“There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said -- no. But somehow we missed it.”
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
“There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said -- no. But somehow we missed it.”
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
....she assumes they cannot all go to the Gardens, lest she incur the wrath of Erecura. What did Dispater suggest there.
Dispater's original suggestion was having their original Cheliax-interfacing contract devils continue to hold their custody, but treating the souls as 'resurrectable', not to be broken. If Sevar takes longer than 66 years from a soul's death to claim it, Hell can start in on training it, but with an appropriately custodial attitude toward its future usefulness to Sevar. If after Sevar's death it becomes evident that she shall never become a devil nor Power great enough to own souls, her seeming ownership is annulled and those souls' custodians become their new owners.
Carissa is concerned that sufficiently incompetent devils might still break her souls while treating them as resurrectable. She's...inclined to demand they just be petrified until she can claim them or until it becomes evident she will never become a devil great enough to do so.
"You'll want to change that to a form of petrification that has them not conscious and not dreaming."
Mm... for this small handful of souls, very well. Let Sevar be warned that Asmodeus is not liable to agree to any such compacted treatment of great numbers of souls that pray to her, even once she's begun conquering lands, if she has no allies ready in Dis to receive them.
Dispater shall command all of His who own the souls of these original Project Lawful girls who have sold theirs, to sell them back to Cheliax at their bona fide last-traded prices payable in spellsilver, at Golarion's spellsilver price as defined by treaty.
Dispater shall command His contract devils that they, this day, sell unto Sevar options upon current soulsold Project employees, Securities who've read her mind, and Dispater does grant her option upon Ferrer Maillol should he pass into ownership of Dis. All such options require the consent of Cheliax's Crown and Asmodeus's Church in Golarion, in order to exercise.
It shall be the case that Erecura has already taken the traitors Asmodia and Peranza into her Gardens, there to reside for up to 100 years of death, and offered them Her ordinary good treatment there.
Sevar receives a +6/+6/+4 headband, and nondispellable permanent Arcane Sight and Tongues, and 15 Wishes; she shall be granted the power to request up to three times a Gate to a mortal-habitable fortress in Avernus where certain greater devils endure the indignation of paying out Hell's dues in Wishes. Yes yes, fine, the devils there shall also Gate her back to her point of origin in Golarion afterwards. Fine, anyone who accompanied her can go back too.
And Dispater will compact with Asmodeus as her agent, arranging for those who pray to her and eventually those in the lands she conquers to be hers if she becomes a Power in Hell. And Carissa, as owner of the original Project Lawful girls' souls, may order or forbid their resurrection as is the privilege of their owner, a right she'll also have over those she has options on once she exercises the options by leave of Church and Crown.
She'll begin looking for allies in Dis who'll competently treat her great numbers of souls, while Dispater arranges her rights to them.
And for her part, Carissa Sevar will renounce her clerichood of Irori and compact her soul to Dispater, that her glories and triumphs in the service of Asmodeus may compound to Him, and that she will irrevocably on her death go straight to him, without trial, eternally damned.
Sevar can't directly order or forbid her already-owned souls' resurrections, lacking that capacity as a mortal, but she may send word to Hell of how custodians shall answer the Material and that word shall be obeyed. Mark also that the soul itself may refuse consent.
Note again, Dispater can only take this compact to Asmodeus and bring back His response; He cannot promise to 'arrange' it.
"You'll want to have that part done before you sell your soul and after you've agreed on the other parts, because you have more negotiating leverage with Asmodeus if -"
"FUCK. FUCK FUCK FUCK. That's advice to you as a friend, it probably doesn't serve Asmodeus if you have more - FUCK."
"I can't do this unless I'm doing it because I'm your friend, sir, I wasn't trying to imply that you would ever see me that way!"
"You are of course correct that I should ask Dispater to take this compact to Asmodeus as soon as we have reached terms."
"Our Lord does not forbid people to pursue their own self-interest in the course of serving Him. He commands it, in fact. There is sometimes a difference between pursuing Asmodeus's interests and following His will for mortals; Asmodeus might give Sevar less, if she compacted after selling her soul rather than before, and that would work to Asmodeus's interests and not hers. But in so doing, she would be less the kind of mortal and devil He seeks to have serve Him. He bid Sevar come to Him in Hell without thought of other choices; He did not bid her to seek nothing in exchange for conquering Golarion in His name."
