This is, pretty long. It's... over 2k words. Sorry for the length, I had a lot of material to cover, and didn't want to give it a light treatment.<br/>=======<br/><br/>Merhault snickered, and smiled at the image. This was sort of funny. He tended to avoid direct contact with his own offsrping, aside from giving them direction, advice and as many magical trinkets as he could give them without gathering attention. Most of them were pretty content to live fairly mundane lives, and that didn't really bother him, if anything, it had given him descendents that he could visit hundreds of years after meeting their parent; female, or male.<br/><br/>This however was hilarious. A Devil Lord whose own lack of foresight left him with a child who didn't actually return any sort of affection. Of course, Merhault had been brought up differently than any Devil. They spent all of their time scheming for<em>personal</em>power, instead of increasing the power of everyone they met. In the long run, that sort of mentality only weakened all but the most powerful Planar Lords. Even Odin and Zeus fathered children that they granted boons to, even if for them there were other motives, such as paranoia or lust involved.<br/><br/>"<span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">Hmmmmm. Hope is a fair price. But I know where and how you probably got your hands on it, Lord of Confusion and Lust. I'm a <em>lot</em> harder to be swayed by your beautiful phrases than you think, Hell-Lord. They don't call me "fiendslayer" because of my comedies, even <em>if</em> The Iron Duke attended my performance of "<em>The shattering of the box</em>" on Acheron a few centuries ago, and thought my portayal of the Lord of Gnolls was hilarious parody [1]. You know full well why the Lords of Celestia gave me that title.<br/><br/>I want something that is a lot safer, and has probably harmed a lot less beings than your proably stolen and tainted; 'Hope'. <br/><br/>I want an equal value in souls of Celestials that you have <em>bound</em> or <em>imprisoned</em>. Their families would want them back, and the Seven Mounting Heavens are a place that I'm not unfamilar with. <br/><br/>That.... or we can have a bit of a 'sparring match'. Strictly non-lethal, and strictly a test of martial ability.<br/><br/>I have no desires to claim your realm or your title, and my father taught me how to tell the laws of reality to sit down and obey my demands. I don't really care about which of us is able to come up with better combinations of spells, since it would only take away from combat.<br/><br/>All I'd ask is just a test of martial skill between myself, and yourself. Facing a Devil Lord would be a fair enough payment for your "test". <br/><br/>Win or lose, I'll be testing myself agaist one of the Hell's best, and it will only further my reputation as a Fiendslayer.</span>"<br/><br/>He grinned at the image. He<em>knew</em>the only way that a Fiend would be able to offer anything aside from raw Pain or Fear or Souls would be completely evil. Thousands, and thousands, of years fighting, slaying and interrogating fiends while in the pay of Gods or Celestials had given him much insight into the workings of the economies of the Planar Circle.<br/><br/>Facing and losing to, or potentially embarrasing, a Devil Lord in personal combat;  was better payment than 'Hope' that was probably tainted with murder and betrayal. At the very least, the removing the<em>Bound</em>souls of Celestials from eternal torture, was better than staining his hands and soul with a Planar Currency whose history he was dubious of. He inwardly shudderd to think of who from, and how, Belial had attained the Raw Hope he was offering them.<br/><br/>The "acheivement" of saving 'a' Material Plane was good, but in the long run Merhault knew that it wouldn't matter. It would only create thousands of new heroes to face the threat; and creatures from across the Planar Circle would flock to face and kill Belial's legions.<br/><br/>Merhault had to look at the much<em>larger</em>picture than just a single Material Plane or his own personal wealth. Saving Angels from torture, or bringing down the reputation of someone that was a symbol of the forces of Evil were two things that would matter a thousand years from now, even if the cost would take nearly half a millenia to drive back a whole legion of fiends from a Material Plane.<br/><br/>Of course acheiving any of those three goals would be a good acheivement. He just wished that he would be able to do more than just a single act of good in all of this.