Brainstorm needed for a mystery plot

I'm hoping to tap into the imagination here to help me come up with a storyline for a small adventure.

What I have is this:
The party is asked to help a small village whose priest has vanished. No one thinks it is foul play, but it is mysterious and worrisome - especially since the priest's work is getting backed up (tending the sick and injured, a pregnancy needs monitoring, etc).

The truth is that the priest has gone into hiding. His long time friend, the sheriff, is helping him out by keeping him supplied with food and comforts and keeping curiosity down in the village with an "investigation".

What I need, is a reason why the priest would do this. I would love to hear any and all ideas as to why he would have to hide like this. It should be something that is sudden enough that he could not make up a cover story (like a trip, or vacation).

The main theme of this story is an investigative mystery- the party just came out of previous adventures that were heavy on combat and hazards so I'm looking for a change of pace.
As well, the party includes a paladin: one who has developed the character to be an expert in religious knowledge and theology. He hasn't had a change to really shine in this regard yet so I'd like to include religious overtones to the mystery so that the player can have his time to show-off,

Any help is gladly appreciated, thank-you.

* The priest's past has come back -- he is in the small town now, but maybe he was in the big city before. and there he did something bad. maybe he used to be a theief before turning to religion and restarted his life as a priest here. maybe he is (rightly or wrongly) wanted for murder somewhere else, etc.

* The priest did an excorsism the night before but somehow the spirit he banished infected his own soul. all night he had nightmarish visions (perhaps he was possesed at night and did something bad, or it really was just a nightmare) and so come morning he had himself locked in by the sherriff until he could figure out how to excorsie himself.

* While tending to a sick man traveling through, the priest overheard the feverish mutterings in which the sick traveler mentioned some sort of crime that he was involved in (i.e. he's some sort of crime boss or something). come morning, the crimeboss' "friends" came to pick him up. the priest ended up saying something he shouldn't have (i.e. "you and your friends are always welcome to my confessional to repent for your sins") while not direct it was enough to make the criminals know he knew something. so they ended up chasing him. he ran and hid.


... the excorsism idea above might have the best potential of these three ideas to bring in religious lore in to all this though.

Perhaps the priest is the target of an assassination attempt. There are great demons for that (I bet the paladin would know about what kind of assassins specially target a cleric of X god), but it could be something closer to home. Maybe he's going into hiding for safety and hoping to combat the assassin(s) in some way.

The priest could have had a shocking vision (apocalypse, the mayor's a demon, cleric murders his constituents, etc.), and not wanting to share it or deal with the implications, gone into hiding while he figures it out. (The paladin could help interpret it).

He discovered he's a plague carrier. He needs to stay rested so he'll heal but also doesn't want to panic the villagers, so the sheriff/sheriff's wife is tending him until he's better.

He received a vision from his god to do an urgent task [pray, do a divination, research, create an item, etc]. Again, he needs food & shelter and access to church resources like books, so he has to stay in town. But he also needs to get away from distractions for a few days, so he's lying low.

I like a lot of what has been suggested thus far. If I were investigating this, I would say that just because someone goes into hiding and asks for assistance from another, doesn't mean they have necessarily truthfully disclosed their reasons for going into hiding.

The priest could have told the sheriff only what he needed to know or what he thought would be sufficient reasons, but were either not truthful reasons, or perhaps not fully truthful reasons.

I'd also point this out. How far does the sheriff trust the reasons already given by the priest, and will he obstruct the party's investigation (fully or in part) or is he open, over the long run, to be persuaded by the party that all is not as it seems. In my opinion you should first establish the true situation versus the apparent situation, and decide how all involved NPCs will react as the progress of the investigation either confirms or contradicts the apparent situation. If you get my point, for this will definitely affect plot progress, as well as party-NPC interactions. Then again the situation can work in reverse. Is the sheriff as he appears?

But you mentioned the Paladin and religious motives.

To me when Paladins really shine in D&D there is involved in some way a scenario of defense of the innocent and or helpless (perhaps the priest is innocent of something of which he is sure to be accused or is weak, or helpless in some fashion), the active fighting of evil, and the Quest. (Previously I might have also said something about the Law, Capital L). You might though combine such scenarios.

With all of the above in mind I will suggest the following scenario.

There is a Wizard or Sorcerer who is an old nemesis of the Priest, and/or his god. This sorcerer has created an homunculus to spy upon and psychically torment the Priest. The homunculus, created from materials taken secretly from the priest's own body can act upon him sort of like a Voodoo doll. The homunculus can also enter the dreams of the priest to create visionary illusions and has convinced the priest that he has had sex with a Succubus and has impregnated her with a supposedly impure and unholy child.

The truth is that this is actually the case, because the Sorcerer has made a deal with the Succubus to help her conceive a sort of fallen demi-demon for her help corrupting the priest and his flock. The Sorcerer seeks revenge and to ruin the priest, the succubus seeks an offspring and someone she can physically and psychically feed upon, and they both seek to damage the worshippers and church of the priest, and maybe the entire community.

