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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GuardianLurker" data-source="post: 6899102" data-attributes="member: 786">The Devilish Influences - Introduction[h1]Introduction[/h1]Tiamat is using the Cult of the Dragon to enter Faerun in a bid to consolidate and grow her power. After mortal ages striving and scrambling in the Nine Hells, her recent upsets have convinced her that her efforts elsewhere have cost her too much power. And rather than waste it trying to regain her throne against the very forces that deposed her, leaving her in the weakened state, she needs to regain her power elsewhere.She has concealed this information behind a number of facades. Her outermost facade, Tiamat pretends that this is nothing more than a whim, or a distraction for her other infernal schemes against her competitors and oppressors. On her next layer within, she leads her opponents to believe that this is a effort to gain resources unopposed by the forces of the Nine Hells. Below that, she pretends that all her efforts are merely masking a permanent and full retreat away from Avernus and the other Hells.The truth is hidden behind all of this - Tiamat is indeed planning to fully leave the Nine Hells, where she is both a prisoner and a Power, to take up permanent residence in the Realms, and once again rule. Furthermore, she plans on using her time in the Realms to break the bonds that tie her to Avernus, and become a fully embodied and incarnate deity whose home plane is the Realms.Her efforts have had dividends. Her competitors in the Nine Hells have placed agents here in response to her machinations. They do not have a unified response, however.The first faction is led by the Pit Fiend Bel. Once a ruler of Avernus, though primarily as a proxy for the Archduke, he never managed to consolidate his power. He wants Tiamat to stay in the Nine Hells, both to deny her resources, and to give him a chance to claim her power for himself. To that end, he has sent Lord Volmer to aid the party and the Alliance.The next faction is led by the Archdevil Zariel, Duchess of Avernus. Having defeated both Bel and Tiamat, Zariel intends to keep her supremacy. Having Tiamat absent from Avernus gives Zariel time to root out Tiamat's agents and places of power in Avernus unopposed. More, she's convinced that Tiamat's retreat will reduce the dragon's power even more. To help achieve those goals, she has sent one of her best agents, the succubus Merisal to work against the efforts of the party and the Alliance.The Archdevil Asmodeus, Archduke of the Nine Hells, however, knows the potential of Tiamat's maneuvers. In fact, the goal he suspects she is trying to achieve (and which is her goal in reality) is one of the reasons why the deities and other planar powers have negotiated the Prime Material Plane as a neutral no-man's land. His best outcome is achieved by not just stopping Tiamat, but punishing her for breaking the Treaty before any other planar powers notice. He also wants to prevent the other devils from gaining the same knowledge, so he is using two of his more covert agents to achieve his goals. Lord Volmer and Merisel are ultimately agents for the Archduke, despite their ostensible loyalty to Duchess Zariel and Lord Bel.Merisel's schemes are a little less subtle than they could be, and the "allies" she pits against her opponents are over-geared, intending to increase her opponent's effectiveness against Tiamat. Lord Volmer's schemes are more straightforward; he directly grants the party favors and information to overcome Tiamat. In both cases, the agent's schemes are designed to corrupt or weaken the forces of good as well.Lord Volmer's Schemes* Devilish Demands* Reading Is Good For You* The Wyrm's WyrdMerisal's Schemes* Death at the Council* Mole or Double Agent?* The Wyrm's Wyrd</blockquote>

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