My 2 cents about this: Same like viking conquest make the option to do a storyline run or a sandbox run.
- Lost family: This segment of the game should be about fighting the different bandits, interacting with gang leaders and ransom brokers that got a hold on your brothers (You do a mission for them and the tell you the info/You kill them and make the gang leader a prisioner until he/she spills the beans) Finally you would found that they are slaves of a minor faction giving you the choice to storm their headquarters, barter their freedom, sneak into their turf or abandon your kin.
When you finish this quest your brothers should join your clan and party.
- Older Brother: Great warrior, tactitian, etc... great for creating another party.
- Younger Brother: Great merchant, charm and fast, ideal for creating a caravan.
- Younger Sister: Great Stewardship, engineering and medic ideal for a governor.
- Banner saga: Until this point only minor wars has broken out, the status quo is mostly mantained as wars would without conquest and only gold taken. However rumors of someone seraching for the remmants of the banner have worsened the relationships between realms. Now the real war starts while you are searching for the dragon banner.
I could see missions being:
The sturgian part: after asking lords about it they will point that it is said that the sturgians took the banner so you should aks them. A sturgian lord may tell you the story if your relationship is beyond x or x+ if you are from the empire or tell you for free if you are sturgian. They tell you that the banner was broken and while the high king kept the pieces 2 of them were stolen in a stormy night. In the end the only way to get the sturgian part is to beat the king in either a war, in a tournament or stealing sneaking in the keep.
The Asarai part: After you get 1 part you will encounter a courier from a rich merchant in Asarai, it seems that the got a hold on the 2º part and he wishes to purchase yours as well. The truth is that he is the child of the depised Asarai hero, and he intends to get the banner to clean his father name. So you can accept the offer and gain 100.000 on spot or you can decline, however if you decline bandits and mercenaries will try to hunt you down (big stacks not 4-15 stacks) When you confront the merchant about this he propose to make a bet to see who is more fitted to reforge the banner he taunts you to a gold race, the one who can make more gold in 1 month/year wins the bet and the banner: You can accept, you can sneak or you can decline and seize the banner by force.
The Empire part: The three emperors quarrel about who should have the banner while they stay in Licarion (no war between empires) So it is time for a trial in which you should convince and/or find ways to blackmail the emperors into submission in this matter. Of course you can be sneaky to and get the banner or fight the 3 emperor army and the garrison of Lycarion to retrieve it.
After you get the 3 parts of the banner you should decide between:
- Give the banner to a faction: You enter as vassal of said faction and recieve a huge recruitment bonus and lower wages for your soldiers.
- Unite the realm: Conquer everything.