"- those are Asmodean justifications, sir."

"I have pride, I don't like being beneath my inferiors. I want to rise as far as my strength takes me. I want to crush my defeated enemies beneath my boots. You are enjoying the benefit of the ridiculous rumors that you're going to ascend and be a Power of Hell, if Cheliax does conquer the world under you you'll be in a position to genuinely attempt it, do you think Asmodeus will promote you just for having given him a lot of value? He's not fucking Abadar! There are eight dukes of Hell and if you want one of their jobs you will have to resent them, and challenge them, and crush them, and take their job from them."

She switches to Infernal, to a common prayer. "Asmodeus, may your will be done in this world as it is in Hell."

And back. "You know this, Sevar. What do you think you're doing to Maillol?"

"Succeeding! Unlike you."

"See, that's fair. 'You lost, you're going to suffer for it', that's what this meeting is about, that's what this life and the next are all about. But don't name me a bad Asmodean for trying."

"Sure. Congratulations. You're a very good Asmodean. Do we have any torture chambers not presently in use."

      "I think there's still one," says the Security at her door. 

"Get her out of here, then, and I guess delay the rest of my meetings until we have a vacancy."

How about if she works on that Splendour headband now. She's honestly feeling kind of burned out on crafting but her brain is full of - something she doesn't quite like - and crafting feels like just the thing to quiet it. 

She only really needs to sleep tonight if she wants her spells back in the morning, and given how busy she presently is, she's not sure that's worth it. 

When she calls Pilar in eight hours later she looks slightly manic but she has a +6 headband of Splendour to present to her. "Please use it to eat Cayden Cailean alive," she says flatly.

"Acknowledged.  I'll try, but even if I succeed I can't promise that's not exactly Cayden Cailean's plan."  Pilar takes off her off her old Splendour headband without this having any effect large enough to show up in her expression, puts on the new one.  "I have twenty people who I chose from around Avistan, I hope, I pray, on the basis of them doing great from enduring whatever you think is necessary to create true ilani and Keepers.  Asmodia seemed to think that all of the previous, mess, happened simply because I didn't act without orders.  Or even try to advise Maillol and Subirachs.  My curse says that I could have retained Asmodia by being more proactive about what I knew would serve Asmodeus, which would've at worst have saved tens of thousands of Asmodean lives over the next year and at best have ruined Cayden's plan and left Asmodeus holding all of its gains."

" - I'm going to spend today checking in on all the project groups and figuring out concretely where we're at on everything, but first thing tomorrow I'm going to give myself some Wisdom and try to crack Cayden's plan. Though, of course, if He thought I could've succeeded He probably wouldn't have told you that...

Anyway. I approve of you acting proactively in Asmodeus's interests. You are ordered to keep doing that. I know it makes you miserable and I don't care."

"Acknowledged, sir.  It's very good to have you back."

"I am looking forward to meeting your prospective ilani."

"Permission to complain about Cayden Cailean, sir?"

"Go right ahead."

"I was trying to exchange one soul to Elysium for each one I took for Hell, so it would simultaneously serve Cayden Cailean and Asmodeus - like a boy in wizard school, hating himself and wishing somebody would beat him into doing his homework properly - and whose father was stealing from his master's shop to put him through that school - and my curse let me run out all of those I could find, before telling me that it wasn't necessary but Cayden Cailean appreciated the bonuses."

"I've never been so motivated to gain power in my life as by the thought that every circle is being ripped away from Him."

Do you, Carissa wants to ask, ever feel like we're profoundly outclassed and being toyed with?

But even gods aren't infallible. "Well, if you want to level faster we can try what Her Majesty did with me, though it'd require some modification and also we really can't spare you right now."

"Honestly, I am incredibly curious about what your punishment was, if it's permitted to ask."

(There was a Pilar once who would have never spoken that question out loud, if not told.)

"Her Majesty summoned a devil from Hell to bind itself to me, and sit with me, and observe me in my crafting, and punish me every half-hour that I did not exceed my previous best performance, and put me to sleep when my grasp of the magic failed.

I hear Asmodia told Elias Abarco that he'd break in half an hour of whatever was being done to me, and I was really tempted to test that prediction for her, but I can't have him and Maillol out at the same time."

"That's the hottest thing I've ever heard in my life.  If Abrogail Thrune ever wants me in love with her, she has my hairs.*"**

(*) As are often used to target magics.

(**) The old Pilar would never have dared even think this.

Pilar is a very strange person and Carissa's going to count herself lucky there are twenty of them available on the planet. 

"Maybe get me a list of which of your would-be ilani are underlevelled, in your judgement, relative to their comprehension of magic."

"There's only four who aren't.  Places that aren't Cheliax don't want to stress their little dears too hard, even the ones that are literally fucking begging their masters in words for harsher training."

"Well. I think I can work with that. Good work, Pilar."

Pilar smiles, slightly, for if Sevar says it then it's so.

Then she looks closely at Sevar's headband.  Wait, she was crafting that whole time -

Pilar casts Detect Magic, looks at Sevar's headband again.

Takes out her own Sevar-crafted glibness pin and looks at it.

Takes off her new +6 Splendour headband and looks at it.

"If we're both seen wearing these, people on the Project are going to know Cheliax has access to a time-dilated demiplane, sir," Pilar states.  "- People might guess that just from seeing one of them."

" - if Cheliax has access to a time-dilated demiplane that's news to me."