The Book of Many Things

Fundamental Tenets

The cult's basic tenets are shared with anyone who expresses an interest in learning about the group's beliefs. Such folk, known as aspirants, are taught the following:

• Flawed Creation. Suffering isn't an accident, a flaw in a divine plan, or purely the work of evil gods. It's evidence that the whole of creation is fundamentally flawed and already unraveling.
• Coming Destruction. The destruction of the world is imminent, and people should prepare for it by severing their connections to the things of the world. This includes relationships, possessions, wealth, and worship of the gods, who are doomed to be destroyed alongside mortals.
• New Creation. After the destruction of the world, a new creation will take its place, and the elect will inhabit a perfect paradise.
• Harbinger of Doom. A huge comet will signal the beginning of the end. Other signs also appear among the stars, the clouds, the seas, and world events, revealing the future to those who know how to interpret them.
• Divinatory Deck. Divinatory readings using cards modeled after the original Deck of Many Things are an important way to gain insight into the future and the fate that awaits the world.

Arcana

Those who undergo a rite of initiation, which includes a solemn oath of secrecy, learn deeper truths that build upon the basic tenets of the group:

• Preexistent Souls. The souls of mortal beings have always existed and aren't part of the flawed creation that is passing away. Souls dwelled in the Void before the creation of the multiverse, but now they are imprisoned within the multiverse. They must be set free from the multiverse lest they be destroyed along with it.
• Lost Causes. Those who don't accept the teachings of the Heralds of the Comet are doomed to destruction, and they deserve pity. Initiates are taught to warn outsiders to ready themselves for the coming destruction. Many initiates are fundamentally kindhearted and try to help outsiders when they can, but they ultimately come to believe most outsiders are lost causes, too attached to the world as it is.
• All-Consuming Star. The comet that presages the end is called the All-Consuming Star. It is a manifestation of the Void that moves through the multiverse, devouring worlds and entire planes. The end of all things will be the culmination of the All-Consuming Star's work.
• Enlightening Divination. Divinatory card readings don't simply reveal the future; they open the mind to the presence of the All-Consuming Star, helping initiates liberate themselves from the world's grasp.

Esoterica

The leaders of the Heralds of the Comet, the hierophants, reserve a few secret doctrines for themselves, believing only the most enlightened souls are prepared to hear these harsh truths:

• Imperfect Gods. The gods aren't perfect and can't create perfection, and imperfect things (by definition) don't last forever. The only true perfection is the Void, and the only future is the Void.
• Feeding the All-Consuming Star. The rites of the Heralds of the Comet, including divinatory card readings, lend psychic energy to the All-Consuming Star, hastening the completion of its mission.
• Deck of Many Things. The magic contained within the cards of the original Deck of Many Things is key to the destruction of the multiverse. Performing a reading with this Deck of Many Things won't simply reveal the future; it will determine the future, setting a date for the arrival of the All-Consuming Star. The hierophants of the Heralds of the Comet intend to use the deck to foment the unraveling of creation.

Recruitment

The Heralds of the Comet seeks recruits to swell the group's ranks. Initiates believe they have a moral imperative to rescue as many people as possible from the coming destruction of the multiverse, so they see recruitment as an act of mercy. However, they quickly learn that most people dismiss their concerns and ridicule their beliefs, so they expect a low success rate in their recruitment efforts.

The group's carefully crafted recruitment message has its appeal: all your suffering and all the bad things in the world are proof that the world is unraveling—and most importantly, none of it is your fault.

Those drawn to this message are called aspirants. Each aspirant meets regularly with an initiate mentor, who teaches the aspirant the fundamental tenets of the Heralds of the Comet and performs divinatory card readings for them. These readings purport to help the aspirant work through personal issues, but the readings all point to the same conclusion: the world is dying, and the Heralds of the Comet offers the only way to endure its destruction. Aspirants are sometimes called Jesters, in reference to the card of that name, while outsiders are called Fools.

Aspirants are encouraged to give generously to the Heralds of the Comet to support its work. They're also encouraged to cut from their lives any people who might hold back their progress toward enlightenment. Aspirants thus gradually come to see the Heralds of the Comet as their sole source of truth and friendship.

