This is the first of several divine seeds. The Plague of Ignorance mostly concerns Ynborh, the god of knowledge. However, other deities might be involved. You can see the full pantheon here.
Synopsis: A memory-stealing mist has begun to spread around the land.
A shimmering violet mist has begun to rise in seemingly random parts of the continent. Those caught in the mist begin to lose memories. The longer they are in the mist, the more they forget. Even scholars have forgotten things they have learned. The mist is visible, so it can sometimes be avoided, but it’s spread is concerning to all, particularly the Ynborhian faithful.
Germinate
Here are some secrets that might fit with the seed. Use all (or some) of them at your discretion and adapt them to your world.
- The mist is the collective work of the chaotic deities,Tigta, Zodite, and Rades.
- Over time, the mist does not just erase memories. It replaces them with false ones.
- Worshippers of Ynborh appear to be more affected than others.
- The mist emanates from swamps and floats with the wind.
- The memory loss is temporary if the afflicted person does not stay inside it for too long.
- No priest spell can cure the effects of the mists.
- Protection from evil spells prevent the mist’s effects.
- The mist is, to some extent, a living force.
- All of the lost memories go to a large dead tree in the middle of a swamp.
- The lost memories are accessible to others if they know what they are doing.
Grow (Ideas)
This could easily grow into all sorts of encounters, depending on how much the mist has spread. Example encounters include interactions with NPCs who forget conversations with the characters (or forget the characters altogether). Characters might find themselves near or in the mist. Maybe the characters meet with priests of Ynborh (or one of the chaotic deities). A DM looking for new combat choices might have the lost memories manifest as creatures.
This could also spawn different adventures over the course of a few sessions. One obvious choice is for the players to seek the source of the mist to cleanse or destroy it. If there is a priest of a deity of knowledge among the characters, it would make sense for them to be particularly concerned about the mist. The characters might even find useful information in the memory vault.
This seed could grow into a full campaign, or as an element of a campaign, fairly easily. Much like the adventure, the campaign might focus on finding the cause of the mist and destroying it (with more steps in between). A campaign could focus more on the conflict between Ynborh and the rival deities, especially if the characters worship Ynborh. This could also just be included as a worldbuilding element of an otherwise unrelated campaign.