#vecna lives!

Vecna Lives! is a D&D module for Advanced Dungeon and Dragons 2nd Edition, written by David “Zeb” Cook and published in 1990. Vecna Lives! is the first time Vecna appears in person in official D&D publications, before this he was just a legend.

After having read the entire book cover to cover, I can confidently say that Stranger Things has drawn inspiration from this book since season 4, possibly even season 3 and that there’s conformitygate evidence hidden there.

I have a LOT to cover, so I’m splitting this into 3 parts:

Part 1: The overall plot of the campaign. This part is long, but I promise it’s worth it!

(coming soon) Part 2: Appendix I – IV, where the book describes the artifacts and most important NPCs in detail.

(coming soon) Part 3: The instructions on how to run a horror game, as well as several instances where the book encourages the DM to lie and mislead the players

Links to a PDF version of Vecna Lives! on Internet Archive, as well as a other books reference, can be found at the bottom of the post.

Part 1: The plot of Vecna Lives! – Exactly what it says on the tin

Introduction

In the introduction, the book descirbes Vecna's backstory:

Vecna is very much a figure of mystery. He dates back to a time of near-prehistory […] He Is a figure more of legend than fact and, like all legends, there are embellishments exaggerations, distortions, contradictions, and confusions attached to his name. [Vecna Lives! p. 6]

Vecna, one of the mightiest wizards, coveted immortality, not out of a fear of death, but because he believed it was his right. Through unknown means he transformed himself into the most powerful of all liches, and though his body was withered and shriveled, he was now beyond death. During this time Vecna amassed many titles: The Whispered One, The Master of the Spider Throne, The Undying Kind and the Lord of the Rotted Tower.

I find “Master of the Spider Throne” of particular interest here, due to Henry’s fascination with spiders and the Spider-Flayer we see in the finale.

Kas the Bloody-Handed was Vecna’s most trusted lieutenant, and ruled in his place, as the archlich grew disinterested in the daily affairs of his kingdom. To protect him, Vecna forged the Sword of Kas, a magical sword with a mind of its own. The sword was as evil and ambitious as its creator, and convinced Kas to usurp Vecna. No one saw their duel, Kas’ body was never found, and all that remained of Vecna was his Hand and Eye.

This part of the story is consistent with Vecna’s lore in previous books, and this would be what Mike is referring to, when he says the Vecna was killed by Kas.

Vecna Lives! expands on the story of the archlich: His will refused to die, and over the cause of millennia he amassed enough power to become a demigod. Even so, Vecna is not satisfied, and has set in motion a plan to open the gates of time to bring his followers from the past into the present, and become the greatest god of all. All he needs to complete it, are his Hand and Eye.

Vecna the demigod sounds a lot more like the Mind Flayer than Vecna/Henry. Especially as there are several other characters in this book who also go by the name Vecna, and are more reminiscent of Vecna/Henry. The first of these will be introduced in the prologue.

Prologue

During the prologue, the players must play as members of the Circle of Eight (Tenser, Bigby, Otto, Drawmij, Nystul, Rary, Ottiluke and Jallarzi), a council of powerful wizards lead by the archmage Mordekainen. And when I say powerful wizards, I mean very powerful wizards: They range from level 14 to level 23. For those not well versed in DnD: This is reality bending bullshit levels of magic. Trying to DM for characters at this level, especially spellcasters, is a nightmare.

Luckily, any DM running this campaign won’t have to worry about that for long.

The Circle of Eight have been sent by Mordekainen to investigate some troubling divinations. The search has led them to the burial mound of Halmadar the Cruel: An evil lord who possessed both The Hand of Vecna and The Eye of Vecna a century ago. His rule came to an end when subjects drugged and imprisoned him in the burial mound, where it’s assumed he starved to death.

