This about Abrogail Thrune:  She didn't think about what awaited her in Hell, for a different reason than usual: for that she knew that in Hell she would no longer be Queen of Cheliax, and this seemed to her awful enough that other features of Hell would be beside the point.  Maybe if she could be queen of something else, but that, she knew, would not be possible for a long time; that at first she would be reduced in status below the least child of House Thrune and maybe below a Chelish peasant.  Is that not terror enough?  What need for the fear of pain?  She fought in Hell to reach sixth-circle that she might become Queen, and that hurt but she won through it; and Abrogail thought herself suited to Hell, then, by the infernal blood that ran distant in her veins.  To the extent she made up her own theology about it, she told herself that if souls were allowed to remember nothing else, they'd be allowed to remember how they had served Asmodeus well.  And that if Abrogail built up Cheliax into a great and stable empire before her life ended, then that memory, at least, she'd be allowed to always have with her: that once she served Asmodeus better than any devil not at least a Duke of Hell.  And before then, she'd shine as brightly as she could, and enjoy her moment as Queen to the fullest, and not fear what came after...

Abrogail knows, with the sparks of reason and lucidity that can reason through anything at all, she can see plainly that what happens to the dead nobles of Cheliax is much much worse than what happens to her living self; and she knows that their fates are what awaits her.  If it was only this bad and never got any worse than this, for eternity, then she could endure it; if she was dead and un-cursed and had more Splendour than this, if not her Crown, she could endure it.  But it does not get only that bad.  Hell is wantonly destructive, even towards the nobles and wizards who any sane person would see as having value worth preserving.  It is not that devils don't understand how to torture better than that, it is that they do not care; if you grind souls into paste and sludge to be reformed over thousands of years, you get more devils at the end, so that result is good enough.

It doesn't take Abrogail very long at all to realize that she was wrong, not to fear Hell.

She doesn't think it was very long.  She doesn't know.

This about Abrogail Thrune:  She didn't think about what awaited her in Hell, for a different reason than usual: for that she knew that in Hell she would no longer be Queen of Cheliax, and this seemed to her awful enough that other features of Hell would be beside the point.  Maybe if she could be queen of something else, but that, she knew, would not be possible for a long time; that at first she would be reduced in status below the least child of House Thrune and maybe below a Chelish peasant.  Is that not terror enough?  What need for the fear of pain?  She fought in Hell to reach sixth-circle that she might become Queen, and that hurt but she won through it; and Abrogail thought herself suited to Hell, then, by the infernal blood that ran distant in her veins.  To the extent she made up her own theology about it, she told herself that if souls were allowed to remember nothing else, they'd be allowed to remember how they had served Asmodeus well.  And that if Abrogail built up Cheliax into a great and stable empire before her life ended, then that memory, at least, she'd be allowed to always have with her: that once she served Asmodeus better than any devil not at least a Duke of Hell.  And before then, she'd shine as brightly as she could, and enjoy her moment as Queen to the fullest, and not fear what came after...

Abrogail knows, with the sparks of reason and lucidity that can reason through anything at all, she can see plainly that what happens to the dead nobles of Cheliax is much much worse than what happens to her living self; and she knows that their fates are what awaits her.  If it was only this bad and never got any worse than this, for eternity, then she could endure it; if she was dead and un-cursed and had more Splendour than this, if not her Crown, she could endure it.  But it does not get only that bad.  Hell is wantonly destructive, even towards the nobles and wizards who any sane person would see as having value worth preserving.  It is not that devils don't understand how to torture better than that, it is that they do not care; if you grind souls into paste and sludge to be reformed over thousands of years, you get some devils at the end, so that result is good enough.

It doesn't take Abrogail very long at all to realize that she was wrong, not to fear Hell.

She doesn't think it was very long.  She doesn't know.

(This about Abrogail Thrune:  She didn't think about what awaited her in Hell, for a different reason than usual: for that she knew that in Hell she would no longer be Queen of Cheliax, and this seemed to her awful enough that other features of Hell would be beside the point.  Maybe if she could be queen of something else, but that, she knew, would not be possible for a long time; that at first she would be reduced in status below the least child of House Thrune and maybe below a Chelish peasant.  Is that not terror enough?  What need for the fear of pain?  She fought in Hell to reach sixth-circle that she might become Queen, and that hurt but she won through it; and Abrogail thought herself suited to Hell, then, by the infernal blood that ran distant in her veins.  To the extent she made up her own theology about it, she told herself that if souls were allowed to remember nothing else, they'd be allowed to remember how they had served Asmodeus well.  And that if Abrogail built up Cheliax into a great and stable empire before her life ended, then that memory, at least, she'd be allowed to always have with her: that once she served Asmodeus better than any devil not at least a Duke of Hell.  And before then, she'd shine as brightly as she could, and enjoy her moment as Queen to the fullest, and not fear what came after...)

