I love this idea. My second zone is the hometown of the half-orc that starts the quest chain in Wizard Training Mansion. There is definitely going to be connections between my areas and I have no problem connecting them to other zones as well. Quests are the highlights of my zones that include nice rewards and will get more difficult at higher levels.
Does Lady Raven need to be tuned down? I made her difficult on purpose. I did quite a bit of testing with multiple classes. Let me know if a tune down is required.