He did starve to death, but that was far from the end of him. Although the Hand and Eye failed to save him from capture, their evil energies have transformed his body into a quasi-lich state. […] Halmadar is completely dominated by the artifacts and believes himself to be Vecna. He does not know his own name, and only responds to the title Lord Vecna. (He is referred to as Vecna/Halmadar, hereafter) [Vecna Lives! p. 9]

This is my primary reason for not equating Vecna/Henry with Vecna in the show, but rather Vecna/Halmadar, who is about to be (falsely) set up as the main antagonist.

When the Circle of Eight enter the burial mound, Vecna/Halmadar magically keeps tabs on them as they advance further in. He sends various monsters to fight them along the way, not because he thinks it will hinder them, but to see how they fight and because it amuses him. However, the Circle of Eight are unable to detect Vecna/Halmadar, as the artifacts protect him against magical scrying.

The only time El locates Vecna/Henry with her powers is in season 5 episode 8. The fact that she can’t find him is a major plot point, and I don’t believe that she actually does manage it in episode 8, for reasons we will get to in part 3. (I have included the quote for El having trouble finding Will, since Vecna/Henry is in his mind at this point).

When the Circle of Eight comes to the final chamber, Vecna/Halmadar is waiting in his sarcophagus. The ensuing fight is scripted (though only the DM knows this), and Vecna/Halmadar will singlehandedly kill The Circle of Eight in less than a minute. This ends the prologue.

Yes. The entire Circle of Eight is wiped out in the prologue, and not even by the real Vecna. That’s what happens when the antagonist of your campaign is an actual god. Flare guns and spears certainly won’t be of much help during the final battle.

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

The DM reveals that everything up until now was just the prologue, and that the real campaign begins now. The players will be playing as a follower of the Circle Member they were playing as before. These characters should be level 12 to 15 (still very high level, but significantly less powerful than The Circle of Eight).

The characters each receive a vision of the death of their friend, but won’t see what exactly killed them. The visions leave them with a firm instruction to “Warn Mordekainen”. Mordekainen is not an easy man to get an audience with, but the party will find a contact at the Guild of Wizardry who can arrange a meeting.

Chapter 2: A Meeting with Mordekainen

The characters meet their contact at an inn, and are interviewed by a projected image of Mordekainen. After they tell their tale, Mordekainen informs them that there has been a divination blackout as of late (higher level divination spells will often fail inexplicably). Mordekainen has deduced that this is connected to The Hand and Eye of Vecna, though he isn’t sure how. He instructs the characters to research this further.

Afterward, The Cult of Vecna attacks the inn (sent by Vecna/Halmadar who has left the burial mound and convinced the cult that he is Vecna). Among the attackers are two monsters known as The Eye and The Hand.

I will cover the Eye and Hand as well as the other cult members in part 2.

Chapter 3: Research

There are three places to find information on Vecna and the cult: The libraries, the temples, and the slums in the River Quarter. The library is where we find the most interesting details, in relation to Stranger Things:

First is an offhand remark about a pamphlet called The Curative Powers of Music. (This is unfortunately never expanded on, but it’s still a remarkable ‘coincidence’.)

The book Treatise on the Practices of Hidden Ones has some information on several cults:

His descriptions of their evils are sensationalist and not always accurate, but he writes with a good fire-and-brimstone style. [Vena Lives! p. 24]

Despite this description, the DM is still instructed to give an accurate summary of the cult and its general goals. This is very reminiscent of the Satanic Panic in season 4, that often comes very close to the truth:

The Chronicle of Secret Times is an unauthorized book written by the historian of the Neheli Dynasty, detailing events left out of the official history books. It has information about Vecna’s backstory as well as the powers of his artifacts.

Stranger Things often touches on how the ‘Official Story’ isn’t always reliable. A specific instance of this, is when Robin and Nancy are searching the library for a connection between Vecna and the Creel Family.

