Role

Chapter 11

After extending his shadowy tendrils of information gathering for decade upon
decade, the Shadow Lord has finally heard and felt the presence of one of the
Immortal Lords of Empire. Things seem to be looking up, but because he knows
himself and therefore doesn't underestimate others, he addresses these
feelings with caution. After all, there is only something to be lost by
underestimating a foe or ally, save for the knowledge thay you were a fool to
do so. The High Priest, with his interpreting his dreams with a massive
inflated ego as prophecy, and the Dread Lord, with his new undead form, have
both begun a battle to display Hubris for our dear Shadow Lord. As the lord
put it, "They will soon lock horns". But the real devil remains in the
shadows, fueling the fire on both sides without getting burned.

Gedunthos of course swells with his usual pride, but it is nothing out of the
ordinary, and not so flamboyant as his supposed peers. The Lord Destuvius has
taken a keen interest, and even liking to him, but as previously mentioned,
he takes this with a grain of salt. It could suit the lord to inflate the
Shadow Lord's already healthy sized ego and cause the Shadow Lord to reveal
his favor by this lord, all to look like a fool in the end. Still, he used
the recent multi-million copper racketeering money from the heralds to boost
himself further in the sect, and to install better bathing facilities and
maidens and eunochs within his own sect at the request of the Lord he seeks
to remain in the good graces of .

The Emperor, ever convinced of the Shadow's intelligence gathering, takes the
advice of the Shadow Lord and hears him as if there is little more to hear
than what he says. Though he has proved to have learned some of the duergar's
cunning, he still frets over the High Priest's attempts to usurp him. With
the knowledge of a deadline approaching for our dear Emperor, and so much
infighting not targeting the Shadow himself, he anticipates at the very least
the usual: a road of comfort and ease, and at the best, the rise to the
throne wished for by so many in Thera and within the civilized world of the
Empire. In the affairs of mere mortals, though, only time can tell. Hopefully
Destuvius does not betray him on his having more of that ever precious
commodity, time.