"Illegal doesn't begin to cover it.  There was an immediate massive clampdown on the entire event as fast as word could be passed upward, as people saw the potential for conflict between Church and Queen over the details of how to handle it.  The Baroness in question, who was in my own personal opinion something of an absolute idiot, seemed to feel that she'd done nothing wrong, since the cleric himself had never said that Asmodeus didn't want her to go on keeping him."

"An ensuing investigation turned up the puzzling fact that this new cleric had no visible aptitude for tyrannizing others, nor for crafting slaves, nor for executing compacts, and he definitely had no visible pride.  This, of course, made our Lord's mysterious action all the more potentially important to understand, if it was not done for any of the usual reasons."

"The answer, in the end, was that the man had no aptitude for tyrannizing others - but that he felt on a truly deep level that it was right for him to be tyrannized.  He had no aptitude as a slavemaster - but felt that it was very right and proper for him to be a slave.  He had no aptitude for contracts - but felt that all was right with the world when his Baroness was forcing him into grossly unfair bargains in her bed-games.  He understood the order of society that underlies pride, and saw his own place was at the bottom of it.  This, we think, is why Asmodeus chose him, though Asmodeus made no revelations on that subject."

"It is not just a lie told to the masses, if you were ever wondering about that, that Asmodeus has been known to treasure some of His possessions as things beautiful to Him in themselves, and not just for the uses that we have to Him.  So far as we know, the man was not being very useful to Asmodeus, before or after he became His cleric.  He had simply earned Asmodeus's favor by having a rare nature pleasing to His sight."

"The bed-slave cleric was purchased for a high price, resold to a higher and more trustworthy noble at a vastly higher price, and the Baroness in question seems to have been assassinated by no known party.  The entire matter stays swept firmly into the corners, because if it became known, idiots would derive the wrong lesson about what nobles are allowed to do to our Lord's clerics."

"I mention this in case any of your own desires lie in the opposite polarity from the advantage point that nobles usually take.  It also shows that Asmodeus's domains can be subtle things even in their largest directions.  You would not know all about them from hearing the four concepts listed out.  There should be desires in you that are pleasing to our Lord and will prevent you from falling into heresy.  You should not cast too narrow an eye when it comes to looking for those desires, I suggest.  Asmodeus would not have given such weighty instructions if the matter was going to be simple."

"Illegal doesn't begin to cover it.  There was an immediate massive clampdown on the entire event as fast as word could be passed upward, as people saw the potential for conflict between Church and Queen over the details of how to handle it.  The Baroness in question, who was in my own personal opinion something of an absolute idiot, seemed to feel that she'd done nothing wrong, since the cleric himself had never said that Asmodeus didn't want her to go on keeping him."

"An ensuing investigation turned up the puzzling fact that this new cleric had no visible aptitude for tyrannizing others, nor for crafting slaves, nor for executing compacts, and he definitely had no visible pride.  This, of course, made our Lord's mysterious action all the more potentially important to understand, if it was not done for any of the usual reasons."

"The answer, in the end, was that the man had no aptitude for tyrannizing others - but that he felt on a truly deep level that it was right for him to be tyrannized.  He had no aptitude as a slavemaster - but felt that it was very right and proper for him to be a slave.  He had no aptitude for contracts - but felt that all was right with the world when his Baroness was forcing him into grossly unfair bargains in her bed-games.  He understood the order of society that underlies pride, and saw his own place was at the bottom of it.  This, we think, is why Asmodeus chose him, though Asmodeus made no revelations on that subject."

"It is not just a lie told to the masses, if you were ever wondering about that, that Asmodeus has been known to treasure some of His possessions as things beautiful to Him in themselves, and not just for the uses that we have to Him.  So far as we know, the man was not being very useful to Asmodeus, before or after he became His cleric.  He had simply earned Asmodeus's favor by having a rare nature pleasing to His sight."

"The bed-slave cleric was purchased for a high price, resold to a higher and more trustworthy noble at a vastly higher price, and the Baroness in question seems to have been assassinated by no known party.  The entire matter stays swept firmly into the corners, because if it became known, idiots would derive the wrong lesson about what nobles are allowed to do to our Lord's clerics."

