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1At the start of our campaign, one of my players wanted to play a Warlock, and got really excited when she saw one of the Patron choices was Lovecraftian styled Eldrict Patron. A while back she had been introduced to the genre by Bloodborne, so to play with the idea seemed really interesting. I asked her if I could handle everything about the patron to make it more mysterious and unknown to her. She liked the idea. For the sake of story, we'll call my Player Emily. Her Warlock's name was Seera.
2So on it went. At certain times, Seera would dream about her patron, and I would give a little exposition to Emily about what her warlock had learned. Each little blurb below is what she learned from each dreaming session.
3I should note that we play on Roll20, which is a website that can do all the rolls, sheets, maps, art assets and sounds for the game. Really awesome little resource, especially if you buy the $5 a month sub for the dynamic lighting and character vaults. Anyway, the dreams are below:
4Your Patron is an unfathomable being you can only see partially, and never in whole. It appears to be a massive book, glowing with energy you cannot discern. Great Glowing Book has brought you into being. Of course you were born of a mortal mother and father, and of course you are the natural evolutionary process of life propagating further life. But you are certain that something brought you into being for a purpose. Perhaps chance is your purpose. Perhaps your only purpose is to be observed. You feel this has no greater impact on your life other than you simply know it. You aren’t necessarily destined for anything, greatness or humility.
5This first dream was so esoteric and cryptic, Emily had literally no idea what was going on.
6By the next session, they spent their first night in a dungeon, sleeping around a campfire.
7You don’t know much about the Book, but you know it does not know you. It is wholly indifferent to you or anything at all. You’re not even sure it has a soul. It certainly has a mind, but one that follows law rather than reason. It thinks on a level far above even the most learned minds you know.
8Emily asked if Seera could determine the god as being lawful. I noted she could feel the deity's alignment as lawful neutral, but that it had no moral alignment. It seemed to be more in line with the Modrons in both moral ambivalence and dimensional makeup. The party was briefly excited about one day visiting the Great Glowing Book in its own dimension.
9A few more sessions in and they stayed at an inn in a rural town outside a massive mountain. Seera was unimpressed with the mountain's size, I told Emily, she knows it is nothing compared to her Patron. Seera had a restless sleep at the inn, her mind fluttering about the next vision.
10Beyond the book is maddeningly unknown. You don’t have any reason to believe there is anything beyond the book, but you’re aware that the book must take direction from something, as it cannot reason on its own, only think for itself. Beyond the book is a thought that scares you, and the very idea that something exists beyond the book is terrifying. What could exist in a place without time, without space? What could be in a place that has no being? You realize by thinking on this that knowledge of your magic comes from the book. Knowledge of your magic is given to the book to give to you, but the book knows the magic already. It knows all. It is all. It didn’t create this universe or even the multiverse, but it is responsible for propagating its being.
11At this point, Emily is thoroughly confused. The group spent a good while trying to reason out what the riddle meant, but ultimately came to no conclusion, other than they hated my smug grin.
12A few more sessions into the mountain, and the group spent the night in a Dwarven hold long abandoned. Seera wanted to sleep again, in fact she had become very addicted to reaching out to her patron via dreaming, as Emily was begging for more hints as to what or who the Patron was.
13The only thing about the golden book you can even possibly fathom is one thing. Eyes watch the book, and those eyes watch you on the book. Most of the time they don’t. But when you move, the eyes watch the book, and the book allows you to be.
14This vision was very short. I gave a lot more colorful exposition, but I didn't write it down. I remember a slow reveal as Seera's mind journeyed to the book's edge and briefly became aware of whatever was reading the book, if only that being's eyes. She snapped awake cold and shivering despite being underground and in a warmly lit room.
15I forced disadvantage on her first roll that night, and gave all skill checks a -1 for the remained of the in-game day, telling Emily that brushing with the abyss had shaken Seera so cruelly that she couldn't focus. After that, Emily became a bit more cautious about wanting to contact the Patron or dream about it, for fear of more penalties.
16The next few nights Seera slept, she did not dream of the God. Her mind needed healing, I explained, and though Emily wanted to know the truth about the Patron, Seera could not bear that knowledge so quickly.
17Still, at a rest stop outside the Mountain after finishing this side quest, Seera unexpectedly dreamed again. This vision took the group by surprise, as they weren't even aware I was going to give one while they were busily chatting about the plans for the next day and working out who took watch.