Imaginary Landscapes, is by far the most fascinating of the books:

The material within its pages is a complicated mixture of prophecy, fact, and metaphysical theory blended together under the guise of fiction. To the reader, it is never clear what meaning or interpretation is intended. Indeed, readers cannot even agree on the contents. There is no question that the words remain the same, but each reader structures the text to meet his own expectations. This quandary is the heart of the theory of subjective divination, the basis of Imaginary Landscapes. Vastly simplified, subjective divination proposes a magical theory where what can be imagined becomes a potential reality. Therefore, by imagining possible futures, one is actually predicting future events, through the act of creating those events. (Wizards love this sort of stuff.) Imaginary Landscapes is therefore not a work of fiction but a prediction of the future - except that some of the events it describes have already occurred since the book was written, while others remain fictitious, and others have yet to occur, if they happen at all. […] he [the reader] finds a chapter where the divinations of the world disappear as Magic (a living being) dies, leaving only the art of subjective divination. In the tale, the hero (such as there is one in this odd, little book) discusses the death of Magic with the Incomplete Man - a character whose body is constantly dividing and reassembling during the course of the conversation. The Incomplete Man takes credit for the death of Magic, which he brought about to make himself whole. [Vecna Lives! p. 24]

The concept of imagining potential realities as a way to predict or even create the future links incredibly well with the theory that Mike as the DM and Storyteller is subconsciously controlling the entire narrative.

“The Death of Magic (a living being)”, matches how Eleven is described in the documentary:

I don’t have a definitive answer for who The Incomplete Man is in this analogy, but the clear implication is that killing off Magic did not make him whole, implying that the death of Eleven and childhood magic is neither needed nor helpful for completing the arc of other characters or the story overall.

By visiting the right temples, the characters learn that the attackers from the previous chapter were the Cult of Vecna, and that the monsters known as The Hand and The Eye are high-ranking members thereof. They can also learn the names of two cult members found in the River Quarter, some disturbing news from a gnome settlement called Osnabrölt, and some gossip about the Cult of Iuz (another evil demigod). By exposing the cultists in the River Quarter, they can learn that the cult has a temple in the city of Verbobonc.

When looking for clues in the River Quarter, both the cult of Vecna and Iuz will learn of the party’s mission, and start following them. Additionally, a man named Turim Varostak will introduce himself to the party, and possibly join them. Turim is actually the manifestation of Vecna, who is tracking down Vecna/Halmadar to find his Eye and Hand and regain control of the cult.

An Interlude

If the players dawdle too long, the DM must make the urgency of situation clearer. The interlude has a list of progressively more disturbing events for this purpose.

First, the divination blackout gets progressively worse, and in addition to divination spells, Contact Other Plane and all form of interplanar travel will also fail.

Divination spells are mostly for locating people and objects, or seeking answers and guidance. The blackout parallels Elven’s lack of powers in season 4 as well as the growing problems with signals and communication in both season 4 and 5.

Next, the characters start having dreams and visions. These are very reminiscent of Vecna’s curse in season 4:

The most sensitive of the player characters has a dream of Vecna. In it he sees a mummified man, his left hand a withered stump, leading some evil ritual. The exact details of where or who Is present is not clear. The worshipers are chanting, “Hail, Lord Vecna" over and over, leaving no doubt as to whom they are addressing. The same or another player character has a waking vision of Vecna. A form, which the character knows is the arch-lich, appears before him. Flanking Vecna are the Hand and the Eye. The lich points his finger ominously at the character, causing an icy chill to sweep through the room. With that, the apparition vanishes. [Vecna Lives! p. 30]

Chapter 4: Travelling

The characters travel to Verbobonc.

There’s not a whole lot to else say here, but there is this quote I find very funny:

If the suggestions in the "Interlude" section have not spurred them to travel, you may have to whack them over the head. [Vecna Lives p. 31]

Chapter 5: Verbobonc

I’m skipping a whole lot that may or may not happen, depending on events in previous chapters. Instead we jump straight to the end of the chapter, where the party conducts a raid on the cult’s temple.

