Warlock

### Skills

Choose two from Arcana, Deception, History, Intimidation, Investigation, Nature, and Religion

A **Warlock** is an arcanists who gained his power through making a pact with an powerful entities, most commonly a Ziez, Behemoths, or Leviathans. These pacts may allow warlocks to channel powerful abilities that simulate those of their patron. But these pacts came at a price: the warlock has to work for their new master until their patron is satisfied with their services. Those who break the pact are lucky if they lose their power, but most face a fate much worst.

## Abilities

Warlock cast spells called invocations, which they cast with their intuition rather than their knowledge or expertise. Invocations tend to be more powerful and deadly than those of a Wizard or Sorcerer, though the have a more limited range of effects. Some invocations are less inherently deadly but instil terror or confusion in an enemy, and warlocks love to add curses to their arsenal. The most basic of all invocations is known as an *eldritch blast* and is essentially a charged blast of pure arcane mana.

Prior to the disappearance of Al-Kanish, Warlock were the only people able to use non-elemental magic. Causing most people to look at them with either suspicion or fear.

Warlocks have some degree of civilian training in the art of self-defence, which gives them a slight edge over more scholarly casters in a non-magic duel, though they can never dream of beating an trained warrior in a fight. When casting their spells, most Warlock focus their magic through specific objects such as rods and wands, thought there are cases where Warlock use weapons as foci instead.

Several warlocks learn additional abilities to help them. From their ties to unfathomable powers, some warlocks gain a resistance to cold iron over time. Others learn to make their bodies more resilient, healing more quickly through their corrupted bodies, sometimes at extraordinary rates. Similarly, many warlocks acquire resistance to various energy types, particularly attacks that use acid, cold, electricity, fire, or psionic energy as a major component. Lastly, some warlocks become so full of arcane power that they are able to literally imbue mundane items with their power at a whim, creating magical items of great value, even if they haven't studied the rituals typically used to create such an item.

## Warlock pacts

The attributes and qualities of a warlock are largely determined by the kind of being with whom they have made their primary pact. The following are the most common types of patrons for Warlocks.

### **The titanic Behemoth**

*Main article: Warlock: The Behemoth*
Warlocks who swore their allegiance to a Behemoth are usually the least scholarly of all Warlocks. Usually falling into a pact through a chance encounter rather than a deliberate study. The Behemoths, most powerful of the Elementals, are masters of their aspect of nature and forever fighting the Leviathan.

Behemoths that are intelligent enough to have ambitions beyond devouring everything in their path will try to make a pact with a naive mortal when they in dire straights so they might be able to progress their own personal agenda. These agendas usually includes extending their influence into the Dream and taking out the other Behemoths so they can become master over all of creation. Thou they tend to hide these intentions from their Warlocks and keep up a benevolent facade.

*Note: use The Fiend patron if your DM does not allow Homebrew.*

### **The unknowable Leviathan**

*Main article: Warlock: The Leviathan*
The Leviathans are inscrutable, unknowable, and completely alien to the inhabitants of the Primordial plane. They reign supreme over the Dream, a place most mortals will only be able to visit when they either die or sleep, and its during the slumber of these Warlocks that they had opportunity to make contact with these eldritch beings. Others managed to make a pact with the Leviathan through indirect contact by studying the ravings of mad Chupacabras and the stars, learning their names from ancient tombs forgotten or dismissed by scholars as nonsense.

After their pact, warlocks gain a clearer vision of the Dream which the weaker of mind see as never ending nightmares that drive them insane. Those resilient enough to resist the madness eventually meet get constant meetings with their patron, who guides them through their pact. Some who go mad or are particularly ambitious try to become one with their Patron or even become a leviathan themselves.

*Note: use Great Old One patron if your DM does not allow Homebrew.*

### **The great Ziez**

*Main article: Warlock: The Ziez*
To get the blessing of a Ziez is no easy feat and Warlocks that have managed to make such a pact will usually be tasked with an daunting task. The Ziez see themselves as the judges of both the Primordial plane and the Dream, being able to freely go from one to another and as such their interests are almost exclusively bound to matter of personal or universal importance. Such as out of line Leviathans, riplers that have grown too powerful, or personal grudges.

The magic bestowed upon these warlocks travel around the world mostly undetected. Typical spells may send a foe to sleep or burns them alive, reflecting the two sides of the universe. Some of the chosen warlocks who focus all their attention on getting in the ways of the Ziez might have become a ripler themselves, slipping so much between the Primordial world and the Dream world that they have moved out of their place in time & space.

*Note: use Celestial patron if your DM does not allow Homebrew.*

### **The Hexblade**

The patron of a Hexblade warlock has manifested themselves into the form of a sentient weapon. The material that this weapon is made out of depends on the patron themselves: a Behemoths may turn themselves into elemental blades, while a Leviathan and a Ziez might turn themselves into a bow of light. Many Hexblade warlocks are permanently fused with their weapon.

Some hexblades train to become weapon masters, rivalling some of the best fighters. While others are content to with weaving dark curses inspired by their master into their spell casting.

### **The Undying**

The patron of the Undying warlock has unlocked the secrets to immortality. Liches, ghosts, vampires, and other higher beings, all of them have paid a steep price for undead or immortal. Now they seek for servants to trick into assisting them in repaying the price.

Once mortal, the Undying patron has seen mortal lifetimes pass like the seasons, like the flicker of endless days and nights. They have the secrets of the endless ages to share, dark secrets of life, death, resurrection, and undeath. Mortals brave enough to approach them have a small chance to barter a deal if the meet them in a good mood.

Warlocks under their patronage have commonly sought to bring back old loved ones, or want to cheat death themselves. Many, however, regret their decisions after the deal as their patron either doesn't give them exactly what they desire or twist their wish into a horrifying mockery.

### **The Seeker**

A seeker is a powerful being that travels either the waking or dreaming world in search of knowledge and secrets. In return for their powerful gift, these creatures request of their servants to wander the world seeking long lore that to add to their collection, most often from before the Event Horizon.

When compared to other patrons, the Seeker is usually less maleficent. They ask their servants for knowledge out of a scholarly interest or out of a desire to store it away from the world, and will often share said knowledge when served well. But don't mistake this lack of maleficence for benevolence, for disobedience or failure to meet their demands will still result in severe punishment.