Seeking plot twist for campaign

[FreeXenon]

The campaign setting I am using is going to end up being a melange of Forgotten Realms and Eberron while leaning more towards Eberron.

Here is the basic for the beginning of the campaign:

• Hobgoblins moved into an abandoned monastery previously dedicated to Lathander in an effort to expand. The monastery is close enough to raid an outlying village named Landers. They are currently under a sort of martial law and people here are really paranoid. Their Baron sent extra troops here to try to protect the village better. The PC's will be sent here to try to figure things out.
  
• The Sundering Stone was activated by an agent of the Daelkyr. This minor artifact of chaos is located in a hidden area below the monastery. There are only tracks leading to the Stone that will lead come from a secret passage to the Underdark and tracks leaving the area.
  
• A Yeenogu clan was called to the monastery, by a vision from the Sundering Stone, as a method of creating discord and bringing evil together.
  
• Children have been going missing over the last month or so in the village of Landers. So far 10 in all have been taken from Landers and 4 or 5 from the other surrounding villages, and none have been found. Search parties have been sent out but found none. Some were even taken from rooms with no windows. One of Lord Mornwell's sons was the last to have been taken. (these were taken to power the awakening of the Sundering Stone)
  
• The child snatching seems to have stopped, but raids on the outlying farms in Landers has resulted in lost farm animals and a few dead villagers and it is thought that the raids are coming from the abandoned monastery. (due to the 2 new evil tribes moving in)
  
• Deactivating the Sundering Stone requires the death of the one who activated in its vicinity. The activator is gone and will be able to be tracked by the PC's and finding it will be a large part of their mission. There will be a time limit on retrieving the person who activated it in order to be able to retrieve the souls of the children sacrificed to activate it, but any amount of time can pass in order to deactivate the Sundering Stone. If the person dies outside of the its vicinity it will have to be destroyed the old fashioned way, and it will not appreciate such sentiments. =)

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I have a lot more info available if you would like it.

Thanks all.

 

[fba827]

you need the classic role of "the insider"
Someone in the village who has some sort of tie to the going ons. Perhaps is just paid (or blackmailed) to be a lookout for whenever there is trouble or to subversivly plant some sort of magic dust on the children so that they can get teleported out and taken later that night, etc.

Of course, the insider role doesn't have any effect of shock unless it's someone the party meets earlier in a seemingly unrelated/innocent scene. Maybe on the road up, the person asks for some help on something. which in truth was the insider trying to guage howmuch of a threat potential the equipped party would be, etc.

Or else, once the insider is found, they realize that he doesn't want to help but is being forced to (black mail? or threat against his family, etc)

Curious, are the hobgoblins at all related to the agents going after the Sundering Stone? Or they are two separate factions occupying/using the abandoned monestary?

 

[FreeXenon]

I had considered the insider possibility, but have not thought of a creative and effective way of adding one. I may have to revisit that again.... You bringing it up gives me a few more things to think about.

I have is so that one of the PC's knows the daughter of the Baron, not really well, but that might be the good one to start with.

I currently have the Hobgoblins arriving there purely as happenstance and prior to everything going crazy.

Yup - 2 separate factions in the same monastery. I will have to find a largish monastery map to play with. I am thinking of a monastery grounds with several buildings to work with.

 

[mgbeach]

If the stone's purpose is to further chaos, maybe it's also drawn some doppelgangers to the town.. they are always fun (for the DM, anyway) They could serve as a good way to have an "insider"..someone the PCs met and liked who is then replaced.

 

[FreeXenon]

If the stone's purpose is to further chaos, maybe it's also drawn some doppelgangers to the town.. they are always fun (for the DM, anyway) They could serve as a good way to have an "insider"..someone the PCs met and liked who is then replaced.

I was considering that as the insider. =) But the doppleganger is not technically an aberration (since this is a Daelkyr plot and artifact) so I moved on from that idea, but since you also brought it up I will have to reconsider that option. It would allow me to further complicate the scenario with the Baron's daughter being doppleganged and needing the PC's to rescue her. I can rework the Doppleganger to be a abberation. Twill make things more interesting.

 

[mgbeach]

Maybe a mind flayer has been brought near the surface and has a doppelganger it sends out to do its bidding. Mind flayers AND doppelgangers? Fun!

 

[FreeXenon]

I do have a Mindflayer as the ultimate progenitor for this whole thing. Me loves me some mindflayer action. =)

Thanks

 

[Sigurd]

There's also the possibility of a collaborator. Someone is buying\selling to the hobgobs. Shiny weapons or food or more food or ???? Could be any unscrupulous character, perhaps an evil cleric looking for some muscle.

Could also be some hauntings in the old temple - whose side would they be on?


Sigurd

 

[mgbeach]

It's all reminiscent of the plot of RA Salvatore's Cleric Quintet series (which was great!).. you may look there for some ideas as well.

 

[FreeXenon]

Cleric Quintet
Cleric Quintet? Hmmmm... I have heard of it. I have a friend who has read it maybe I will have to ask him about it.

Second Changeling
I am thinking of throwing into the mix a second "Changeling" as well.

The first one is going to an aberrant version which is essentially the Elanari that I created from 3E and will be the Baron's daughter to which one of the PC's know.

The second one, I think will actually be the one who came from the underdark and activated the Sundering Stone. He will be the one that the PC's need to track down. I am not sure where he is going yet.... most likely to meet up with the other Daelkyr. He will not make it to the mountains where they are hiding, since the PC's are great trackers, but it will signal to where a bigger threat maybe. They are definitely going to interrogate him, and I am not expecting that they will get much out of him.

I have the monastery being in ruins by having been invaded previously by a previous activation of the Sundering Stone 20 years ago which brought orcs and ogres to it before they were defeated, and the activator was killed therefore turning the Stone off.

Hautings
Hauntings... Hmmmm interesting idea...

Perhaps the real ghosts could be in the building where the Sundering Stone is which is why the humanoids have not found it yet... fear of the undead in the building...


Thanks for the idea's so far!
Good stuff.