¡Saludetes!
I'm currently DM'ing AoW, and my players got so excited about the idea of the Champion's Games. From the first moment they found out they were going to be held, they wanted to get it.
In fact, they want too much to get in. They have just defeated Telakin and, although they know that out there there's a mind flyer who wants them dead, they are thinking about not search for him (it?) until after they've fought in the Games.
Of course, if they do that they won't know that Loris Raknian is a bad guy, and I'll have to change two or three things (perhaps with a pair of assasination attemps by the drow thralls before and during the Games - and maybe they'll stumble upon Raknian's plans while chasing the drow through the Coenoby). I don't want to break the fourth wall and force them to do tnings "in the order they're supposed to be", but definetely I don't want them to think that "the dungeon will still be there": I want to give my players the impression of a moving world in which the "bad guys" have their own plans, with the PCs getting involved or not.
Any advice?
(PS: sorry for my Grammar)
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Greetings Betote. Your grammar is excellent, so no worries errors in translation.
I was in the same situation of needing to fuse HoHR and CB into a large "Free City" installment of the AP. My reasons were the PCs were a little ahead of the game in XP and I really felt the doppelganger-based elements were a bit hackneyed for my players to do again.
So I had to lure the PCs into Zyrxog's machinations. I used the drow thralls to set ambushes and make it clear that someone wanted the PCs dead. I also had an old PC from the early parts of the campaign that had gone missing reappear with the drow and escape into the sewers. This led to a chase through the undercity until they found themselves at Zyrxog's doorstep.
I realize you likely haven't devised a lure as intriguing as a missing companion, but perhaps the drow have snuck into the PCs rooms and have stolen personal effects, items that can be used for scrying and the like. Maybe the arcane caster's familiar was stolen, or the favourite animal companion was taken. Hopefully that's enough to get the PCs to follow after.
If the PCs do not want to be railroaded, a natural instinct for some, then it's easy enough to place the hints you need in the time leading up to the Games. Eligos approaches the PCs about the Apostolic Scrolls and rumours that a powerful citizen of the City has purchased them. All the "celebrities" of the City will be at the Games and that's a likely place for the Scrolls to take affect. That should give the PCs enough material to go on to entice them into the adventure's plots. Drow, disguised as Arcane Auriga, attack the PCs the first night, sapping them of resources for the first match and making them realize that they're not safe in the Coenoby either. That may get them to explore where the drow came from and lead to the discovery of the Apostle.
Best of luck.
I don't face quite the same problem as you, but I may have some advice. My PCs haven't quite cottoned on to the fact that they might participate in the Games. They feel like that have important world-saving to do and they don't have time for silly Games. We'll see how that goes. However, I was concerned that they would be content to rest and recuperate and learn new spells etc. after they killed Telakin. This didn't sit well with me because Zyrxog is supposed to be scrying on them and fully aware of their presence. I couldn't rationalize the mind flayer sitting back and waiting for the PCs to come to him.
Luckily for me, a few well-placed comment from Eligos about the fact that mind flayers can be "implacable foes" that would continue to pursue them relentlessly was enough to get them going. Eligos couldn't help them defeat this enemy because he had his hands full rooting out the remaining doppelgangers in society and repairing the damage done to the Free City government infrastructure.
However, if the PCs had decided to rest, I decided that the mind flayer would just hire another minion to go after the PCs. Ultimately I settled on an Assassin/rogue. Lo and behold there's just such a character in the DMG II (actually an Assassin/rogue/ranger). I dropped the ranger levels to bring the CR down to something closer to the party. However, I really had no intention of allowing the PCs to fight the assassin. I wanted him to be firing off a death/sneak attack every once in a while and then disappearing regardless of the success of that attempt. I hadn't decided how to connect the assassin to Zyrxog, but it doesn't necessarily need to be anything elaborate. Assassin arrows could have Zyrxog's symbol on them for instance. The PCs are familiar with it and that should get them going. Once the mind flayer is dead, the assassin wouldn't have any reason to continue to kill the PCs because his employer and therefore his pay have dried up.
Hope that helps.