Ancient, Unworldly and Other

Ancient, Unworldly and Other is a book uncovered through use of Study-related Inquiries.

## History

The nature of pacts made with entities outside of traditional pantheons of gods have been ever present throughout history, representing the other, an outsider in many senses amongst the arcanely gifted. As such, acquiring - and subsequently departing from the attention of unworldly patrons has been a topic of much interest, past, present and no doubt future.

## Research

### Completed by Arnica

There is little denying that the typical or cliché presentation of warlock is a sinister one. Wizards dedicate their time, efforts and mind to learning their craft, toiling over components and tomes alike to understand the arcane, whether through personal effort, or, more commonly, in institutes and colleges tailored towards such endeavours. Sorcerers find themselves blessed by means of their heritage, whether by blood and ancestry, or by awakening of their potential by means of an encounter unexpected. Warlocks, by contrast, gain their powers by communing - whether directly and deliberately, or quite unintentionally in a moment of desperation, determination or desire - with entities from beyond, in that most warlocks gain not their power from forces within the Ahlusian Pantheon, as so many clerics and paladins may do, and so are often treated with suspicion, caution - or stronger and fouler emotions indeed. After all, the etymology of warlock is derived from the Infernal word "*Wǣrloga",* which is often translated to "traitor" or "deceiver".

The defining difference between warlocks and others is the existence of their pact. A bard may sign a contract to perform upon stage, enhancing their act with arcane, but at the end of the day they are beholden only to a name on a page, and their standing with the theatre owner. For warlocks, this pact may vary widely. Some patrons will expect much from their warlocks, wielding them as weapons to strike down their foes, footmen or mouthpieces to further their ideals under strict instruction. Others offer up ideals that they desire the warlock to serve under, perhaps only growing more present when minor favours are necessary. For many patrons, particularly those more abstract and distant, it may be that they have little power to influence the Material Plane directly or personally, owing to the divine ward placed upon the soil and stone Ahlus by Caihrnn to prevent the return of the Darkbringer. The process by which the patron may empower their warlock to do so on their behalf may vary widely. Some may bind their essence to a creature's soul, simultaneously marking as theirs, while providing the soul itself access to newfound powers. Others may offer up objects as a token of their pact, though it should be noted that destruction of said objects does little to abate the contract, for soon enough it will return to the individual. These items may likewise be metaphorical, a scholar may acquire a scrap of knowledge they have long since coveted as the initial offering from something ancient and knowing, with the promise of more to come. As a result, the depth of knowledge of a warlock may not match those of a wizard, nor be as versatile and manipulable as that of a sorcerer, but guided either from close or afar by their patron, their magic can prove surprisingly potent, augmented by additional gifts known in scholarly circles as Invocations.

The implications, and stipulations therein, for individuals making these pacts undeniably varies significantly between patrons. In spite of the stereotypes, the types of people that may find themselves within a pact is diverse, and the patrons with which they do is likewise. As their relationship with their patron deepens, it is certainly not unheard of - and arguably quite common, given the nature of many such pacts - for disparities to grow between patron and warlock, and so the question of breaking pacts or otherwise terminating them is invariably something likewise on the mind of philosophers, scholars and other researchers. In truth, there is no predictable way to do so. For some patrons, they may consider the contract's terms fulfilled, the debt of the powers and abilities granted paid for in thoughts, words and/or deeds, and so severance may be largely amicable. This might not be the case in other instances, particularly in those in which an individual is perceived to still be indebted - a particularly troublesome and tricky matter with covetous and greedy patrons, instances when the patron has offered a great boon, or those that have not yet considered themselves receiving payment (say, in case of a fiend claiming a creature's soul). It is possible in such cases that powers may be reclaimed and revoked should defiance occur, although unlike divine magics, once given arcane knowledge seems to persist - and with it abilities likewise. Nonetheless, breaking such a pact might require all number of requisites, whether relying on a more powerful entity to override it and take the warlock under their wing (and thus bind them to another pact), thoroughly destroying a manifestation of their pact (the Lord of Nessus is said to bind his pacts to the form of a specific devil, while the Coroner might hold vials of an individual soul's essence in a vast satchel bag), or by directly conversing and bartering with their patron to offer something that they may deem more valuable that the warlock's ongoing allegiance.

By stark contrast, and almost comical if it wasn't so deeply concerning, it could be that an individual makes and breaks a contract without the patron ever knowing - as seemingly occurred with numerous individuals during the Lyndim Flare, when a star infested with the essence Y'chak the Violet Flame passed through the Canvas of Night - and people across the continent manifested short-lived powers without ever once communing with the entity.