Storyline ideas needed

[Muddman72]

Alright, let me set it up for you:

Heroes have just saved the princess and defeated her usurper brother to put her back on the throne, as she should be. Sadly, she is the uber bad guy the PCs have suspected was around since the beginning. Using a trio of books her cult has stolen over the course of the last 5 levels, she summons the attention of Atropus, an undead god formed from an undead moon that is now heading towards their world. The dead of the civil war have risen as powerful undead and they were forced to flee the city.

The end game is for them to face the big bad evil undead entity on his moon when it arrives. But, what kind of adventures should they be doing in the meantime?

[Nathan Monson]

How long do you want to occupy the PCs?
You could have them being hunted by agents of the queen;
They could try to sneak back into the city to assassinate her in an attempt to stop the ritual (Doomed to fail of course, but they don't know that.)
They could go looking for something/someone to help them fight the undead
They could try to discover more about the history of the cult/ moon/ undead god.
it kind of depends on how long you want them to adventure before the grand finale, and on how you want to get the PCs there; if they know what is coming they would probably try to stop it, if they don't know about the god yet, then you need to figure out when you want them to know.

[Vinedragon]

Depending on how much the PCs know, you could set up an adventure for them to lead up to the discovery of the BBEG, small clues leading into bigger prospects and all that. A slip-up from the cult, a black market dealer a bit too happy about a recent sell, etcetera.

Looking for ways to stop the moon (if they know about it heading down) could work, which could eventually lead them full circle back to the city in order to finish off with a bang. All of this could of course be tied in with having them do a sort of damage control as well, there's a bunch of powerful undead around and i'm assuming that she's in the capital of the kingdom. There's several opportunities to have villages and the like give the party both a reason to help them (aside from just being good) and have them learn about the enemy they're about to face. Maybe get some outside help from other races/armies?

If we got more info, we could always throw out more. This is just general stuff, though.

[Guardianlord]

Well, that really isn't a lot to go on, a little more elaboration might help the community give more concise answers, here are a few generic ideas:

-Putting to rest undead mobs, or minor intelligent undead that are causing misery for everyone in villages around the capitol.
-Gathering allies (diplomacy, proof of combat prowess, bribes, blackmail, favours, etc), from the no doubt scattered lords.
-Finding magical weapons and armour, for the big fight (hey that dragon probably has something good, I heard about this burried bandit treasure..., etc).
-Looking for lost knowledge (or a person/creature/entity with that knowledge), to help in the big fight later (weaknesses, powers, etc).
-80's training montage with their dying kung fu master, who has a personal rivalry with the new (Undead) kung fu court master! (Show them your special technique PC-San!)
-Camping and getting a good nights rest, spells and saves need a good nights rest.
-Looking for a superspell/weapon or the ingredients to craft it (how does this weird old gnome hermit know so much about this thaumagical stuff, and yet he still forgets what pants are for?)
-Blocking passes, ruining bridges, trapping supplies, raiding scouts, etc. Whatever they can do to hinder or harm the enemy armies to make getting in to the city easier later (Including spying on commanders and mini-bosses) .
-Making sure they drink plenty of milk, and eat all their vegetables, growing barbarians can't rage on an empty tummy.
-Finding, and convincing a team of legendary heroes to help them form a commando group that will let them infiltrate the city later (and one JUST wants to be retired, but he comes out for one last, fatal, fight).

[Trekkie90909]

There's a rumor that your princess is in another castle; the one you rescued is a fake? Pretty easy to keep extending that for a bit if you're just trying to waste their time.

[Bob Bob Bob]

So step 1: Have them meet a mask salesman who only sells cursed masks. Sell them ones that turn them into a vegepygmy.

Step 2: Have them run around town trying to retrieve the McGuffin that will uncurse them while the giant moon approaches. When they finally get the McGuffin have it send them back in time to when they bought the stupid mask. Either never have them buy the mask or have the mask salesman uncurse them.

Step 3: Poison swamp area filled with plant monsters, fight way to source of the poison to cure the swamp and release a creature that can hold back the moon.

Step 4: Land of perpetual winter, fight rock and underground monsters while going to the heart of a volcano to free another creature.

Step 5: Boiling ocean and hidden undersea temple sealing yet another creature. Friendly merfolk willing to help if you do a favor for them.

Step 6: Uncontrolled undead hordes and a haunted castle sealing the final creature.

72 hour time limit on everything.