Initiation

The Heralds of the Comet performs its rite of initiation once or twice per year, depending on the availability of would-be initiates and the appearance of a suitable omen of doom. When an omen appears (see the "Omens of Apocalypse" section at the end of this chapter), the hierophants bring the aspirants deemed ready to a sanctum for initiation (see the "Sanctum of the Heralds" section).

The rite takes place overnight. The aspirants, who are sleep deprived, hungry, and thirsty, are led through a series of experiences that narrate the group's version of the history of the multiverse, featuring imagery drawn from the cards of a Deck of Many Things. Through the course of this narrative, the initiates learn more of the group's secret teachings and the symbolism used in divinatory card readings. At the rite's conclusion, the initiates receive a vision of the All-Consuming Star.

As part of this initiation, new members of the Heralds of the Comet shed their old identities and take on new names. Initiates also donate all their possessions to the group, which uses its accumulated wealth to provide for the basic needs of its initiates, and they take solemn vows of secrecy that prohibit them from discussing their initiation rite or disclosing the arcana of the group to outsiders. In the symbolism of the Deck of Many Things, initiates are sometimes called Knights.

Initiates who participate in the rites together speak of themselves as a single "brood" and remain especially close-knit. This brood is the only family that remains to initiates. Broods are numbered in the group's annals, and in the formal context of rituals, an initiate might be identified by their new name and brood number: for example, "Aphellis, Initiate of the Twenty-Sixth Brood."

Leadership

The leaders of the Heralds of the Comet are called hierophants—literally "revealers of the sacred"—because of their role in revealing the All-Consuming Star to initiates.

The archierophant of the Heralds of the Comet is Basil, the Sage of Sages, founder of the group and the architect of its belief system. While serving a forgotten king in an insignificant realm, Basil became fascinated with the original Deck of Many Things. He convinced his king to send a hero in search of it, then invited himself to the hero's expedition and betrayed her to acquire the deck. He rashly drew a card, and his soul was imprisoned in the Void. To Basil, it was a revelatory experience. He wasn't merely in the Void; he learned the truth of the Void's relationship to the fabric of creation. To this day, he remains obsessed with the Deck of Many Things, but now his obsession has a larger goal: unleashing the power of the All-Consuming Star so all creation can return to the Void.

Aspirant of the Comet

Aspirants aren't yet initiated into the mysteries of the Heralds of the Comet, but they are firmly in the group's clutches, both socially and metaphysically. If an aspirant is killed, the hapless individual is drawn into the Void and devoured, body and soul.

Hierophant of the Comet

The number of hierophants is fixed at twenty-two on any one world, one for each card in a Deck of Many Things. As a group, hierophants are sometimes called Sages, but each hierophant is also identified with a particular card. When a hierophant dies, the remaining leaders choose an initiate to fill the position, preferring initiates from the oldest broods.

A new hierophant undergoes a rite similar to the rite of initiation, but only the other hierophants are present. As the cosmic narrative unfolds, the new hierophant is inducted into the esoteric secrets of the group's leadership. The rite concludes with a mind-shattering vision of the Void, which hierophants understand to be the formless nothingness that preceded the creation of the cosmos and will endure past its destruction.

The leaders of the Heralds of the Comet, hierophants are powerful warlocks with mighty spells at their disposal. They can commune with the alien mind of the All-Consuming Star, blast enemies with beams of eldritch energy, and conjure manifestations of this entity to devour their foes.

Initiate of the Comet

Once initiated into the Heralds of the Comet, members learn magical divination practices that give them glimpses into the future.

Associated Creatures

In addition to the stat blocks for members of the Heralds of the Comet, consider using any of the following creatures as associates of the group:

• Aberrations. Various star spawn included in Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse (star spawn grue, star spawn hulk, star spawn larva mage, star spawn mangler, and star spawn seer) could be manifestations of the All-Consuming Star sent or conjured to aid the Heralds of the Comet. Virtually any Aberration could fill the same role, such as an aboleth, a beholder, or a mind flayer.
• Humanoid Cultists. The cultist and cult fanatic stat blocks can fill out the ranks of aspirants and initiates. Since members of the group are drawn from all walks of life, virtually any Humanoid stat block can serve the same purpose, from commoners and thugs to nobles and mages.
• Warlocks. The warlock of the Great Old One (see Monsters of the Multiverse) could represent a less powerful hierophant.