"That said, you will require further practice and harsh reminders in noticing when, in acting from friendship, you do act contrary to our Lord's will."
...in time Pilar has nothing left to point out, even when invoking the power of Friendship.
Then in time she will hand the contract back to Dispater. It specifies that he present Asmodeus with her proposed compact now, before they sign.
She feels oddly un-terrified. They might have made a mistake she wasn't smart enough to see, and that's existentially horrifying of course, and it'd be nice if she could check the contract with Keltham for input, but this is what she was meant to do, and now she is doing it.
"Do you, Carissa Sevar, conquer territories or hearts in Hell's name, be you fairly judged by Hell's Prince to be the most prime mover in such conquests, such unsold and unclericed souls from those lands and peoples as enter into Hell calling your name, in death as they called it in life and did you and Hell more service than disservice, shall pass into your custody or the custody of those in Hell you name your slaves or allies; and when you have conquered three-quarters of Avistan all such souls out of Avistan shall be yours as well; when three-quarters of Golarion is yours, all such souls out of Golarion; when three-quarters of this plane is yours, all such souls out of this plane; when three-quarters of Pharasma's Creation is yours, all such souls out of Creation; while Hell's dominions of those lands and peoples last; and all this be annulled should you fail finally after death in being acknowledged by Hell as a Hellish Power, or should the yield in strength and wealth from those souls granted you be less than He accounts as ordinary from His subservient Powers of Hell; or should the Prince of Hell fairly judge you to have entered His despite in death or life."
That Asmodeus says He'll reward somebody for conquering the universe for Him, to be clear, does not particularly mean He thinks they can. He usually doesn't trouble Himself to personally compact so at all, with lunatics, but it's not even the one-thousandth such compact Dispater has known to be agreed by Asmodeus, to lunatics otherwise worthy of His notice that He enjoys to encourage.
Dispater personally will be surprised, amused, and pleased if Carissa Sevar conquers just Avistan for Hell and holds it for a few centuries.
"And now for you to do your part by Me, mortal who'd be Queen of All."
"Irori. You named me Your priest. You did it, somehow, without my knowledge, and I have no idea of Your intent, but I reject your priesthood, and reject You, and demand of You that you release me, that I may go to Asmodeus, as He commanded me. You offer me Axis. I refuse Axis. You offer me freedom. I refuse it. I am the possession of Asmodeus, and I intend to go to Him in Hell."
Reaching back into the second layer of Hell, from where He stands, is more difficult, more expensive. Under these particular circumstances Irori absolutely does not give a fuck.
A touch like a Shocking Grasp runs through Carissa Sevar's senses, paralyzing her perceptions and making them jerk and twitch, like she can't see anything about herself or like everything is becoming perfectly clear but no longer worthy of her attention -
Immense pride, that she's come this far, to cast Irori free and proceed on her own unhindered.
An apology, that He ever thought that Carissa Sevar needed His meddling aid.
His last benediction that she be about her own Way of Carissa Sevar, now.
ALSO IF CARISSA SEVAR FAILS IN HER TASK CAN SHE PLEASE VOLUNTARILY PRAY ABOUT THAT IMPORTANT FACT TO IOMEDAE OR ERECURA OR NORGORBER OR LITERALLY ANY OTHER GOD WHO MIGHT HEAR AND UNDERSTAND HER BECAUSE IT IS SUPER NOT IRORI'S NATURE TO TAKE UP HER TASK IF SHE FAILS AND THIS IS AN UNUSUALLY INCONVENIENT TIME FOR THAT FACT TO BE TRUE
(this last message is not going to come across at all clearly, given how much it contradicts Irori's domain, but He is TRYING REALLY HARD TO CONVEY IT ANYWAYS)
- and then Carissa Sevar is no longer a recipient of Irori's guidance in any form, but departed from His hinting and entirely about her own Way.
...doesn't matter, because He's Irori, and she doesn't work for Him.
She stands.
She takes the contract.
And she signs it.
And she belongs to Dispater, and is granted permanent undispellable Arcane Sight and Tongues, and there is seared into her soul a power and capability with three tangible uses to it, not like any spell she has known before, a divine ability, to call across the planes to Hell and three times have Hell hear.