The King-In-Irons talks a lot.
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"Zone of truth."

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"Cheliax told you you were worthless. That you could never accomplish anything. That no one would ever value you, except Asmodeus, who not out of mercy but possessiveness sought to have your souls."

"Cheliax told you that you were doomed, that no matter what you did you could never escape Hell, that it would devour you inevitably - quickly, for almost all of you, or slowly, if you devoted your entire life to trying to escape it."

"Cheliax also told you that it was invincible, or at least sufficiently invincible that a fifth-circle wizard who happened to feel like it and had a few allies could not slaughter one of its major feudal lords, massacre his guards, steal his treasury, and then teleport off with a collection of slaves and peasants who fit in his spare bag of holding."

"If you cannot tell, former slaves of Church and Queen, Cheliax lied about a great deal more than you thought it did. The truth is, it isn't close to invincible, and neither is Asmodeus; Cheliax is one of a half-dozen major countries, unusual insofar as is foolishly and incompetently managed. It survives despite its incompetence because one of the Elder Gods - all of which, to be clear, are of roughly equal strength - is devoting vast amounts of his personal resources to doing so, feeding in tremendous wealth so the utter incompetence of its rulers cannot bankrupt it instantly - which wealth I have made my living stealing."

"Let me be clear, former slaves of Church and Queen, I did not steal you merely to make you slaves of the King-In-Irons. One of the many ways Cheliax is idiotic is that it thinks people can be compelled by fear of torture to do anything other than try to escape the torture - often successfully, as evidenced by the fact that you and I are both standing in my palace in the Free City of Absalom; I freed you out of hatred, not mere greed, and if you want to leave, the door is right behind you. Disappear into the largest city of the Inner Sea, and no one will ever care enough to find you."

"Some of you think that this offer is a lie; that those people quietly trickling out the exit are planted agents of mine, or else will be tracked down to be tortured later. These people also think the Zone of Truth spell is a lie, and I invite you all to test it. Lying to you would be beneath me. If you desire to serve me and are even slightly competent, I will pay excellent wages, reward you for loyal service, and provide you with valuable apprenticeships in important skills, possibly including wizardry. If you don't, or in the spectacularly unlikely event you lack any talents worth my time to home, the exit is open."

"Some of you think I'm lying about the benefits I promise, too. Others, I think, have come to the conclusion that because I think Cheliax is incompetent, I am 'Good,' and therefore I am a weak fool who will hesitate to serve his own interests out of pathetic qualms and fear of Hell. Former slaves of Church and Queen, I am still Evil, because I am not stupid. In my own way, I even think I am Lawful. If you betray me, steal from me, or attempt to incite one of your fellows among my servants to do one of these things, I will break both of your legs and throw you into the gutter, unless it is inconvenient for me to do so in which case I will find something worse to do. The reason Cheliax will inevitably fail is because it is a hotbed of constant treachery, and it is a hotbed of constant treachery because nobody in Cheliax wants to be in Cheliax. If you are unwilling to subordinate your interests to mine for the sake of pay, respect, and a work environment that is not a hotbed of constant treachery, leave or I will destroy you. But If you desire to subordinate yourself to me for the sake of mutual advantage and the annihilation of your former masters - if you desire to learn the secrets of wizardry, of war, of craftsmanship - if you desire to become mightier than the lord I slew, to rise to the limits of your ability alongside a thousand other ascendant heroes -"

"Then pledge your service to the King-In-Irons. All that was precious in Cheliax can be found in my service; all that is worthless has been discarded, for such is my Pride."

"I swear by my hatred that I have not lied to you."

"Now, freedmen of Absalom! Depart! Or kneel."

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