Nostik

Nostik calls 8 people to a secretive meeting in ReishaMountain. There, his butler meets all of you and takes you to NostiksManor. He briefs you about Malkaron, the StaffOfXenarum, recent monster sightings, etc. and sends you on a quest to find this staff before Malkaron's minions do.

(from an email on 3rd May)
As it stands on MergedPlans and FuturePlans, each character has his/her personal reasons for going on this quest. Then their personalities really shine when the subplots are played out and you see who they are and what they're like.

So now we have to figure out who Nostik is and what the quest is that he sends us on. It seems inconsistant with the fact that there are even these subplots (and the fact that the others get caught up in helping with them, which is where you meet up with them) with the "Malkaron enslaved me and you need to find my staff!" line.

Suggestions I've received so far:

• Nostik is a great wizard who is promising to teach one (or all) of you a Great Magic. What that magic is, is inspecific so you don't know if it's "power over death," "reverse werewolf bites," or simply "turn water into rum."
• Nostik was indeed captured by Malkaron but was blinded and can't go out himself. The staff has special healing powers that he wants.
• Nostik is old and senile and just wants the staff before he dies to add to his treasure room full of artifacts from around the world.
• Nostik has been deceived by Malkaron that the staff even exists and wants to go look for it. Malkaron simply has a grudge against him and wants him to fall into a trap. Nostik is paranoid of this and sends you instead.
• Nostik wants to marry someone's daughter and was sent out himself to fetch the staff. He is a coward at heart but very shrewd, so gets the 8 of you to do all the hard work for him so he can get the credit and the girl's hand in marriage.
• Nostik and Malkaron are working together, or Nostik is Malkaron's hireling. The staff is supposed to have power enough to conjure up the dead and Malkaron wants that power for himself.
• Nostik is a scholar who read about the fabled magic of the staff and needs a little help tracking down the clues. Malkaron caught wind of it and wants the staff for himself.
• Nostik's wife is upstairs dying of crabgrass fever and he needs the staff to heal her.
• Monsters have invaded the land from somewhere unknown and you must find out where they are coming from. Malkaron is a terrible demon who also came out of it and is wreaking havoc everywhere. Only along the way do you realise that this staff could possibly fix everything. This would explain why each of the characters gets sidetracked with monster-related quests, each of them having different ideas of what is causing the increase in evil in the world.

TT: I think this last one would be the best one to develop, since it would make sense as to why everyone gets pulled into these subplots (where you subsequently meet them so they join your party). Nostik's role can also be combined with a couple other of these above thoughts to really build some interest. (See NewPlot)