Author: Longetalos

by Richard Di Ioia (ricdii@yahoo.com)
Used With Permission. Used with Permission. Do not repost without obtaining prior permission from the author.

For too long he had been away from his god. The smell of urine filled the air of the keeps halls. The sounds of despair and torture surrounded him. It felt good to be home. Before approaching his god he needed to find out how the politics had changed in his absence. His first stop was to find a room within the castle. He did not want to advertise his presence yet, so he would need to forgo a room fitting his stature as Lord of Pain. The Lord approached the room of a lesser priest and informed him that the room was no longer his. The priest took one look at the vestments of the Lord and quickly tried to vacate the premises. The priestling barely made it through the doorway before he was wracked with agony. As the priestling writhed on the floor, the Lord gleefully walked over and with a prayer to his god sacrificed the priestling.

"Mustn't have knowledge of my whereabouts up and about yet." Mused the Lord. "Now, let us see what my minions have found out for me."

Over the next few days the Lord of Pain reactivated his web of contacts and started shifting through the politics that occurred since he left all those years ago. Dorakaa had changed too much in his absence. Or maybe his sense of the correct path had been altered by what he had seen during the wars. In either case his god would speak to him shortly. Iuz's words of wisdom always comforted the Lord. His ten years serving behind the lines of Furyondy had strengthened the Lord. When he was first sent there he was but a minor priest. His superior had expected him to fail and die. But he survived his first mission. Nor only did he survive his first mission but he arranged for some foolish adventurers to dispose of his superior.

He gained his name that day. Given to him by the other priests that served the same superior. Lord Treason fondly remembered those other three priests. They died so well. It is rare that victims last so long and could suffer so much pain for the glory of Iuz. Perhaps Iuz heard their prayers to him as they were being tortured and gave them the strength to show their devotion by taking more pain before dying. The Lord liked to think that his god was there that day, on that beautiful day when he first killed another priest for the glory of his god. Lord Treason he was called from then on, his most common alias. This was the name he gave his enemies - although not many still live. Their time will come as well, once he has finished his business in Dorakaa.

There were not many like him left serving his god. Many of his brethren had been sacrificed to save the lives of the Lesser and Greater Boneheart. The Lords of Pain were the most powerful priests below the Lesser six. As Iuz lost lands and armies, the Greater six blamed the Lesser and the Lesser sacrificed the Lords of Pain to satisfy Iuz. The politics of power it was called. Lord Treason knew better, it was a game played by his god to elevate Lord Treason to his rightful place at Iuz's side. It was a trial to see if Lord Treason would prove worthy enough. He had grown strong under the guidance of his god, the Greater Boneheart had failed Iuz. They did not have what it took to truly bring the glory of Iuz to Oerth.

Lord Treason knew why he had been summoned to Dorakaa after all this time. Xenvelen had to have a scapegoat for his failures in Northern Furyondy. Who better to blame than Lord Treason, all the others of note had been either killed in the battles or were more powerful than Xenvelen. But Lord Treason saw this time coming. As he sowed destruction and mayhem in Furyondy, as he sacrificed many of Furyondy's most stalwart heroes behind their lines, he knew this day would come. But Lord Treason knew something. He knew the one piece of information that would place Xenvelen under his control. All he had to do was survive long enough to place that information in front of his god.