Hi; everyone, I have been thinking about how a child character might get power, and I thought about making them a Warlock.  Can you tell me please what kind of warlock patron in this basic story sounds most sounds like?

Here is the story of how a King unknowingly bound his unconceived son unto a warlock pact. Sorry for the lack of for string and typing ability, but I wrote this on my phone, which is very hard to type on.

THIS BADIC STORY

........

The King of The Magic Kingdom of Tambapaṇṇī is desperate to have a male heir to the throne.

Although he has many wives and concubines, none of them has borne him a son, only daughters. Once long ago, the King believed that it was just a matter time and if he took enough women one them would give him the son he craved, but now the King is old, can barely perform, and feels the darkness of the end creeping in upon him.

In one last, desperate creative act, he uses all his knowledge and all his magical power, to summon a powerful celestial spirit, a servant of a God his family worshipped long ago before madness and evil corrupted them. The King falls to his knees and prostrates himself before this being most holy, confesses the sins of his life, and begs them to help him have a son so that his dynasty might continue. However, the celestial is incensed that the King would dare to summon him without permission, and especially since the King had lived a less than honest life, having murdered his older brothers and their families, so that he could ascend the throne, and then continuing his ways when he finally became King by killing all those who might oppose him.

The celestial chastises the King severely and promises punishments most dire if he should ever dare to summon one of them again before promptly disappearing from the material plane.

The King slowly lifts himself from the floor to knees; he is exhausted after expending much of his remaining life, and all of his magic to summon a celestial being. He rests on his knees for a while, then rises to his feet and begins to shuffle towards the door of his study - still a King for now, but no longer majestic, he is a broken, deshelled looking older man, dejected by his last and greatest hope for a son. Upon reaching the door, the King pauses and looks back, wondering if it's worth it to risk the wrath of a celestial being to plead his case once more; but no, there is not enough strength within him to try again, at least for now. "Maybe later" he mutters to himself and begins to turn back towards the door.

Suddenly a gust of wind blows through the room, and as it does so, it speaks to the King.

"They will not help you".

The King darts around as fast as his weary bones will allow, to see who is there, but the room is empty. Thinking that he must have imagined it, he turns once more towards the door and again begins to leave the study.

Once again a wind blows through the room, this time colder and brisker than it was before and once again it carries upon it a voice that sounds like the distant grinding of many teeth, mixed with the wailing of a thousand infants whose stolen breath chills the soul and makes ice form upon the walls and floor.

"They will not help you," says the voice, "they do not love you, but I do! I love you; I can help you. I can give you what you most desire."

"What I most desire," mutters the King, "if you can indeed grant such a wish, I will give you anything within my power to offer, even my own life if that is the cost."

Once more, the wind blows, and once more, the voice speaks; "your life is not required, only your agreement. Do you agree that I may give you what you most desire?

"Who are you," the King calls out, what is your name? The voice answers back, but only to ask again if the King gives his agreement.

The King shakes his head, "who are you" he asks again.

"Do I have your agreement" repeats the voice.

By this point, the King is growing tired, and frustration fills his voice as he speaks; "I can not make a bargain with one I can not see, show yourself and let us discuss this matter like men," he replies.

"Do I have your agreement." the voice repeats, and the adds, "I am not allowed to ask again."

"Grant my greatest desire if you can" snarls the King and then storms out of the room in an exhortation induced fury, that the voice would not show itself to him.

The King did not have the strength to call forth enough magic to summon the celestial again, although he tried several times over the next few days. To his greatest surprise, however, his newest and youngest concubine fell pregnant and nine months later, gave birth to a boy.

The King never heard the voice again after that, although he did return to the study after the birth of his son and left an offering to whichever being had granted his wish, and the ordered the room bricked up, so that none may enter and disturb the shrine, least the blessing was revoked.

The being that spoke to the King and granted his wish for a son will become the boy's warlock patron; the King unknowing binding his then unconceived son into a warlock pact when he agreed to the beings request to grant him his greatest desire.

........

So, guys, what kind of warlock patron does this most sound like to you?

Thanks

Foxes

This could be literally almost any patron, any of them except maybe Lurker or Hexblade. This 'basic' (actually very verbose and specific) backstory features no defining characteristics of the mysterious patron.

