Tempting Hell (Jaela)

[Anastasia]

"I'll work it out," Bubbles says, as...

Ready to move along?

[Corwin]

Sure.

[Anastasia]

The next day you get your affirmative. You travel with Ebony to just outside of Sylica, mountain valley in Ysgard that is fair and wooded. Antenora waits for you there, sitting on along amid nature's splendor.

[Corwin]

Still favoring her robes, Jaela waves at Antenora as she approaches her with Ebony.

"Glad you could find the time to meet," she greets her. "How much did Ebony explain about our situation?"

[Anastasia]

Antenora's wearing her full gear and her spear sits besides her. She looks faintly weary, but rises and offers a handshake. "The bare bones of it."

"Sending is not a medium for details," Ebony confesses, smiling as she pulls down her hood. "Your mission was successful?"

"Yes, though that's not the matter at hand." Antenora remarks, "What is Baator trying now?"

[Corwin]

"The gist of it is that I've tasked Morniel with approaching Vla'akith about getting Muirfinn back, and while she hasn't managed quite that, she's arranged a meeting with the devils at her place. We don't leave our own behind, and given what Hell's done with Lief it's too much of a risk to not at least try something. I've asked to meet you here to both see if you had any relevant insights, and to ask you if you'd be interested in sitting at our side of the table for this."

[Anastasia]

"There's a lot to say," Antenora begins, meeting your gaze with her own. Eyes of pure opal blue light, unyielding despite her fatigue.

"Assume that Asmodeus has perused everything in Muirfinn's mind like a book. All the secrets Muirfinn has are known known to him." When Antenora says the name of the Lord of the Ninth, she draws a strange, seven-pointed pattern in the air.  A soft white glow spreads everywhere. "He will use them to Hell's benefit and in these negotiations. This includes insights and knowledge of Aurora's personalities, any unique spells Muirfinn may have made, wisdom gleamed from sources holy and anything else. Everything has been taken by Asmodeus. Do not speak his name lightly, save in the realms of the holy or with Aurora. His name corrodes what is just and draws his attention. I have taken measures here to ensure our safety."

"Every offer that is made, unless at the end of a sword and from a position of supreme power, will be to Hell's benefit. He could offer you Lifasa itself and you would come to rue the day you accepted his offer, likely moments before your soul meets hellfire for eternity. Know that every devil there speaks for Asmodeus, even if many superiors removed.  The Duke of Destiny speaks for him. The cronies of the other Nine speak for him. Know that even the sweetest, most rewarding offer they make is a with the devil." Antenora pauses for one moment to exhale. "The higher I rise and the more I fight Hell, the more I understand that even the greatest devil is but a tool of Asmodeus. He is the one and true enemy."

"What has happened to make you speak so strongly of this?" Ebony asks in a soft murmur, "Antenora, do you fear for us so greatly?"

"Yes." Antenora says, plainly. "Hell is the most dangerous when they have something you want. You know of the power Asmodeus has over words, recall the True King of Hell and the power his name has from Asmodeus's curse. Each word of diplomacy is a chain link waiting to drag your souls down to Hell. I beg of you to know this as one of your deadliest battles yet."

"Will you stand with us, then? Your strength would bolster us." Ebony offers her hand out, "I would ask Alicia herself, if it was right."

"I will if you will have me, but know my appearance will be a grand provocation. I am proof that Hell's power and allure is not absolute, that there is something better than all Baator will ever have. If this is acceptable to you, and the offer to bring companions to it is sufficiently worded that they cannot object, then I will come with you."

[Corwin]

"I think our position is more balanced than it might seem," Jaela muses. "First, your concern of a provocation is exactly what I'm seeking. Angry devils are unbalanced devils. If it puts a few of them out of their element, that would tilt the scales in our favor. And should they try anything, I'd be glad to have you along."

She purses her lips. "Without dismissing what you say about his machinations, it is also true that Hell's system pits devil against devil. Among their ranks, I doubt any wish to see Lixer dead as much as his own sister. They appear to be sending representatives from all the lords as a show of strength, but divided as they are and constantly plotting against each other, I can't help but see it as actually weakening their hand. Finally, you're absolutely right about Muirfinn. They've gotten all they could from him, realistically. It is now all about diminishing returns, or doing the same thing as they had with Lief, which would in turn force us to act and lead to losses and humiliation on their side. It's easy to support that choice, but even a devil lord must be intimidated by setting themselves as a target this way. After all, we won't need to kill them. Merely force their standing to take a hit the others will exploit."

That sets out her approach for the negotiations, and if it holds an inherent weakness, Jaela hopes that Ebony and Antenora would be best placed to divine it. "The Duke of Destiny is a concern, but we finally have a countermeasure against him. I doubt it could remain secret for long, certainly not long enough for our ongoing project, so we might as well get use out of that now."

[Anastasia]

"Who else will come," Antenora asks, after considering all of that. "You clearly have a plan, what part do I and others play in it?"

[Corwin]

"Afina, Mirajane and Morniel are a given," Jaela responds. "I originally wanted to greet them with death, but it's just not very practical." She grins at her terrible joke, adding, "Basically, we have a couple of the traitors in our prison. They've been drained of anything useful, too, so they're bargaining chips. I also want to sow discord between them by responding better to some of their factions while staying antagonistic to the others."

[Anastasia]

"Divide and conquer," Antenora says, "Which factions are you aiming for?"

[Corwin]

"I figure I can bond with Glasya over how much of a loser Lixer is," Jaela responds. "We've already gone after him and his holdings, not to mention hit at his status a couple times. It won't cost her much to try and send us after him and strengthen her hand. As for another angle of attack, Mephistopheles's flunkies approached Afina at some point during the Astral battle, where we told them to fuck off unless they gave us Mala. One of the traitors, and a pretty annoying one at that. I figure we could piss them off, especially if you're around?"

[Anastasia]

"Doubtlessly, but Mephisto himself has been relatively restrained towards me. We attracted deeper attention from the Spark Hunters." Antenora says.

[Corwin]

"Nothing to do about that. We'll try to improvise while there, and try to achieve one of two goals. Either a straight-forward prisoner exchange, or securing a faction's help with retrieving Muirfinn if the price is something we can pay." Jaela pauses, before asking, "Any suggestions on who else to invite on our side? If there's someone among our allies whose presence will really piss Hell off we should try to ask them."

[Anastasia]

"No one you have will offend them as much as I do," Antenora says, "I'd suggest focusing on competence and who you need, I'll cover that."