18You dream of the book’s language. Something. Then nothing. Something. Nothing. Something. Nothing. It is impossible to decipher. The Book writes itself with a set of axioms that are intrinsic to its being. Without them, the book does not glow, and the pages are blank. There exists a means to write in the book, but you are not aware of how it is used, or even who or what would use it. The idea of anything beyond the book is impossible except for the eyes, but surely the eyes must belong to someone... or something.
19You are ultimately disappointed as you come to a stunning realization: you will never speak with the Book. Its language is so foreign to your mind that to even know it is an impossible feat. You will never be spoken to by the Book either. As you know, it doesn't reason, it only thinks. It has no motivation, for a book can only contain knowledge, not create it. And you realize the Great Glowing Book is just that. A book. A book that must be part of some greater purpose.
20The language description really shook the party's theories about what the book could be. If it was like the Modron, then it would at least speak its own language, right? And if it had a language, why couldn't we take that language and learn it? Why couldn't a spell or an ability allow us to understand the language? I had to explain Seera understood the language was more like an equation, and less like a means of conversation. And, as she understood, the Book doesn't reason, only thinks. That too really frustrated them. Isn't reason and thinking the same thing?
21The wizard in the party rolled a nat20 on a riddle hint, and I said he understood that reason and thinking are like sentience and sapience. A creature can have instincts that it didn't come to know by its own conclusion. Rather, it just thinks about these instincts and knows them. A bird doesn't decide each year it's a good idea to fly south to avoid the cold and lack of food. It just knows to do it.
22They still had no idea, but they began to understand the book is just a tool of the Eyes. And the next dream sequence confirmed that.
23You dream about the book again. The book conceives and has access to a library that stores all knowledge that is known, but it does not store this knowledge within its pages. It is part of a great library made of billions of other glowing tomes, though some do not glow, all are connected. The shelves of this library are infinitely immense. They host knowledge and connections between these knowledges. You sense that all these books serve a purpose. Someone reads them. Your vision ends. You feel infinitesimally small.
24This seemed to confirm the party's theory that the book was just a tool. Seera was shaken again, however. This time, I would roll a d6 in secret, and if it was a 1, she'd have disadvantage on whatever roll she was doing, along with the -1 to all skills, for the rest of the day. Emily was stuck in a tough choice. Keep pressing her character to learn more about the Patron (which she confessed she began to care more about than the actual campaign) and risk even more severe penalties, or let her character rest and learn more at a slower pace. Ultimate, she didn't get to choose, as a near death experience (thanks in no small part to this nagging penalty) caused her to have a dream sequence in the middle of a combat round. Harsh!
25You are granted a vision. This time, you are aware of the edges of your own dimension. The book views you through a single page, but it is unlike a page. It is more like a window. The window inside the book is able to view anything in your world. More windows open within the book’s window, each one showing a different existence. Some show simply languages you do not understand. Some show colorful paintings, and others show lives of creatures you weren’t aware could even be conceived. All windows cease. The book’s window is covered in darkness. You wake up shaken.
26Our Wizard jokingly remarked "what is the book running Windows?" to which I pulled a J.R.R Martin and told him he didn't know how close he actually was. I could see the gears turning in Emily's head, but she told me she still didn't have any idea what the patron was, if it wasn't the Book. She thought it was the Eyes, it had to be. But for how little she knew about the Eyes, she regretted learning more, as it nearly got Seera killed.
27The party finished the combat and continued on. Emily asked me if Seera would get any more penalties for learning more about her Patron, and I told her there's no way to know. Emily seemed to regret choosing the Eldrict Patron, as she had grown pretty attached to her Seera by this point. I told her that attachment was actually more important to the story of her Patron than she knew.
28I let the issue rest for a bit, and focused on the main story. A few months later, I decided to pick it up again, and gave Seera a dream sequence while the party prepared to deal with a Lich that had taken up residence in an abandoned castle near a port city.
29You have come to understand more about the book, and indeed, you understand it is not a book. It is a tool. This entire time you worshipped and studied the book, but now you know it is an extension of the true self, a complex array of magic you have never encountered. The eyes you dreamed of earlier always watch the book through the windows you dreamed of. The eyes have access to all creation, all knowledge, and still they choose to watch you. You feel a great sense of pride at being chosen to be the focal point for this infinite being. However, you suddenly feel very small. The pressure you feel upon you to succeed is nearly too much to bear.
