Turn 8 – Test of Loyalty
Gilles de Rais demands tribute from his minions. More souls, ichor, hellfire and darkness!
Gilles de Rais wishes to please the Conclave. He needs the Conclave, and he needs some Prestige to use in aggressive diplomacy. But Eligos is too useful at this stage. Gilles de Rais chooses to defy the Infernal Conclave and accept the loss of Prestige. To make a little show of this act of independence, he orders the Slaves led by Eligos to march in front of the gates of Pandemonium.
Turn 9 – All disobeyed
It looks like every archfiend disobeyed the decision of the Conclave and incurred a disastrous loss of reputation. Good; Asmodeus was beginning to pull ahead.
A bit of a situation is developing next to Pandemonium: a standoff between my army and Lilith’s. Lilith blocks the shortest path to the North where my undefended stronghold remains.
I could try to provoke her into a Vendetta:
– advantages: after an easy victory, my territory would surround Pandemonium and my logistics would become easier;
– disadvantages: Lilith is not a threat to me; she might prove useful as a meatshield between me and more dangerous foes.
Alternately, I could turn around and go all the way back around the mountains.
In the end, I decide that I will leave the Slaves in the South to protect the Gardens and watch over Pandemonium, and that I will build new armies to protect the North. This plan, which is merely a part of the devious master plan of Gilles de Rais, is going to cost a lot. Tribute is demanded twice.
Turn 10 – The Gluttony of Asmodeus
Asmodeus, on a rampage, conquers the Palace of Gluttony.
Gilles de Rais bids on the Burning Legion and demands tribute. He orders his seneschal to prepare fortified barracks in the outskirts of his infernal city.
Turn 11 – The Burning Legion
Seduced by promises of mayhem, the Burning Legion joins the ranks of the army of Gilles de Rais; it is stationed next to the master’s stronghold.
Asmodeus is, once again, far ahead everybody else in Prestige score (30, vs. 7 for Gilles).
I decide to spend a few resources to increase Gilles’s pathetic Martial Skill from 0 to 1. Joan of Arc’s epic military campaigns are but memories for the archfiend, but cunning will not be enough to win the throne.
More tribute is demanded.
Turn 12 – Bullying Lilith
The Praetor named Phenex was acquired by unknown parties. At last, Prestige is high enough again for Gilles to begin to make bold statements in front of the Conclave. Specifically, he claims that Lady Lilith’s servants crossed over his territory and he demands some tribute in compensation. Archers wielding poisonous bows are waiting for the order to strike…
Turn 13 – Not enough hellfire
I am in desperate need of some hellfire to raise Gilles’s Intelligence from 3 to 4. I demand tribute again but, in the meantime, I decide to bid on Bifrons (one more soul is given away to win the auction) to help in the potential war against Lilith.
Turn 14 – Asmodeus, again
Lilith has taken the Wall of Envy but Gilles de Rais is not afraid, especially with Bifrons on his side. What scares him is Asmodeus’s instoppable advance. The archfiend’s legions have sieged and conquered the mythical Palace on the Lake of Fire, which is sure to boost enormously his already impressive powers.
Lilith concedes wisely to my demand – I need to wait two turns before I can make another one.
Besides demanding tribute, I consolidate existing tribute in order to make it possible to pay the next avatar improvement.
State of the hell at the end of turn 14:
– movements of troops suggest a conflict with the Marquis Sitri might be brewing, both in the North and in the South; Gilles de Rais will keep fortifying his assets;
– the Prince Asmodeus is a superpower, earning 8 Prestige per turn. At this stage, Gilles de Rais can hardly oppose his meteoric rise to power. If you can’t fight them, join them? Asmodeus is an obvious candidate for the role of Blood Lord. Gilles now has a frontier with Asmodeus (west of the Gardens) and that is a necessary condition for this relationship to develop. However, he owns too many Cantons of Hell to be eligible for blood slavery, according to the Protocols of Hell. Gilles will watch, avoid unecessary conquests and then officially submit to Asmodeus. If another archfiend becomes Asmodeus’s right hand before him, Gilles will try to destroy this rival.
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