Not sure if this is exactly the right place for this, but I have an idea for a fiction blog of sorts, and I'm looking for some contributors.
As a thought experiment, I think it would be interesting to have a group of people attempt to "conquer" Golarion (or likely just Avistan), though conquer isn't the best word, because it would not be through military force alone; they would have to find ways to position themselves to pull the strings of the major players in the world.
My thought on how best to "produce" this is to write it in the form of letters (either to each other or to a "benefactor" who is funding the operation), describing events as they take place, along with plans for the future.
I know this is a bit rambling, but if this sounds interesting to anyone, let me know and we can connect through email. I'm looking for strong writers who have a good working knowledge of Golarion and are willing to put the time into planning this and producing good content.
Or, if you don't want to participate but just have ideas on how a group would go about this, feel free to post here as well!
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This sounds interesting; feel free to email me - I'll PM you my address.
My personal favorite potential world-conquering baddies in the setting are the serpentfolk. I've played around some with ideas for what a full-scale serpentfolk reconquest of the overworld would look like.
Assuming that all of the sleeping serpentfolk elders are awoken, I figure they'd start by marshaling their forces in Seksmina and putting their house in order by taking on the drow.
Elves, drow or otherwise, tend to be hard to control and make poor slaves, but the chaotic and self-destructive nature of drow society would probably make their empire relatively easy for the Coils of Ydersius (serpentfolk reincarnated into the bodies of other humanoids) to infiltrate and destroy from within.
I suspect that the serpentfolk would find drow fleshwarping very interesting, and as masters of the arcane they would probably be able to figure it out fairly quickly once they'd subverted the great houses of the drow, and perhaps even improve on it somewhat. The re-conquest of Sekamina could bolster the serpentfolk armies with legions of driders and ghonhatine and the like.
Still, a simple military invasion of the surface world would be far too inelegant for the serpentfolk. To begin with, they would probably spend years deploying Coil infiltrators and dominating powerful individuals on the surface as they bred their armies of aapoph-caste warriors and fleshwarped nightmares thousands of feet below the surface.
Casting Cheliax and Taldor into civil war would probably not be beyond their power, nor would sparking a new war between Taldor and Qadira or between Cheliax and Andoran.
Perhaps their greatest opportunity, however, might lie in the Hold of Belkzen, where the brute strength of the orcish warlords would do little to save them from the machinations of a race of geniuses who can dominate minds with a thought. Like the Whispering Tyrant before them, they might, over time, gain power over an orcish horde of unprecedented size, and send their bloodthirsty, expendable thralls into a suicidal frenzy of carnage against the nearby lands held by civilized humanoids.
Only once the powers that be on the surface had exhausted themselves fighting one another would the serpentfolk-led army of horrors emerge from the Mobhad Leigh to usher in a new Age of Serpents.
I would see this as plot within plot within plot thing: conspiracies manipulate conspiracies knowing they are manipulated in turn and fight each other without knowing that they are just tools of one force (like Darth Sidious in Star Wars setting up a civil war to be elected leader, create a standing army, tighten control and eliminate Jedi Council).
Starting a war between Cheliax and Andoran could be a good start. Or between Taldor and Qadira. Or both.
Manipulating trade to enrich some regions and/or crash economies of some countries is also a great step.
Creating faux crisis and solving to gain publicity, fame or just placing own pawns in position of power is always a good way.
Some possible power players, conspiracies and pawns:
* Already mentioned serpentfolk, maybe a few active aboleths, dark forces of Dominion Of The Dark perhaps.
* Elven winter council (or whatever they are called, secret council of elder elven aides to the elven queen): Manipulating whoever they can to what they think will protect and strengthen elven interests.
* various cults of Norgorber: I'd see them as a puppets thinking they are the puppetmasters and being used by other factions for various purposes... Or at least others would think so...
* Prophecies of Kalistrade secret cult specializing in economic warefare: almost certainly pawns of someone else who uses them because of their economic expertise.
* Whispering Way: Throwing all the Avistan into war will shed enough bleed and bring enough death for an age of necromantic mastery undreamed of.