Hints on the later events.... I've read GMs should give the PCs clues, but not sure how / with what?

[tro1984]

Semi spoilerish....

Spoiler:

I've read the the events surronding Pitax and Nyrissa come out of left field if you don't hint at them early on in some way

How did others foreshadow this?

[CalebTGordan]

I just started Book 2 but already have foreshadowing started.

My first piece of advice is to read all 6 books. Take notes of when Nyrissa is involved and take the time to expand things in just the right way that the players have a chance to notice.

Use the three clues method in each case, leaving three subtle clues that the players can discover. The more clues they discover, the better chance they have at realizing what is going on.

For Pitax, use the Kingdom building time to involve interaction between kingdoms. This takes some preparation ahead of time to do it right, but there are some great discussions here on the boards on how to handle it.

In my personal game, one of the players mockingly prayed out to the fey before the fight with the Stag Lord. He then was one-shoted in the first round of combat. Instead of having to deal with a new character, I had one of the Elder Fey whisk him away and give him a task to find and protect the sword Briar. She informed him that the Stag Lord was an agent of Nyrissa but didn't give much information on the nymph queen other then that she believed the Stolen Lands to be her kingdom.

So far, only he has this information and is very wary about sharing it. The player has told me isn't even sure he will share it with the other characters. He has reason to be cautious though, as he knows if Nyrissa finds out about his purpose she will hunt him down. She could also turn any of the PCs to her purposes if she desires.

[Bobson]

I gave the stag lord a ring of protection made with embedded green hairs, and the troll leader's fireball necklace is strung on green hair. Many people also work in Realm of the Fellnight Queen, but my players are already a bit ahead of the XP curve, so adding in yet anotehr adventure doesn't seem like a good idea. There's probably going to be no sign of Nyrissa in book 3, and then her signs will show up again in book 4, to give that "Wait... There's a connection here!" moment without making it as obvious as every final boss having green hair items.

I'm also adding alignment based "pillars" in the area, growing out of something really random I pulled out of nowhere for the dead unicorn. I added a solid, square stone pillar in the lake there that went down as far as they could dig underwater (actually, much, much farther). That's Law. Then Candlemere tower is Chaos. Vordanki's occulus is Evil, and the peaceful island near Pitax is (probably) Good.
I haven't quite worked out just what I'm foreshadowing with that, but I suspect that it's going to have something to do with Nyrissa breaking free.

[tarcandor]

Her lesser minions carry a ring made of green hair embedded in amber (similar to what Bobson said), one of my players, a half elven rogue also has a similar (very ancient) ring which she got from her elven mother as a family heirloom, so in her family history there has been some dealings with Nyrissa too.

Secondly: I've stolen the briarhearts from Skyrim as a plot device: Her major allies have all had their hearts removed and replaced with a briar. In game, I use this as a hint that something related to nature is involved, and it binds the major villains together. For the vilains, it means getting some immunities (like no bleed damage, no critical hits or sneak attack damage). Basically, giving them undead immunities without actually making them undead.

Still thinking on more ways to forshadow, so I'll keep an eye on this tread, and add more if I come up with something more