Both the Sorcerer and the Succubus have plans for the child and how they will use it to influence the local area and political and trade situation. Neither the sorcerer nor the succubus could have corrupted and seduced the priest by themselves, but the alliance between the two has nearly driven the priest mad and psychically and magically corrupted him. the constant attacks make the priest feel isolated from his god, nearly insane.

The priest decides to go into hiding in a secret location using his friend as cover. What the priest is unaware of however is that the homunculus is keeping him under observation at all times and the sheriff is really not his friend. The Sorcerer had previously murdered his friend (a sub-plot mystery) and the Succubus was able to assume his form and while placing him in hiding the Succubus is further able to feed off the priest. And with the help of the homunculus, seduce him whenever she wishes.

The Priest's god decides to visit the Paladin in a dream or vision and asks the Paladin to help find and rescue the priest. The god does not know the exact location of the priest because the homunculus, the Sorcerer and the Succubus have clouded his mind and cut him off psychically and spiritually from the god. But the god suspects what might be happening. And the Sorcerer's involvement.

So the god sends the Paladin on a Quest not just to investigate, but to help rescue his Priest. (Later on the god discovers about the Succubus and the Child. Which might lead to a new Quest. But how will the Paladin, and the god, feel about killing a babe, if the father is a priest and the mother is a succubus?)

In any case with this scenario, or one that might be something like it, you have religious motives, defense of the helpless (the priest), a Quest, perhaps defense of the innocent (it may be the intention of the mother to use the child for harm and evil, but the father being a priest, his nature and character might prevail in the child, indeed the priest or the Paladin might eventually adopt the kid and see if they can raise it "clean"), the safety of the flock and village, evils to fight - the Sorcerer, the Succubus, and the homunculus, and so forth and so on. You'd also have the background set of mysteries, depending on exactly how you want to structure the plot, as well as the built in moral dilemmas (always good for Paladin adventures).

In my opinion you could also use the homunculus to constantly psychically and magically attack the party in secret, the Succubus to assume various forms and maybe even attempt to seduce one or more party member (such as the Paladin), and the Sorcerer working in background to use magic and curses against the party.

If the party succeeds then the church might reward them, they might take the goods and hideout of the Sorcerer and if the Paladin rescues the Priest then the god might reward the Paladin for his service and Quest. Rewards might include something like a new Quest to receive a special Warmount, a Holy Avenger, a magical Icon or Relic, the granting of a divine familiar, a special Blessing given to no one else (so the Paladin is unique in all the world), the granting of a limited wish, or some special or new Divinely sanctioned ability that only the Paladin can use. (This gives him the ability to shine in the future while also making him unique and special.) Or it might be various rewards, and the god might even make the Paladin one of his champions, or put him under special protection so that the god becomes a future ally of the Paladin. Maybe advising him in the future through dreams, omens, and visions.

Those are some of my ideas anyways.
Well, I gotta hit the bed.
Good luck with it.

What are the god and religious order the priest serves like? And his own personality, for that matter?

Psychotic Jim said:

What are the god and religious order the priest serves like? And his own personality, for that matter?

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Good question. After dwelling on it I have come up with thus:

He is a cleric of the Goddess of Kinship and Community. He's an avid astrologer, always looking to the stars and people's signs in order to divine the future. Since he is accurate most of the time, the villagers believe him to be some kind of prophet.

Personality wise, I see him as being calm and friendly but a little oddball - as only stargazers can be.

I'm thinking that he saw something in the stars that frightened him? or confused him perhaps and so he's secluded himself to work it out properly. Why he has to hide from everyone to do so is still a mystery to me.

The priest saw something in the stars that terrified him - he saw the paladin arrive in town. He saw himself converse with the Paladin and then the paladin went and did some act that seemed horribly evil to him. So he panicked; he knows he cannot prevent the paladin from arriving in town, but he hopes that if he can avoid meeting the paladin, he can break the thread that causes the paladin to do evil.

Of course, it needs to work out so that the act the Paladin performs is NOT evil - but I leave that up to you.

Mistah J said:

He is a cleric of the Goddess of Kinship and Community. He's an avid astrologer, always looking to the stars and people's signs in order to divine the future. Since he is accurate most of the time, the villagers believe him to be some kind of prophet.

Click to expand...

Kinship and Community, eh?

He had an affair with a married woman and she bore his child. The Goddess took away his powers. He went into hiding after faking some predictions that turned out horribly wrong. He's "trying" to repent by performing rites and rituals but he keeps seeing the woman. The woman is the Sheriff.

Since the people have relied on his visions they aren't as self-sufficient as they could be and bad things are happening to them. "Should we plant the crops now or in two weeks? We don't know what to do!" This provides fertile ground for an evil cult to grow.

The party -- he went into hiding because he has a history with one or more of the players characters. This could be anything from a complex relationship (father or brother or uncle) to a simple one (once was a henchman or villian the party went up against). You just tie it back to the party.