Quick plot ideas for Dragon-ruled kingdom

[Scarey Nerd]

It was decided about 15 minutes ago that I will run a D&D game tomorrow. I'm having a total mental blank and cannot think of a decent plot. The game is going to start in the capital city of a mainly human Kingdom, currently "ruled" by a Red Great Wyrm who swooped in about 100 years ago, give or take a decade, basically proclaimed himself ruler and made the kingdom an economic power house so that his treasury would grow and grow, but now he sleeps atop the gold and his 3 sons vie for control. Because of the harsh taxes that bring gold to the treasury, a lot of the poorer citizens use a mundane bartering system, but gold is still the most commonly used currency.

The party will be starting at level 4. I just need some relatively simple ideas that I can work with, because at the moment I'm striking out.

[Segev]

Out of curiosity, are the sons dragons or half-dragons? What/who are their mothers?


Some ideas...

Bandits have stolen the taxes owed by the largest farmer in the area. The (half-?)dragon prince who is responsible for the area (or the designated local tax collector, who should be a dangerous individual in his own right) is not going to take "it was stolen" as an answer. It is unknown whether the farmer's daughter might be taken as tribute instead, or if an even worse fate awaits the whole family, but they're desperate for somebody to get their tax money back from the bandits.
A particularly enlightened Baron has managed to get away with relatively light taxes for the region by having remarkably high economic output (in part inspired, he swears, by his lighter tax policies) that keeps him abreast of the wealth contributed to the dragon-king's coffers by other nobles. Unfortunately, a hobgoblin mercenary company has designs on claiming his nobility and installing themselves as overlords of the region. They have begun pillaging the countryside and turning the "seed crop" of wealth the Baron usually allows to continue to grow more money for the future as a tribute of their own to the dragon-king. They may soon have a meeting with one of the princes, and if they can impress him with their lavish tribute...
One of the princes is fond of spectacle, and the local nobility are commissioning a collaseum in which to have gladiatorial matches. Not only does this, itself, provide a future place for adventurers to show off, but they're currently paying handsomely for exotic and dangerous beasts to put on display and for gladiators to fight.
A drunken adventuring party was overheard bragging about having stolen from the king's hoard. They've already spent a fair bit of it, but still have a lot on them. It's here in town. If it's not ALL back in the hoard before the dragon or his sons find out, the punishment for the area will be terrible.

[Scarey Nerd]

Two of them are pure dragons, the other is half-dragon (Just to fulfill a trope, the Dragon-King married the princess when he moved in to essentially make his lineage in some way legitimate), but the half-dragon is the most brutal and cunning of the three, since what he lacks in physical ability in comparison, he has to make up for in other areas.

[Fable Wright]

The dragon has announced that he's going to be touring the kingdom, and his route happens to be passing through the PC's town. Chaos ensues as the mayor orders a crackdown on crime, hoping to spare the town from the dragon's wrath (as the last seedy town the dragon passed through was burned to the ground), and he struggles desperately to find a proper gift/tribute for the king. The town's treasury is running out, the police force is running thin and demanding overtime pay, the mayor needs a gift that the dragon will appreciate (e.g. not Magic-Mart gear), the criminals are becoming more bold just to stay afloat, and people are desperately trying to dragon-proof bunkers beneath their homes and may need special materials.

There should be enough in there to make an adventure or three.