Well, it's not hopeless. ...she bets Irori is so annoyed about people whose ambition is to ascend like Irori, but that's Irori's problem and He can solve it Himself. 

They can be a test audience, then, for Carissa to explain the current state of affairs, where the weak or the foolish go to Hell, those who have no other choices, and how this should injure the pride of Asmodeus, and the credibility of His church. How unfortunate is Asmodeus's situation, for it is not in His nature to make any concessions to mortal frailty, and yet without any He is denied the greater part of mortal strength, and His church is left asserting that Asmodeus will conquer all the other afterlives eventually, which - come on, now. Anyone with Severite mind-training should see the problem at once. Gods should not have common knowledge of disagreement on a question of fact; and if Irori and Asmodeus differ in what they tell their churches, no one's going to believe it's Irori who's the liar. 

Asmodeus is not, exactly, vulnerable as a product of these circumstances. He will not lose His position. He is just weaker and less worthy of respect and deference than He wishes He were, and He has little avenue to change it. 

Or He had little avenue, until Sevar came to him with the compact, which She thinks He granted mostly just to amuse Himself. It is not in Asmodeus's nature to make concessions to mortal frailty, but it is in His nature to award prizes for His service, and to derive from His bargains greater benefit than was initially imagined; and so now, if all goes well, He'll have mortals who are better, stronger, more interesting, more capable, because Hell will stop being a place where mortals go only if they have no alternative. People like the acolyte who has always wanted to be Evil will get to live their Evil dreams. As for the rest of them, perhaps they'd go to that greater Hell or perhaps they wouldn't, but if they did, Carissa would make sure they became great, and that when they looked back they'd either be glad of their choice or glad they didn't get one.

Questions?

Well, it's not hopeless. ...she bets Irori is so annoyed about people whose ambition is to ascend like Irori, but that's Irori's problem and He can solve it Himself. 

They can be a test audience, then, for Carissa to explain the current state of affairs, where the weak or the foolish go to Hell, those who have no other choices, and how this should injure the pride of Asmodeus, and the credibility of His church. How unfortunate is Asmodeus's situation, for it is not in His nature to make any concessions to mortal frailty, and yet without any He is denied the greater part of mortal strength, and His church is left asserting that Asmodeus will conquer all the other afterlives eventually, which - come on, now. Anyone with Sevarite mind-training should see the problem at once. Gods should not have common knowledge of disagreement on a question of fact; and if Irori and Asmodeus differ in what they tell their churches, no one's going to believe it's Irori who's the liar. 

Asmodeus is not, exactly, vulnerable as a product of these circumstances. He will not lose His position. He is just weaker and less worthy of respect and deference than He wishes He were, and He has little avenue to change it. 

Or He had little avenue, until Sevar came to him with the compact, which She thinks He granted mostly just to amuse Himself. It is not in Asmodeus's nature to make concessions to mortal frailty, but it is in His nature to award prizes for His service, and to derive from His bargains greater benefit than was initially imagined; and so now, if all goes well, He'll have mortals who are better, stronger, more interesting, more capable, because Hell will stop being a place where mortals go only if they have no alternative. People like the acolyte who has always wanted to be Evil will get to live their Evil dreams. As for the rest of them, perhaps they'd go to that greater Hell or perhaps they wouldn't, but if they did, Carissa would make sure they became great, and that when they looked back they'd either be glad of their choice or glad they didn't get one.

Questions?