Lore
In life, Siocchan was a
Tiefling Whisperer, arcanist, and a prolific saboteur. While they did not share their Inaethri's talent with summoning or directly seizing control of the spells that bound fiends, their talent instead lied in bending the people who summoned those fiends. Their last quest was the infiltration a cult of
Kciren — an Inaethri that has long been a nemesis of
Omensul.
Siocchan subverted their depraved rituals and used the cult's own resources to undermine their long-standing alliance with cultists of
Shedden, weakening both and souring relations by pitting them against each other. As is an unfortunately common fate for devotees of Omensul, Siocchan was eventually discovered and their life violently ended... but their soul had been safeguarded and, in a final act of sabotage, it left the sacrifice they had been offered up as to be paid by the one who held the bloody blade, instead. So infuriating a thorn in their side had Siocchan been that when the execution came, it was the leader of the cult who had insisted upon having the pleasure.
Escaping annihilation, Siocchan was able to pass on to the Omensul's divine realm, where they eventually became a Patron who bestows powers most commonly associated with masters of the Lower Planes upon those who make pacts.
Attitude
As a being that was once a living aethrin, Siocchan understands the vast range of concerns and anxieties those who might seek a pact with them are likely to experience. Their expectations are never impossible, but they do encourage the pushing of one's fears beyond what their normal limits back be; one cannot be timid when combating fiends and the aethrin who serve them. Siocchan appreciates Warlocks who can balance having a wry sense of humor about the realities of their situation with the confidence to still do what must be done. They are delighted by the use of elaborate traps, especially those that can cause lingering problems for the agents of evil long after the Warlock has moved on.
Conversely, they act antagonistically to those who are mired in hesitation and dither in self-doubt rather than looking for ways to solve their problems. They are likely to respond to such individuals critically and emphasize the worst aspects of their pact, seeking to either scare the Warlock off to a path they are more suited to — and in doing so spare them a grisly fate that their trepidation may lead them to — or rouse in them the audacity needed to rise to the challenge in spite of their fears. They know it is better to turn away someone unready and leave them with hurt feelings rather than coddle them into situations that put not only their life, but their very soul at risk.
Special Terms of the Pact
Typically, Siocchan's Pact is without many additional stipulations or conditions after it is made. Their demands come at the beginning, in assessing the conviction and goals of the aspiring Warlock.
Siocchan is unlikely to accept Warlocks who want power just to for the sake of it; they want driven, passionate individuals who are called to action to confront, disrupt, and dismantle the fiendish powers that prey on the people of Myzelis. They will not form pacts with those they view as a risk to themselves in such a dangerous field of work, nor will they make pacts with those who have malevolent intent.
The exception to this is that they will, however, sometimes make pacts with fiend-worshippers who come seeking power, mistaking Siocchan as being an actual fiend. Siocchan gleefully shackles such manipulable individuals in restrictive contracts that demand these misguided fools do nothing but go on dangerous missions against other forces of evil for the promise of immense power that will never be bestowed, and are slain long before they figure that out.
Binding Mark
The mark of Siocchan is made as agreement with the Warlock when the pact is first formed, and can be altered whenever the Warlock can change their Invocations. Their mark serves as a means of providing camouflage and authenticity, imparting some fiendish feature onto the Warlock to better help them blend in. This feature is aesthetic and vestigial — it confers no actual ability itself, but it can be used as the apparent source of the Warlock's Invocations to give the illusion of it being an innate fiendish power or fiendish blessing.
Pact Boons and Bans
The types of pacts entered and powers bestowed by Siocchan fall into two general paths; those who need to become more resilient and lucky while emulating the powers of fiend-worshippers (the
Fiend type), and those who focus on gathering intelligence and infiltrating people as much as organizations (the
Great Old One type).
Pacts of the
Chain and the
Tome are the most common Boons sought and granted, but Siocchan is capable of and not adverse to providing pacts of the Blade or Talisman if that better serves the needs of the Warlock and gets the job done.
They encourage Invocations that enable their Warlocks to better infiltrate and manipulate their foes, gather information, and evade capture and survive the retribution when the jig is up. Thematic Invocations for Siocchan's Warlocks include:
- Aspect of the Moon
- Beguiling Influence
- Book of Ancient Secrets
- Chains of Carceri
- Devil’s Sight
- Eldritch Mind
- Eldritch Sight
- Eyes of the Rune Keeper
- False Life
- Gift of the Ever-Living Ones
- Gift of the Protectors
- Investment of the Chain Master
- One with Shadows
- Trickster's Escape
- Voice of the Chain Master
- Witch Sight
Bans and Taboos
Siocchan has no
strictly forbidden Invocations, although they require that their Warlocks who wish the power of
Undying Servitude use it only on their fallen foes, and to not participate in the torment of even malicious souls unless there is no other way for them to achieve the greater goal. If only fulfilling the role of a necromancer would permit the Warlock the access they need to dismantle a malignant cult, the means are considered justifiable within Siocchan's stipulations; but if the Warlock simply wishes to use undead minions when it is not necessary to do so and other options are available to them, they will find themselves censured by their Patron and divested of their power.
