u/Traditional_Bell5045

...that can serve as the base for a gameable hook for my new campaign world.

For example:

>In the western valleys, at the base of the great Mount Rhos, a strong iron gate once barred the way to a dwarven city. But when the Corachod were turned to stone, the gate rusted. The Red Gate now bars entry into a city of gold and jewels, though touch but one of the glittering baubles, and the Corachod will awake and crush you beneath their stone feet.

In context, the setting is Welsh-inspired, but with a healthy dose of upland bogs, moors, and mist. Elves are not playable, and once lived in the region, but are no more. Dwarves all turned to stone a century ago (cause unknown), and halflings live in small riverside communities (think the Nelwyn from Willow). Oh and the land has been recently (20ish years ago) conquered by an immortal Witch Queen.

The tone of the world is like...Hawk the Slayer mixed with the art of Larry Elmore. I know...

None of that is necessary. I'm just lookin for cool ideas and inspirations for my world! I will pilfer anything you all share. Thanks!

TL:DR -

I'm looking for 3 sentence folktales/legends/rumors that are *gameable* for my new campaign.

I am about to start a new campaign on Monday using Shadowdark - it's going to be a sandbox, with a sort of home-base clearing/building/expanding mechanic.

The idea is that the party has some obscure claim to a monster-infested keep in the borderlands, and have arrived to make good their claim. The region bore the brunt of the Evil Sorceress^(tm) and her Invading Army a generation ago, so it's full of ruins and old battlefields. The current overlord of the region is one of her minor lieutenants who rules from the only standing castle in the area.

Sooo the party will be simultaneously trying to lay claim to the land, avoid outright hostility (until the right time), and get enough power and support from the locals to eventually make good their claim. Should involve plenty of dungeon-crawling, careful town excursions, and helping locals to show they are reliable.

Anywayyyyy

My question is how to start off? I have a vague idea of starting the party off having been captured by a press-gang of the overlord's, on their way to one of the local mines. I was imagining one of those wagons with the cage built onto the bed. In my mind, I had the idea of starting just as they're stopped for the night, the gang gathered around the fire, and the thief in the party picking the lock of the cage...

But...I have no idea if this is the right tone to set. It would involve starting them off with nothing, and they might all just die in the escape attempt...

So I'm brainstorming other ways of starting things off.

Tl:DR -

What are some of the best ways you've started campaigns before? And how do you get the players feeling energized from the get-go?