The middle.
(after a while i just posted my notes from discord lmao - these will be properly articulated soon.)
Here. Comes. Orin. Upset and jealous that the throne she craved for no longer sat waiting for her. With disgust, she watched from the sidelines as her grandfather grew soft for a mortal with no purpose. She was pushed aside, left to be his slayer as that woman became his Commander and Queen of his court, holding suspicions of pregnancy to grace his home with yet another worthless heir.
The Slayer would never allow such a thing to be ripped from her hands. Kill the woman. Showcase her brutality and be showered in gold as she knew her grandfather was trapped under the gaze of a succubae. And proud of her mess of gore and vicera, was the moment she saw the light dim from the Lord of Death’s eyes. No longer had she been the golden child he was proud to take care of, despite her detestable behavior towards that of their own blood. Orin was nothing to him but a side thought of a painful memory.
Send the child back, down into the Underdark. Bless the child with the name their mother wanted of them, not the one the Gods demand, for that is the child of Bhaal, given freedom the others were never allowed. Placed into the trusting hands of her highest second ranking officer, never once corrupted by that of the home they migrated to. This was the family to his only living child and only was it, when they were of age, were they allowed to know of their heritage and the throne they were allowed to have. And only then would the child’s father announce himself.
"Take care of my little one as if they were your own. Do not tell them of the world they stem from, but allow full freedom of their life. It's what she would have wanted."
They did a really good job at keeping Imill under wraps. they allowed him to live freely and happily while staying to poor villages on the edge of Eryndlyn. He was to learn empathy and kindness while also understanding that his first adopted father was a former knight and his adopted mother a teaching paladin. He adored his family and though the deal was to keep him until he was a teenager, "Bhaal" came early, somewhere around Imill's 8th or 10th birthday, to retrieve his child.
This is the moment Imill remembers the most about his first encounter with his father. Monster hunters, paladins, aasimar, the like all tried to swarm this man with the hopes of putting him down again. This day brought the end to an entire paladin sect, his adopted father included, who left Imill his birth-mother's blade and shield with hopes that Imill would follow after. And yet, they escape the first time and go deeper into the underdark with survivors. Many of them don't speak about the situation nor do they want to because who's gonna believe that there is ANOTHER sighting of Bhaal?
Silence comes for a while. Imill's facination with death is what pushes him to become a a necromancer, but at the same time, he still lives among retired fighters and protectors, so he wants to protect which pushes him closer to the idea of becoming a hexblood necromancer rather than settling a one simple thing. A hexblood title would prove his skill. Accepting the need to avenge his adopted father was needed.
Reaching the age of 13-14, his mother does not want him to become a warlock of any type because she believes it'd bring more problems, but if it makes him happy-- so be it. that being said, i forgot to note that lolth is extremely aware of him and is purposely trying to sabotage bhaal by assisting in hiding imill. when handing him over originally, by the communal groaning and eye rolling of the gods, he had to announce that one of his protected children was in another god's region. but knowing how powerful his mother was? so long as imill eventually made his way to her, she was going to keep him as one of her champions instead.
Unfortunately, the warlock pact goes awry and almost kills him. someone has botched the pact connection and sent forward a corrupted patron. turns out that urge, the patron, was due to someone finding out who he was and trying to make sure that if the monster hunters couldn't kill him, they would. and they're assumption of this was only due to the fact that he looks exactly like his birth mother.
Instead it was his slap in the face that perhaps a warlock wasn't for him and instead chased for becoming a hexblood paladin. That sat perfectly for years. he proved himself worthy in the eyes of everyone and even climbed high in the gaze of lolth. however, this is also his high moment of transitioning around age 18-21. Transitioning is absolutely the moment where too many people challenge him because a man??? IN LOLTH'S COURT????? EGADS.
at 21-22 where, due to the urge, imill has absolutely made a name for himself in lolth's court. first male champion. first trans executioner. people are rightfully afraid of him if lolth sics him after them. but it's only due to his want to protect and become stronger. however, rolling back to the urge, he's still very perplexed by it. it does what he wants, but he knows (and believes) this is due to his patron being corrupted.
his mother has moved on by this point. she's been dating on and off but at this point has settled with someone. the man doesn't really try to become the new father to imill, instead, he just wants to show respect to them because do you really want to piss off the queen goddess's champion? absolutely not.
but keep in mind that the people who survived the first attack know about the bhaal situation. they are very aware who was targeted and try their best to just not be involved in that. but they know that imill is their willing protector and will do anything to make sure that his home is safe. which brings us to the second encounter with bhaal. that patron slapped a target on imill's back, but it did not bring his father. Bhaal was always there. He spent his time at the side of his mother, it allowed bhaal to witness his son growing up even though he was in this eternal chase to retrieve him. he watched him stumble at finding love and rise through ranks at lolth's side knowing that his talents never went squandered. he even went out of his way to make sure his gifts were delivered properly.
but then there was the murder of his mother, the woman who risked her everything to make sure she kept the child that she was honorbound to protect, by the hands of her so-called lover. coming home to a floor covered in blood and vicera made him sick but furious because the man who had done it never left. but he claimed over and over again that he would never harm her. he could never! and even at imill's blade, and the blades of the officers he demanded for, he tried to apologize.
Terrible Idea.
killing an honor bound agent of bhaal immediately catches his attention. he was okay with allowing her to push on and raise his child. she was mortal. she was bound to die on her own eventually, but her death counts as a sacrifice. it's a massive calling card to summon him and again, like the last time, he could see orin's handiwork all over it. what surprised him was the fact that despite the fact that this man had slaughtered the only woman imill knew as mother, is that no matter what, imill put himself between he and the man.
"you're going to let that monster live for what he has done to you? why?"
he's very gentle with imill despite being the god of murder. how far will he be allowed to take it? will he kill the man himself or allow the guards to do so? how very fascinating. but what stood out was he moved and acted like someone who, to him, was a natural born leader. bhaal didn't fight him. he didn't attempt to bring slaughter. he gave specific information that would make sense to imill but not incriminate him. basically made him seem like he was sold in a devil's pact.
"but you will return home soon. when everything feels too much, i will retrieve you." and he meant that, watching as the next few years weighed down on his shoulders and it didn't help with orin's eventual, but punctual, interference. by this point she had already aligned herself with the elder brain. she was already a slayer, what would daddy do if she just... slipped away? and with direct order to prove his worth, it was placed on kethrick to convince imill that he was being replaced with a human and that lolth was prepared to force him out. kethrick was the paladin that scarred him and left him for dead after imill stormed his way through lolth's court.
and in a timely fashion, after bloodshed and death, bhaal retrieved his son.
