I just got my copy of Broken Moon. Trial of the Beast ends with Judge Daramid revealing she is a member of the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, and there's all that stuff describing the secret society at the back of the book. What there wasn't was a lot of information on the Order's role in the campaign as a whole, which seems important given Daramid hints the PCs could join the order.
As such, I expected Book 3 to open with some more things about the Order, if they were going to be employing the party and what not. No dice. Am I missing something here? I feel weird dropping hints about a vague organization the party never actually interacts with. Can someone lay it out for me a bit more?
The role of the Order in Ustalav is discussed more in Rule of Fear and other sources. Notably, it played a role in the overthrow of the aristocracy in the Palatinates. The Order itself takes a narrative back seat until Book 5, but if you like the Order, it's easy to carry the threads of their sponsorship through the next couple of books.
For example, one of the guests at the lodge could be a covert member of the Order, who arouses the keeper's suspicions by attempting clandestine meetings with the PCs.
The role of the Order in Ustalav is discussed more in Rule of Fear and other sources. Notably, it played a role in the overthrow of the aristocracy in the Palatinates. The Order itself takes a narrative back seat until Book 5, but if you like the Order, it's easy to carry the threads of their sponsorship through the next couple of books.
For example, one of the guests at the lodge could be a covert member of the Order, who arouses the keeper's suspicions by attempting clandestine meetings with the PCs.
We had our first PC death recently-- a 5th swashbuckler who is the daughter of minor nobility from Versex County, which also is where Carrion Hill is located. The player has asked if it would be possible to do a side quest to raise money for a Resurrection between books. I told them it wasn't a bad idea, but probably wouldn't work out to keep the party in pursuit of the main quest due to timing. So now the Cleric has volunteered to leave (while THAT player brings in a PC she's more excited about) and try to get the Swashbuckler revived.
I'm thinking that the cleric takes the swashbuckler back to Versex, and the Order of the Palantine Eye (maybe not naming themselves as such) can offer the noble family a loan for the Resurrection spell and find them an appropriate cleric to cast it. Paying back the loan would bankrupt the family though, so that gives the swashbuckler, cleric, and a couple other new characters a chance to run the Carrion Hill Module and earn some money!
Does all that sound viable to you?