9.38 - No One Can Lie

In the basement of Vinton Charlemagne's childhood home, a captured blood mage named Mirthless Onyx sits with oven mitts on her hands and rope around her body, unable to lie after failing a zone of truth saving throw. The heroes of Ashgard—King Butthole, Quinny, Juniper, and their warlock ally Vinton—have just defeated her in combat and now need to understand what they are up against in the increasingly dangerous warlock-run nation of Visah. What follows is a tense interrogation that reveals a conspiracy to overthrow the entire government, a hidden civil war, and a moral dilemma with no clean options.

The Blood Mage's Confession

Mirthless Onyx, under magical compulsion to speak only truth, explains that she serves a lord who wanted a demonstration of blood magic's capabilities. Her target was the Charlemagne family—specifically because they are considered "insignificant and inconsequential," a soft target that would draw attention away from larger movements. When pressed about her ultimate goals, she reveals that her master is Mansard Kanoth, a half-orc member of the Ironfell Council who controls Palinchuk, one of the largest cities in Visah. Kanoth believes the Voice of Telos—the only person who claims to speak to the god Telos—may be a fraud. "They could be saying anything, anything at all, and everyone just believes it," Onyx says. "Perhaps Telos may not be giving order