Ascent

There's something satisfying about the disapproval painted on the faces of the 'reasonable' members of the little hoodlums that stood as shields between myself and peril on this quest. Whether their feeble little minds could comprehend it or not, they helped me get here, Without them, overthrowing Zariel would have been... more problematic.

Not impossible.
Nothing is impossible to a god.
But problematic.

Still, their usefulness has run it's course. A new age is coming to Avernus, one I doubt they'd be too pleased about, and while taking on any one of them would be child's play, the group of them would be... more problematic.

Not impossible.
Nothing is impossible to a god.
But problematic.

So it is with a very light heart that I wave them off to whatever ridiculous endeavour they wish to pursue, and watch them disappear into the smoke. May they never again darken my doorstep. Unfortunate for Avernus that they cannot say the same for me.

I intend to be on every doorstep.
In every cobbled-together home.
On the pathetic minds of every resident in this burning hell hole.

We shall of course have to improve perceptions first. That my merry band of meat shields was willing to come here in the first place is proof enough that the mortals do not hold the fear this place should instill.

That can be fixed.
Avernus didn't have me before.
Now it does.

I shall feed off the fear of the material plane, demand sacrifice from those that beg for mercy, poison any wellspring of hope that should dare to show itself. By the time I'm done, not a creature in all the realms will have the courage to face me.

I shall be more than a god.
Gods are fallible.
I shall be a force beyond reckoning.

The serpent coils her way up my form, constricts on my arm and meets my eye as she bares fangs dripping in poison. It is for once a welcome sight. And the last I shall glimpse through my own eyes. A god has no use for the tethers of mortal sight. She will deliver the blow that will seal my fate.

This is my sacrifice.
Relinquish my pact.
Relinquish my sight.
Show Avernus I will not be cowed by such petty things.
I am their god.
The flames of hell answer to me.