Patrons are powerful beings who are typically not as well known as deities,
often because they seek few followers and do not usually make power bargains.
That said, some seek to influence the world according to their own agendas, and
keep an eye on promising individuals who they take an interest in. Despite their
relative obscurity, they are, in a way, closer to the world than the gods, and
some are thought to have been heroes from long ago who ascended into
pseudo-divinity. Some notable major deities, most especially those in the
Pantheon of Mysteries, are thought to have originally been patrons.

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