So ive got two side quests in mind and I want them both to tie in to the theme of the town's main problem.
I'm setting this up in Piren's Bluff since its on the way to Isger where the main storyline will take place.
The town is a mining town and the lumber consortium is taking advantage of problems in the town moving in and trying to poach the mining workforce for lumber jobs. The keeps forces normally patrol the roads and protect mining operations. That's all stopped with recent events and the Baron has not been seen outside the keep for months, though the keep guards still deliver his orders from time to time.
Certain members of town for their own reasons want the lumber consortium out.
Some are happy to profit off of the changes.
Side quest 1 clear out a section of the mines from monsters that have chased off the miners. (tie in to main issue is a serpent folk tunnel that leads beneath the keep. The tunnel can be used to get into the keep and the passage the serpent folk used to reach the surface can be caved in if players think of doing it)
Side quest 2 somehow get the lumber consortium to leave alone a grove the local herbalist frequents for staple herbs. This grove also has a slumbering dryad and twigjacks that the consortium would reward the players for clearing out by any means. (This will set up what the town can offer in trade later to the party when they create a settlement and influence who will be running the town) The consortium has a small security force of their own.
Both can be ignored if and the party could find some other way of getting into the keep which is the main goal. They need a pass to legally traverse the Isger/Andoran checkpoint which the baron can provide.
Entering the keep leads to the discovery that the baron has locked himself in his throne hall and his new advisor has warded the hall with some kind of magic. If on good terms with the guards they will share the baron's advisor comes out from time to time issuing strange orders, each time thought the orders have become more and more abnormal, and now the advisor says the baron is ordering sacrifices. The guards have not carried out the most recent orders, they have demanded to see the baron but haven't had success in bypassing the barrier themselves creating a standoff inside the keep. The baron has actually been killed and replaced by serpent folk using illusion spells to take his place. But its not easy even with this magic to pass themselves off and they have shut in the keep to keep exposure limited while they send word of their conquest and await reinforcements. There is tie in to the campaigns main villains and what they are trying to achieve but it wont be known to the players at this time, but there will be some clues as to the reason why these serpentfolk had an opportunity to get to the baron of this town and the assistance they received.
So there's a basic thing the party needs, the barons pass to get into Isger via the checkpoint.
The main problem, the baron is dead and no one is allowed in or out of the keep.
Some symptomatic issues that stemmed from the main problem with the mines filled with monsters and the lumber consortium moving in to poach the mining workforce.
the church of Asmodius is aware of the strangeness of the baron as of late but not the serpentfolk plot. They are also all for creating new legal contracts for the consortium allowing them claim of the land with the "Baron's" consent and compensation agreements with towns laborers.
The noble that owns the mines wants the barons soldiers back on patrol and the mines safe to work in again. Unlike the church of Asmodius he has not been granted an audience with the baron in months.
I was considering making the sidequests more of a timed thing, give them urgency. like the mine could have someone from town that wandered in and hasnt been seen (I'm thinking some of the smiths younger sons) and the lumbercamp might already be surrounded by fey and things could erupt into violence at any moment if not defused (if they learn of the dryad they could wake her and negotiate either to get her help scaring off the laborers or to leave for another place, with the dryad asleep the twigjacks are more inclined to violence especially to protect her).
if I do that though the party could try to split up to try and handle both situations (which could be fun if I do it right.) I'm just wondering if I should prepare the combats for a standard 4 player group. If they split up they can do both but the group with 3 will have a rougher time of it. If they dont split up they would trounce the encounters with no difficulty.
Any recommendations for how to handle this?