<br/><br/>Merhault looked at the others and wondered if they knew anything of the enormity of the evil of the offered payment. They all looked like whelps to him, not a single one past their first half millenia on the Planar Circle. He felt no right to tell them the truth, he<em>should</em>, but the Extraplanar Enforcers would hound him till the ends of his days for breaking the unspoken laws of silence about where and how Planar Currencies were found and harvested. Every Inevitable, Celestial and Fiend would be warned to<em>imprison</em>his soul for telling a mortal what he knew. He didn't want that to happen to him again. He had been lucky the last time, and didn't want to chance it a second time.<br/><br/>When he looked at her carefully, the Drowess looked like a goddess, or god in mortal form. His body and mind trembled at the thought of sparring with her, and his thoughts raced at the prospect of finding out who she really was. Her secret was like a intricate puzzle that he wanted to solve; but could not bring himself to do. If she really was a diety trying to go incognito, she would be feign to let others know who she really was, and he didn't want to upset such a creature. Even if she wouldn't tell him who she really was, he would be willing to go to great lengths to have them (her, or him, as the case might be) be a co-parent for one of Merhault's children. Even if she didn't want to be the mother, that wasn't a really big deal; he still had the belts that could "get around" that problem, and it wouldn't have been the first time Merhault had been a mother; nor the second time. It probably wouldn't be the last time either.<br/><br/>He had given up such simple ideas as "sex" when he was not even a hundred years old and met a half-elf who had been butchered by her father and cursed by arch-mages to never bear young. Being able to spit in the eyes of the people who did that to the half-elf was his gift to her. His cursed belts had helped them bypass the curse, as it had never taken into account the idea that the half-elf would try to beget a child, instead of bear a child. The experience had given him a very different outlook on nearly everything; in some ways making him much more vicious and cruel when those smaller or younger than himself were endangered.<br/><br/>The paladin was a very lightly armoured in his opinion, it probably didn't matter, but in some ways, it really made him feel a bit...<em>overdressed</em>. Here he was covered in an Adamantine Carapace, covered in razors and spines; while his companions were a barely dressed Drowess, a scaled Dragon, and a Satyr wearing leathers.<br/><br/>Merhault wondered if the part-Satyr knew of the conspiracy on who the most powerful agents of the Gods really were. They weren't clerics, or paladins, but rather rogues. A fact that he had stumbled upon when he realized that a particular champion of Corellon Larethian was not only a powerful Cleric, but also wielded a Holy Liberator, and was the best person to deal with a particularlily<em>nasty</em>vault that cultists of Gruumsh has constructed in Acheron. The rogue had sworn him to secrecy, and Merhault had agreed. After all, he didn't want to have a whole Pantheon of Elvish gods upset with him, and he had been welcomed at Arborea like a long-lost son for his efforts in the Acheronian vault; holding off a horde of fiendish orcs and their warmachines, while the rogue had slipped inside and defeated an Avatar of Gruumsh in single combat.<br/><br/>Spoiling this secret would probably earn him a severe reprimand, and letting the cat out of the bag was something that he wasn't about to do. Maybe when he got a better feel for what the half-Satyr was capable of would he drop a hint. On the other hand, he knew how obtuse a paladin could be. Too many of them put themselves under restrictions that were much more than they needed to. Hopefully a Satyr Paladin was no where near as self-depriving.<br/><br/>Merhault smiled and grinned at the Satyr-Elf; he doubted that his own history with Fey would mean anything to the elf with Fey ancestry, but it was always good to help the mortals that would one day join the courts of Arborea [2]. He was ashamed to admit it, but he actually had been trying to not be out-wrestled by the Nymphs the first time he had visited Arborea. His skin was now forever smelling like flowers in full bloom due to those events; and now he didn't really mind being being pinned down by the overeager Fey of the Extraplanar forests. At least not when he was travelling in Arvandor.<br/><br/>The dragon....no, Dragoness, the shape of her eyes and aural discs were just the right size and shape for a female shadow dragon. He looked right through the Dragon, looking into its soul and felt the palpable sensation of fractured evil seemed to flow off of her. It wasn't able to hide it's alignment, or it's dismissing thoughts of the rest of them [3]. Merhault thought the creature's hubris was hilarious. Of course, saying so would tip his hand. A thing that someone who faced Fiends on a regular basis would be foolish to do.