Acknowledgment:

I am deeply indebted to Ian for the plot bunny, for being my muse, and for being an inexhaustible font of Realms knowledge! Thanks for the great ideas and conversations, and for helping me keep my facts straight!

Prologue – Concluding the Experiment

After witnessing the scene that unfolded before him, Mephasm's low, rumbling laugh resonates across the barren plains.

"Oh, how very compelling! Even I had not foreseen that happening!" His red eyes twinkle with mirth as he gazes down at the little half-elf bending over the dying ranger. "You mortals never cease to surprise me with your unexpected actions! Offer a choice of two options, and you pick a third! The way your minds work still amazes me!"

He has to admit, he had not seen it coming, and since few things ever surprise him nowadays, this is indeed a rare treat.

The pit fiend hovers over the two mortals, and inspects the man's self-inflicted stab wound with the detachment of a scientist observing a crushed bug under a magnifying lens. The devil begins to speak, his tone contemplative, as if he were talking to himself.

"What could possess a mere mortal to throw his own life away so carelessly? Considering, as well, that he could have gained so much had he fought for his own survival? To think, that he had the opportunity to end his own suffering, to start his life afresh with long-lost loved ones…"

He regards the half-elf critically.

"Why was he willing to give all that up – just so you live?"

Crossing an arm in front of himself, the baatezu rubs his chin thoughtfully with his other hand.

"Perhaps there is something behind all those walls of hatred, resentment and self-contempt after all…"

He watches as the man's blood seeps out from around the dagger embedded in his chest, trickling down his sides and pooling around his still form, staining the rust coloured earth beneath him a darker shade of crimson.

"I would have liked to study him a bit longer," he says almost ruefully. "He was proving to be such an interesting and complex specimen…" With a dismissive shrug, he continues, "Ah well, I thoroughly enjoyed myself while it lasted. It may not have helped me understand human emotions any better, but it was definitely entertaining. I really should perform such experiments and observations more often."

He turns his attention to the woman kneeling over the man's body.

"Thank you for your part in brightening up an otherwise dull and uneventful few weeks," He smiles with what can almost pass as sincerity. "But, I guess I have no use for you now."

Lifting a finger, he points it at the half-elf. All at once, a blinding bolt of white light shoots out from his fingertip, and flies unerringly towards its target.