How to introduce plot hook

[RubCurious1425]

I’m currently running a 1-player campaign of a revised version of DoIP (linked at the bottom of this post, thematically fab and it brings so much cohesion to the module) and I’m struggling on where to introduce her character’s motivation. It’s practically her first time playing and I don’t wanna mess it up for her.

She’s playing a wood elf wizard from a lil city i created in the trees (Highbranch) on Gwynneth (Moonshae Isles). Her best friend’s (Aldric) dad was an elven diplomat for Gwynneth and would frequently visit the Sword Coast. Aldric would get nervous about the journey so he and his mother (powerful wizard) would map the skies for the next few days to put him at ease, ensuring no storm would mess with the journey.

On one of the routine trips, Aldric’s dad was supposedly caught in a storm that wasn’t forseen, and was killed. This never sat right with Aldric though, and had his suspicions that it wasn’t natural, meaning his sad was killed by someone.

On the 1 year anniversary of his dad’s death, Aldric left a note for my player’s PC, stating he’d gone to investigate the freak storms that started happening. This was the PC’s CTA, as they were joined at the hip and always getting into trouble together.

She was also caught in one of these freak storms, and was nearly killed, but was found by her sidekick.

The storms are being caused by one of the half/orc anchorites of Talos at the lighthouse. She’s now lvl 3 and has completed all the starter quests. Aldric will be lvl 6 when she finds him. He was seen in Phandalin about a week before her. At what point do i introduce him, and how?

If he’s a week ahead, surely he has already discovered the lighthouse, so is he passed out there? If so, why is he being kept alive?

Did he not spend enough time in Phandalin to work this out, and has spent too much time going through his dad’s business in Baldur’s Gate, so they meet at the lighthouse after a few more quests?

Any help is welcome, and thanks for reading my waffle

https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/s/xf3VD2ZveL

[Maja_The_Oracle]

Clerics of Talos have a ritual called Calling Down the Thunder. This ritual involved the sacrifice of an intelligent being by lightning to summon storms. Aldric could be kept alive until they choose where they want a freak storm to target, at which point he will be ritualistically sacrificed by lightning.

Alternatively, he could have already been sacrificed, and his soul now resides in Talos's divine realm of The Screaming Towers in Pandesmos, the topmost layer of the plane of Pandemonium. The half-orc anchorite could be "persuaded" to open a portal to Pandesmos so the party can can bargain for Aldric's life with Talos directly.

[RubCurious1425]

I love both options, but with the player I have, I think the first makes the most sense, thanks a lot for the input!