"I mention this in case any of your own desires lie in the opposite polarity from the vantage point that nobles usually take.  It also shows that Asmodeus's domains can be subtle things even in their largest directions.  You would not know all about them from hearing the four concepts listed out.  There should be desires in you that are pleasing to our Lord and will prevent you from falling into heresy.  You should not cast too narrow an eye when it comes to looking for those desires, I suggest.  Asmodeus would not have given such weighty instructions if the matter was going to be simple."

"Illegal doesn't begin to cover it.  There was an immediate massive clampdown on the entire event as fast as word could be passed upward, as people saw the potential for conflict between Church and Queen over the details of how to handle it.  The Baroness in question, who was in my own personal opinion something of an absolute idiot, seemed to feel that she'd done nothing wrong, since the cleric himself had never said that Asmodeus didn't want her to go on keeping him."

"An ensuing investigation turned up the puzzling fact that this new cleric had no visible aptitude for tyrannizing others, nor for crafting slaves, nor for executing compacts, and he definitely had no visible pride.  This, of course, made our Lord's mysterious action all the more potentially important to understand, if it was not done for any of the usual reasons."

"The answer, in the end, was that the man had no aptitude for tyrannizing others - but that he felt on a truly deep level that it was right for him to be tyrannized.  He had no aptitude as a slavemaster - but felt that it was very right and proper for him to be a slave.  He had no aptitude for contracts - but felt that all was right with the world when his Baroness was forcing him into grossly unfair bargains in her bed-games.  He understood the order of society that underlies pride, and saw his own place was at the bottom of it.  This, we think, is why Asmodeus chose him, though Asmodeus made no revelations on that subject."

"It is not just a lie told to the masses, if you were ever wondering about that, that Asmodeus has been known to treasure some of His possessions as things beautiful to Him in themselves, and not just for the uses that we have to Him.  So far as we know, the man was not being very useful to Asmodeus, before or after he became His cleric.  He had simply earned Asmodeus's favor by having a rare nature pleasing to His sight."

"The bed-slave cleric was purchased for a high price, resold to a higher and more trustworthy noble at a vastly higher price, and the Baroness in question seems to have been assassinated by no known party.  The entire matter stays swept firmly into the corners, because if it became known, idiots would derive the wrong lesson about what nobles are allowed to do to our Lord's clerics."

"I mention this in case any of your own desires lie in the opposite polarity from the vantage point that nobles usually take.  It also shows that Asmodeus's domains can be subtle things even in their largest directions.  You would not know all about them from hearing the four concepts listed out.  There should be desires in you that are pleasing to our Lord and will prevent you from falling into heresy.  You should not cast too narrow an eye when it comes to looking for those desires, I suggest.  Asmodeus would not have given such weighty instructions if the matter was going to be simple."

It is, in particular, obvious to him that Sevar may perhaps have the nature of a slave rather than a slaver, given some of the thoughts recorded in her file.  Ferrer Maillol is not certain he should spell this out directly.

"Illegal doesn't begin to cover it.  There was an immediate massive clampdown on the entire event as fast as word could be passed upward, as people saw the potential for conflict between Church and Queen over the details of how to handle it.  The Baroness in question, who was in my own personal opinion something of an absolute idiot, seemed to feel that she'd done nothing wrong, since the cleric himself had never said that Asmodeus didn't want her to go on keeping him."

"An ensuing investigation turned up the puzzling fact that this new cleric had no visible aptitude for tyrannizing others, nor for crafting slaves, nor for executing compacts, and he definitely had no visible pride.  This, of course, made our Lord's mysterious action all the more potentially important to understand, if it was not done for any of the usual reasons."

"The answer, in the end, was that the man had no aptitude for tyrannizing others - but that he felt on a truly deep level that it was right for him to be tyrannized.  He had no aptitude as a slavemaster - but felt that it was very right and proper for him to be a slave.  He had no aptitude for contracts - but felt that all was right with the world when his Baroness was forcing him into grossly unfair bargains in her bed-games.  He understood the order of society that underlies pride, and saw his own place was at the bottom of it.  This, we think, is why Asmodeus chose him, though Asmodeus made no revelations on that subject."

