Semi-Intrigue campaign - Looking for plot suggestions

[Corsair]

Peter Ellis, and any of the following group who also might read here: Ariel, James, Jim, Richard -

Stay the heck out.

(Peter is the only one I *know* reads these forums, and luckily he's one of the ones I trust most to adhere to the warning!)
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For those who remember my rampaging rogue, you may be familiar with the party. In resolution of that issue, I talked to the rogue's player, and he assured me that he understood that I considered thievery a minor evil and he wasn't going to be making a habit of it.

For those who are new, let me explain the group first:

Female human psion(kineticist) - Dragonmarked of House Orien, I'm actually allowing her to be a d'Orien of very low rank and status.

Male human swashbuckler - Dragonmarked of Denieth, a d'Deneith who already is favored in house. He however doesn't like to play up his connections, instead keeping things low-key. Childhood friend of the psion

Male Shifter Paladin (Sovereign Host) - A more civilized shifter from the Eldeen Reaches. General good guy, and a quick learner. 8 Charisma. doh!

Male Halfling rogue (CN) - Mark of Healing. Not a member of House Jorasco however.

Male Changeling Cleric (Traveler) - Will likely soon be confronted by the paladin about his beliefs, which should be amusing.


The story thus far:

The party was hired to guard an NPC traveling from Sharn to Fairhaven on the lightning rail, a 4 day journey. During this time, the party managed to break up an extra marital affair, have their employer's room get ransacked, and foil a train robbery of some sort with the help of another VIP's bodyguard.

Main plot from here: Once in Fairhaven, the party will be informed by an Orien official that they believe the attack was intended for an Orien Courier who was on the train. Believing that the courier's cover has been blown, they will ask the party to finish the delivery. The box is locked, warded thrice over, and protected from divination.

What the party doesn't know: Inside is a piece of some sort of evil artifact, likely schema for developing some sort of Eldritch Machine. It is on its way to a clandestine meeting with the would-be recipient. The recipient is an agent of someone in the Karrnathi government. The machine being built is some sort of necromantic device. (haven't decided if I'll make it have to do with their undead army, or possibly a device for Kaius' personal battles with Vol) The attack on the train was actually a group of Silver Flame agents attempting to steal the schema to destroy it. Assuming the party accepts the job to deliver the package, they will likely be attacked en route by Emerald Claw agents attempting to foil Kaius' plans.

The three way conflict between the Silver Flame, Karrnath, and the Blood of Vol is going to be one theme.


Plot line #2: Aundair / Thuranni

What the PCs don't know: The NPC they escorted was a Thuranni spy, working in Breland at behest of the Aundair government, checking out Breland's willingness and ability to engage in further conflict. She retreated to Aundair when she feared Citadel agents were snooping around too much. I want her to be a recurring NPC that the players will deal with for a long time before realizing what is up. She has a cover as a "financial and business adviser".


Side-plots and NPCs

1.) The party interrupted a tryst between an Aundair count's fiance (who is much younger than him) and a bard. The bard will become a recurring nemesis. (The party believes he is dead)

2.) The "countess" reconciled with the count, and now the count actually believes that the party's involvement has brought him closer to his wife-to-be. I want to have them stay involved as a side plot, though I'm not sure how. I am thinking of having the party invited to the wedding after they finish the upcoming piece of plot #1.

3.) It should be noted that the Thuranni spy has already made contact with the new ambassador from Darguun to Aundair. She hopes to make use of the hobgoblins in her job to assess (and perhaps weaken) the defenses of Breland.


Ok, here is the important part!

I am mainly looking for ideas on the sorts of things I could send the party out doing. I want to introduce them to as much of Eberron as possible, but I don't want to go overboard.

I am looking for short side-quests which don't affect massive changes in my recurring NPCs (example: the Count asking them for help is ok. The count being murdered is not ok. (actually I plan on offing the Count later in any case, but thats a seperate issue ))

I am also looking for adventure ideas which help further my main plotlines. Examples:

• The Karrnathi may enlist the party to obtain another schema piece.
• The Karrnathi may ask the party to find/rescue the Extreme Explorer who had been previously finding the schemas.
• An emerald claw agent tells the party what Kaius is having built, attempting to sway them into helping. (this would be much later)

Mainly I'm stuck on what I can do involving the Aundair/Breland/Thuranni plotline, and how I can get the party involved without just a slew of boring retrieval/delivery jobs but still keep the paladin going along with it all.

I need brainstorming help!

 

[Shadowdancer]

Well, at the count's wedding, you could have the PCs overhear a discussion that involved some aspect of the B/A/T plotline (your decision as to what). Probably in vague terms that don't make much sense to them. Then have one of the people involved in that discussion turn up dead, obviously murdered. Maybe the killer(s) frames the PCs for the murder. Even if they clear themselves quickly, they will probably want to track down the killer(s). And they will want to know more about what they overheard.

 

[Corsair]

One more thing I almost forgot! The "countess" is actually there because it is an arranged marraige. She is the daughter of an extremely wealthy merchat/businessperson in Sharn, who wants to get an "in" with someone in a position of influence to expand into Aundair. The count isn't extremely high up the food chain so to speak, but its a start. And besides, what daddy wouldn't want his grand-kids to be noble born?

Here is the catch however: The daughter isn't interested at all! Hence the reason she was sleeping around with the bard in the first place. She's just going along with it for the power and prestige which she might get. At some point in the future she is going to off the Count (or at least it will LOOK like she offed him to the party). The party already knows she's evil thanks to some detection by the paladin. Also she is more than a bit upset with the halfling rogue, who is the one who initially brought her tryst to the count's attention.

I'm not sure how I'm going to have her try to get revenge on the halfling yet though. If they spend a lot of time in Aundair, especially if they make a name for themselves, she might try to swing something to get them framed for something. On the other hand, if the Count turns up dead, the party will immediately suspect her even if she had nothing to do with it.

This "happy couple" should provide me at least 2 or 3 easy to write side-adventures.

 

[ReignMan]

You can allways link the marked house alligences your characters have back into one of the political organisations. Classic plot line of trusting your instincts versus following the path of your family/friends. Perhaps one of the houses has an interest in this schema (Smacks of "Shadows of the Last War")

 

[Corsair]

(stealth bump)

You can allways link the marked house alligences your characters have back into one of the political organisations. Classic plot line of trusting your instincts versus following the path of your family/friends. Perhaps one of the houses has an interest in this schema (Smacks of "Shadows of the Last War")

Well part of that will come in with the Orien PC already. It's already been made clear to the party through actions of NPCs that the houses care more about their business and bottom line than regular folks. For example: someone was murdered on the train, and the train wasn't stopped until it reached its destination. While solving the murder was important, it wasn't worth delaying a large number of passengers (some of whom wealthy and influential) and a large amount of cargo. This has already resulted in a small rift between the more chaotic PCs and the more lawful ones. One side sees the houses as uncaring corporate types, while the others try to explain that the houses are looking out for their best interests.

RE: Shadows - I've never cracked any of the published Eberron modules.

 

[Piratecat]

Just a thought - brainstorming threads generally get a lot more responses when you boil the question down to the basics. If you removed the backstory and PC info and just asked "I need cool Eberron side quest ideas!", I have a sneaking suspicion that the thread may be more accessible for folks. Interesting or not, that's a lot of read when browsing.