One of my players is a scion of House Orlovsky, a niece of Lord Poul. While thinking of political plotlines to add to this AP (my group is very keen on a heavy political atmosphere), I came across a bit of Scottish history that may just work, if I can get some advice on how to make it work.
Background: Poul Orlovsky has been holding out on swearing allegiance to Noleski Surtova as king of Brevoy, as the Orlovsky line has been loyal to House Rogarvia for centuries. Recently, a House Lebeda daughter married into House Garess under the promise that in exchange for Lebeda's wealth to ease their suffering, House Garess will support House Lebeda in future Land Council meetings (think Landsraad from Dune).
Lord MacDonald of Glencoe was the last to swear fealty. He first swore in front of a local magistrate, but some time after was told that was insufficient, and that he had to travel to a nearby village to swear in front of a higher ranking official. He attempted to get there before the deadline, but was caught in a snowstorm, and arrived six days after the deadline. He was assured it would be fine, no need to worry.
Some time later, a contingent of redcoats from Fort William showed up at MacDonald’s doorstep. They were offered shelter and food, as per Highland hospitality laws, and slept at Glencoe for two weeks.
On the last night, the redcoats waited until the MacDonalds were all asleep, then proceeded to massacre the entire clan present at Glencoe. They violated every known hospitality rite in Scotland under King William’s orders.
I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. I'm thinking that a House Garess contingent is forced to act as a patsy for House Lebeda, who are themselves Surtova loyalists. They will massacre House Orlovsky and make an example out of Lord Poul.
I'm thinking that what happens next is that, rather than forcing the rebellious faction of Brevoy into submission, it galvanizes them. They try to recruit my PC Orlovsky as some sort of leader against Noleski Surtova or something like that, and my players need to decide how their alliance lies. If they side against Noleski, Brevoy will be plunged into civil war that spills over into the Stolen Lands. If they side against the rebels, King Surtova will be an ally and newly-made tyrant.
What do you guys think?
How far through the game are you? If your characters are low level, they could be be seriously 'out-gunned' militarily and under-powered in the soft skills as well.
Last time I ran this, I hung the civil unrest out until after book 6 - with the various factions gearing up for war all the way through. My PCs were worth about the same as the Surtova's (militarily) in the end. (But you can manage those numbers as you choose)
Nether of my groups of players (I am running it again now) would have been able to cope with a campaign that politically heavy - so I kept the politics fairly light. But if your players are the political types - go for it :)
My players are currently low-level, but this plan is for the long game. I don't foresee this actually happening until probably Book 4 or so, though.
Nice - but Ouch :)
In books 4 and 5 they are liable to be fighting wars on the Western Front - which could mean they are fighting on two fronts at once. Interesting ....
I hope they are tactically good :)