"I'm sorry. My phrasing must've been imprecise. What I meant was to put a limiter on myself. In the event I call off the Deal -- excuse me, pact -- if our experiments were successful, I would be cutting myself off from the ability to access other Rings while returning things to the previous status quo. Leaving nothing either one of us could exploit from our previous connection."
Alastor almost took a sip of his coffee but refrained, tapping his claws against the cup.
"There's a reason I don't make very many soulbonds despite the masses believing I've an army of thralls awaiting my command to attempt a coup of Hell: I make the bond both ways. That means there are limits on what I can do both while the Deal is active and once it's over. For example, if Husker takes a share of my wealth to gamble, wins, and then our Deal concludes, I'm only allowed to take half that gambling excursion's winnings since I provided the seed money."
He set the coffee down as one of the local shadow creatures flew in, took the shape of a cat, and curled up on his lap. He petted it, the cold shadow not quite satisfying the desire to stroke a cat's fur but it would do. He silently thanked it for the opportunity, feeling its happy "purrs" in response.
"I don't like long contracts with plenty of opportunities for loopholes. A lot of overlords will write contracts longer than a man's arm to give them as many ways as possible to keep their thralls and squeeze every last drop of profit, power, or both out of them. However, that means caveats and special clauses that can be difficult to keep track of.
"No, I much prefer to keep my contracts as simple as possible. Services rendered for services rendered and then a clean break. Binding others' souls is a long-term commitment that isn't guaranteed even here. Best to keep those clear and precise."
no subject
Alastor almost took a sip of his coffee but refrained, tapping his claws against the cup.
"There's a reason I don't make very many soulbonds despite the masses believing I've an army of thralls awaiting my command to attempt a coup of Hell: I make the bond both ways. That means there are limits on what I can do both while the Deal is active and once it's over. For example, if Husker takes a share of my wealth to gamble, wins, and then our Deal concludes, I'm only allowed to take half that gambling excursion's winnings since I provided the seed money."
He set the coffee down as one of the local shadow creatures flew in, took the shape of a cat, and curled up on his lap. He petted it, the cold shadow not quite satisfying the desire to stroke a cat's fur but it would do. He silently thanked it for the opportunity, feeling its happy "purrs" in response.
"I don't like long contracts with plenty of opportunities for loopholes. A lot of overlords will write contracts longer than a man's arm to give them as many ways as possible to keep their thralls and squeeze every last drop of profit, power, or both out of them. However, that means caveats and special clauses that can be difficult to keep track of.
"No, I much prefer to keep my contracts as simple as possible. Services rendered for services rendered and then a clean break. Binding others' souls is a long-term commitment that isn't guaranteed even here. Best to keep those clear and precise."