Agree with the last two posts. Having the Councilors of Vigil automatically treat everything the PCs have to say with suspicion was silly. Particularly the wizard guy from the academy. My party simply suggested he scry out Roslar's Coffer and see for himself that they were telling the truth.
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I struggled to keep things reasonable and believable around the authorities not immediately acting on a WMD threat. I managed to handwave Lastwall not having news of Roslar's Coffer since the next nearest farmland settlements were being beset by red dragons (linking in an unresolved plothook from a previous campaign), but upon arriving and letting people know, it was hard for me to come up with a reasonable excuse to delay/get them to look for evidence while keeping the authority figures sounding rational and reliable.
As a huge fan of Ustalav I'd have been so down for a jump to Ardis or even Caliphas! Get some Whispering Way vs Vampires action in the sewers!If I weren't about to start prepping Book 5 for when we're off of hiatus I would totally consider some Ustalav time.
remember: the authorities don't know that there's a threat of a WMD. no one knows what happened in Roslar's Coffer. The PCs have to investigate to find that out.
They don't start out with a solid theory of the case. And by the time they have some information, well... it's almost too late. And in fact, it is - only the PCs delving into the sewers can find out the actual truth, by which time, it's too late.
One thing I did add was that the orcs had started raiding across the frontier, and the Knights march out to join their allies in the Holds - Arstan Whitebeard [?] I can't remember his name - so the city is in a state of mobilization, and ultimately goes into the control of the female knight who later tries to flee the city. Then she can be a spoiler to the PCs, just ignoring their claims, and be a deaf ear.
That forces them to act - they gotta get absolute proof - so they follow every lead... and they are too late...