Why is Mizora so.... Dumb? *Act 3 spoilers*

[snowyonetwo]

Tons of act 3 spoilers. Buuuut...

This always bugs me about demons. Wyll is a good boy and a good-aligned PC will also love doing good things. We saved her from the mindflayer colony and have been putting down demons including Raphael and other stuff. Okay, we didn't kill Karlach, but in the grand scheme of things K's small beans who is going to either blow up (resolving the problem by itself) or have to return to Avernus. So, here's the thing...

Why is she so... dumb? If she gives Wyll the power without some dumb contract or a very lenient one the party is going to go and destroy the crown. She can easily just keep us informed on her enemies both during and after the game and, odds are, we'll likely go and stomp them. Because having some demon using orphans for blood rituals is a very bad thing. Better yet we'll have a positive working relationship with her; because instead of being an evil jerkbag who tries to kill Wyll's father, she'll have helped us with various problems. Sure, it might cost her power, but the payoff of having an entire group of very POWERFUL people who thwarted the Absolute and did stuff like slay Bhaalspawn willing to work with her seems like it would be more than worth the investment. Heck, she doesn't even have to sacrifice power; just have the contract written so that she'll give Wyll power until after the Absolute is defeated at which point he gets cut off and, boom, problem solved. It's a fair, reasonable, contract that would let her retain her power once the threat was dealt with.

Sure, a more neutral or evil aligned party might be problematic, but not only is there a solid chance Wyll's not even involved with an evil party in the first place, but even then a more lenient contract is reasonable because then we can defeat the Absolute and then she cuts her losses and moves on.

What I'm saying is that it feels like, in act 3, she gets hit with an idiot ball and if she had, instead, offered a simple and reasonable contract and didn't try to screw the party over she would have had the entire party willing to work with her, both during and after the game, had powerful allies, and generally been in a much better place overall in terms of her own personal power than trying to force Wyll into another bad contract and then punishing him for rejecting.

Am I missing something? Am I wrong? Or did she dump INT in favor of more CHA points?

[lawjax]

Pride and folly seem to come naturally to those of a most hellish persuasion.

[Rabbit]

It seems pretty clear she just likes doing what feels good, which often includes screwing Wyll/someone else over. If you actively subvert her she's not even that upset and just goes back to her backup plan. She's more petty than evil oddly enough, but I honestly don't think that's bad writing or stupidity, it's just what she wants out of her life.

If you break Wyll's contract, she'll try to kill Duke Ravengard. If you save him anyway, she basically just shrugs and sticks around and lets Wyll keep his powers to defeat the brain. She says his dad's destined to be killed by an enemy eventually/implies she'll cause it but it comes off more as a weak threat to make herself feel better.

[Calv]

Originally posted by snowyonetwo:

just have the contract written so that she'll give Wyll power until after the Absolute is defeated at which point he gets cut off and, boom, problem solved. It's a fair, reasonable, contract that would let her retain her power once the threat was dealt with.

That's exactly what she does?

My general feeling from her is that she is trying to corrupt Wyll. I don't think she really cares about him as a tool, she just thinks it is funny to take someone so righteous and cause them to be disowned by their father, made to look like a devil, have to choose which life to sacrifice etc.

If she wanted a powerful pawn that did exactly what she wanted then there are likely thousands of evil people out there to choose from. She's in it for the challenge.