Sanctum Locations

The building shown in map 12.1 is a large house built in front of a natural cave opening, donated to the Heralds of the Comet by a wealthy aspirant. The first floor of the house includes a luxurious living room, a kitchen and spacious dining room, and a large bedroom suite on the first floor. The second floor (not shown on the map) has more bedrooms and a study.

Heralds as an Adversary

Use these ideas to inspire adventures that feature the Heralds of the Comet as an antagonist:

• Awakened Destruction. The Heralds of the Comet acquires magic that allows it to unleash a powerful force of destruction: a natural disaster, a rampaging monster, or a magical catastrophe. Perhaps the characters learn of the group's plans before the destruction begins and can prevent it, or maybe they're called upon to stop it after it begins.
• Common Criminals. The characters have resources the Heralds of the Comet wants: a magic item or artifact, or simply wealth. Some initiates, convinced they are robbing wicked people to benefit the greater good, are sent to steal from the characters.
• Cultic Isolation. Someone the characters care about cuts off contact with them. When the characters investigate, they learn the person has been initiated into the Heralds of the Comet and now associates only with other initiates. The only way the person will talk to the characters is if the characters show (real or feigned) interest in becoming initiates themselves. Perhaps the person has information or a magic item the party needs; if it's an item, the person might have given it to the group's leaders.

[image: Basil, the Sage of Sages]

• Public Enemies. A hierophant stirs up public sentiment against the characters in retaliation for the characters' unwanted interest in the cult's business. The hierophant claims the characters are forces of instability and blames them for all manner of misfortunes and societal ills. Even people with no ties to the Heralds of the Comet begin shunning the characters. The hierophant's rhetoric escalates until the local populace is ready to drive the characters out of town.
• Staged Omens. The Heralds of the Comet recruits members most successfully in times of fear and unrest. When pronouncements of celestial omens aren't enough, a hierophant decides to sow unrest by hiring mercenaries to trouble the region, summoning monsters to the outskirts of town, or starting destructive fires. The hierophant then points to these events as signs of the world's unraveling.

Heralds as a Patron or an Ally

Characters who work with the Heralds of the Comet might befriend helpful members. But eventually the characters learn the cult's true agenda and realize they're partially responsible for the group's success. Use these ideas to inspire adventures that feature the Heralds of the Comet as a patron or ally:

• Heroes Foretold. When the characters arrive in a new town, they're hailed as heroes whose arrival was foretold. The Heralds of the Comet is active in this town, and its divinatory card readings portend a forthcoming conflict between a terrible monster and mighty champions. Initiates do all they can to help the characters prepare to face the monster.
• Innocent Victims. Several initiates run a hospital on the outskirts of a city, where they care for those who are ignored by society. The initiates view these people as casualties in the slow unraveling of the multiverse and try to ease their suffering while subtly spreading the teachings of the Heralds of the Comet. But the hospital has come under attack—from bandits, disapproving aristocrats, or dangerous monsters—and the initiates seek help defending the place and its residents.
• Inside Job. A newly inducted hierophant is appalled to learn the cult's secret teachings. While posing as a devout leader, the hierophant asks the characters to help bring down the organization.
• Prophetic Research. The characters find an ancient inscription in a long-forgotten ruin foretelling a dire calamity that's imminent. As they seek information about this prophecy, they are directed to a local expert on apocalyptic writings—a hierophant of the Heralds of the Comet. The hierophant shares research into related prophecies but remains guarded about the group's beliefs. The hierophant might sponsor the characters' efforts to explore more ruins to learn about this looming disaster.
• Useful Pawns. A hierophant hires the characters to acquire magic for the Heralds of the Comet. There's no obvious indication the group will use this magic for destructive or evil purposes, and the pay is good. Only when the hierophant comes across a clue to the location of the original Deck of Many Things does it become clear that the cult's intentions aren't benign.

Apocalyptic Warnings

Apocalyptic Calamities