Vignette

"Prince Ishkiael the Sublime: our Thrice-Crowned Fever of Gasp-and-Groan; Lord-Huntsman of the Endless Evening; Patron to the Sisters of Unmaking Delight; Royal Houndmaster of the Kennels of Qah-Ra; Viceroy to the Redslick Apiary; Harlequin-Prince of the Perfumed Parlours, and of the House of Copper-and-Milk and Boundless Love."

When the devil arrives at your doorstep, if only he would do so hideously - with horns and flame and shrieking, with that biblical gnashing of teeth - but there are no trumpets of war or sword soaked in blood or singing damnation to herald his coming. No, the devil is the charming sutler that promises conquest to kings and kingdoms to peasants while dragging the screaming choir to hell. The devil is the beautiful boy that sidles up to you warm and smiling. A hand on your shoulder, a whisper in your ear, and before you know it, he’s already feasting on your forfeit heart. And you hope he comes back for seconds.

An Acquaintance

You wouldn't really say you know each other, but you've certainly met him before. Looking too finely-dressed waiting for his carriage on the side of the road... in the middle of the Thanalan desert? Or a brief conversation in a bar on the other side of the world? Perhaps he did you a small kindness, or maybe you did him one. An open-ended hook that's good for spontaneous approaches, just shoot me a whisper to iron out a couple quick minor details before.

Sportsmanship

He loves wagers involving games of skill, and makes a 'friendly' one with you involving some 'healthy competition.' It's a hunt, except it involves you as the sport - no, he assures you murder won't be involved, you just have to elude him for a set amount of time, that's all. If you win, you get a boon from him (wealth, knowledge, some strange new power, something your heart most desires, though rarely in the way you expect). If you fail? A tenure of servitude. This hook can start either from the beginning, or serve as a background to start at the 'results.' Warning: it's rare I'll have him lose these wagers, so you'll have to make those suggestions especially juicy if so.

Ritual Hunt

...or maybe the wager involves some strange creature, cryptid, or monster and who can bring it in first (maybe dead, maybe alive). In this, it's not just him you have to worry about, though, for it's rare he'll ever pick something that doesn't come with some deep, awful risk. The hellish, martial clan he's derived from love the pageantry of the hunt, too, and they're likely to include all kinds of strange customs and rules.

The Green Man

In his earliest incarnations, Prince Ishkiael was worshipped as a spirit of the woods and wild and hunt. He's never quite given up this side of him either, even if he looks so strangely out of place bidding you into the clearing of a remote forest or appearing at your camp at night in a bleak, barren desert. Especially if you're lost or in a fever dream of starvation or narcotics. Or if you're the kind of tribal to practice rituals to call such wild spirits.

Backstage Passes

The Honourable Augustino is known to you. He trounces the competition at duelist tournaments from Vylbrand to Othard and he makes it look frightfully good. He rules the stage and the crowd's hearts with panache, charm, wit, playfulness, and theatre. Are you a fan, an aspiring duelist yourself, or just someone who needs a side-gig and a start? By luck or simply his boredom, you end up landing (or falling into) an audience with him.

Sportsmanship II

The Honourable Augustino is not known to you, which is quite unfortunate considering how harmless and unassuming he appears and when you end up agreeing to a 'friendly duel' with rather high stakes, you don't expect the way it's going to go. Halfway through the match, it might start becoming clear that he's playing with you... like a rat caught beneath his paw.

Reliable Hounds

He finds you desperate, broke, or broken. You're not as charming as his darling hellhounds, probably, but you'll do. He tidies you up, cleans the blood from your mouth, and takes you as you are. You're lost and rudderless, but that's okay - many of the things he finds are. He knows just where to fit you in and how to give you purpose. Such harmless, simple jobs, too (little errands, courier work, maybe a bit of security detail if you have the skillset for it), but little-by-little, things change. Hopefully there’s still some of you left by the time you realise he’s been gnawing you up the whole time.

Sinnerman

Houses of pleasure and music, gambling dens, opium dives. He’s too finely dressed for places like this, and so maybe it was just a delusion from a night of alcohol or narcotics. A fever dream, it has to be, it has to be. Except, there he is again, after a knock at your door. “Ready to get to work? We had an agreement.” Or maybe you've just now spotted him in such a place and a rather strange evening is about to begin.