I'm running into writer's block in my campaign.
An empire is invading a kingdom in order to help a band of elves reclaim their holy land. What the elves don't know is that a highly contagious, magical disease lethal to elves has tainted their sacred land. The kingdom's mage leaders have spent hundreds of years forbidding elves from their domain while trying to find a cure. However,the kingdom is now most vulnerable due to the empire's invasion.
I have two questions to figure out.
1) How can I involve the PCs in this plot? The PCs hate the empire. While they certainly helped the kingdom, the kingdom's leaders feel reluctant to reveal the secret around the disease.
2) How does the empire plan to spread the disease? Smuggle an allied elf in? Maybe the empire bribed a dragon to betray the kingdom?
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When it comes to diseases, I would probably just use Pestilence daemons working for the Horseman of Pestilence. Maybe you could even make a Prince of Daemon who focuses on Pestilence, now if you don't have daemons in your cosmology for a reason or another, Alchemists work fine, some alchemists poisoning the rivers/water reserves so it infects the population little by little.
Involve the pc in the plot:
-If you want a sense of urgency, maybe they eat an inn and get the disease too or at least a friend/relative in the kingdom get the disease and they try to save said person or themselves.
-Some doctor is aware of the kingdom hiding the information and contacts the pc secretly, as they must go undercover and find a cure while not attracting the attention of the Empire and the Kingdom.
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Pestilence demons are good. Have you also looked at Giant Vultures? There's a goblin alchemist archetype called the winged marauder that flies around on a giant vulture. Now I am aware that someone who is helping elves is unlikely to hire goblins, but maybe you could have some other mercenary flying around on that giant vulture.
There are so many ways to spread disease in an enemy population. Here are some classics that were used historically:
1) Giving disease-ridden blankets to your enemy population in winter
2) Flinging corpses that died of the plague over a city wall (often using catapults]
3) Killing off vermin-hunting predators (such as cats) to encourage the spread of vermin
4) Finding immune people to act as "typhoid mary" by working serving food in public places.
5) Poisoning water supplies
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Don't inflict the disease on one of the PCs. But hitting a friend or ally with it is fair game. I like the idea of the having a scientist / doctor contact the PCs.
Maybe they come across a monastery where plague cases are being treated?
Another possibility is that they catch on of the agents for the Empire in the act of germ warfare...
An antipaladin, at least third level, is great for Hmm's number 4.
They're immune to all diseases, but can still spread them. And, at CE, they have no problems doing so.
None of the PCs are elves and don't have elves as close friends. I imagine there's a quantine camp on the tainted holy lands full of diseased elves doomed to die, but it would be heavily guarded and difficult to get to.
Evil plan backfires and the disease adapts to infect humans as well. The disease runs rampant. Party hears of a small human child perhaps immune to the disease but the family has all perished. Some alchemist NPC tells the party to bring the girl back to him for antidote/cure testing.
The problem? She lives in the empire's capital and the party is on their most wanted list.
Also, there's a dragon or something...
Sorry, hi-jacked your plot. Usually diseases go well with the "precious cargo" plot trope though.
2) How does the empire plan to spread the disease? Smuggle an allied elf in? Maybe the empire bribed a dragon to betray the kingdom?
Infected mosquitos and rats, just like in the real world.
I'd recommend checking out book 2 of the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path for ideas. It deals with a very similar concept. It basically assumes remove disease is available but those able to cast it are severely taxed due to the shear number of people contracting the disease faster than they can cure it. It gives the PCs multiple side quests each of which has the potential to save a number of people from dying of the disease at the event's conclusion. Ex. You stopped the disease from spreading through the sewers (saves 1000 people) + you stopped some undead that were spreading the disease (saves another 500 people). At the end, 1500 people are saved due to the PCs efforts. The adventure path has some good ideas for spreading the disease too but I'm not going to post the spoiler here.
An escort mission does seem like the best way so far.
Actually, I never thought of undead carrying the disease before. The kingdom's leaders wouldn't expect that either
2) How does the empire plan to spread the disease? Smuggle an allied elf in? Maybe the empire bribed a dragon to betray the kingdom?Infected mosquitos and rats, just like in the real world.
And using the Animal Messenger spell to speed things along.
The disease doesn't really spread through animals, though. Blargh.
Ah, I thought of a way! The disease can't spread through animals. However, the betrayer could baleful polymorph infected elves into easily portable animals to smuggle them out of the kingdom.