The characters may recruit various NPCs for this mission. Turim Varostak (Vecna’s manifestation) will insist on coming along.

The inner chamber of the temple is filled with cultists. Three figures stand at the front; The high priestess, (known as The Heart of Vecna), The Eye and The Hand (provided they survived in chapter 2). They are all facing a fourth hooded figure; Vecna/Halmadar.

The worshipers are chanting "Hail Lord Vecna!" when the characters arrive. If the group stops and listens, it becomes clear the worshipers are not offering this as a prayer but are addressing Vecna/Halmadar at the head of the altar. […] Finally, have Vecna/Halmadar throw off his hood. Be sure to describe him in the same terms as you used in the Prologue. Although the characters have never seen him before. The players will remember Vecna/Halmadar and what he did to the Circle of Eight. [Vecna Lives! p. 46]

This is the scene from Eddie’s campaign in season 4 episode 1, and the ending of this chapter in the book foreshadows the finale of that season: The point of this scene is to make the players believe that this is the final battle against Vecna. It is not, we’re only about halfway through.

Furthermore, Vecna/Halmadar is not the final boss of Vecna Lives!, and I don’t think Vecna/Henry is the final boss of Stranger Things either.

The Heart of Vecna being the cult leader has some very interesting implications when it comes to Mike. I will cover that in part 2.

When the battle reaches its climax, (either just before the PC’s are about to be defeated or when they’ve fought their way past the cultists and reach Vecna/Halmadar,) Turim acts.

The manifestation releases his fear aura, driving back the lesser cultists. […] Only Vecna/Halmadar remains to face him. Desperately the possessed fighter thrusts out his withered hand, attempting to call up one of its awesome powers. Nothing happens - neither the Eye nor the Hand of Vecna will function against their true lord. [Vecna Lives! p. 46]

There are many, many connections between The Hand and Eye of Vecna, Vecna/Henry and Will. This would imply that they are unable to use their powers against the Mind Flayer.

Turim takes the Hand and Eye from Halmadar, which instantly kills him. Turim reveals his true identity to the players, thanks them for their help, and invites them to seek him out in Tovag Baragu for a reward, before teleporting away.

Chapter 6: Aftermath

The characters go the the wizard’s guild to learn about Tovag Baragu. Vecna Lives! suggests the DM look it up in Greyhawk Adventures for a more detailed explanation.

Tovag Baragu is an ancient holy site found in the Dry Steppes. It consists of five concentric circles of pillars of smooth white rock (it’s very obviously inspired by Stone Henge). The tribes in the Dry Steppes make a pilgrimage there for a yearly festival, but at any other time going near it is considered bad luck.

On occasion things may be seen through the pillars which are almost surely distant in time or planes rather than in space. […] These views would be entertaining rather than unnerving were it not that on occasion a connection is formed, and objects may pass between Tovag Baragu and the area depicted. Whether fortunately or unfortunately, these openings are rather fleeting. They may however account for some of the unusual creatures in the southern part of the Dry Steppe. It remains to be mentioned that the locals believe Tovag Baragu has an effect on the weather. […] Its [Tovag Baragu’s] powers, and the times at which it is activated, depend on astronomical phenomena of Oerth. Each circle is linked to a particular moon or planet and operates only when it is visible in the sky. The actions of those in the circle at such times can affect the outcome […] Whether the city seen represents the past or an alternate world or the future is up to the DM. [Greyhawk Adventures, p. 99]

Monsters from other planes passing through, and effects on the weather in Tovag Baragu correlates to the Demogorgons and the lightning in the Upside Down. Both places can also be used to travel between dimensions. Tovag Baragu’s link to astronomy may also correlate to why Vecna/Henry must act around November 6th.

All these connections, coupled with how Tovag Baragu allows for alternate universes and time travel (which is what Vecna plans to use it for), would imply that the Upside Down may be used in a similar fashion.