Maybe you should focus instead on creating a specific set up and then asking what patron fits, and instead look at the patrons, pick one, and tailor the setup to match?

Also this seems to be a very long winded way of saying "my patron is the entity my father made a pact with in exchange for a son", which is likely how you'll end up describing it to your fellow players. 

We can eliminate The Celestial immediately, since the King was denied aid by the...  well... Celestial entity he summoned.

Similarly, Hexblade seems unlikely.  While it's not clearly defined who Hexblade Warlocks are devoted to, specifically, it would seem unlikely that  any of the sentient weapons would be involved.  There would be no expectation upon them to have a limit to how many times they can ask for consent from the pleader that I can figure out.  Longshot it could be the Raven Queen herself, but... Queens don't generally limit themselves, do they?

There are some motifs that could mesh with the Undying, like the bit about the stolen breaths of infants.  And the King's own interest in preserving his legacy might draw the interest of such an entity.  But...  The Undying as a patron is described as having learned the secrets of immortality, not the power over life and death, so the ability to force the birth of a new life seems a touch contrary.

The Archfey may be a good candidate.  The ambitions of the King are irrelevant to such a being, but they may be a useful means to an end on their part, a tool to be exploited for their own fickle goals.  And since the fey tend to have an association with a season in DnD, that fits with the chill wind carrying their voice, and the formation of ice.  This may also explain the limit on how many times they can offer their assistance, as well.  The fey are often engaged with each other in contests or dares with arbitrary and sometimes nonsensical rules, why would this be any different?

That cold could also lend itself to the Lurker in the Deep, as well.  The depths of the ocean are cold and dark, and the sea (and the monstrous things within it) are known for claiming countless lives, while simultaneously being rife with multitudes of life, and the building blocks to create it.  The story doesn't indicate whether this encounter is anywhere near the coast, or whether the land of Tambapaṇṇī lies along the coast.  Has that been determined?  Is that the case?

A case could be made for the Noble Genie, but...  Seems kind of a longshot to me.  The subclass doesn't specify which of the Elemental Planes the Genie originates from, so it could be from the Elemental Plane of Water, in that section that borders the Plane of Air, and is practically a plane unto itself, filled with ice and snow and howling gales.  And Genies are well known for tormenting mortals for their own amusement.  But this isn't like a Disney Genie where the Genie is bound by anything.  I don't see that fitting well.  Besides which, what does the Genie gain by giving the King what he wants, a male heir?  Perhaps the kingdom of Tambapaṇṇī is known throughout the Planes, and the Genie is curious?  But that feels a bit thin to me...

I don't really have much to say about the Great Old One either way, really.  Denizens of the Far Realm might take the opportunity to simply sow chaos because they find chaos useful, but I find that a bit of a cop out for a real story.  It's basically just an admission that you couldn't find any real explanation so you just sort of shrugged and called it a GOO.  But it could be made to work, and work well, if you can put together enough story to make it work.  This may also depend on the game world you are playing in.  If your DM is having Far Realm beings in the campaign already, then perhaps this could fit better.  But it's hard to say for sure without knowing more about what the campaign may entail.

Finally...  isn't one of the Lower Plains an icy one, rather than a fiery one?  If so, that would easily allow for a Devil to hold the other end of the contract.  Devils are often portrayed as using obscure legalese to ensnare the naive when making their deals through exacting contracts.  Perhaps this Devil is, him or herself, beholden to such a contract when making contracts with mortals, and thus the limitation on how many times the offer can be made.  This would also play into the remarks it made about the Celestial after it had departed.

Quote from drag0n_77

Finally...  isn't one of the Lower Plains an icy one, rather than a fiery one?  If so, that would easily allow for a Devil to hold the other end of the contract.  Devils are often portrayed as using obscure legalese to ensnare the naive when making their deals through exacting contracts.  Perhaps this Devil is, him or herself, beholden to such a contract when making contracts with mortals, and thus the limitation on how many times the offer can be made.  This would also play into the remarks it made about the Celestial after it had departed.

Two of the Nine layers of Hell are frozen, being Stygia and Cania.

I'm thinking Zariel one of the lords of the nine hells, shes a former celestial so would have a vested interest in doing something the celestials wouldn't but I like hte idea of one of the Archfey, with repeatedly asking the question "do you agree" it rings of the old legends of fey creatures offering things, in some LARP groups a common tactic for the fey is to offer an object, food or service and then once it is accepted they take the soul of the person in payment so players get paranoid quickly and whenever offered something by a Fey creature they ask if it is "freely given" if the Fey says it is then the fey cannot demand or ask for any sort of payment afterwards.

