Oriel the Waking Dreamer, Sun Elf Warlock of the Catilus (Patreon)

Oriel, my warlock of the Catilus, with her catilus familiar, ready to paint reality! The Catilus Otherworldly Patron ebook is completely FREE and Patrons can just click and download it directly here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/otherworldly-55470263

The ebook is also LIVE on DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/369073/Otherworldly-Patron-The-Catilus-5e-Subclass

Character: Oriel the Waking Dreamer, Sun Elf Noble and Warlock of the Catilus

Born to a wealthy family in the great elven nation of Ramethis, Oriel has been harboring a dark secret since birth. Shouldering an ancient curse, she suffers from visions that can manifest as illusions that alter reality itself for her and those around her, unless she controls them through sheer force of will.

Oriel’s father, Lord Eresseus, is a vastly influential merchant who sought to buy his way into the court of Ramethis. For his goal to succeed, he had to ensure Oriel’s secret remained hidden while he manipulated her into an arranged marriage to a viable heir of noble, or even royal, birth.

Just before her hundredth birthday, Oriel entered the royal court of Ramethis to serve as a diplomat and mediator, a duty she assumed with enthusiasm and fulfilled with success. However, as soon as she realized that her position in the court was part of her father’s schemes to marry her off to a royal heir, she abandoned her post to seek refuge among the peaceful, yet sometimes hedonistic dark elf sages of Varmy, deep in the Sunken World.

Not to be outsmarted, Lord Eresseus employed master diviners to track his daughter down and sent a host of suitors to Varmy, hoping that one of them would impress Oriel enough to secure a marriage that would bring his daughter back while ensuring his elevation to noble, or perhaps even royal, status. Her father’s intervention threatened to bring discord to the serene dark elves of Varmy, and when one of the suitors was revealed to be a dangerous enchanter who would not hesitate to subvert her will with his dark magic, Oriel made a brave decision. She left her dark elf friends behind, and against their counsel, she escaped into the Mageplex, a disused and unstable nexus of magic portals built by deep dwarves and dark elves millennia ago.

Entering the Mageplex, Oriel fell through the Rift, the astral plane through which one could reach most other realms, and found herself battling against her own visions and entropian horrors that live beyond time and space. Sensing her impending doom, she used the last reserves of her magic to cross into the void, the endless, featureless realm where reality has not yet taken shape.

As she floated helplessly into the void, she caught the attention of the Catilus, an ancient feline being of creativity and whimsy that had just awoken from it timeless catnap to create once more. The Catilus brought her into its family and bestowed upon her magic to paint color and meaning into the nothingness of the void. Empowered with these newfound abilities, Oriel was able to finally master her vision, turning them into works of magical art. With the aid of her patron, she returned back to the world of Naam as a member of the Catilus Family.

For Oriel, it felt like a few days of intense struggle against entropian horrors, and then a few more days of partying and making art with the catili, but when she stepped out of the Mageplex, five whole decades had passed, and the Theomachy, the cosmic war between the gods, had transformed Naam beyond recognition once more. Now, as one of the first warlocks of the Catilus in this era and one of the few remaining sun elves on Naam, she must use magic more creatively than ever before, seek out old friends, and make new allies if she is to survive…

Oriel is one of my own characters in Theomachy! You may recognize her from lots of other illustrations, paintings, sketches, and homebrew!

What do you think? :)