Originally Posted by JandK
I think the dream persona is the sentience within the artifact that Shadowheart carries.

Interesting. Not something that had occurred to me, but you could be on to something

Originally Posted by JandK
I further suggest that not using the tadpole power is a mistake.

I’m not sure this follows, though. Even if the dream persona is linked to the artifact and is opposed to the illithids, that doesn’t mean it’s benign. It could be that, in the end, the story is about us finding some sort of accommodation with the dream persona/weapon to allow us to defeat the illithids/Absolute. But welcoming its influence with open arms still isn’t necessarily a great idea.

"You may call it 'nonsense' if you like, but I've heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!"