AyuVince
2009-07-20, 12:18 PM
I recently dug out my old Planescape handbooks. One of them, Faces of Evil, deals with the inhabitants of the Lower Planes. The introductory text for the Neutral Evil fiends, the Yugoloths, reminds me a lot of how our friends Lee, Nero and Cedrik think.
(Warning: wall of text incoming)
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To think like a yugoloth, you first have to empty your heart and mind of all you have learned in the past. You must achieve a state of unity with yourself, fully accepting all that you are today and all that you might be in the future.
Bid farewell to that self and float. Float in the darkness of your empty spirit. Now open the doors of your spirit and allow thoughts of Evil to filter in. Not "evil", mind you, but Evil. Petty larcenies and mild misdeeds mean nothing to you. You have your eyes on a much grander prize than the price of a mortal life. You want nothing less than the multiverse itself under your heel... yet still you are not the master of your destiny. After all, you have sold yourself to Evil. You are no more than a pawn on a chessboard, and no matter how high you strive to ascend, there will always be something mightier than you.
Does this then mean that you cease your striving? That recognizing your own insignificance means that you stop all struggle for life? It does not. Any effort you make, no matter how small, adds to the total. If you can tilt the balance with your weight, you seek to do so. And you seek to draw others to do so as well.
What means do you use to accomplish these ends? Bullying works well on the less intelligent and fearful. Sincere flattery works best on the insecure. Gold and gems win over those disposed toward greed. The offer of knowledge and power lures the would-be tyrants. You use any means at your disposal, always promising more. You draw all into your web, and once your pawns are trapped, you can place them anywhere on the playing field you desire.
Best of all, once the puppets have been gulled by seeing what they can achieve (remember to give them only a glimpse of that achievement, allowing them to do the actual work themselves), they'll pursue that end to the exclusion of all others. At that point, they're little more than rag dolls in your hands.
Some, of course, will not succumb to your blandishments. They are the better adversaries, the true challenges. Still, with foresight and planning - and perhaps even a bit of luck - the necessary factors will converge to drive the resistant foes straight into your arms.
Do you see? Though the yugoloths seek to become ascendant over all the creatures of the multiverse, though they jostle for position among themselves, their very lives are dedicated to the furthering of Evil. If they can add one more spirit to the side of darkness, if they can draw in millions of primes* with simple words and sacrifices, they'll do it. They hate to give anything of themselves but they'll do even that, if necessary.
In short, yugoloths are the worst kind of fanatics, the sort who tenaciously do whatever it takes to realize their goals. They've spent countless eons scheming to drag the multiverse toward the pole of Evil, and they've laid their webs in every corner of the planes. They love nothing more than a challenge, and they seek out - and annihilate - any and all challenges to the supremacy of their guiding force.
- the Unnamed
*(primes = mortals from the Prime Material Plane)
~~~~~~
Sounds a lot like the IFCC to me... what do you think?
(Warning: wall of text incoming)
~~~~~~
To think like a yugoloth, you first have to empty your heart and mind of all you have learned in the past. You must achieve a state of unity with yourself, fully accepting all that you are today and all that you might be in the future.
Bid farewell to that self and float. Float in the darkness of your empty spirit. Now open the doors of your spirit and allow thoughts of Evil to filter in. Not "evil", mind you, but Evil. Petty larcenies and mild misdeeds mean nothing to you. You have your eyes on a much grander prize than the price of a mortal life. You want nothing less than the multiverse itself under your heel... yet still you are not the master of your destiny. After all, you have sold yourself to Evil. You are no more than a pawn on a chessboard, and no matter how high you strive to ascend, there will always be something mightier than you.
Does this then mean that you cease your striving? That recognizing your own insignificance means that you stop all struggle for life? It does not. Any effort you make, no matter how small, adds to the total. If you can tilt the balance with your weight, you seek to do so. And you seek to draw others to do so as well.
What means do you use to accomplish these ends? Bullying works well on the less intelligent and fearful. Sincere flattery works best on the insecure. Gold and gems win over those disposed toward greed. The offer of knowledge and power lures the would-be tyrants. You use any means at your disposal, always promising more. You draw all into your web, and once your pawns are trapped, you can place them anywhere on the playing field you desire.
Best of all, once the puppets have been gulled by seeing what they can achieve (remember to give them only a glimpse of that achievement, allowing them to do the actual work themselves), they'll pursue that end to the exclusion of all others. At that point, they're little more than rag dolls in your hands.
Some, of course, will not succumb to your blandishments. They are the better adversaries, the true challenges. Still, with foresight and planning - and perhaps even a bit of luck - the necessary factors will converge to drive the resistant foes straight into your arms.
Do you see? Though the yugoloths seek to become ascendant over all the creatures of the multiverse, though they jostle for position among themselves, their very lives are dedicated to the furthering of Evil. If they can add one more spirit to the side of darkness, if they can draw in millions of primes* with simple words and sacrifices, they'll do it. They hate to give anything of themselves but they'll do even that, if necessary.
In short, yugoloths are the worst kind of fanatics, the sort who tenaciously do whatever it takes to realize their goals. They've spent countless eons scheming to drag the multiverse toward the pole of Evil, and they've laid their webs in every corner of the planes. They love nothing more than a challenge, and they seek out - and annihilate - any and all challenges to the supremacy of their guiding force.
- the Unnamed
*(primes = mortals from the Prime Material Plane)
~~~~~~
Sounds a lot like the IFCC to me... what do you think?