If the players have not yet been to Osnabrölt (the gome settlement mentioned in chapter 3), one of the characters will have a vision that heavily urges them to go there.

Chapter 7: Osnabrölt

Osnabrölt was attacked by Vecna/Halmadar sometime between the prologue and chapter 5. The survivors are still recovering from the brutal devastation. The party meets with the leader of the community, who tells them about the dark history of Osnabrölt. Long ago a mysterious figure (implied to be a manifestation of Vecna) buried the Sword of Kas here, and charged the gnomes with safeguarding it.

The characters convince the gnomes to let them take the sword so they can use it to defeat Vecna like Kas did before, but first they must go through a purification rite:

After fasting for 24 hours, the characters must purge their bodies by sweating. The gnomes have thrown together a simple sweat lodge, built a fire, and have been heating stones for 12 hours. At dawn the characters and Maldo are placed, naked, in the lodge. It is cramped, built more to gnome standards than human. A pit in the center is filled with heated rocks. Water is poured over these, creating clouds of steam. All through the day water and hot rocks are added to the pit. keeping the lodge torturously hot. The characters are required to stay in the lodge until sundown. [Vecna Lives! p. 53]

Of all the things I thought I might find in this book, the Sauna Test was not one of them…

This test will most likely result in the characters beginning to hallucinate. This is a very important detail, which I will come back to in part 3.

The characters that complete the ritual, are taken to where the sword is buried. The sword will come to them on its own. Whomever takes the sword will instantly connect with it:

Upon grabbing the hilt, the character's mind is instantly filled with images. Strongest of these is a feeling of bonding between the character and the sword. They belong together. The other predominant image is that of Vecna—the sword holds a burning desire to find and destroy the arch-lich. The sword seems filled with the power to eradicate the corrupt fiend. Instantly the character can sense the general direction Vecna in which can be found and knows if it is distant or near. [Vecna lives! p. 55]

After this, the cultists of Iuz, who have been following the party, will attack the party. Their aim is to steal the sword. If their attack fails, and the cult leader survives, he will offer to ally with the characters, since the cult of Iuz also seeks to destroy Vecna.

Chapter 8: Across the World

The book offers four options for travelling to Tovag Baragu: Overland, Flying, Teleportation or Planar Travel. The last one has interesting consequences:

Tovag Baragu is not just a series of stones, it is also a powerful artifact serving as a gate to other planes, worlds and times. When activated, Tovag Baragu exists in all limes and planes. Just as they are about to reach their destination via planar travel, the group sees Tovag Baragu on their chosen plane. Standing in the center is Vecna, having just activated the Stone Circles. The demigod sees the player characters and gloatingly tells them they are too late. Soon his worshipers from the past will pour into present-day Oerth, giving him the power to become the supreme god of all Greyhawk, (Note that the sword of Kas will be screaming for Vecna s blood by now.) After contemptuously allowing the characters to enter the circle and attack him (whereupon the sword of Kas fails), Vecna casts them all through one of the archways with a wave of his hand, sending the characters to the Citadel Cavitius. [Vecna Lives! p. 56]

This version of events skips straight to chapter 10. Chapter 9 assumes the party didn’t use planar travel.

Chapter 9: Tovag Baragu

Upon reaching Tovag Baragu, the Stone Circles, the characters undoubtably believe they are preparing to face the final battle against Vecna. They have tracked him down and they believe they have the means—the infamous sword of Kas. Unfortunately for them, nothing could be further from the truth. Their quest to defeat Vecna still has far to go. [Vecna Lives! p. 58]

It’s time for fakeout final battle number 2! And there are season 5 episode 8 parallels all around:

The player characters face little opposition cross the Dry Steppe in search of Tovag Baragu. The fearsome tribes of the steppe, so often mentioned in explorers’ texts, are strangely absent. [Vecna Lives! p. 58]

