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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 5245701" data-attributes="member: 386">The "book" = the Eye of VecnaThe price = the Emperor (who now has the Eye) changes society to match Vecna's waysVecna and Ioun are directly opposed, so that's why I went with Vecna.This is how I see the scene playing out:The PC and his flunkies find the "book".  They open it, and it's not a book at all, just a cut-out pages holding the Eye.  The Eye has power and it speaks to the PC, promising to make him Emperor.  The PC refuses.  The Eye shows the PC what will happen to the Empire (and all humans) if things go as they are - it knows the plots of Tiamat, Orcus, the Winter Fey, and the elder evil.  The only way to stop them is to use this information!The PC suspects the Eye is lying.  The Eye reminds the PC that Vecna is the God of Secrets, not Lies.  Being a Cleric of Ioun, the PC realizes that the Eye is telling the truth, but that one of Vecna's commands is to "find the seed of darkness in others and exploit it to your advantage."  There must be a terrible price to pay.The PC is faced with a terrible choice - have humanity devastated or open his heart to darkness.  He decides to accept the gift, but he gives himself the chance to fix it.  He says that he will present the Eye to the Emperor.  This will give the PC the chance to act as a free agent and solve any problems the Emperor causes while still exploiting the Eye.The Eye is pleased and agrees, but demands that the PC remembers none of this - God of Secrets, remember?  The PC accepts, trusting his own inner goodness to overcome the Eye's plans.  Some of the dwarves can't believe what is going on.  Their race has survived aeons of slavery; humanity can deal.  Other dwarves make pacts with the Eye; it tells them where gold and mithral flow.  There's a battle, and those who resist the Eye are slaughtered.They take the "book" back to the Emperor.  Perhaps the PC changes his mind during the trip and has to be subdued by the dwarves.*This set-up gives you a good reason to have the party go on missions - the Emperor trusts the PC like no other (since he was the one who gave him the Eye) and the Emperor has all this information that he can draw on to know exactly where to send the PCs.I would think about what a society of secrets and tempting others to be their worst would look like.  I'd probably do something like this: have the threats to the Empire be the justification for Orwellian laws; the state becomes totalitarian; everyone is expected to inform on any anti-state behaviour; etc.  A plague of doppelgangers or something like that could be a good justification for such measures.  Start slowly at first.*This is kind of a weird situation, since the player came up with the fact that his PC made some kind of terrible choice but the player isn't saying what that choice was.  Does that give you as DM the right to determine what choice the PC made?I'd make sure that you work that out.  It seems like it would be okay - the player is saying, "Hey DM, put something really cool into my background!"</blockquote>

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