Hello visitors. No need for hasty action - I mean you no harm. I've come to talk. Will you hear me out?
No spellcasting please or reaching for implements of arcane power, or I'll depart instantly. I am primed for immediate escape if you try anything or raise my suspicions.
You may call me Arlenoth. It's the name I chose long ago for interaction with mortals, though it has been a long while since I've had occasion to use it.
Following interrogation of a captured newcomer to these parts, a daeva called Gikamath, I was sent out from the palace to look for some Rakshasa emissary called Ksurmetinga, and his party. And correct me if I'm wrong, but you're the other lot Gikamath spoke of who'd come in looking for this Rakshasa, for unclear reasons. Who I was also told to look out for.
Who sent me? Why his nibs, of course. Ardishir the Magnificent, as he'd have people believe, though he's nothing of the sort, a Daeva imposter, though a powerful one. Maybe as powerful as the original himself, who knows? That was before my coming to this prison, yanked from a perfecly happy existence torturing souls in the Abyss, to this dreary place.
I'll cut to the chase; I've spoken with your blue skinned friend and the red-skinned man with the symbols around his head. And those lovely girls from Hruggekohlok. Oh don't be alarmed, I didn't hurt them. I just pumped them for information, most of which they gave up willingly though the red man was a bit difficult. But the blue one was like reading a book.
I know you are looking for some magic mirror to destroy, to seal the portal to Pandemonium. Now, I don't really give two hoots about your mirror or the portal or what happens to it. I want out of here, and I gather that that's going to be happening pretty soon anyway, one way or another. Dome-head, the mythical Godratt himself who turned out to be hiding under one of the sepulchres all these centuries, told me the barrier is coming down and there's nothing that will prevent it.
I haven't reported any of this back to the boss yet, because I think he'll see things differently. When he heard from Gikamath that this Rakshasa had a means to bring the barrier down, and that this had all been agreed with Kurigalzu the Marshal of the Host of Eternal Night in Pandemonium, who by the way plans to come in here and take the palace to use as his own headquarters from which to launch an invasion of this world...well let's just say the boss man wasn't best pleased.
His plan is to get hold of this Rakshasa, and off him before he can bring the barrier down so that he can carry on being the very big fish in this very tiny pond. Not before he's taken you lot prisoner first though. With the Rakshasa as bait to lure you in. Or you as bait to lure the Rakshasa in, whichever comes first.
Why am I telling you people any of this, you might be wondering. Well, let's just say my agenda differs a little from his nibs in the palace. Once, he was able to bind me and secure my loyalty but I have grown in power over the centuries of my confinement in this place and I am no longer constrained by his magics. He's still a dangerous one to cross so I play the dutiful vassal. But I always intended to get out of here as soon as I could and never look back.
But there's this small complication. I am a being that was summoned here, like many others who dwell in the palace. Called from our planes of existence by this wannabe Caliph who researched our names in whatever tomes of lore he found around the place, to alleviate his boredom and grow his little empire of caged spirits. Others, meanwhile, came through the portal from the City of Eternal Night.
If I've understood correctly, then once the barrier comes down, those of us who were called here rather than traipsing willingly through the portal, will all instantly return to our home planes of existence.
That would be no problem at all, except confronted by the prospect, I find myself experiencing...unfamiliar...feelings (he says distastefully) of anxiety. There is someone in the palace who is also a called being. But she does not come from the Abyss. Her name is Cadriel. I've long thought of her as a rival, someone who I enjoyed making jest of. I've even been cruel to her at times, especially in the early years of her confinement here. She's taken her revenge on me long ago and we've settled our differences. Yet now, with the prospect of separation looming, I am feeling strange about losing her. I don't want to never see her again. I don't really understand these sensations I am experiencing, they are most unlike me. But there it is. If we both return instantly to our home realms it is very unlikely our paths will ever cross. I want to prevent that, if I can.
And if what your blue friend tells me is true - that's rhetorical, I know it is because I read his mind - you may be able to help. There is apparently a very fetching sorceress in your midst who is adept at binding creatures from other planes.
If she can re-bind me to the material plane, so that Cadriel and I aren't forced to separate when the barrier falls, then in exchange, I'll help you find your mirror. In truth I do not know where exactly this thing is, but I think I know how to find out where it is.
Do you think we can make a deal, mortals?
If you agree, then work your magic upon me. Then I'll tell you what I know.
By the way, I was told to invite you to the palace to be entertained, if I saw you. Bait for the Rakshasa.
I wouldn't advise letting the boss man know that the barrier is destined to fall. He will probably be furious, and his reactions may be unpredictable.