Vecna is using Tovag Baragu to open windows and gates into other worlds and times, searching for the correct combination that will lead him back to the moments just after his duel with Kas. When the characters arrive at Tovag Baragu, he has just found it:

The scene shows the remains of an immense palace, shattered and broken. The destruction could only have occurred moments before, since rubble is still crumbling away and people are running in confusion. Even in destruction, the palace looks both majestic and corrupt. This is the palace of the Spidered Throne, the seat of Vecna’s ancient empire. [Vecna Lives p. 60]

This is where the similarities end, because unlike in Stranger Things, there isn’t going to be a battle at all.

Vecna (still in the form of his manifestation, Turim Varostak) brings up the reward he mentioned in chapter 5. He will elevate any one of the player characters to the status of a demigod, but only if they kill the rest of the party now. If any character accepts this deal, the campaign ends:

Vecna has won: he will become the sole greater god of Greyhawk. He honors his promise, elevating the traitor to demigod status by creating a minor cult centered around the character. The character is retired from the campaign permanently (as a demigod he is now under the control of the DM). [Vecna Lives!, p. 60]

There have been many theories about a potential traitor in season 5, but I don’t think the nature of such a betrayal would be similar to this one. What I find interesting is the supposed reward: While the character is rewarded with power, the last line about being controlled by the DM can be interpreted as them losing their free will, and possibly that Mike is the one that gains control over them.

If the characters all refuse this deal, they will get the same outcome as planar travelling would get them in chapter 9:

The manifestation casts them through the gateway to Citadel Cavitius, his personal prison. “Since you refused me, you can join Kas in eternal hell!” Vecna gloats as the group tumbles through the gate. [Vecna Lives! p. 60]

The Citadel Cavitius is a demi-plane, meaning it’s not just Vecna’s personal prison; it’s Vecna’s personal prison world:

After a fakeout final battle, the characters are sent to Vecna's prison world. It's literally conformitygate!

Chapter 10: Citadel Cavitius

Citadel Cavitius is a demi-plane (like a pocket dimension), on the Negative Quasi-Plane of Ash. A quasi-plane is a kind of transitional plane between two other planes. The Negative Quasi-Plane of Ash is the quasi-plane between the Negative Energy Plane and the Plane of Elemental Fire. Citadel Cavitius lies right at the border of the Negative Quasi-Plane of Ash and the Negative Material Plane.

The Negative Quasi-Plane of Ash is the depletion of warmth and fire. The transition from the plane of Fire to that of Ash occurs in a region of cooling temperature and the dusty remains of burned materials hanging in the atmosphere. The plane is bonechillingly cold. Finally the ash thickens to a grey, dusty wall, beyond which is the darkness of the Negative Material Plane. [Manual of the Planes, p. 57] The Negative Material plane sucks in all matter and energy. The Negative Material plane is eternally dark, its structures and towers made up of physical, solid blackness. [Manual of the Planes, p. 54]

As the above suggests, Citadel Cavitius is physically more reminiscent of the Upside Down than Camazotz, although the Citadel is built within a giant skull, which can be interpreted as a vague connection to minds and memories. The main difference between the two is that Citadel Cavitius is far from empty.

The fortress is occupied by perhaps 1,000 dreary souls, all the victims of Vecna’s wrath. While a few of these have kept their spirit, most have been crushed by the monotony and hopelessness of their existence. More than a few have gone quite mad and many have deliberately walked beyond the field to their death. […] The only music heard is mournful and dirge-like. No one smiles. No one plays. There is no kindness, no curiosity, and, worst of all. no hope. [Vecna Lives! p. 62]

This may seem almost the polar opposite from the epilouge in Stranger Things, but below the surface I don’t believe they are all that different. Citadel Cavitius is described almost as a manifistation of depression, and being ‘crushed by monotony and hopelessness’ is an apt description of forced conformity.

