Uryal the Subtle¶
Domains: Knowledge, Trickery
Uryal the Subtle, Deception, the Hidden Hand, Saint of Lies rose to the rank of senior adjudicator in the Bank of Vorilom in Styx. His manager had been permanent undersecretary of finance for over three hundred years, which Uryal felt was taking the title a tad literally.
A dozen senior adjudicators had tried to usurp the permanent undersecretary for generations. Their corpses made excellent lamps and even better examples. But Uryal believed he was different. He knew the game the finance managers played, and thought it was stale. Lying, double-dealing, and backstabbing have their place, but there are even subtler tools in the deceiver's toolbox.
During a critical trading session, it was Uryal's job to ferret out the text of the upcoming bloodfruit futures report from the Ministry of Goods and Services. Already an accomplished spy before he moved into finance, this Uryal did easily.
Uryal faithfully relayed the contents of the report. Every detail, unredacted, no embellishments. In other words, he told the truth. The permanent undersecretary never considered this, and interpreted the report assuming Uryal had edited it to favor his own placed wagers.
The permanent undersecretary ordered the bank to corner the market on bloodfruit futures, believing the price would skyrocket. Uryal, meanwhile, shorted bloodfruit. When the report was finally published, saying exactly what Uryal said it would, the Bank of Vorilom was left owing billions in futures trades, causing the entire bank to default.
The permanent undersecretary was, of course, fired. Literally. Uryal awaited his promotion and counted the enormous sums he made betting on cheap bloodfruit. He was not disappointed.
Uyral's use of truth in a war of lies attracted Moloch's attention, but lining his own pockets in the bargain and becoming one of the single richest people in Hell earned Moloch's favor. He raised Uryal to sainthood and a privileged position in the court of Styx, the City of Lies.
Uryal teaches that deception is only one tool in the art of lies. That the point is manipulation, and that any tool, including the truth, should
be used to achieve one's ends. Uryal teaches the virtue of flexibility of character and morality. The virtue of unpredictability—always behaving in a manner that is open to interpretation so as to prevent your opponent from learning your tells.
Uryal is the Saint of Hell's diplomatic corps. His unofficial motto, falsely attributed to him but oft-repeated: "Do unto the other guy as he would do unto you. But do it to him first."