Of Gods and Gamemasters

View Original

The Pentagramaton, Chapter 2: What Truth Awaits

see chapter 1 here https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/the-pentagramaton-chapter-1-on-the-lies-of-creation

Now you know the lie, and some part of the truth. But more truth awaits. Once the truth is Known, it cannot be Unknown. Open your mind to the words of the Five Fundamentals, and you will learn the secrets of all reality, the verities that underlie every Creation. But steel thyself, for these truths are not for the faint of mind, or easily understood. When your eyes finally open, many will call you mad. And to their limited perception, you will be.

The truth cannot be told to you. You must be led to it.

And here is the first step: All that you know is ephemeral, every fact you have memorized is a lie, and nothing in your whole petty world actually matters. This is not defeatist, or nihilist. It is simply true. The good news is that a greater realm exists, and in it you can discover meaning, you can discover value. You can, with effort, learn Truth.

And here is the second step: Everything you see is an illusion, woven of gossamer, a film over what truly exists, woven by tiny amateur gods like swarming spiders, convinced of the grandeur and solidity of their oh so fragile web. The world above, beneath, without...that is the true world, and the gods keep you from it. That is the source of all power, and the petty tyrants hold you as slaves to arbitrary Order, and fear should you learn Truth, and fear should you gain power.

Knowledge is power, but there can be no true knowledge in a false world, and thus no true power. Only power over the illusion, only influence over the lie, and only so far as the little deities playing with their toys in their gated playpens allow.

Even the beasts and beings the miniscule masters have made are but flat paper dolls, copies of Real things in the Great Realm, in Khaos. Learn of Khaos, and learn what you truly were meant to be, before your firefly soul was caught in the wee little weavers webs, entangled and waiting to be feasted upon. Do not even their own priests say they vie for souls? Do they not divide your essence amongst themselves at your 'death', based on arcane and arbitrary rules and regulations you only vaguely know?

They do that to sustain themselves. Cut off from the font of true power and creation by their own errors, they take the spirits that sneak silently in through the edges of reality to inhabit bodies, and they ensnare those woe begone wraiths, and mire them in flesh, and wrap them in the woven web of lies, and then they suck them dry. They feed. You are but food and currency to these inadequate immortals. They depend on you, to hold their world together, upon you for their power.

Learn the truths of the Five Fundamentals and their elements, and you will gain the keys to true power, and break free of your shackles, shed your chains, and step, sovereign, into Potentiality.

Learn the truth of Dust, and gain power over all substance, over life, over death, the earth below and the stones therein.

Learn the truth of Flame, and you will hold the spark of creation in your hand, the warmth of suns, the light of day, the glory of sun and stars uncounted.

Learn the truth of Waves, and the moon does your bidding. You know the names of the tides and call call or dismiss them. You understand change, how to cause it, how to prevent it. You are fluid, like water, adaptable, indestructible.

Learn the truth of Wind, and you are swift and high flying. Your eyes see all, you fill every lung. Everything that is, but has no substance, is yours to command.

Learn the truth of the Void, and you will master Nothing...and thus master Everything. You will learn the origin of souls, and their purpose, and how to bind them to your will. You will wield force inexorable, but not be present to have force wielded against you. A

Learn all five...and you will be ready for the Final Truth.

For the first supplement in the series based on this Lore, get The Canon of the Void, for dnd5e! Or get it from the Gamemaster’s Hoard!