Here is another divine seed. The Scholar’s Dilemma focuses on Ynborh, the god of knowledge. You can see the full pantheon here.
Synopsis: A scholar learns too much.
A young scholar discovers an ancient scroll with information that directly disproves facts believed to be true for over a millennium. While the scholar’s worship of Ynborh encourages him to share the knowledge with others, the truth is enough to disrupt the stability of the modern world. For the moment, the scholar keeps the scroll hidden while he considers his options.
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 scholar is not certain of the accuracy of the translation, adding to his hesitation.
- The scroll specifically suggests Ynborh is weaker than dogma claims.
- As a worshipper of Ynborh, the scholar is having a crisis of faith.
- The scholar smuggled the scroll out of a secure repository in violation of religious and secular law.
- The scholar is fearful of being discovered in possession of this information.
- Priests of Ynborh have noticed that the scholar has been acting strangely lately.
- A priest of Ynborh would either demand the truth be spread or punish the scholar for even looking at the scroll.
- The scroll validates a rival pantheon (The Eight Faiths).
- Secret followers of The Eight Faiths are searching for this information.
- The scroll might be accurate, but it is a physical forgery from many centuries ago.
Grow (Ideas)
The easiest way to use this as an encounter is to have the party interact with the scholar in some way. Maybe they see him leaving the repository in a hurry, or they come across the worried-looking man at a tavern. While he is unlikely to tell them much, the scholar might drop clues of his concerns.
As an adventure, the characters might be tasked with learning more about the scroll once the scholar decides what to do with it. Maybe they are hired by the scholar (and sworn to secrecy). Maybe they are working for the church of Ynborh. Either way, the characters are tasked with investigating the scroll’s origins and/or the information contained. How prominently the rival pantheon plays a role is up to the GM.
Finally, a creative GM is likely to find ways to turn this into a campaign. One possibility is that the scroll is right and the scholar shares what he has learned. Heck, the scholar might even become some sort of prophet or priest of the lost pantheon. Imagine your game world if the things everyone held true were suddenly challenged. Cults would develop, eventually growing to replace other faiths. Divine magic might change forever. There could even be a divine war between the lost pantheon and the current pantheon. Of course, all of this assumes the accuracy of the scroll. Imagine how the world would look if the scroll is shared but wrong…