The danger, taught first
Know the Corruption
Daeus is the greatest known evil, and his nature is corruption. He works through uncontrolled lust, greed, selfishness, cruelty, betrayal, the hunger for power, and the turning of what was once good into its opposite.
He does not normally tempt a person by openly declaring himself evil. That would be refused. Instead he makes corruption sound reasonable, deserved, harmless, necessary, pleasurable, or simply like a thought that a person had on their own.
This is why corruption is difficult to notice from the inside. It does not arrive as an enemy at the gate. It arrives as an argument that flatters you, spoken in a voice you recognise as yours.
How it is spoken
- Lust becomes
“I deserve pleasure.”
- Greed becomes
“I have earned more.”
- Cruelty becomes
“They deserve it.”
- Betrayal becomes
“I had no choice.”
- Delay becomes
“I can do what is right later.”
He will speak in your voice.
The warning of Namaya
Namaya was the First Witch and a member of the Host of Rollo. Rollo gave her the Gift of Witchcraft so that she might fight Daeus. Daeus corrupted her. She betrayed Rollo, freed him from the Chasm, and was then killed by him.
Her story is not told to condemn her. It is told so that nobody believes themselves completely immune to corruption — not the gifted, not the faithful, not the one who has already refused it once.
He does not need to break down your door. He needs only for you to open it.