This is a quote from an online article found while searching for historical backing for a side game i was making here. Would you sell your soul for something you desperately wanted? If you were offered anything you wanted..would you risk the stain upon your soul?
Signing a Cardinal Pact
The Cardinal Pact is the ultimate stamp of evil upon a character. The Cardinal Pact offers the summoned demon the nigromancer's soul in return for a large favour. The soul permanently belongs to the Forces of Evil (though there are stories of saints who step in and save such characters), and as such, the pact can only be completed by a willing signatory, under no physical duress.
Many sign a Cardinal Pact out of fear of death. As a nigromancer ages, the effects of immortilisation through demonkind become less and less effective, and he needs to summon more and more powerful demons for it to work in the first place. The nigromancer starts to feel the effects of his own mortality, and this is when his mind might start to turn towards signing away his soul. Power is the other driving force of a Cardinal Pact. It can, potentially, offer a tremendous power to the signatory - Hell is generous with its gifts, if a soul is at stake.
The gains from a Cardinal Pact can be immense. Naturally, the more powerful the demon with whom the pact is made, the more the nigromancer can get out of the pact. There is often much haggling over the terms, which are often precisely worded to avoid misunderstandings. One of the more obvious effects of the Cardinal Pact is the constant attendance of the demon (or, for the more powerful demons, his representative), as a familiar demon. This demon is treated as if the nigromancer had an unlimited number of commands, but only commands that come under the terms of the Cardinal Pact need be obeyed by the demon.
One immediate effect of the Pact of Ashes is that the nigromancer gains the Tainted with Evil Flaw. This is a result of the stain upon his soul for his evil act.
The Cardinal Pact is the ultimate stamp of evil upon a character. The Cardinal Pact offers the summoned demon the nigromancer's soul in return for a large favour. The soul permanently belongs to the Forces of Evil (though there are stories of saints who step in and save such characters), and as such, the pact can only be completed by a willing signatory, under no physical duress.
Many sign a Cardinal Pact out of fear of death. As a nigromancer ages, the effects of immortilisation through demonkind become less and less effective, and he needs to summon more and more powerful demons for it to work in the first place. The nigromancer starts to feel the effects of his own mortality, and this is when his mind might start to turn towards signing away his soul. Power is the other driving force of a Cardinal Pact. It can, potentially, offer a tremendous power to the signatory - Hell is generous with its gifts, if a soul is at stake.
The gains from a Cardinal Pact can be immense. Naturally, the more powerful the demon with whom the pact is made, the more the nigromancer can get out of the pact. There is often much haggling over the terms, which are often precisely worded to avoid misunderstandings. One of the more obvious effects of the Cardinal Pact is the constant attendance of the demon (or, for the more powerful demons, his representative), as a familiar demon. This demon is treated as if the nigromancer had an unlimited number of commands, but only commands that come under the terms of the Cardinal Pact need be obeyed by the demon.
One immediate effect of the Pact of Ashes is that the nigromancer gains the Tainted with Evil Flaw. This is a result of the stain upon his soul for his evil act.
