Looking for political/intrigue ideas

[Rhavin]

Ok, so I'll start with what I've got for NPC's who are opposing the PC's (hereafter the villians). I've got a Baron who will eventually try to stage a coup but is currently trying to build his power base (likely at the PC's expense). I've got a Knight who has carved a new set of estates out of wild territory to prove that his worth is not completely based on his birth, and would probably like to be the baron in this new county (The PC's would like one of them to be that new baron). The Knight's wife, whose ambition regarding her husband will lead her to do just about anything to see him (and thus her) gain in power. A merchant who has just purchased land in the area and will likely try to expand his holdings with backing from the Knight's wife and the Baron. Assorted cat's paws as necessary to carry out the schemes of my group of villains.

Here's the setup. The PC's have also carved land grants out of wild territory by killing off the monsters that used to inhabit it and are thus guaranteed a Knighthood for services rendered. This new expansion will form a new county in the kingdom which will be governed by a baron chosen from the knights in the county.

So, for some of the early plots, I'm planning on "bandits" raiding the PC's holdings to make them look incompetent to run things, followed by a bit of sabotage for the same purpose. After that I'm running quickly out of ideas to flesh out and would like to hear any ideas that you all can come up with. For now, I'm looking for ideas that are independant of a particular ruleset, though I'm using Savage Worlds.