So if you go for a Fey then you could use someone like Jareth he Goblin King from Labyrinthe who sees a chance to create a kingdom in the material plane and maybe train the warlock up as his successor etc.

Hi, guys

Interestingly, many of you came up with a fiend being the patron, and precisely one of the Archdevils. You have me thinking; do Archdevils have cults on the material plane in the same way that other fiends do? If they do; then I could slightly alter this, to say that the child's mother is a worshiper of one of the Archdevils, perhaps Levistus. She does not have to have been sent by him specially to give the King a son; instead, Levistus could have sent her to be his eyes and ears, through which he could watch, and possibly control the inner circle of the Royal Family. When he heard the Kings pleas to the Celestial though, Levistus could have easily come up with a plan. One that would provide him with the legitimate rule of Tambapaṇṇī and so he uses his mortal servant (the child's mother) to grant the Kings desire, and give him a son.

The mother does not have to have been anything special, just a Human girl. Although perhaps she could also be a Warlock of Levistus, as she would have needed the power to let her lord see with her eyes and hear with her ears, and undertake any tasks that given to her by Levistus. So, perhaps she could have been a high priestess of a mortal cult, who worshipped Levistus.

Such an alteration would also tie into the historical lore of Tambapaṇṇī. Being that it was one of the Kings distant ancestors; Sigan, who listened too carefully to the whispers of an agent of evil, that corrupted his mind, turned him away from the path of the light and brought him into darkness. The people worship Sigan as being the great hero King who freed the land from chaos, and whose magic went into building much of the citadel and the wards that protect it to this day. Where that is true, and it is true that the ancient King Sigan; as he was posthumously titled, was indeed a hero, what the people don't know, is by the time Sigan was building his citadel, darkness had already consumed him. Shortly after the completion of his fortress city, Sigan went mad entirely and was killed by his oldest son, who ascended the throne and became the ruling monarch of the new Kingdom of Tambapaṇṇī.

There is a lot more lore for the Kingdom of Tambapaṇṇī that describes the Kingdoms battle with the creatures of the Upperdark and their respective quasi deities. There is also lore that describes the heroic trials endured by Royal Navy captains, who supposedly battled with giant sea monsters and the denizens of the deep for control of vital trade routes. There is even one account that became a famous children's storybook that tells the tale of; Geir Halvorson, a Sea Captain in the early days of the Royal Navy when the Navy was still mostly mercenaries, who supposedly battled a sea God.

It saddens me that there is too much fantastic lore to fit into a single post, but it is all fascinating stuff. I hope I have given you a decent idea of the kind of place the Kingdom of Tambapaṇṇī is, however; and how the people, and specifically the Royal Family, view themselves and their existence in the world.

I am just trying to come up with a way to make a child or at least a young character, that is fun to play and who ties into the lore of not only the official guides but also the Kingdom that he is one day destined to rule. Long before he becomes the King, however, he is an adventurer, living off the stories that his father told to him, in his waning years, of his family legacy and the many great heroes and adventurers before him. My playing of the character would represent his early adventures, and his journey towards becoming King, as he made friends and enemies that will last a lifetime.

Hope I have better explained what I was trying to do now, and I look forward to hearing what you all have to say about my idea for the fiend warlock, that many of you have suggested.

XD

Foxes

Fiend and Fey, both very cunning.  The winter court with their hearts of ice, cold, charming, and calculating.  The fiends of Stygia with their plans moving as a glacier, ever forward, unstopping, grinding anything in their path to dust.  whichever direction you do go, you shan't have gone wrong.  

Question, do you think the patron plans to manipulate the child, or turn the child into a manipulator?  Whisper in their ear and turn them into a potent shaper of a new reality, or keep him somewhat simple and easy to control.

Quote from HeroZero >>

The fiends of Stygia with their plans moving as a glacier, ever forward, unstopping, grinding anything in their path to dust melting ever quicker than before.

I fixed your typo.  Jokes aside, I really like archfey for the story you made.  The wind blowing the chill through the air, never being seen, staying hidden.  To me that sounds more fey than fiend.