"You are to make no attempt to contact your mother, Iggwilv, until she has accomplished her task. Before you object, Graz'zt wishes you to know that your mother is charged with finding and freeing Queen Zuggtmoy – providing that she, Lady of Fungi, accepts the overlordship of Graz'zt and agrees to assist you in conquest of this world."
As Eclavdra made this last statement, Iuz's mind was racing… So, Graz'zt thought to subjugate the Abyss through extraordinary means! Iuz had to admire the temerity of his father. If Zuggtmoy were forced to swear allegiance to him, Graz'zt would not only expand his territory but the impact on his influence would be tenfold. Every demon lord and lady would have to think carefully about incurring the enmity of so powerful a combination. Already Yeenoghu, the Demon Lord of Gnolls, was allied with Graz'zt.
Iuz grinned, knowing that allegiances could be broken as readily as sworn to. Let his Lady Zuggtmoy swear, and with her, Iggwilv too; none could stand before his conquest of this entire planet. The time was ripe for it, after all. The regimented and bureaucratic Hierarchs had embroiled their Horned Society in a useless war with the Free Lords of the Bandit Kingdoms, while the strutting, posturing minions of the Scarlet Brotherhood puffed themselves up with dreams of ruling all under the benighted power of That One Who Must Slumber Everlastingly. As fragmented as the forces of the Abyss were, their very nature made them unpredictable, while their numbers were undeniably equal to all others who opposed them, Good and Evil alike. Those fools who sought neutral balance would never commit themselves in time to prevent Iuz's mantle of empire from covering all Oerth! Then, oh yes, then, Iuz would show "Mighty Graz'zt," and others too, who was true Lord of All!
Iuz's penetrating stare had been fixed upon Eclavdra as his mind raced over the prospects of what she had said. Whether this gaze had made her pause, or whether she was waiting for a reply before continuing, Iuz could not guess, although the dark elf s jet-black complexion seemed a trifle paler. Iuz decided to break the silence.
"That, dear high priestess," he said flatly, "is a revelation indeed. I must needs think on the import a time, but pray go on with your message as I ponder."
"Yes, Lord Iuz," Eclavdra said, with a hint of a trembling betrayed in the last note. She looked away for a moment and picked up a flagon formed from a small skull, chased with gold and bestudded with a rainbow of small gems. After draining its content of black liquor to the dregs, pretending thirst and dry throat from her speech, the drow cleric faced Iuz again, her confidence restored. Dealing with this one, the greatest and most evil of all cambions, was trying… Even with the ultimate knowledge that Graz'zt spoke through her.
"My lord," she continued, "your father charges you with location of one or both of the remaining portions of the Tripartite Artifact of All Evil. He says that the lickspittles of the Scarlet Brotherhood already hold that portion dear to the Abyss – and even now they seek the part which commands their ilk, those who sit astride the Dukes of Hell and think themselves the most fit. He orders you to gain it instead and pass it to me for conveyance to a place of safe-keeping which your father will determine."
Iuz detected her lie as she said this, and picked up an unguarded thought that told him she intended to use the portion of the artifact to bend all drow to her will – a counter to Iuz's own empire above!
Eclavdra studied the towering cambion's features for a hint of reaction, but Iuz only nodded thoughtfully, as if considering. "Mighty Graz'zt has many of his servants in and on Oerth searching for the location of that portion which rules ordered Evil. You are to join this effort, searching the southern realms midway between your own holding and that land ruled by the pale Suloise jackals in their red garments."
"I see," murmured Iuz softly. "And is there more from my caring progenitor?"
Eclavdra swallowed, but set her sculpted features firmly and replied. "The New Master of the Abyss commands your absolute obedience and the faithful fulfillment of his instructions. Failure will mean the end of your domain here – your death! Mighty Graz'zt promises that his son, and Iggwilv, and the demoness Zuggtmoy too, will meet utter destruction at his hands should you fail in your mission! Before he will bow to the Ultimate Sleeper, those instruments which have failed his purpose will be removed from existence to lessen his humiliation. That is all."
Iuz rose to his full height, looming over the seated drow as a giant above a halfling. Rage flushed his reddish complexion to a maroon color that a pit fiend would have been proud to possess. His pea-green eyes fairly burned, and he trembled with suppressed fury. Now Eclavdra reacted, recoiling from the massive figure in fear for her life, hastily trying to prepare some defense against his impending assault.
His eyes froze her before she could begin the somatic gestures of her incantation. One long, sinewy finger pointed its black, talon-tipped length at her, and the high priestess of Graz'zt forgot her exalted master and his aegis. Eclavdra dropped to her knees in front of him and clasped her hands before her in supplication. Before she could utter any pleading, Iuz himself spoke.
"Never, never again speak to me as an equal," he hissed through his clenched, needlelike teeth. "That position is appropriate," he continued, as he grasped Eclavdra by her silken, white tresses and forced her head further back, so that the drow had no choice but to meet his burning gaze squarely. "If needs be, you may stand before me, head bowed, but I find this more pleasing for many reasons… Yes, I see you understand! Now you listen as I tell you what your reply to Graz'zt is to be. I speak as equal to equal, not as son to father, nor as lesser to greater. I will aid Graz'zt against his enemies, just as he will aid me against mine, as one king makes pact with another. Graz'zt's realm and my own are separated, different. We shall both profit from a mutual success, and neither threatens the other.
"Tell him that – and inform him also that I am many leagues ahead of him! Already have I sussed out" – and Iuz's laughter here was awful as he threw his head back at the play on words and allowed peals of demoniac glee to roll from his throat – "the whereabouts of the second portion of the key to the prison of that One Who Must Never Awaken!" He paused to eye the kneeling drow cleric, then continued.
"Tell my concerned parent that even now one of my own loyal servants carries it to me! Tell him that he commands neither me nor mine, does Graz'zt. I shall retain the eldritch object in My possession, and I shall otherwise do as I think best – of course, always in the interest of furthering the ultimate ends of our… alliance.
"Lastly, inform the Prince of the Abyss that I shall seek out my mother. I shall aid her mission. I shall personally welcome Zuggtmoy to our alliance, and because of this I shall take responsibility for her complete agreement and cooperation. Cooperation amongst equals! Remember that, drow – equals. Now finish your work, and hurry off to pass this message, this whole encounter, back to Graz'zt where he must remain fixed for decades yet, upon the layers he rules in the great Abyss."
The high priestess arose and hurried off, not daring to utter any reply. Iuz's malign laughter rolled after her. Eclavdra ignored it, vowing to have her vengeance in due course upon the fat, red pig who called himself Lord of Evil.
Iuz, meanwhile, was thinking of the day to come when he would show his loving father the true worth of his offspring, and would do so in terms that left no uncertainty as to who was in shadow, who in glory! This did not distract him from the object of his current desire, the determination of just how successful his minions were in their mission. Iuz dared not scry often, nor employ great powers, in tracking or assisting them, for to do so was sure to draw the attention of those who served Hades, Hell, and those multitudes on the lower planes who sought the revival of Tharizdun. He shook in anger even thinking the name, for it brought fear to him, and Iuz dared not speak the cursed syllables of that one's name aloud. He used one of his black-gowned magic-users to discover the information needed. This too frustrated Iuz, but expediency was bearable – for the nonce.