As they enter the Citadel, the characters are repeatedly told that there is no escape and all hope is futile. The party needs to locate Kas, who is the only one who may know how to defeat Vecna. When they find him, they will learn that Kas has long since died, and now exists as Kas the Vampire. He has no interest in helping the characters, but he is willing to share his knowledge in return for the Sword of Kas, as he knows it has planeshifting powers, making it the only viable way to escape the Citadel.

Once the deal is made, Kas tells the group what he knows. It is really very simple. The PCs cannot kill Vecna; he is immortal. Neither can they use the sword of Kas against Vecna, as Kas learned long ago that it Is ineffective. […] The only hope the characters have is to call upon another of Greyhawk who is the equal of Vecna. (If the characters can't figure out this means luz. Kas will tell them.) Even then, Vecna must be cast into the outer planes. That way, at least, the Whispered One will be out of the way for a long time. [Vecna Lives! p. 63]

And with those encouraging words, we have finally reached:

Chapter 11: The Final Confrontation

The characters plane shift back to Tovag Baragu. They arrive just as Vecna starts calling his followers through the now fully open gateway to the past. The only way to stop him is to call on the other evil demigod, Iuz.

While the demigods battle, the characters have two objectives. First, they must stop Vecna’s followers from entering the present. The most effective way is destroying the gate, which will have far reaching consequences:

Indeed, all the gateways suddenly start to show random scenes, leaping to different planes, times, and places without any control. Tovag Baragu has been permanently damaged. The gateway to Vecna’s time is closed. At the same time, the magical aura shielding Greyhawk starts to weaken. Tovag Baragu was apparently the key power source for the shield. [Vecna Lives! p. 67]

The second objective is to figure out what to do about the raging demigods, before they’re left at the mercy of whomever emerges victoriously. They cannot kill the gods, but if they can force both of them through a gateway, they win the campaign.

Unnoticed in the fiery burst (the characters easily had more than enough to attend to) two small objects hurtled through the gate to land in the tall grass some distance away—the Hand and the Eye of Vecna. [Vecna Lives! p. 67]

Chapter 12: When All’s Done

If the characters win, they are rewarded by the gods themselves (though this happens subtly), but will be hunted by the cults of both Iuz and Vecna for the rest of their lives.

If the characters lose, Vecna will reign supreme, and the world will change dramatically:

With his ascendancy, Vecna ushers in a new reign of terror over Oerth. The forces of evil are given great rewards and powers, while the defenders of good struggle to stem the tide. The Great Kingdom becomes a resurgent force and begins a march of conquest over the good lands. The City of Greyhawk falls under the sway of evil oligarchs. The giants of the Crystalmist Mountains grow in strength, while the drow beneath the peaks begin to expand onto the surface. The sun grows dimmer and nights become longer. Darkness, both moral and physical, slowly stretches its fingers out over the land. [Vecna Lives! p. 68]

The End. Books Referenced: Vecna Lives! Greyhawk Adventures Manual of the Planes

Just remember Eddie's campaign from Season 4. REMEMBER IT! Hooded cultists...he talked about hooded cultists. You know who has NEVER worn a hoodie until this season? Will Byers.

And what do you know? Those colors? The orange and red colors? VECNA AND HENRY COLORS! I thought it was strange when Will was trying to downplay being a sorcerer to Max. Then Lucas asks Max if she wants a tour of the radio station and BOTH Max AND Will nod. Will, you've been there before! LOL unless THIS version hasn't because at times he's being controlled by Vecna. I think this is part of the simulation but Will doesn't fully realize it yet. I am DEFINITELY on the bandwagon of #conformitygate.

