Concerning the Proposed Deal with the Abyssal Lords of Fire & Ice

People of Travance,

By now, most of you have heard of the proposition between Travance and the Abyssal Lords of Fire and Ice, known as Mother and the Jailor, to work together in some fashion to deal with the Abyssal Lord of Earth. You can read here on these boards the argument for us to sign it from the Fire Legionnaire called Q’aare’zel, a.k.a. Karl. We do not yet have the text of this proposed contract, but we must be of one mind before the start of the December Feast.

We, the Grand Council of Travance, have not made a decision one way or the other. I will be frank: none on the Grand Council have spoken in favor of signing this pact, for we believe nothing good can come of dealing with demons. However, we are not the only people who call this barony home. Your opinions matter.

Tell us, Travance. Tell us what you would see happen.

Regardless of your choice, there are some immutable truths about this situation:
•We must close the portal to the Abyss opened by the Earth Lord Kalen Maitel.
•We must not kill his remaining legionnaires, or else the power he regains will cause him to become too difficult to fight.
•There must be an Earth Lord, or the resulting planar instability will ripple out to our own plane.
•We are going to be fighting LOTS of demons.
•Should you choose to work with Mother and the Jailor, we will have fewer demons to fight, but we do not know what the price will be.
•If we do not sign, we will be trying to close the portal on our own, and very likely fighting Kalen on our own.

We are not without plans for dealing with Kalen & his portal on our own, so saying no will not suddenly leave us scrambling next Feast, but the plans will definitely be more difficult to pull off without the assistance of Mother & the Jailor.

So please, Travance, let us see your arguments for or against signing this contract. All may speak freely here, without fear of retribution from the nobility or any kind of criminal charges vis a vis dealing with dark forces, with one exception: if anyone decides that this posting is the place to indulge in petty insults and squabbles, I will be removing those posts. State your views, argue your points, ask questions, and please, be respectful.

In Service to Travance,

I do not speak for Ostcliff, or Heargen, or anyone other than myself right now.

I do not have the fancy words or ability to write longwinded essays about why I think something or why I think I'm right but the only thought I have is that this entire idea is insanity. Considering making deals with demons and devils... An act that many would be punished or condemned for doing.

It spits in the face of every single person we lost in the demon wars. It spits in the face of my brother.

We have master scholars, masters of gates and portals, and masters of... so many other things who are likely able to do something as we research more. Making a deal with a demon is always considered the Easy way. I don't believe travance to be foolish enough to take the easy way at the cost of their souls.

With honor,
Burkhart Jarlson

Be they demon lords, gods, nobles, anthropomorphic personifications of good and evil, dragons from the dawn of time, businesspersons of good or ill repute, or that one shady guy in Coast Haven named Earl, I'm willing to sit at the table and talk it out with anyone, if they're willing to share their terms in some manner.*

Anyone who can't be bothered to even offer something to hint at their terms is offering a suckers deal. The only way you benefit from that is by making the other one the sucker. If you sit at the table, make sure you know and they know, we don't need them, they need us. Give them a list of demands to accomplish, and then they can help it's their fault for not setting terms.

Otherwise, walk away.

*(Okay I do have one exception to the make a deal without terms being offered but one should always have at least one exception. Can't be too rigid.)

Considered how Mother has caused Travance to be attacked before, not interested.

Besides, next feast is Reclamation, the celebration of the defeat of Xualla.

It'll be difficult, but we have the initiative to get rid of this problem on our own as long as we work together on gathering the resources to stop it before it gets out of hand.

-Squire Ilana Darkwood

If I remember right, the last time Mr. Karl told us that he was helping us, he was tricking us. I think I've heard an expression here in Kormyre once that went..."Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." I definitely don't want to make deals with him or Mother or anyone named "The Jailor." We don't need their help. We're Travance!

Besides, just because we don't work with the demons doesn't mean we'll be facing it alone. This concerns the fairy courts as well, and I've already sent a letter to my friend, Miss Princess Pyke. She hasn't answered yet, so I don't know for sure if the fairies can help, but I very much hope so.

-Midori Suarez
Daughter of Mercy

I cannot seem to find this Q'aare'zel's written proposal on this board, if one of you could perhaps scribe a copy of it I would be most appreciative.
Without a written copy of the contract or any compelling argument from Karl, I see no reason not to evacuate and fight every damn daemon or devil headed our way. This town is filled with men, women and even children who could singlehandedly combat an earthen fiend that would take ten normal folk to fight.

HOWEVER,

It is worth noting that Arawyn as a whole contains far more ordinary folk than extraordinary. Though we are capable of dealing with the largest amount of daemons and devils available, Xualla and Balfurous should serve as a reminder that we have a duty to at least consider how our choices impact the people who can't save the world like we can.

Considering that, I still believe that we should avoid signing with the Jailor or Mother, unless we can confirm that the contract written by them is less costly for everyone involved than just fighting them all letting the Twelve sort them out.