I had to ask Adrian for help today... mercy help me. Before we were to leave I needed to speak with the Crownkiller, and so I needed that wine from the hells. There was no way I could persuade him to speak with much less unless we were making wagers, wagers I couldn't afford anymore. I broached the topic lightly but the damn thief *did* know how much the wine was worth. he wouldn't give it for any normal payment, He wanted power of course. The untapped power of a wizard who had reached his potential. A favor sometime in the future, whenever he felt like asking. he was obvious about wanting me in his debt, possibly forever, as if that would even our standing. What a fool. Ostoyans always paid their debts, so I would ensure that mine was paid in a way that benefited me. No deception, if he wanted a wizard's power he could have it. 1 favor, from me to him, good for a single year. He accepted, the fool. Now that the wine was mine, I could finally go about my important business.
I have a theory, a kind of thesis, about devils and demons. These beings cannot feel it, nor realize it, but they are lonely. Without emotions they seek out people, they make deals and bargains to work with them in order to siphon energy from their souls. Eventually they ingest those souls and consume the lifetime of feelings and experiences within. In a way this creates an attention seeking behavior where they can only interact with humans to agitate strong emotions. Deals and bargains will never benefit them the way they truly desire, they bring no emotion and the strong feeling of betrayal is a much desired outcome.
The way to make a demon or devil tame, to make it personable and palatable is trust and kindness. Reciprocity. The same way you teach a child to trust, you give them love and kindness and build a relationship of positive experiences.
Today I will be testing this thesis on Tarlock. It is stupid and dangerous. I am more excited than I have ever been. If I am successful here, it could shake the foundations of demonology.
I have come back alive. In fact, I am more alive than I have ever been. What an incredible success! He drank the wine, we played our little game, not once did he threaten to strike me down. Instead he seemed happy to have company, I think he was feeling my joy.
He won our dragon chess match of course. He always wins at dragon chess. But he answered question after question, he gave me a victory in that sense. I was certain I had pulled one over on him until the end, when I heckled him about letting me win a game for once. He looked me straight thorough and told me he knew I would not accept a hollow victory. He knew me far better than I gave him credit. The way he always insisted I was an insignificant, short lived mortal I assumed he might believe it, at least a little. He knew me, he remembered details about me. He cared more than most lords I knew, a surprise from a king of hell. If he liked to play games, this would be the second game we would play.
In any case I learned a few details I will note here. Tarlock insisted that demons and devils don't change, that they are incapable of learning new things. That seemed impossible to me, he himself showed an ability to learn and retain new information and incorporate it into his behavior. How else did he become skilled in the arts of combat, war, and dragon chess? Perhaps he meant to say their personalities are stationary, they cannot change taste, desire, or whims. All the same, I will seek to test this theory...
Tarlock also informed me that he was summoned recently about the issues in Landhaus, his summoners offered him souls but a divine vessel of Maligant interrupted them. He chose to leave, did not defend his summoners because he was not bound by clauses to do so. he wound up with only a quarter of what he was owed. Whatever is going on with the smiting sickness it seems this "vessel" is to blame, the real divine channeled through him to make it so.
(Not mentioned here is Valya's attempt to sway Revels in challenge to accompany him Landhaus as well as the long conversation he had with Adrian about his new skeleton servant Bentley. Both of these events took time but had less impact on his trajectory this session. The best moment came from Valya walking away while Bentley was speaking, to which Adrian responded "wow he really is a noble" I died laughing.)
We were set to leave the camp finally. I had a few moments with Hands to give him his birthday present. we had no time for a celebration, I only had enough time to give him the cord I had woven for him. Yellow brown and mauve, similar to the one I had given Yasera. I knew a cord woven by his hands would have been of far greater quality, but it wasn't the job of a father to make quality trade goods it was the job of a father to love his children. Hands seemed to like it and wore it on his wrist as we packed the rest of our belongings.
There was a big farewell for us as we left the camp. Men and women lined up to see us off, a show of respect and honor. This place will be forever changed by us, the people may never forget us. As Luchik carried us towards Landhaus the view of camp blackwood diminished behind the trees, as did the feeling of its warmth and safety.
We make our way to Landhaus now. In my company, Cassuis, Yasera, Hands and my assistant Emma. whatever waits for us, I pray it is not to far out of our power.
I close the book on this morning, 12th solar Aurelia, 753