Last week during my Shackled City campaign, I had one of those DM'ing moments that made me smile all over. Following Life's Bazaar, the party had decided to visit the orphanage to check on Terem. They were asking a lot of questions about Terem's past and how his parents died, so, on the spur of the moment, I decided to throw them a bone. I decided that his parents had been killed by Triel in a fire, after her affair with Terem's father turned sour. I also decided that Triel was a Lathenmire, and that the incident had been the source of much gossip and rumor-mongering years ago, and Triel is now a black spot on the Lathenmire family that they would like to keep buried.
By revealing this, I was able to make the players feel rewarded for taking some initiative and looking into events a little more. At the same time, I was able to plant some seeds for later adventures and also give the party some "dirt" on the Stormblades, as the Stormblades are quickly becoming the party's most hated rivals.
The real reason I'm telling you, though, is that it would not have been possible without these boards. All of the wonderful ideas here are what inspired me to take extra steps to make the Stormblades a foil for the party. The contributors here have also pointed out weaknesses in how the adventures are linked together and provided suggestions for making them more cohesive. And I think that I even first came across the idea of Triel as a Lathenmire here on these boards.
So to everyone here, thanks! I'm looking forward to using your collective wisdom to torment my players for a long time to come. :)