Hello again.
The PC Cleric at my table is a worshipper of Desna. Knowing nothing about any of that led me on a search for information. I found a page that describes "The Eight Scrolls of Desna" that tell her story. I thought it'd be a cool personal arc for the Cleric to go find them. My premise is that she was visited in a dream by her deity and in this dream she is asked to seek out the scrolls which have been lost. Herein lies my problem: I'm not sure I can follow through with what I've started, haha. The main storyline is that the Orc Empire to the North are tired of being peaceful when they've got little land to accommodate their expanding population. The tie-in I've thought up is that an opposing deity has discovered that these scrolls have a magical connection to the timeline they describe and, if they collect all eight, they can use them to somehow change the timeline? This is where it gets really shaky because I want this to be immersive and not hokey. Could I get some tips on how to tighten the storyline up a bit? All help is accepted and appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Neat idea. One blanket suggestion is to do your best not to lead the characters by the nose. It feels artificial. I know from experience because I once made up a really neat storyline but it began reading more like a novel instead of the players making the key decisions. Some players felt railroaded. Try to avoid that if possible.
I don't know anything about those scrolls, but you mention the need to find them.
My first thought was, are any/all of them accounted for already? This changes everything. If they're accounted for, they're certainly being held and guarded, in all likelihood by powerful individuals. Depending on party level, this presents a potential problems.
Are they all missing/lost? This presents issues too. If they're known about by Desna worshippers, then they would have been sought out already. You'll have to come up with WHY they haven't been sought after.
The only quick solution I can think of is to make these scrolls so ancient that they're thought to be myth, and only with new evidence or some new occurrence has any indication of their existence come to light.
This new evidence(ex-(earthquake reveals a temple that was once swallowed by the world; within this temple is the first scroll) or occurrence (ex- the party interviews victimized acolytes who were tortured and questioned by demons and orcs, asking questions regarding the scrolls) could light a fire under the party too. Maybe they're not the only ones who have now become aware of the scrolls, and they're fighting a timeline, or fighting competition.
I suggest you flesh out the location of at least 3 or 4 of the 8 scrolls, and some circumstances regarding their disappearance and reemergence. You can flesh out the rest later, but come up with at least 3-4 scrolls worth of story, so your party can stumble upon options.
Options = choices. Choices = not being railroaded. Not being railroaded = fun!
Here's the thing. The Cleric has already been visited via dream by Desna. I can definitely roll with the idea to give them options to get three to four and structure my encounters accordingly. The link to the Orc Empire impeding invasion (which will be hinted at next session) can still tie in. Maybe they've already gotten their hands on one? I hinted that the first scroll was last seen in a nearby town. Perhaps the Orcs stole it and mentioned plans of obtaining others at x y and z. I still feel like there's still something missing but I'll have to come back when it hits me.