Need help putting together the pieces of a plot (My players stay out)

[Emperor Valerian]

My players go away!







Well, once again I need the help of some of the more devious DMs on ENWorld. My players are in a campaign using D&D 3.5 rules, with the addition of modified rules from Corsairs and Seas of Blood, and are presently at 5th level, though they are (due to a fluke) a little overpowered for their level, so effectively they are around 6th. They have just captured a rather nice ship of elven origin, fast and heavily armed, but it is rather badly damaged after their rough-housing, so they are headed to port for repairs, and the closest port with repair facilities is the capital of the local kingdom. All I know at this point is that they're going to be spending a big chunk of time (weeks, at least, in game) on land, instead of at sea. I'd like to create a mini-mystery adventure for them over the next few sessions while their ship is under repair, and I've managed to create pieces of what could be an extremely interesting plot, yet I'm having trouble putting them together.

Namely, the plot pieces (and/or encounters) that I have so far are:
1) The party NPC (a sea druid) has a bad past history with some of the local female nobility.

2) The town has a modified version of the Salon du Masque, as appearing in the Freeport supplements. The head of the salon is also an assassin, though she has a penchant for using a modified rifle instead of medieval weaponry. Everyone worth something goes to this salon incognito to freely drink and gossip, and discuss, for a fee, how the salon's proprietor can take care of their problems.

3) The elves have somehow got their hands of a large amount of gnomish submersibles, and are preparing to use them to destroy the local kingdom's navy in harbor (both with screws, and explosives a la Turtle).

4) EDIT - The players during the last session, when they captured the elven ship, took around a dozen elves prisoner. So far this isn't a problem (the elven hold held several hundred slaves, about eighty of which have joined the former crew to crew the new ship), but the kingdom they are headed towards isn't at war with the elves (at least not yet). Maybe this could be used for something as well


The problem is how to tie these all in together, and that is where I'm drawing a blank on how to get enough material for two full sessions (eight to ten hours of gaming). I know at some point I want the assassin to try to take out the party, and at some point the party needs to stop the submersibles... but that leaves many possible plot holes that need to be filled. How would the submersibles get into the harbor? More importantly, how do I connect this with the two previous ideas? And what other nasty surprises could I toss in here that would make this better?

Any devious ideas?

 

[Runesong42]

The problem that the party NPC has with the female nobility is that the NPC wants to remove the nobles from power. To wit, he/she makes every attempt to find ways to either bring down the nobility, or the city to which it belongs. Hence, the NPC has unusual allies, including a band of seafaring gnomes.

While the nobility has not yet had dealings with elves, the NPC has. So have the folks from the Salon du Masque. Perhaps the assassin in question is an elf, but is always in disguise (behind a mask/cloak/magic etc). She is also planning a coup against the nobility, but she intends to replace the current leader rather than wiping them all out.

The NPC is not aware that s/he has been a target of interest of the Salon, but not necessarily for assassination. Rather, the head of the Salon is interested in using the NPC as a go-between for her and your elven nation. [If the PC's learn of this, they could assisit or perhaps even stop the invasion of the gnomish submersibles before it happens]. If the NPC and the assassin make contact, the NPC agrees to deliver a commission for the elves to attack the navy.

Once the PC's ship gets into dock, the Salon makes a move to free the captured elves. The "captured elves" are in fact shock troops to be used by the Salon in conjunction with the attack by the navy. The capture was in fact planned, rather than a happenstance encounter. The PC's could attempt to stop the Salon from invading their ship and freeing the captives. If the PC's succeed, AND the PC's prevent the NPC from leaving on his mission, then the Salon assassin targets the PC "leader" for a direct attack.... perhaps a kidnapping in exchange for an agreement to deliver the NPC safely to the elven nation. Now the PC's are in a bind... do they murder the NPC outright, or do they follow through with the plot against the nobility? Do they attempt to alert the nobility of the potential attack, and would the nobility even believe them if it were true?

Hope this jogs the creative juices.