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Small note: If any of my players are reading the forum? Scat! No spoilers for you! I WILL be evil if I have to be.
I will admit that sometimes I overthink things. This is why I ended up having Rokhar end up the group's "guide" to get them to the Winter Portal. It actually makes sense in that Rokhar has been in the area and would use his knowledge as a means of negotiating his continued survival.
That said, there's no way I can let as wonderful a villain go to waste! And seeing that I'll be incorporating Mythic rules into my game, I even had the perfect method of ensuring that ONLY the PCs get Mythic Tiers while the two NPCs remain "mortal." (Well, it's more that the Paladin will refuse the Mantle; it makes a lot of sense, and also helps diminish the impact the Paladin and Sorcerer/Druid will have; assuming they live through the entire series!)
So with the Paladin bowing out... I decided to steal a page from the book of another GM who was going to have the potential of the Mantle in the helmet of Illarion Matveius (Black Midnight). Each character will then have to touch the Helmet... and thus gain Mythic potential. I'm not quite sure if I'll have one player at a time touch the Helmet (which holds enough Mythic essence for five people) and have everyone stunned for a round by the power invoked... or have everyone at once touch it.
But the NPC Druid? She's going to end up backstabbed by Rokhar (who'll steal a dagger from one of the other PCs) and he'll touch the helmet instead. I've altered Rokhar's writeup (I already had him with one level of Rogue as it made sense to me (along with a level of cleric so he'd stand a chance against my group, and gave him a second level of rogue. I also chose to increase his stats so he's a 25-point build; this is still lower than the PCs (though not the NPCs) who rolled well for their stats.
He will have the same goal as the PCs. He wants to free Baba Yaga. But he's going to try and do it with his OWN lackeys that he'll recruit along the way... and be a Linear Guild to the PC's OotS.
XP 1600
Male Human (Taldan) Cleric 4 Rogue 2
NE Medium Humanoid (human)
Init +7; Senses Perception +9
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Defense
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AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 10 (+3 Dex)
hp 47 (6d8+7)
Fort +3, Ref +7, Will +8
Defensive Abilities copy cat (su) (7/day), evasion
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 Returning Dagger +9 (1d4+4/19-20/x2)
Special Attacks bleeding touch 2 rounds (7/day), sneak attack +1d6
Spell-Like Abilities Bleeding Touch 2 rounds (7/day), Copy Cat (Su) (7/day)
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 4):
2 (3/day) Compassionate Ally (DC 16), Cure Moderate Wounds, Hold Person (DC 16), Invisibility [M]
1 (4/day) Shield of Faith, Sanctuary (DC 15), Cause Fear (DC 15), Cure Light Wounds, Endure Elements
0 (at will) Resistance, Bleed (DC 14), Purify Food and Drink (DC 14), Detect Poison
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 16, Con 8, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 14
Base Atk +4; CMB +6; CMD 19
Feats Deft Hands, Dual Path (Hierophant) [Mythic], Improved Initiative, Toughness, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +7, Bluff +8, Disable Device +11, Disguise +9, Escape Artist +7, Intimidate +6, Knowledge (local) +5, Perception +9 (+10 to locate traps), Sense Motive +8, Sleight of Hand +12, Stealth +11, Survival +5, Use Magic Device +9
Languages Common
SQ aura, cleric channel negative energy 2d6 (5/day) (dc 14), domains (death, trickery), hard to kill, rogue talents (bleeding attack +1), spontaneous casting, surge, trapfinding +1
Other Gear +2 Returning Dagger, Unholy symbol, wooden (Norgorber), You have no money!
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Special Abilities
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Aura (Ex) The Cleric has an aura corresponding to his deity's alignment.
Bleeding Attack +1 (Ex) Sneak attacks also deal 1 bleed damage/round.
Bleeding Touch 2 rounds (7/day) (Sp) Melee touch attack deals 1d6 bleeding damage.
Cleric Channel Negative Energy 2d6 (5/day) (DC 14) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Cleric Domain (Death) Granted Powers: You can cause the living to bleed at a touch, and find comfort in the presence of the dead.
Cleric Domain (Trickery) Granted Powers: You are a master of illusions and deceptions. Bluff, Disguise, and Stealth are class skills.
Copy Cat (Su) (7/day) (Sp) Create a single mirror image duplicate
Evasion (Ex) If you succeed at a Reflex save for half damage, you take none instead.
Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2.
Inspired Spell (Su) Use 1 power, cast one divine spell from your class spell list at +2 CL, it doesn't need to be known/memorized.
Sneak Attack +1d6 +1d6 damage if you flank your target or your target is flat-footed.
Spontaneous Casting The Cleric can convert stored spells into Cure or Inflict spells.
Surge (1d6) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount.
Surprise Strike (Ex) As a swift action, use 1 power to attack foe in 30 ft. They are flat footed and you bypass all DR.
Trapfinding +1 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
Mythic Abilities: Surprise Strike, Inspired Spell; Mythic Spellcasting (Invisibility)
The dagger will be stolen from the PCs; it's the only magic weapon they had coming into the game (ironically, the wizard/cleric has held onto it despite being able to "throw" his bastard sword with his generalist wizard ability).
Naturally, first thing he'll do is flee (after attacking a couple of times; once before being empowered, the second time as he flees and just before he casts Sanctuary. When on the other side of the gate he'll use Invisibility and then Summon Monster twice - first for a small Air Elemental to create a whirlwind and blind the area, and second a Horse so he can flee on horseback for several rounds - enough so he's out of range. He may very well do this a couple more times.
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Awesome. I've already planned on Rohkar being the hook that gets the PCs together in the first place: a crime boss hires the PCs to take out Rohkar because he's been causing causing the boss all kinds of trouble AND he stole the love interest of the boss away with a more lucrative pay day (that would be Ten-Penny Tacey). And this is all before they discover Rohkar has kidnapped Lady Argentea. I want the PCs to be sick of hearing this guy's name before they even meet him.
But adding your idea into the mix makes it even better, especially if he takes out an NPC who was part of the team. It gives the PCs extra incentive to chase after the Hut instead of falling back on the Geas effect all the time. "We'd better keep up or that jerk Rohkar is going to beat us to it."
I wonder if Rohkar could stow away inside the Hut when the party eventually claims it and starts travelling worlds?