Challenge #04920-M171: A Deal With... You Know

Friends on the Other Side -- Spare AMitA Prompt

Well hello there, new friend. What's your name? Very nice. Pleased to meet you. You may know me as Tolgrolaz, and I am very pleased to help you. You have to be desperate indeed to contact me. I know. Life is difficult. The very forces of the universe are against you. You've tried everything, and I have the infinite pleasure of being your last resort.

I'm not offended in the slightest. We're friends, now.

I'm the kind of friend who can fix things for you. You came to me with a problem beyond your control. I can help you. I can give you... special abilities. Power that can get you out of a pickle. But of course nothing is free, my friend. Don't fret, now. Everything has a price. You sacrifice to the gods and they do nothing for you. You pay taxes to the Lord of your country and they barely know you exist. All I ask, is a few little favours.

Nothing big. Nothing... terribly uncomfortable. Just a little something you can do as a favour.

After all, I just gave you the ability to shoot raw power from your palms. You want to do me a favour in return, don't you? Of course you do. You don't have to worry about a thing... as long as we're friends. Friends do favours for each other all the time.

Oh. You've been told I'll take your soul. That's so funny. The things the preachers say are so very wrong. I only take that which is given freely. I have no need of your soul. The souls of anything you kill will be just fine.

The Hellkin thing? That's just a standard caveat. The cost of doing business, my friend. Just a little genetic quirk to remind you who your true friends are. I doubt you've heard of epigenetics, let's just say that little stresses on the parent can influence the next generation. It's like the ability to keep fat on the body. In generations faced with frequent starvation, it's a boon. Later on, it's a detriment. Same idea. It's just that my little quirk is met with hostility for no good reason.

All those poor little devilborn, catching the blame for nothing they did. They deserve sympathy, not hatred. And most of them are decent people at the end of the day. Doing whatever they can to make it through the day, just like you. Trying their best to protect and preserve everything they love, just like you. I could argue that Hellkin are more Human than the Humans.

But don't worry about it. There's no guarantee you'll have children. No guarantee of any kind of future. I just supply an edge. A little support. And I only ask for so little in return.

Starting with this. Take this gemstone. It's nothing harmful or foul. Look how prettily it sparkles in the light. All I want you to do is find a way to put it in your Liege Lord's son's nursery chambers. It doesn't matter how. Just place it anywhere you like within. You have access. You can do it easily.

And in return, I'll make all your problems so much less of an issue.

What do you say?

Care to shake on it and make it a deal?

[Photo by Makayla Larner on Unsplash]

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