<br/><br/>In exactly the same way that he felt the Dragon's fractured evil, he felt the soft white light of pure good that came off of the Drowess, and strong waves of fractured, changing, light came off of the Piper, and his sword. Inwardly, he sighed and hoped that he wouldn't have to face the Dragon, and was refreshed to be around Good creatures. Knowing where their alignments were brought him a great deal of ease, even if he wouldn't immediately admit it.<br/><br/>He didn't feel inclined to pry into the thoughts of these two. Even though the temptation to browse their current thoughts was extremely tantalizing; he reigned in his greed for knowledge, and left them to the privacy of their own thoughts.<br/><br/>Merhault had decided long ago to leave the minds of good creatures unobserved, unless he had asked and been given permission; or he felt that something was very wrong about a creature and he felt compelled to help them. He felt no guilt about peeling back the thoughts and desires of Evil creatures, and perusing them for his own goals. They had probably harmed others for personal gain, and felt no qualms, for Merhault,<em>intentions</em>alone were what he cared about.<br/><br/>Fortunatley, his own mind was a void, inperceptible, and unseeable to most others. One could hide the body's sounds and form from others, but to hide one's mind was reserved for those who were truly Stealthy [4].<br/><br/><br/>[edit]<br/><br/>The Paladin's questions were very<em>good</em>ones. He seemed to understand the enormity of the situation. Once one reached a certain level of power, their goals entirely changed to deal with the new scope of problems that they had to face.<br/><br/>He didn't really concern himself with what the "test" was, it would no doubt further Belial's agenda in some manner; and Merhault hoped to subvert the Devil Lord's goals, while still accomplishing the "letter" of the assigned task.<br/><br/>A Fiend could be devious and trap mortals in countless webs and snares; he just needed to be<em>more devious</em>than a Fiend. He just hoped in his heart that he would be able to do so and not risk his soul.<br/><br/><br/><br/>==========<br/>[1]: Planar Travel, and perform and craft [Comedy] checks of 56 (perform) and 35 (craft). Before any special stuff, like spells or equipment that would improve this even further.<br/><br/>[2]:Note: Merhault is<em>Fey</em>as far as Fey are concerned, even if he looks straight human. I know that Oren is an [augmented humanoid] Elf, but I'd rather give The Villain the benefit of the doubt.<br/><br/>[3]:Natural Empath, Crepusculous has no ranks in Bluff, and Merhault has a Sense Motive modifier of +39; on opposed checks, he wins by 20 points and gains the 3rd round effect of<em>Detect Thoughts (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/detectThoughts.htm)</em>, reading Crepusculous' thoughts without her knowing about it. As well as knowing her alignment, and comparative levels of power to his own.<br/><br/>Sorry about the prying Mind Hazing Squid.... it's just that your PC shows up as Chaotic Evil, and that's frankly a<em>dangerous</em>prospect when you're at high level play. I'm not worried about your character attacking, since that would be telegraphed as soon as your character thinks it. However, knowing what an Evil creature with little/no self-restraint is thinking about is a good way to know how much they can be trusted.<br/><br/>Akiko and The Villain, I'll probably have my character never pry into either of your character's thoughts, unless something happens that makes Merhault believe that he should. Mostly because you're both playing good characters.<br/><br/>Alystin obviously doesn't care about material rewards (either she's an ascetic, or she's a goddess and above that), and Oren's an obvious Paladin with a Chaotic bent, there's no reason to worry about someone like that once you can identify the magic on their weapon (due to Arcane Sight and spellcraft checks); as well as sense an Overwhelming (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/detectEvil.htm) sensation of both Good and Chaos.<br/><br/>[4]:<em>Nondetection (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/nondetection.htm)</em>Caster level checks of higher than 38 to use any Divination spell on Merhault; this includes any<em>Scrying</em>and the entire line of<em>Detect</em>spells. This can be lowered, but of course Oren would have to ask Merhault to do so.