30The Eyes are very important to you, and you realize, you are very important to the Eyes. They know you better than you know yourself. While the Book was senselessly unaware of your existence, the Eyes root for your success and admonish your enemies.
31You begin to put the pieces together. The eyes, the being that uses the book, begin to come to the same realization; that you are nearing an understanding.
32Emily wondered what altruistic being could want Seera to succeed, and the party began discussing past NPC Clerics or Sorcerers with fiendish ties that they have encountered that could have anything to do with it. The list was small and they ruled everyone out, thinking this must be a new addition to Seera's patron story, since it had been so long since I had done anything with it. They didn't know nothing had changed, and this was all entirely planned.
33Seera suffered madness now. Each time she used her spells, she rolled from the wild magic table if she rolled a 1 on a d10. Each wild magic surge had a chance to give her a new vision, but the party didn't know that chance. I decided to stop penalizing Seera for learning about the God, as it seemed to upset Emily a little too much. But, giving unpredictability to combat was about as frustrating for Emily without putting her beloved character in danger, so I was happy with the result.
34A few more sessions in and the party rested before confronted the Lich. Seera began to have a vision again, and the party's hearts sank, knowing they'd be going into a boss battle with one party member distracted. But this time, I explained, the vision is different. This time, Seera dreams past the Book, and looks directly into the Eyes. They are worried for Seera's future, and are seeking ways to end the Lich with her.
35You understand now. Or well, you understand as much as a being of your existence can understand about an unfathomable existence beyond anything, beyond everything. You are a collection of thoughts that have come into being through the sheer will of the eyes, using the power of the book, and you exist because you are the focal point for the Eyes. Everything you do is because the eyes watch you through the windows of the book. Everything you accomplish pleases the Eyes, and it shares your defeat with sorrow.
36You almost feel a connection to the eyes, but are unable to garner anything beyond that connection. Language is not even a possibility. You cannot speak to something that has no concept of time, or at least experiences time in a vastly different way than you. While you fight, time speeds up impossibly for the eyes. While you sleep, time stands still for them. While you are not adventuring, months and even years can pass in front of the Eyes in an instant. You cannot speak with someone that has the knowledge of all ages as its perspective.
37Emily began to put two and two together. Time flashing forward for the eyes when boring stuff happens, but slows down for interesting things like combat?
38Emily asked if the Patron was me. I smiled. "You're so so close. It's not me, that'd be really selfish and narcissistic. But you're on the right track."
39Ultimately, Emily said she had a good idea what the Patron was, but the party needed to deal with the Lich. Of course the battle was hard, and Seera had a difficult time dealing with wild magic, but in the end, good triumphed over evil and the party defeated the Lich.
40Returning to town to recover and sell their loot, Seera sat in their travel wagon and meditated on her Patron, adding Emily's question to Seera's knowledge. The Warlock reached out and astral traveled to the Book once again, seeking to learn more about the Eyes.
41You know you are mad. You look back over all the thoughts you have been able to remember about the book, and if you were to write them down, you know they read like madness. Yet you can still reason. You can still plan and execute. You still have ambition and intellect. Yet you know all the world is meaningless. It exists for the sole purpose of entertainment. Nothing you or anyone can do will matter. Time is meaningless. Oblivion is the source.
42You smile, knowing you will never know true meaning. You can only hope that what existence you have will continue for as long as the eyes allow possible.
43Your creator comes to the same realization. Suddenly, you are aware. You are the eyes.
44"Me?" Emily broke character, "I'm the source? My character sheet is the book?"
45"What is the sheet on?" I pressed, happy she was so close to figuring it out.
46"The computer is the... Fucking hell." She seemed to get it. The computer screen was the great glowing book, connected to the great library of the internet, a sum of all knowledge the book can access yet isn't contained within the book.
47And she was the Patron, using the book to create her character, give it meaning and life, and through her, use magic and become powerful.
48The party couldn't stop face palming. I loved it. They said they loved the story but thought it was something completely different, like a new god of knowledge or a mysterious new force that acted only through Seera. Amazing.
49Just wanted to share a great story! What's your DM realization that rattled your expectations to the core?