Within the dungeon, the Thane had become aware of the threat presented by the party. He was also going through some troubling diplomatic issues with the stone giant clan living atop the mountain, though he was unaware that the party was in cahoots with the stone giants in order to keep the peace between them and the local villages outside Cillamar.
Thus, the Thane has put the word out through his web of affiliations that there is a price on the party's head. Grime, the dust mephit, has been taking notes on the party as they pass through the dungeon and collected fairly accurate descriptions of them. The following NPCs/factions within the megadungeon setting which can be leveled against the party are as follows:
- the aboleth and its servants on the Watery Way
- The troll band near the entry to the Immense Cavern (I've been rolling really badly at encounters so far)
- Vulgaris, the minyad druid
- the young stone giant band (unaffiliated with those atop the mountain)
- Gar and Nar (who doesn't trust the duergar AT ALL)
I've decided that the duergar have finally cleaned out the last holdout orcs from level 3. Drugila can go hang; it's not likely to be worth their while to get her out. The least of the orcs will be offered to the aboleth, while those of any worth will be taken to the Theater for sport, or as slaves.
This will make the aboleth encounter a significant roadblock. Likewise, the troll band may be a good speedbump as the party re-enters the cavern. I don't see Vulgaris or Gar and Nar getting actively involved in fighting the PCs, as they have direct experience with them and don't have a vested interest in helping the duergar.
The stone giant kids are likewise insufficient a threat, unless they do something sneaky like throw rocks and then summon a purple worm on the group, then run away.
Adding something to spice up the trap at 9-11 seems likely, since the party would have to pass through that area to get to the Theater anyway. Maybe a few fire-friendly mercenary monsters, or at least something tough enough to weather the damage from Incendiary Cloud until the characters are dealt with.
But what I really need here is an enemy character party. Another group of murderhobo are being paid by the Thane to track down the party and eliminate them; or better yet capture them!
A rival or enemy party with abilities roughly equal to the PCs, and hopefully with a foil or two for the group's normal MO, would serve both to up the threat level and promote the kind of hate that motivates players to pursue enemies. I'll have to start working on that idea. I'm thinking a group led by a Lawful Evil cleric devoted to a god of oppression and slavery would be the perfect counterpoint to Fhaariys' Shellyn cleric. I'll have to come up with something suitably irritating for the rest of them, too.
That pretty much handles the dungeon, but what's going on in town? The party has said they are returning to town and I'm going to use this visit to advance the plot a bit.
Now, in the past, there's been a struggle going on between the local baronies and the far-away Duke Garth. Garth has been expanding his realm and gobbling up the little baronies along the royal road. He hasn't violated any of the laws governing the use of the road, but exploiting every opportunity to bring every neighboring land under his banner, one way or another. He has secretly been using dark magical items to build his power, items of a kind not seen in ages; mildly vampiric weapons that derive power from their victims, but also armor that feeds that power up the food chain. Thus his military units fight normally until they begin to take casualties, but then the remaining troopers become stronger. This makes his army greatly feared and he takes great care to ensure no one outside a small, necessary group knows about these items.
He's also allied with a group called the Inquisitors of Nuln. The Inquisitors are an anti-magical cult. They operate mostly as fighters and members of the Inquisitor classes, but eschew magic use in any form. Their magic use has been supplanted by enhanced Counterspell ability, using special feats to increase their ability to stifle magic used by opponents. The Inquisitors may have started out as benevolent, but over time and through their affiliation with the Duke, they have warped into a ruthless, if not outright evil, organization.
Their battlefield role is to listen for cries of "Witch! Witch!" and ride out to start dealing with magic, usually by countering spellcasters. If they get a chance they move in and apprehend or kill the offender, regardless of class or alignment. Staging mass witch burnings is a favorite past-time for them.
On each return to Cillamar, the party hears tidbits of news from the "war in the North" about how this barony has been annexed, or that free town has been burned to the ground or occupied, as the Duke's reach slowly expands. By this time, his forces have reached almost all the way to Cillamar... it makes sense that these forces come into play soon.
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