Hmm.. Well they can be villains with good publicity. Cleaning up the city can be a viable goal whether evil or good. A LE city can be clean, well run and free of unsanctioned crime. Get rid of unsanctioned gangs like the Bastards, dispose of negligent nobles and law enforcement("Well Lord Mayor, if you had just paid your taxes instead of throwing these lavish parties, than you wouldn't be dangling over the scorpion pit.") and so on. IMO, if say Chammedy had tried to contact the PCs about dealing with the bad conditions of the city instead of some end of adventure meeting, than I suspect more PCs would team up with her.
Wish I had read this two months ago...
My party has currently JOINED UP with Ilnerik and Ecarrdian, so I'm in real uncharted territory, watching the PCs turn to Evil.
Ecarrdian was successful in releasing Liebdaga and doing a deal with him to stage a public dual in which Ecarrdian "banished" the devil and saved the city. So right now the Golden Scion is on top of the world, and the PCs actually WANT him to succeed and stick it to the man.
So... I might be leaning on your wisdom here to chart the way ahead.
Honestly that sounds awesome. I like it when things go sideways. It makes me feel like I'm playing along with my players instead of just telling my players the story. IMHO We should all just write a novel if that's what we are trying to do.
Also you could readjust things with Chammady in that she finds out about and doesn't like the contract that Eccardian signed. This could turn her into an enemy of Eccardian quicker, a rival for control of the council as her birthright, and possibly more sympathetic and an ally of your PC's. Lots of possibilities in it degenerating into gang warfare between the loyalists and the rebels and Chammady maybe offering the PC's a better deal in securing positions of power within the city and council if the PC's help her instead of Eccardian.
You're right. The Mammon factor may have to become the new threat, especially if Lady Kaltessa gets drawn into the fray. The PCs want to help the siblings, but the contract means that Chammady is increasingly under threat, while Ecarrdian is increasingly going off the rails.
