Desperate Nobles

The PCs are all connected in one way or another to a noble house - either family members, trusted advisors, generals, etc.

All of the noble families are in attendance at the King's Palace - Castle Wisteria - for summer court. There are six major noble families:
- House Kimbertos (the King's house)
- House Van de Kamp
- House Scavo
- House Mayer
- House Solis
- And the PC's house

The following events take place during the first 36 hours of summer court:
1. The Queen commits suicide
2. Rel Van de Kamp (the head of the house) is poisoned - he may or may not survive
3. The Scavo residence in the capital city burns down
4. Bishop Kaul, a son of the King, is seen late at night digging in the church's graveyard
5. Lady Solis is seen leaving the stables with straw in her hair followed shortly by a young stablehand.

Now turn the PCs loose!

Setting Riffs

Idea one is taken straight from Dwarfstar Games' Demonlord,

On Narth, once called the “continent of man”, the origins of the Demons are obscure. Some say a wizard’s summoning went out of control. Others suggest that the Demons themselves opened a magical gateway, still extent at the gate of Tor’zem, the Demonlord Capital. A few philosophers even believe that the Demons are a natural race, like humans or dwarves, except the Demons became stronger than others.

In any event, the Demons are now the power on Narth, and each Demonlord rules his own province under the Emperor. Although Demons are a tiny minority, through their great power, magic, and capacity for evil they act as captains, administrators, and governors of many lesser races such as half-men, demi-men, goblins, orcs, and other manish races of darkness.

Nisshar is a typical province in the west of the Demon domains, ruled from a capital city of the same name. But here, humans and semi-human allies resist them, banding together under the influence of Hosar, a sun-god cult. At times, they were so successful that even Nisshar came under siege. Now, the armies of the Demonlord and the Alliance of Hosar are mustering once more, for another bloody campaign.

After centuries of sleep, the Demon Empire once more sends forth its hideous armies to conquer the lands of men. Desperate fighters stand with bow and shield against the goblin hordes which blacken the fertile valleys. The wizards and priests are called together in a desperate attempt to counter the Demonlord's dark magicks. But the balance of power lies with the neutral kingdoms. Will the Dwarven King, the Cloud Prince of Lyung, and the mysterious Ancients join with the forces of light, or will they cast their lots with the dark host commanded by the shadowy presence of the DEMONLORD...

The second idea is a riff off the first, a post by Philotomy on Original D&D Discussion and the really neat idea for Project Long Stair from RPGnet. It would be set after the first idea,

Many of the Mages of Hosar retreated to their tower in the great city of Timur. It is now said that they went knowing full well their upcoming fate. These great mages wielded arcane power beyond any seen in any age since and with this vast power they were able to hurl the Demons back into the primordial chaos from which they came.

However, a devastating backlash of arcane power and the forces of chaos destroyed Timur and everything for leagues around. The Mages of Hosar were devastated. All of those that participated in the Great Sealing were lost. Only the few that were purposely kept away from the ritual survived. While the price was high, the Great Sealing forced the Demons back into the chaos and sealed the gateway to Narth. That was centuries ago. Now the seal is failing...

The idea is that the seal and gateway are part of a megadungeon that is a mythic underworld. This mythic underworld is spreading tendrils, magical portals, into other places of darkness and chaos (smaller dungeons and lairs).

The Quest for the Holy Avenger

While not in the B/X magic item list, the Holy Avenger is just such a great item for a quest. Here is a quest involving a number of dungeons to find the holy mcguffin.

Three royal princes, who were each buried in a different crypt, were each buried with a different magic item. One prince was a valiant paladin of good who protected the innocent. His brothers however were vile necromancers who plagued those unable to protect themselves. It is rumoured that the valiant paladin was buried with his holy sword, Travarlach, Bane of the Dead. Use the clues to figure out which prince was buried in which crypt, and who was buried with the holy sword.

Place one clue in each separate dungeon. When the paladin is ready they can head off to the tombs.

Clues:

1) Prince Pettar was not buried with the Sphere of the Damned.
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2) Prince Stepan was not buried in the Red Tomb.
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3) The prince that was buried in the Golden Tomb was buried with the Sphere of the Damned.
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4) Prince Taldar was buried with the Blood of Maidens.
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5) The Prince who was buried with the Holy Avenger, was not buried in the White Tomb.

LOGIC PUZZLE ANSWERS:
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Prince Pettar was buried in the Red Tomb, with the Holy Avenger.
Prince Taldar was buried in the White Tomb, with the Blood of Maidens.
Prince Stepan was buried in the Golden Tomb, with the Sphere of the Damned.
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The logic behind the answers:
Prince Pettar was not buried with the Sphere of the Damned (clue 1) or the Blood of Maidens (clue 4), so Prince Pettar was buried with the Holy Avenger.

Prince Pettar was not buried in the Golden Tomb (clue 3), Prince Pettar was not buried in the White Tomb (clue 5), so Prince Pettar was buried in the Red Tomb.

Prince Taldar was buried with the Blood of Maidens (clue 4), so Prince Stepan must have been buried with the Sphere of the Damned. Then Prince Stepan must be buried in the Golden Tomb (clue 3), and Prince Taldar must be buried in the White Tomb.

Five dungeons and four tombs worth of possible adventures...

I sure hope I got all that right :)

Sites for Adventure

Oh, my players may find this in the Northern Marches.