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Message: <blockquote data-quote="darkbard" data-source="post: 9075840" data-attributes="member: 1282">CHANVATI has long contemplated this brother to his consort, her twin, in fact. Powerful? There can be no doubt. Ruthless? Indeed, as his actions at Ruffly Gelded amply demonstrated. Conniving? Clearly. But the true question remains a mystery: unstable madman or performative opportunist? And he and Ibhea share some sordid past. Very interesting.Then the Merchant Prince notices the heraldic seal upon the sinister shoulder guards of the warriors of the Legion of Ruth, so different from the symbols upon their shields and tabards: an open pair of scaled hands, gules, rearing above a diamond, sable. That is no part of their iconography! Nor that of any Primordial power of which he's aware. No, that coat of arms belongs to one of the Archdukes of Hell!"You weave a pretty story of fervent belief, apostasy in the name of patriotism, and a claim to greater insight than any here might have. But who is your true master, Bita-Bahlin? Your true goals? SHOW ME!"Chanvati thrusts his mind into that of the Tiefling magistrate. What is revealed there staggers. <<A montage of images.>> Much of what Bita-Bahlin claims is truth. He attempts a delicate threading of needle between the crushing onslaught of an unstoppable force and the rotten core of Empire, corrupted from within by an alien threat. Mad council meetings in the Imperial Halls of Bantouk. Fraught negotiations with The Legion of Ruth and their promise of purging, Primordial flame. And yet he omits much. Nowhere in the flashing images does Bita-Bahlin witness the Empress herself conspiring with her Caiphonian-tainted councilors. This special cohort assigned to Bita-Bahlin, personally. And always present, though never visible: an enormous entity exerting influence in the background, half-serpent scaled in yellow brown, topped by a muscular humanoid torso with bald, horned head and slitted yellow serpentine eyes: Mammon, Archduke of the Hells!Chanvati withdraws his psyche from the Tiefling."Bita-Bousseh, dear," he says calmly, "you must be so very disappointed in your brother. A crusader, a true believer with much promise: corrupted by his own greed and dark promises from an Infernal patron. Pathetic, really."[HR][/HR]What I'm looking to establish here is that much of Bita-Bahlin's story is truth, but there remain unrevealed facets: (i) the Empire is compromised from within by Caiphonian schemers, but (ii) the Empress may or may not be involved with and/or aware of these machinations; (iii) the Legion of Ruth does promise a great Purge through the flames of the Mountain That Burns, but (iv) whether that means the demise of the Empire of Hageri is unclear; (v) Bita-Bahlin is, above all, an opportunist who literally has sold his soul to a devil, that the Nine Hells have taken an interest in this cosmic battlefield in the mortal realm involving divine, arcane, alien and Primordial forces.Chanvati makes a Secondary Skill History check to recognize the recondite Infernal heraldry, +13 vs 11 Easy DC = autosuccess, as a +2 bonus to his Mind Thrust attack to read Bita-Bahlin's thoughts through force, r(10) +9 +2 = 21 vs 19 Will. Success.</blockquote>

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