Ravik

Patron

Ifren,
the many-eyed beast from beyond the stars, the lord of the outer realms, the riftborn god.

Nothing fascinated Ravik more than the whispers they'd heard of a being so otherworldly that it exists beyond even the reach of the goddess of the moon and stars. The rumors surrounding it are vast: a fallen god, a deity from an undiscovered plane, a being of monstrous power seeking to gain enough influence to ascend to godhood -- no one is quite certain of anything but its name, Ifren.

In retrospect, Ravik understands that forming a pact with such an enigmatic entity was foolish. Since the day that their pact was created, Ravik can't say that they've learned very much more about Ifren. Ifren isn't one for direct communication; more often than not, Ravik will only get a sensation of what Ifren wants from them. Occasionally they will get the sensation of a word or two in their mind, always in an unknowable language that Ravik dearly wishes they could find out enough about to research.

They long to learn more about their patron; not just for the sake of the insatiable curiosity that led them to Ifren, but because of their recurring uncertainties. They don't think that the being itself is evil, even as disturbing as the physical changes can be, and the pact has done nothing but good for them. Nothing that Ifren has asked of them has been out of the bounds of what they'd expect, nothing about the new magic granted to Ravik seems innately evil, and certainly they've never felt pushed toward evil.

Still, they can't help but wonder if Ifren had something to do with the way Belazar changed. For years, they'd known him to be imperfect but charming and attentive, willing to help people out when the opportunity presented itself. He'd been good to them; even right before Ravik left, he'd still made it so clear that he cared for them. And as much of a smooth talker as Belazar could be, he couldn't always articulate why he'd done some of the things he'd done... things that he would never have done prior to Ifren changing them both.

Could it be that Ifren -- an unknown, incredibly powerful maybe-deity that refuses to directly communicate and causes strange, sinister changes in physiology -- turned Belazar into a monster not just physically but mentally, while something about Ravik, who was so much more experienced with magic, kept their mind from being similarly influenced? Was Ravik's curiosity the reason their partner became an unrecognizable threat? Or was he always like that, deep down, and Ifren (and Ravik) only helped him unleash his monstrous potential?

As desperate as Ravik is for more answers, they aren't sure if they want to know everything.