Story Ideas

Epic arcs have to begin somewhere, right?

Level 1-2: The PCs are local folk in a town (Loudwater?), and the adventure starts with local kids being kidnapped one night. Tracks lead to a nearby forest known ot have fey connections (Dire Wood). Kids are rescued from night goblins/gnomes/other mischeivious fey. Tone is a cross between light-hearted and malicious. Can draw inspiration from "Rescue at Rivenroar", Dun 155, if needed.
Level 1: "Elves of the Valley", Dun 178 (delve). Local elves are corrupted by a dark creature and turn to banditry. Destroying the creature and restoring the elves earns their friendship.
Level 2-3: The heroes are sent to investigate, "Menace of the Icy Spire", Dun 159. Breaking the ice ward on the tower earns a visit from the winter fey, who claim a debt from the PCs to be repaid later.
Level 4: "Stormcrow Tor", Dun 169 (delve, perhaps to obtain the Wrathstone artifact).

Level 7ish: "Treed", Dun 171. Very short encounter to help desparate elves, and meet a gnome arcanist who might be useful later. Maybe elves from Level 1.
Level 7ish: "Danger at the White Lotus Academy", Dun 165 (filler delve). Perhaps tied to an errand leading to the "House of Pain" adventure later on.
Level 8-9: "Last Breath of Ashenport", Dun 157? (Filler)
Level 9ish: "House of Pain", Dun163. Two encounters, short conclusion. A Shadar-kai witch is turning fey to shadow against their will. Recovering the ritual from the temple in the module could be a favor called in by some fey liege. Would need to get the story to the point where the PCs end up at an Underdark portal to the Shadowfell. Could introduce a shadow nemesis for later.
Level 10-11: "Dark Heart of Mithrendain", Dun 157 (Intro to Feywild)
Level 12: "Worse Than Death", Dun 164. Possible side-trek, or a trick from the Gloaming fey to see test the PCs character. A rich lord has been kidnapped, and the PCs are hired by his mistress to rescue him. Only the lord turns out to be a succubus, who has faked the kidnapping and lures the PCs to an insane eladrin's lair.
Level 13: "Clash of Steel", Dun 172 - A triple-cross gang war between disguised dragons (filler).

Level 15: "Caves of Menace", DD pg 96 - short delve to rescue kidnapped eladrin nobles and prevent a fomorian/eladrin war.
Level 15-17: "Throne of the Stone-Skinned King", Dun 166. Story would have to be adjusted, but the heart of it is bargaining with a Fomorian king, using a winter relic, to establish an alliance/truce.
Level 18: "Summer's End", DD pg 114. Can be expanded to provide an intro to the Wild Hunt.

Level 22-almost 24: "Winter of the Witch", Dun 162, pits the PCs against a powerful winter fey. Can be tied to the Level 2 module. The PCs are definitely against the Winter Court now, which will lead to a direct confrontation with the Prince of Frost.

Other random story arcs:
- Once in the feywild, the PCs are recruited to negotiate a cease-fire between two archfey, the Cat Lord and the Wolf King. They have both claimed a section of forest near an eladrin city as their demesne, and are fighting over it, well, like cats and dogs. The eladrin need it to stop.
- Rip off "the Phantom Tollbooth": The PCs visit a town that is shabby and dismal, and random things just happen - there's no rhyme or reason to it. After speaking with the local lord, the PCs find out it is literally true - the princesses Rhyme and Reason have been imprisoned by their two brothers, who didn't agree over a decision they had made. The first king wants them back, but the brother (who is king somewhere else) must agree. When the PCs visit him, they must work around the fact that the brothers won't ever agree; proving the point that they have agreed to disagree earns the brother's blessing and entrance to the dungeon holding the princesses.
- Purge a tower claimed by a mad goblin lord. It is covered with twitching vines of unnatural hue, and the crazy alchemist is making a nuisance of himself. It's a classic dungeon-tower crawl, with as many odd and absurd thing as possible. The whole place should illicite a three letter response - "wtf?"
- Remember some fey are kind and compassionate, others are ruthless. Some are fascinated by mortals, and want to keep them as pets.
- The PCs are engaged to fight in an arena under false pretenses - they are told it is team vs team, but then they are the only ones who show up and the rules are changed that they must fight each other because only one person can leave the arena. If they refuse to fight, the response is "well, someone has to leave alone, so here's someone who will kill all of you" and a solo beasty is introduced.
- The PCs are caught by firbolgs, who live only for the hunt. They are told "we can either kill you now, or you can let us hunt you. Make it entertaining, and you might even live." They are given a headstart defined by a timer - an hourglass who's speed changes relative to something (distance, efforts to escape, etc). This would be an event early in the PCs feywild career, when they can't hope to win their freedom, and the threat of being hunted should hang over their heads for a few levels so they are always looking over their shoulders waiting for it.
- Save the Maiden of the Moon (archfey) from a plot by the alliance of the Harrowhame fomorians and the Brokenstone Vale lycanthropes.