"It is not just a lie told to the masses, if you were ever wondering about that, that Asmodeus has been known to treasure some of His possessions as things beautiful to Him in themselves, and not just for the uses that we have to Him.  So far as we know, the man was not being very useful to Asmodeus, before or after he became His cleric.  He had simply earned Asmodeus's favor by having a rare nature pleasing to His sight."

"The bed-slave cleric was purchased for a high price, resold to a more trustworthy noble at a vastly higher price, and afterwards the Baroness in question seems to have been assassinated by no known party.  The entire matter stays swept firmly into the corners, because if it became known, idiots would derive the wrong lesson about what nobles are allowed to do to our Lord's clerics."

"I mention this in case any of your own desires lie in the opposite polarity from the vantage point that nobles usually take.  It also shows that Asmodeus's domains can be subtle things even in their largest directions.  You would not know all about them from hearing the four concepts listed out.  There should be desires in you that are pleasing to our Lord and will prevent you from falling into heresy.  You should not cast too narrow an eye when it comes to looking for those desires, I suggest.  Asmodeus would not have given such weighty instructions if the matter was going to be simple."

It is, in particular, obvious to him that Sevar may perhaps have the nature of a slave rather than a slaver, given some of the thoughts recorded in her file.  Ferrer Maillol is not certain he should spell this out directly.

"Illegal doesn't begin to cover it.  There was an immediate massive clampdown on the entire event as fast as word could be passed upward, as people saw the potential for conflict between Church and Queen over the details of how to handle it.  The Baroness in question, who was in my own personal opinion something of an absolute idiot, seemed to feel that she'd done nothing wrong, since the cleric himself had never said that Asmodeus didn't want her to go on keeping him."

"An ensuing investigation turned up the puzzling fact that this new cleric had no visible aptitude for tyrannizing others, nor for crafting slaves, nor for executing compacts, and he definitely had no visible pride.  This, of course, made our Lord's mysterious action all the more potentially important to understand, if it was not done for any of the usual reasons."

"The answer, in the end, was that the man had no aptitude for tyrannizing others - but that he felt on a truly deep level that it was right for him to be tyrannized.  He had no aptitude as a slavemaster - but felt that it was very right and proper for him to be a slave.  He had no aptitude for contracts - but felt that all was right with the world when his Baroness was forcing him into grossly unfair bargains in her bed-games.  He understood the order of society that underlies pride, and saw his own place was at the bottom of it.  This, we think, is why Asmodeus chose him, though Asmodeus made no revelations on that subject."

"It is not just a lie told to the masses, if you were ever wondering about that, that Asmodeus has been known to treasure some of His possessions as things beautiful to Him in themselves, and not just for the uses that we have to Him.  So far as we know, the man was not being very useful to Asmodeus, before or after he became His cleric.  He had simply earned Asmodeus's favor by having a rare nature pleasing to His sight."

"The bed-slave cleric was purchased for a high price, resold to a more trustworthy noble at a vastly higher price, and afterwards the Baroness in question seems to have been assassinated by no known party.  The entire matter stays swept firmly into the corners, because if it became known, idiots would derive the wrong lesson about what nobles are allowed to do to our Lord's clerics."

"I mention this in case any of your own desires lie in the opposite polarity from the vantage point that nobles usually take.  It also shows that Asmodeus's domains can be subtle things even in their largest directions.  You would not know all about them from hearing the four concepts listed out.  There should be desires in you that are pleasing to our Lord and will prevent you from falling into heresy.  You should not cast too narrow an eye when it comes to looking for those desires, I suggest.  Asmodeus would not have given such weighty instructions if the matter was going to be simple."

It is, in particular, obvious to him that Sevar may perhaps have the nature of a slave rather than a slaver, given some of the thoughts recorded in her file.  Ferrer Maillol is not certain he should spell this out directly.