Abrogail knows, with the sparks of reason and lucidity that can reason through anything at all, she can see plainly that what happens to the dead nobles of Cheliax is much much worse than what happens to her living self; and she knows that their fates are what awaits her.  If it was only this bad and never got any worse than this, for eternity, then she could endure it; if she was dead and un-cursed and had more Splendour than this, if not her Crown, she could endure it.  But it does not get only that bad.  Hell is wantonly destructive, even towards the nobles and wizards who any sane person would see as having value worth preserving.  It is not that devils don't understand how to torture better than that, it is that they do not care; if you grind souls into paste and sludge to be reformed over thousands of years, you get some devils at the end, so that result is good enough.

It doesn't take Abrogail very long at all to realize that she was wrong, not to fear Hell.

She doesn't think it was very long.  She doesn't know.

(This about Abrogail Thrune:  She didn't think about what awaited her in Hell, for a different reason than usual: she knew that in Hell she would no longer be Queen of Cheliax, and this seemed to her awful enough that other features of Hell would be beside the point.  Maybe if she could be queen of something else, but that, she knew, would not be possible for a long time; at first she'd be reduced in status below the least child of House Thrune and maybe below a Chelish peasant.  Is that not terror enough?  What need for the fear of pain?  She fought in Hell to reach sixth-circle that she might become Queen, and that hurt but she won through it; and Abrogail thought herself suited to Hell, then, by the infernal blood that ran distant in her veins.  To the extent she made up her own theology about it, she told herself that if souls were allowed to remember nothing else, they'd be allowed to remember how they had served Asmodeus well.  And that if Abrogail built up Cheliax into a great and stable empire before her life ended, then that memory, at least, she'd be allowed to always have with her: that once she served Asmodeus better than any devil not at least a Duke of Hell.  And before then, she'd shine as brightly as she could, and enjoy her moment as Queen to the fullest, and not fear what came after...)

Abrogail knows, with the sparks of reason and lucidity that can reason through anything at all, she can see plainly that what happens to the dead nobles of Cheliax is much much worse than what happens to her living self; and she knows that their fates are what awaits her.  If it was only this bad and never got any worse than this, for eternity, then she could endure it; if she was dead and un-cursed and had more Splendour than this, if not her Crown, she could endure it.  But it does not get only that bad.  Hell is wantonly destructive, even towards the nobles and wizards whom any sane person would see as having value worth preserving.  It is not that devils don't understand how to torture better than that, it is that they do not care; if you grind souls into paste and sludge to be reformed over thousands of years, you get some devils at the end, so that result is good enough.

It doesn't take Abrogail very long at all to realize that she was wrong, not to fear Hell.

She doesn't think it was very long.  She doesn't know.

(This about Abrogail Thrune:  She didn't think about what awaited her in Hell, for a different reason than usual: she knew that in Hell she would no longer be Queen of Cheliax, and this seemed to her awful enough that other features of Hell would be beside the point.  Maybe if she could be queen of something else, but that, she knew, would not be possible for a long time; at first she'd be reduced in status below the least child of House Thrune and maybe below a Chelish peasant.  Is that not terror enough?  What need for the fear of pain?  She fought in Hell to reach sixth-circle that she might become Queen, and that hurt but she won through it; and Abrogail thought herself suited to Hell, then, by the infernal blood that ran distant in her veins.  To the extent she made up her own theology about it, she told herself that if souls were allowed to remember nothing else, they'd be allowed to remember how they had served Asmodeus well.  And that if Abrogail built up Cheliax into a great and stable empire before her life ended, then that memory, at least, she'd be allowed to always have with her: that once she served Asmodeus better than any devil not at least a Duke of Hell.  And before then, she'd shine as brightly as she could, and enjoy her moment as Queen to the fullest, and not fear what came after...)

Abrogail knows, with the sparks of reason and lucidity that can reason through anything at all, she can see plainly that what happens to the dead nobles of Cheliax is much much worse than what happens to her living self; and she knows that their fates are what awaits her.  If it was only this bad and never got any worse than this, for eternity, then she could endure it; if she was dead and un-cursed and had more Splendour than this, if not her Crown, she could endure it.  But it does not get only that bad.  Hell is wantonly destructive, even towards the nobles and wizards whom any sane person would see as having value worth preserving.  It is not that devils don't understand how to torture better than that, it is that they do not care; if you grind souls into paste to be reformed over thousands of years, you get some devils at the end, so that result is good enough.

It doesn't take Abrogail very long at all to realize that she was wrong, not to fear Hell.

She doesn't think it was very long.  She doesn't know.