Need a good hook

[Leviathan of Maddoc]

So I' need to be ready to start the next Fading Suns story in the next few weeks and I'm having trouble forming a hook. I don't yet know what characters I'll have to deal with but I'm almost sure one will be a Decados Noble.

The game is set in rural Cadiz. The game will open at the funeral of a poorly liked Decados Baroness where the PCs will reunite after many years. The Funeral and it's fallout is meant as the first domino-fall of the plot. I'd like that first game to fill them with a sense that something is very wrong in the local Barony and they might be empowered to make a difference. The scope of the game is intended for the players to face a number of villains that are causing a problems throughout the valley as they are thrust into the role of saviors of a depressed and poorly ruled post-war County. Along the way they will gain the trust of some fairly powerful Decados Lords and the Bishop of the Diocese who want to improve stability in the region but find that their hands are tied politically.

The actual theme of the game is Hope and hopefully much of the impact of the game will be in how the game changes around the players as their typical PC actions begin to restore hope to people who have surrendered to the fatalistic decline of the County.

What I'm looking for are vignettes that can be dropped into the Funeral Event and possibly the Wedding Event that will follow that will cause players to go from visitors with little or no stake in the Valley to persons with a motivation to take action. Once word spreads of the character's heroic deeds further dominoes will begin to fall as people seek their help or take measures to stop them.

[Holz]

Leviathan,
you've got a great plot.

If I may suggest, use some of the Players background as hooks. Did the players gave you some background? You could tie that with what they know and what is different, tying them in the story. If you done that already, the first "domino" could me a misinformation. Like the baroness was sick and died, and another person closer and more reliable says that she was healthy and died. Two version might make them start feeling strange things, and that odd uncle that never got involved is coming to the funeral and he inspect the estates all the time.
That a starter...

Hope it helped!