Warlock
What would it take to barter your humanity?
Particularly gifted humans might be offered to make a pact with a being from the metaphysical plane and become a warlock. This is accomplished through a very powerful ritual spell known as the Warlock Pact, developed a while back by the Fey. When the pact is initiated by the metaphysical being, both beings' cores will be transported to a temporary pocket dimension within the veil, and the human must voluntarily drink from a bottle filled with the metaphysical being's essence to bond their core to them.
Each warlock is either the host -- the human -- or the patron -- the metaphysical being. The two beings become bonded at the soul, though the human experiences the brunt of the changes: firstly, they take on the characteristics of whichever race they bonded with (including gaining an increased lifespan adn losing the need to eat, drink and sleep), and secondly, they can borrow mana from their patron's core, which gives them an objective advantage over every other non-warlock spellcaster. This transformation occurs while the host is unconscious, usually for about two weeks. The shift can be understandably hard to adjust to, and it isn't unheard of for warlocks to go a little insane as a result. One other important benefit for the host is that their patron can shape their spells for them; as metaphysical beings live ten times as long as humans on average, they're usually a bit better at shaping than humans are, so this can come in handy. Though it's important to note that the patron has a lot of power over the host, and could assert their more powerful core over the host's, potentially starving them of mana until they die. So, the host is basically at the patron's mercy.
The patron gains smaller, yet tangible benefits: a small boost to their mana capacities through borrowing from the host's core, a powerful human spellcaster over whom they have great influence, and the ability to exist, at least in some capacity, on the material plane. While the host is on the material plane, the patron, unable to survive on the meager amounts of mana there, resides in the veil between the two planes, existing as kind of an illusion only the host can see. They are sustained on mana directly from The Arcanum Circular, which is both a blessing and a curse: it allows them to shift their cores into the material plane, but with their bodies practically overflowing with mana, they exist only as a core, and have trouble channeling mana outside of it. They can cast some spells on themselves, such as Val'mundrr's smoke screen, and they can crudely interact with objects using telekinesis (basically grabbing the mana imbued naturally into the object and yanking it around), but outside of those few excpetions, they are largely limited to simply being observers.
There is also a disguising spell worked into the pact that allows the host to cast a tangible illusion over their bodies that makes them appear as they would if they were a human. The illusion ages with them up to maturity, which is around twenty-six for most humans. The illusion spell pulls from the pact magic itself, and so does not take mana from either warlock to cast or dispell; however, it does slightly lower each warlock's mana capacity while active. While up, however, the host will lose all their nonhuman features (wings, fangs, claws, etc.), which may also interfere with some spellcasting (channeling mana into ones horns isn't possible without horns).
When a warlock pair goes into the metaphysical plane, however, both the host and the patron can exist as their own entities, just with their bond.
Relations
Warlocks are regarded by humans to be the most powerful spellcasters, but due to their incredible rarity and their regulation and suppression by the Celestial Order and the Mage Guild, many consider them to be myths. Those who do know of them typically either revere them as demigods, or judge them for selling their humanity in exchange for power. It is technically illegal to make a pact with a human unless you first seek approval from The Celestial Order. While this is enforced, making a pact causes the metaphysical being to exit the metaphysical plane, and as long as the warlock is careful with their disguise, they can be very hard to discover. Val'mundrr uses this to elude the Order himself.Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
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