First of all, “A Wrinkle in Time” was first published JANUARY 1, 1962, when Henry Creel was 13-15 years old. This is definitely a book that would’ve influenced him. We also know from “The First Shadow” that Henry was at Joyce’s play at Hawkins High confronting Dr. Brenner, who manipulated him into thinking the love of his life, Patty, is his weakness, at which point he (possessed by the “shadow”) threw Patty off the rafters and she was critically injured, possibly dead. (He never found out because that’s when Dr. Brenner captured him and took him to the lab.) 

We ALSO know that Henry Creel has said he gains power from memories that make him really angry but also really sad (wouldn’t being manipulated into potentially killing the girl he loved be one of these memories?) and that “core” memories have always been important in this series (e.g., Max’s memory of the Snowball dance, Jane’s memories of her friends and her mother, Will’s memories of when he was a child). AND we know Henry has said, “Everyone is just waiting…for it all to be over, all while performing in a silly, terrible play day after day…” This MIGHT be why Max knew to go to the play (Henry’s worst, most powerful core memory that he keeps having to relive) to find him.

SO…it’s pretty obvious and well-established by the many posts out there that we’re all under Vecna’s curse right now, hypnotized, seeing whatever he wants us to see. (Because there’s NO WAY that was really the end.) Wouldn’t it make sense Henry invented some version of Camazotz to keep us trapped in (from a book that likely influenced him AND that children still read in schools) and we’re all actors in his play? He has convinced EVERYONE that the war is won and that what they see is now the reality.

In the book, the children who are transported to Uriel (= the Abyss) are “tessered” (like the ST kids are hooked up) to the edge of the planet which has succumbed to the “Black Thing” (= Mind Flayer), which is trying to take over the universe. It turns out Mrs. Whatsit was a star that blew up in an act of self-sacrifice to fight the darkness. (Makes sense that Henry would equate himself to her if he was trying to convince the children to trust him and help him fight the darkness.)

In the book, Camazotz is a place where all uniqueness has literally been removed and anything out of place is considered an “aberration”. Houses are all the same, people dress the same and do the same thing at the same time of day, and people say whatever is fed to them by the Man with Red Eyes (sound familiar?), who is the mouthpiece of IT, the disembodied brain that controls the planet through the Central Intelligence. (IT = Stephen King’s IT = Vecna.)

If you read the plot of the book, there are MANY parallels, but I don’t need to go into them right now. The point is…Vecna is still controlling Mike (and ALL of us) and has convinced us all that the episode 8 ending is REAL! It is A LIE!!!!! We might be part of Mike’s illusion, or we might be part of the world under Vecna’s control. I don’t know. But I DO know that right now we’re all in Camazotz.

My guess is that the doc is part of the illusion…part of what Vecna (representing himself as the Duffers) is using to keep us trapped. But our characters feel something is wrong and are trying to figure out what’s going on. What if, during the documentary, when “End of Series” is read, there’s a less-than-lukewarm reception from cast & crew. They’re going to think something is off with the finale. (Because it is!!!) The thing is, this has been planned PERFECTLY. Fans (go Bylers!) have already figured out all the clues and done all the work outside of the show. All the breadcrumbs, the interviews, the WSQK broadcasts, the ads, the involvement of major media networks, etc. has all paid off and saved them some onscreen exposition time! My guess is that after or during the doc they begin to try to find their way back out. Or at least Mike does, with the help of his friends who are trying to save him (or also trying to escape???).

BUT…in order to do so, he has to navigate through a bunch of memories to find the truth. Which means we’ll still see more memories and more of what happened in that time gap! 

The Head of Vecna, or at least the shrouded face of his ascendant form  (Ken Frank, Vecna Lives! by David “Zeb” Cook, TSR, 1990)

The real story of “The Head of Vecna” is one of the all-time great legends of roleplaying, a supposedly true tale from a home D&D campaign passed down through the years and spread across the web and Usenet in the 90s.

The earliest version I know is from The Daily Illuminator for December 6, 1996, on the Steve Jackson Games site, under the heading:

An Important Safety Tip!

Mark Steuer recounts this tale: