Fiend Rationales

First version 8/3/99 by MTS; this version last updated 11/23/2003

Even the most primally evil beings in the multiverse consider themselves “good” from their own points of view…

The Baatezu, Lawful Evil Fiends, “The Devils”

Unity is a strength. The strong dominate the weak. Freedom is slavery.

Thus, the baatezu only work to make the cosmos stronger by making it more unified. Their methods are a means to an end, a good end.

As Machiavelli wrote: “One ought to be both feared and loved, but as it is difficult for the two to go together, it is much safer to be feared than loved…”

Freedom is not a right, not a luxury, but a curse. Freedom gives rise to rebellion, and thus a weakening of the whole. Freedom is cancer to be cut out, sickness that can and will be cured.

The order which you proclaim protects one from freedom. Within the borders of Baator all creatures know their proper place and know how their station may rise or fall.

All life creates its own order – order is the natural way of the cosmos.

The only true evil in the cosmos is the tanar’ri – a race of fiends whose sole existence is to spread chaos, suffering and disorder. These psychopaths stop at nothing to fulfill their twisted goals, and only the baatezu have shown the will to stand in their way.

The tanar’ri represent all that can go wrong in the cosmos; genocide is the only answer.

The Tanar’ri, Chaotic Evil Fiends, “The Demons”

Consistency is a failing of weaker minds.

Order promotes stagnancy, prevents growth and innovation. Law? A lie. There is only one law in the cosmos: everything changes.

All suffering grows from the inability to embrace change. All things change – change is the natural way of the cosmos. Love is a trap set to catch those who tie their hearts to things destined to change. People change, lovers die, nations and ideologies fall apart over time. Where there is no love, there is no remorse.

In a way, causing suffering does creatures a favor in reminding them not to cherish that which changes – their possessions, their dreams, their lives.

Which is not to say existence is without desire – in fact, desire is all which really matters. Embrace every moment with wild abbandon, and when you find something you cherish, be the one who destroyed it and it will be yours forever.

The only true evil in the cosmos are the baatezu – a race of fiends whose sole existence is to enslave the universe and place themselves as supreme rulers of all that exists. These megalomaniacs stop and nothing to fulfill their twisted goals, and only the tanar’ri have shown the will to stand in their way.

The baatezu represent all that can go wrong in the cosmos; genocide is the only answer.