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1. The Kintargo Contract is described as needing the signature of a resident of Ravounel Forest. None of the existing political leadership of Ravounel is resident in Ravounel Forest. It is utterly marginal land outside of state administration. So basically, the PCs delve into it hoping to find anyone willing to be a proxy for the region. Their preexisting source of legitimacy doesn't matter; what matters is the Contract. Their role in securing state control over the region will grant them legitimacy within the state post-facto (this can be a selling point the PCs use to seek cooperation).
My plan is to connect them to an ongoing plot to make more tieflings by a cult of Belial (see thread on the Gardner, misspelled by moi, for the Handmaiden part.) They'll be the Midwives of Belial.
That's my best recommendation really, either handwave it like Kasoh or tie it in to existing plot threads.
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That's my best recommendation really, either handwave it like Kasoh or tie it in to existing plot threads.
It seems like OP isn't asking for immediately applicable advice. That is, it doesn't seem like OP's players are about to start doing the Kintargo Contract missions. If that is in fact the case, then OP could approach this from the other end: start laying the groundwork to care about what happens in Ravounel Forest early, before the players are supposed to go there.
Kintargo relies upon charcoal and peat (and to a lesser extent whale oil) for domestic and industrial fuels. Peat is traditionally cut in and around the swampy Revousa Ditches where the Katharevousa flows into the Yolubilis, and wood for charcoal is traditionally cut not from the big Ravounel Forest (which is reserved to the Archdukes and would be foreboding even if it wasn't) but from small satellite forests along the length of the Yolubilis (see the map in Tomorrow Must Burn for what I mean). However, the Yolubilis Valley has become deforested in recent years as demand for fuel has grown, so charcoal burners have tried entering the Ravounel Forest - some survive it, some don't. Some pay out the nose for protection, whether from the army, the Church of Asmodeus, or gangsters. Have the party encounter some of these as they travel upriver to Menador Keep, to acquaint the PCs with the area, its people and its problems so that they don't come out of the blue in Book 5.
1) As Zimmerwald said, they need the "representatives" of the forest to sign on to Ravounel. It's up to the players to decide who they think those representatives are. (The strix or the Grundlescorn Sisters)
2) "Resources" are likely food or areas that they use to conduct their haggish rituals. The hags and bone golem are a decent threat to NPC warriors of the Strix and the Strix are worried about losing any of their experienced fighters so there doesn't need to be more danger.
3) Page 43 describes that Solmestria and a few rangers are the only reason the Grundlescorn Sisters haven't been able to wipe out the tribe but Solmestria is worried that if the Grundlescorn Sisters aren't killed the Sisters will eventually kill all of the Strix.
Page 61 is describing the past and explaining how Solmestria became the tribal leader.
I see it as coming down to: Solmestria has been able to hold them off but is worried that the hags will come at them with too much force and that the Strix tribe could be wiped out if that happens.
4) If the players don't feel that getting the people of the forest on their side, that's their choice. The book tells you what happens if the forest and everything to the west of it isn't considered part of Ravounel.
A lot of book 5 might not be for all groups. It's political missions to gain allies.
I removed the mission with the aquatic elves because it felt too much like the mission in book 3 and I figured the people of Acisazi would already be willing to sign on with Kintargo.
If you're not feeling the Strix and Grundlescorn Sisters and don't think your group will enjoy it, don't run it, or handwave it (read: send NPCs to get the Strix to sign), or remove the hags and have it be a role-playing thing to gain the Strix's trust.
I felt like you do, and scratched it. I moved the Grundlescorn sisters and their cuddlies to guard the elevator to the Fane instead. (I replaced Mahathallah with the demon lord of witches Mestama, so I cut the Mahathallah thing completely out. In my version the soul anchors are vestiges from the connection of Golarion to the First World, which explains the presence of Fey in the AP to me and makes a better opponent IMO.)
In fact I replaced the whole Defenders in Silver part and had the nobles sign instead, since I felt that would be more in line with what Thrune and Hell would prefer rather than digging up random monsters and folks in the countryside and handing them a pen.
I replaced the scratched part with a subplot, where the well funded Thrune agent Luthon Malix (15th lvl magus) and the belier devil Nimloquot (backed by plenty of rost devil muscle) start a counter-rebellion named the Red Eagles, attracting disgruntled Asmodeans and loyalist. I used the maps from the slavers part along with some others. They attacked members of the Governors council and the Silver Council, killing the half-elf old woman (she got replaced by an estranged daughter the PCs had to find) and almost killing Jilia and committed other acts of terrorism. Worked out great as a sort of "the tables are turned"-type of twist.
I’m not sure I’ll be answering the question entirely but I’ll definitely give my roadmap for how I plan to run the entire thing.
First, the PCs approach the area near ravounel woods. There exist several hamlets in the area and I plan to convey to the PCs that these are small independent hamlets of poor farmers and woodsmen. None of them hold any real sway over the other.
There use to be a village with a mill on the border of Ravounel Forest, but it “completely disappeared” some years ago and the locals blame the haunted wood. Since then, the hamlets have fallen onto hard times. The locals warn the PCs not to go near the wood because they’ll never be heard from again.
Once the PCs enter the wood to investigate (they will right?!) they’re eventually met with the dream spell of a “Dryad” who tells them the ones they seek are the Strix and that no one near the woods will be safe with those murderous strix around.
If the PCs kill the strix no questions asked, it’ll appear as though they can nominate a local to lead the area. Which will work for a week or two but eventually all of those locals will disappear too and they’ll lose that part of Ravounel.
If they parley with the strix, they’ll find out about the witches and probably strike a deal with the strix for local logging rights.
This is essentially an anti-murder hobo encounter where everything is not as it seems or as they’re told. It’s up to you as a gm to reward those who choose to investigate instead of believing everything they hear.