes are in a human kingdom that has only fairly become united under the rule of a single king, a retired Paladin of Heironius. formerly the kingdom was a loose aggregate of feudal holdings and city states. They have not really explored much beyond this area, which is bordered on the south by the ocean, on the west by the kingdom of the Elves, and on the north by desolate moors and hills/mountains which provide the last refuge of the once great Dwarf clans.

The Dwarves and Humans are the only native (PC) races. Elves and Dragons are relative newcomers to the world. Both came from an extraplanar origin and are old enemies, following each other and warring across the planes. The Elves arrived first, followed soon after by the Dragons. War was inevitable, eith the Elves and Dragons in conflict, and the Dwarves fighting both of the invaders with equal zeal. Eventually the Dwarves allied with the Elves in order to drive out of the Dragons and end the fighting, which had taken a large toll on the dwarves. The allies managed to seal off the portals into (and out of) the plane. Any remaining Dragons have been killed, or driven into hiding, and the Elves became cut off from their home plane. Humans at this time were still primitives, still at a basically neanderthal tech level. Contact with the Elves basically accelerated their technological development. The Elves and Humans are still on good terms, and after the war the Dwarves have basically become isolationist in their outlook, and are thus in decline. A growing number of the Dwarves, however, see the need to take a greater role in the outside world.

What the Party Has Done:

The party was called together by a series of dreams authored by the ghost of an elf-priestess named Elowyn. They must recover her bones from an old elf cemetery. (This was one of the adventures written for the wotc map contest a while back.) Working against them were Gnolls, the creation of a cabal of Necromancers who wanted the bones for their own nefarious purposes. The Necromancers, led by a mysterious "D", are searching for fallen elven warriors whom they can raise as undead nasties. The Necromancers also employ magically controlled "grave beasts" (or Mole-Bears as the party calls them) who normally feed on carrion and scavenge graveyards to sniff out potential sites.

Anyway, Elowyn asks the party to find an abandoned elven temple, reconsecrate it and put her bones in a safe place. In the Temple they find the petrified statue of an elf cleric. They restore him to life, and discover he was turned to stone while defending the temple from attackers. He is obviously much disoriented by his skipping a few hundred years of history, and his memory of events is quite fuzzy. The temple was built over the opening to a cave, which led to a deep underground pool connecting to the elemental planes. The source of the taint was a young black dragon whos presence corrupted the holy waters of the shrine.

Restoring the shrine earns them the favor of the elf-king, and the stony cleric is restored as guardian of the temple. News of the party also reaches the ears of the human king, who is quite the romantic and wistfull of his adventuring days. He throws a festrival day in honor of the heroes at his capital, Charminster. During the celebration, an assasination attempt is made on the king, which the party foils. While the king is comatose from the poison used on him, they seek out and uncover who was behind the attempt. Also at this time, the ambassador of the elves is suddenly, and without reason, called back home. The ringleader was a necromancer of the cabal who ran a guild of thieves. The party recoves from him letters in cypher that are communications between the guildmaster and the mysterious "D", and also ancient magical texts in an extinct dialect. Both of these are delivered to the king's librarians/loremasters for translation/decoding. as of yet the party does not know what the content is.

Anyway, that is where we stand today. I would like some ideas as to how these events could tie together. The parties next move will either be to find out whats up with the Ambassador at the behest of the King, or to go and take command of a small outpost/holding that the King granted them as a reward, located on the northern brder of the kingdom. I would like to try and work in the neat coincedence that the party represents each of the three main races (elf, dwarf,human) somewhere into the plot. Any suggestions?

Cheers and thanks for reading!

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Salutations,

Hmm.

How about something along the lines-

1)As the war between the elves and the dragons really began to build in this world- many more elves came to this world to help the fight. Including a high order of mage-knights, err.. the Order of the Pearl (or some name, whatever), a highly specialized dragon slaying elven force.

As the war grew desperate the combined knowledge of the allies allowed them to come up with the way to seal the plane from the others. The leader of the Order of the Pearl argued against the plan- since their knightly order pact forbid them to abandon a plane admist the eternal war, but this would leave them stranded on this plane if the plan was succesful.

The elf-king was not sympathetic as the situation was dire, and eventually ordered the Order of the Pearl away from council meetings as they became more hostile towards the plan. Still, even the elf-king was surprised by their treachery.

During the ceremony to seal the planes, the leader of the OotP led a small attack force against the alliance wizards-- however, they met defeat and were captured.

After the sealing- the leader and the small force were tried and publically executed for their treason. The knights of the OotP that did not take part in the treason, abandoned their pact and disappeared into the world.

Over the centuries- word has reached elven society of a group of elves attempting to remove the seal on the planes. They call themselves the Order of the Black Pearl, and there is little doubt to their original identity.

But what the elves nor anyone in the world suspects is the Order of the Black Pearl is not only made up of the original knights, but the dragons they sought out and joined in an alliance to undo the seal!

The elven king has ordered them all criminals and to be hunted down. Recently, the elven king has had "proof" delivered to him that the elven ambassador is in leager with the OotBP and working with the necromancers.

The "proof" is actually a pack of clever lies made by the OotBP- who count the wounded pride of the elven royalty to believe the allegations. The OotBP also has an agent well respected in the elven noble circles who they hope to be assigned as the ambassador replacement..

Their goal- probably to provoke a way between humans and elves- even the dwarves if they can swing it.

Why? Well, maybe the seal needs to be "recharged" every once in a while- which requires a ceremony involving a human, an elf, and a dwarf. (here is your multi-race party link)

2) The dwarves have a terrible secret. They never forgave the elves for bringing war to their home and encouraging the humans to grow/evolve.

The dwarven royal family was so outraged by the "insult" of needing to work with the humans and elves to fight the dragons that they were more open to some visitors then they normally might have been.

What the elves have never told the other races it there is a third faction in the war between the elves and the dragons- a faction that both sides hate more then each other: beholders. (You can use any race- illithids, githyanki, but I feel an afinity for beholders at the moment.)

A beholder diplomat approached the dwarves during the war and offered them tutorage in great magics and access to technology from other planes that would not only give them the edge over the dragons, but over the elves.

The dwarves happily accepted and a small group of beholders secretly lived in the dwarven palace- do as they promised, but also slowly dominating the minds of the royal family with their magic.

The beholders never gave any credit to the sealing of the plane, and were surprised/horrified when it actually worked.

With their small number, they have worked hard to keep knowledge of their existance hidden from the rest of the world. Their control over the dwarven royalty has helped that a great deal, and has allowed the dwarves to slowly build up their forces in hopes of decimating the beholder's eternal enemies- the elves.

3) This is more of a rambling and may be too late to implement, but if the plane is sealed then how do clerics get their magic since it comes from gods on other planes? Perhaps it is just sealed against transport between the planes- which might lead to another idea.

The necromancers plan to strengthen the seal so no magic or even souls may travel from this plane. They would no longer have to worry about clerics turning their undead.. and with the spirits of the dead no longer able to go to heaven or hell- the are left to rise as undead. This would lead to a great plague of undead creatures spreading throughout the world.

Good luck!
FD

 

[morrolan]

Cheers for the ideas! Def. some good thoughts. I like the order of the black pearl idea, very templar-y!