This was designed for a rather high level party in a very politically unstable world. The local government is being treated unfairly by the big federal-style empire ruling over them and the neighboring cities. The cities are currently in a state of alliance in trying to overthrow the central government, not through civil war (unless it comes to that) but through diplomatic means. The scenario is that the Emperor has a mysterious covert army, made up of people with assassin-type skills (in RM I use NightBlades). This army kidnaps the Emperor's heir's fiancee and tells her that they are revolutionaries supporting the revolutionary alliance. The Emperor then sends a small army force to each city to take the local government people into custody for questioning concerning the kidnapping, since he has found "clues that implicate them..." His plan is to take them into custody, then release the girl who will swear to her grave they were revolutionaries who kidnapped her, and thus he will have no recourse but to execute the troublesome barons. The Barons obviously are not going to go peacefully but then again they don't want an all out war. Have the Barons get some advanced notice somehow (spies with magic communication or whatever) so they can prepare. In my world I also had Paladins roaming the streets who supported the Empire. Now the Baron sends the city into an uproar to fight off the Emperor's troops. Catch is, the shadow army is here to catch the Baron alive (poison arrow comes to mind). As for what the PCs are doing, in my campaign they were rabid revolutionaries and they ran around killing Paladins and Emperor's troops until they saw the Baron and managed (plot catch) to see a guy aiming an arrow at him. They save the Baron's life and the Baron thanks them...and asks them to do him a favor. He's seen them working in the streets and knows they are good, plus they just saved him. He asks them to go to the capital city, speak to some of his spies there, and find out where the heir's fiancee is hidden. If they free her and convince her that the people behind her capture weren't rebels but someone else in disguise, then the Emperor will have to call off his troops and a war can be prevented. In my campaign they were also asked to delay the Emperor's reinforcement troops so they couldn't get to the city before the Barons were proven innocent. Note, this will probably not be possible without the PCs having access to some sort of teleportation/ instantaneous travel...