A Pact with a Demon

[SyndicatedColumnists 48]

THE DEMONIC PACT

between

THE GREAT DECEIVER

and

HIS SERVANTS et al.

 

From the compiled works of J.H Hippolit & A. Callahan (1745)

 

 

---

 

IN THE CONVENTIONAL UNDERSTANDING, Iblees, whomst has faces so manifold as to be practically unknowable, has not been understood to have impacted the realms of the descendants for centuries. There are some that proliferate the idea that Iblees is dead, or even that he never existed in the first place. Those descendants practically a millennia old, who lived through his destruction of Aegis and more of the horrors he wrought, may have been lulled into a false sense of security since last he was vanquished. They are wrong-headed in this interpretation.

 

Iblees lives among us, and has taken, for over a century now, another face: that of the Great Deceiver. In a far cry to the fire-and-brimstone conquest and naked cruelty of Iblees’ past guise, the Great Deceiver’s primary tool is subtlety and manipulation. This makes him far more dangerous, turning descendants against one another to sate his bloodlust. 

 

The true name of the Great Deceiver is unpronounceable, originally finding its genesis in a blood-god secretly worshipped by the Daelish travellers who established themselves in caravans in Lorraine in the early 17th century. The pact that their chieftain, Gromach, made with this pagan entity ensured his rise through civil society. Eventually, Gromach achieved the rank of finance minister to Emperor Peter II, becoming his chief-most advisor. The Great Deceiver’s price? He would spread the secret tenets of his worship, furthering his cause throughout the realms of mortal beings in exchange for favours, promises, and rewards. In a desperate bid to save his rule, Peter II adopted the worship of the Great Deceiver in private, under the whispered counsel of his cultist advisor. Stability, however, never serves the interest of this blood god. Only anarchy and war appease him, and so the bumbling emperor was betrayed by him. This desire for bloodshed drew a natural ally to worship him - the Pertinaxi and Johannian dynasts of the Seventh Empire.

 

 

ᛞ ᚹ ᛈ ᚻ

(Inset: the true name of the Great Deceiver, written in the Daelish traveller script.)

 

 

War is hell. War without purpose is hell indeed, for men shall die without a higher cause. Yet death itself is the higher cause for the Great Deceiver, who feeds on the souls of those killed in war from his position in the void, unable to manifest physically except through limited hosts. His influence and his vile whispers pit descendant against descendant, starting catastrophic wars to sate his bloodlust. It makes sense, then, that the Pertinaxi, who devoted their dominion of humanity to bloodshed for its sake alone, adopted worship of him.

 

And now the Great Deceiver, as he did before the Pertinaxi and as he shall do after them, controls the other side, filling their minds with lies and promises, adeptly maneuvering from his position in the shadows like a puppeteer with a marionette. Those leaders of coalitions have made a pact with him - they shall do his bidding, causing as much anarchy and conflict as they can, in exchange for the rewards he promises them. He boasts to them that he has never lost such a conflict. In a way, he is right, because he always profits off of war and bloodshed no matter who is killed or who is the killer. He has no loyalty to his pawns, and will cast them aside the moment they are no longer useful to him. For that is his way. 

 

Why did this war start? Does anybody even remember? Morsgradie disciples of He Who Does Not Bleed can mumble a few words about some merchant slain by a Haenseman. Does anybody even believe this pretext? What business is a slain Morsgradie merchant (If he even existed in the first place) of the Irrinites, the Haelun’ori, the Renelians or even the Suffonians? It has been six years, and Reza still stands, undaunted. 

 

The truth is that these thinly-veiled pretexts of a casus belli are elements of propaganda to cover for his ambitions for a divided, weak humanity. A united humanity, if it is peaceable and not in the business of killing wantonly, is at odds with the desires of the Great Deceiver - as he lusts chiefly for as much chaos and anarchy as possible to feed him. In this way, Godric of Morsgrad, the Maheral of Haelun’or are but marionettes on strings, enslaved by the pact they have made with him and his dark will. 

 

(Inset: an idol of the Great Deceiver, constructed by the Johannians of the late 17th century.)

 

The faceless god is seductive and enticing. He will promise rewards beyond compare, the foremost of which are titles and respect. The greedy and the avaricious fall to him with ease, as he plays upon their desire for more to enthrall them under his spell. Nevermind that true respect must be earned - the Great Deceiver’s short-cut has appeal to many and more. By working these entities against each other, sometimes taking a goodly form when interacting with them and telling each and every one of them the same thing - that he will facilitate their greatness - he generates his pawns. 

 

It is this greed and avarice, ingrained into the ambition of humanity, that has allowed him so much sway there. Through his proxies, he offers titles, respect, greatness and sainthood, anything that they desire, all in exchange for being his leal servant, and sowing more chaos on his behalf. They are fools for falling for his tricks. He plays on doubts and insecurities, stoking pride and envy so he might claim them as his.

 

But it is our ethical duty, as free descendants who govern our own destinies, to try to aid them, to help them break free from his spell and his manipulation. We must pray for them, and endeavour with every effort to rescue them.

 

In the end, it is they who are deceived into being his puppets, and they who shall end up discarded.

 

CURSED be HE, and DAMNED be YE who serve HIM.

 

The opinions expressed in this document are solely those of the author.

Published by the Syndicated Press.

 

[SerFinnick 445]

“What?” Says a puzzled man reading the paper in the Helena Tavern. 

[frankdh 2418]

Anne Augusta signs the Lorraine, chilled to the bone at the notion.

[Narthok 10416]

 

Godric reclines on his chair his feet up on the desk as Mister Muffins hands him the most recent long winded pseudo academic paper to come from the southern pen wielders ”Ah another round of excellent fan fiction by the brilliant albeit effeminate scholars of the empire. What did they say this time? That I ingest children through ritual sacrifice to gain the strength of a hundred men, and that is why they are getting brutalized in battle?” With a quick perusal of the missive he’d chuckle to himself ”It is humorous that this random southern fop has the audacity and intellectual dishonesty to even put pen to paper in writing this. This fiction concerning Kogami has been debunked several times over. The war began over Haense’s assault of the Auvergne in Rubern. Compelling me by treaty to defend the Auvergne and secure the sovereignty of Rubern. As it compelled all signatories” stroking his beard he’d return to the missive before chuckling, casting it into the tinder bin beside the nearest fire to serve a far greater utility than informing the youthful Duke of his imperial fans ”I find it difficult to field this as a serious argument when Haensemen are married by non-human priests of the Brathmodakin, to elves nonetheless. Or that the Emperor is cuckolded by his wife, as he cuckolds her in turn. This being a public admission made by the Empress herself when my soldiers had captured both of them. Godric would shrug as he’d wave a hand to Mister Muffins prompting him to bring forth some cooled leftovers from the nights supper, a haunch of lamb and a pitcher of a dark stout beer. “Perhaps once I have finished this conquest I shall employ some of these men to write my histories whilst better men accompany their wives”

[rukio 8924]

Spoiler

Don’t ******* hide my roleplay replies you god damn chimpanzees. 

”Did Kogami exist? Yes. Do I believe Haensemen killed him? Not anymore, after seeing the savage behavior of Rubern and the mostly peaceful ways of Haense.” Edyth Marlow would think aloud as she read the page. ”This just reads as cringan satire.”