User:Luigifan18/Sapphire Showdown (3.5e Quest)/Introduction

The Quest's Start
As the PCs head off towards the next stop on their main quest, they stumble upon a Scofflaw and a Sapphire Hierarch engaged in mortal combat. The PCs are free to decide that this skirmish doesn't concern them; if they do, the fight goes on unhindered (which of the two combatants ultimately wins is left to the DM's discretion). The quest is ignored until 3d4 random encounters later, when about 3 Scofflaws are seen fighting 3 Sapphire Hierarchs, and this time, the battleground cuts off the PCs' path. The PCs can slip past unnoticed with a DC 30 Move Silently check, but if they choose not to or fail, they get caught in the crossfire.

If the PCs intervene or get caught in the middle of the fight, both sides are mildly upset at the interruption, but ignore the PCs as much as they can to continue fighting each other. Each side tries to get the PCs to help them, explaining that the fate of the universe is potentially at stake, but being too busy trying to kill each other and not be killed themselves to elaborate further.

Once the fight is concluded, the surviving side explains the situation as fully as they can, from their point of view. The Scofflaws will state that they have learned of the existence of an embodiment of law, the Sapphire Eidolon, and they feel that it's too dangerous to be allowed to exist. Such a strongly pro-chaotic point of view may or may not sit well with the players (who, if lawful, are completely free to turn on the Scofflaws and try to revive the Sapphire Hierarchs). The Sapphire Hierarchs, on the other hand, will explain that the forces of chaos have been gathering and wandering the planes, apparently searching for something, and the Order of the Sapphire Eidolon has decided that the chaotic wilders cannot be allowed to find whatever they're looking for. (At this point, the Sapphire Hierarchs don't know that the Scofflaws are actually looking for the Sapphire Eidolon.) This may cause the PCs to decide to try to find the object the Scofflaws are looking for, mistakenly believing it to be a powerful artifact, and potentially double-crossing the Order of the Sapphire Eidolon in order to do so.