Suggestions for a character's LoA

[NunoM]

I'm currently playing the Age of Worms adventure path, and, as part of an experiment in my gaming group, every player is taking turns at DMing for a few "chapters" in the campaign.

Well, it's my turn as DM now, so my Duskblade is taking a Leave of Absence (LoA) from the adventure path that will span aproximately from 7-10 levels. Ideally, i would go into a stand alone adventure to justify the level up, or simply level up the character and call it a day... but i'm not that simple

I know there are a lot of (semi-)professional storytellers in here, so i'm asking you for a few suggestions on what could be happening to the character, if i may...

Here's a quick summing up of the character's background so far:
Male Human Duskblade
- Son of a City Guard Sargeant, that requested assignment to a town on the outskirts of the main city, after an orc incursion in which his wife (the character's mother) died. His wife was visiting a relatives' farm out there.
- Youngest of 3 brothers.
- The father died as well (at character's age 7), after the town was once again raided by orcs. The orcs torched the farm in which his sons were hiding. The character has bad burn scars on the left side if his face and chest, because of this (justifying the bad rolls for CHA=6 and WIS=8). The father managed to fight off the horde, but succumbed to injuries.
- The kids were separated to live with various family members in differents cities.
- The character was handed to the care of an aunt on his father's side, in a city with an arcane academy.
- In that arcane academy he found his mentor, an elf Duskblade, who detected a nice mix of intelligence and physical abilty in the boy to encourage him into following the Duskblade's path (STR=16, INT=16, DEX=16, CON=15). That was also a place where he could escape the constant mocking and insults of the neighborhood kids for being scarred and ugly.

Personality:
- Workout freak. He blames himself for not being strong enough to help his father in the past, so he developed that habit.
- Curious, inquisitive and knowledge seeker. Always with a book in hand, when not adventuring (sometimes even while adventuring) or working out.
- Very protective of his family. He kept in touch with his brothers via letters. While adventuring, he sends letters to his aunt and brothers regularly.
- Very suspicious and not a very nice person on a first (or second, or third...) encounter. After gaining his trust, however, he can become a real ally.
- Very reserved, except when he finds something interesting, or someone who is able to answer some questions he seeks. If so, he keeps nagging them with direct questions and, sometimes, with blatant disregard for protocol (CHA 6, remember?)...

Long story short, this is it... What do you guys suggest this guy should be doing for 4 levels?

I have my own ideas, but i read some awesome plot suggestions around this forum, so i thought it wouldn't hurt tapping into that source of creativity, right?

Thanks in advance!

[geniussavant]

The first thing that comes to my mind is either something involving helping his brothers or his aunt. Or maybe he finally finds out why the orcs kept attacking that one farmsted and goes to convince them otherwise. It wouldn't be hard to justify the level ups that way. Something along the lines of he received a letter from his aunt saying the orcs have grown more brazen in the previous weeks and she asks him to come home to help stop the orcs from getting any stronger. It would fitthe character well and explain a leave of absence that granted levels.

[NunoM]

Well, i was thinking along the same lines...

As i took over the game, i gave the character an exit that could mean a lot of things... After the events in the Blackmarsh, Allustan delivered a letter to the character. After reading it, he left the party, heading for the nearest access to the main road.

Here's what i was thinking:
- the orcs have been attacking his hometown again, so he has a moral obligation to protect the settlement (and maybe fight alongside his brothers).
- the uncle or aunt is ill and dying, so he's recalled to the city for the ceremonies. During that time, some kind of peril or event happens in the Arcane Academy or the city itself, and he's called to intervene (maybe alongside his master).
- same as above, but it's the (female) cousin that is getting married. (Yes, he has a big big family) The cousin is quickly rising within the ranks of the Arcane Academy (she was the one that introduced the character to his master). This plot has the familiar twist of "the future cousin-in-law (does this expression even exist) isn't a very nice person, so the character has to prove that".
- one of his brothers (both of them are in the military now, but under the charge of different family members in different cities) calls him up for some kind of assistance.

Any one of these plots should have a closure (definite or not), that could allow the character to return to the party. His sense of duty is aimed to his family first, so if something is still incomplete, he probably won't leave their side.

Either way, please feel free to throw in your ideas here... Other plots, crazy ideas, whatever...

[geniussavant]

How about the academy has been burned down and needs to be rebuilt as well as the perpetrator caught and brought t justice. Bonus points if the perpetrator ends up being one of his family members or his master. They set the tower on fire to purge the corruption from it, but now face prison or death.

[Nunkuruji]

Which AoW chapter did you just finish, you could consider tying it back to some of the campaign elements

[NunoM]

The last chapter was "Encounter at Blackwall Keep".

The rest of the party is now in "The Hall of Harsh Reflexions". I'll be DMing "The Champion's Belt", and i don't have a clue of what happens after that

Tying it to the campaign elements is a good idea, as long as it doesn't mean spoilers and stuff like that.

I'm not sure if it's relevant to the adventure path (i wasn't DMing before), but the character is carrying some pieces of glass from the mirror/apparatus (???) found shattered in the Whispering Cairn tunnel, the one with a strange symbol, of which he also made a copy of (he always carries ink and paper/parchment for this kind of thing). Inquisitive as the character is, he made a mental note to research that when he had a chance.