1, 5, 9, 14, 15, and 17 for Lucien and Mephistopheles (idk if you've written their relationship as friends or not but they seem pretty friendly as far as devils go)
ask game here! had lot of fun answer these!
(i only made some of these doddle fore this ask i have had the rest for a while)
By the time of wotr, I would definitely say they are definitely boarding on a situationship. But they have been friends for quite sometime
 I'll definitely get around to doing some of the quick comics of the two early on in their friendship one day xD just havent had any idea I want to share unless I go out of order, which I could do⌠mmmh.
Going to answer these pre-devil Lucien
1. What were their first impressions of each other?Â
About a 100 to 150 ish year after this is when they first meet, at the time Lucien/Illium was ruling over one of the island of Iblydos as the witch of crimson rain. Illium was more or less testing what's the most effective way to control other mortals, well maintain a healthy amount of fear and love, of course this was in a rather tyrannical way.Â
Mephistopheles (refed to as Mephi from here on out) became interested in Illium because at the time offer her services as a âwitchâ to other rulers (and any willing to come to her home) in Iblydos*, which would sometimes mean that a devil would lose a contract. Part of Illium's thought process in this was ensuring that none of the other rulers would be interested in attacking/interfering in what she's doing. The thing about this tho, is sometime before this (ie when Illium was adventuring
with her firends) an Erinye had offender her and Illium would offen fuck over this Erinye for her offencs.Â
Initially Mephi thought that getting Illium to sell her soul would be rather easy, as far as he was concerned she was just another power hungry mortal and was already a devil worshipper. His curiosity was piqued tho when he saw what she was doing with her country. Beyond the way Illium was ruling it, the country also was protected by various magics that were very rare for mortals to have at the time.Â
When they meet face to face he was not intending to introduce himself as a devil as he was just trying to get a feel for her vibes, MEphi wanted to do this in person because he was curious and all attempt to scray had failed thus far. He had to change his plan mid as Illium has seen through his magic disguise, no doubt because he had underestimated the mortal. His initial impression upon meeting her face to face was that she was going to be fun to trick and would make an excellent servant.Â
Illium had not thought that she would catch the attention of any sort of god whether they be a full fledged god or just a demi-god. So despite being able to tell that Mephi had disguise himself as a mortal, and had deduced by his behaviour that he was a devil, she had only assumed that he was some superior of Erinye that had had enough of the Erinye incompetence and had taken matter into his own hands. Not all thought wrong but⌠so Illiumâs initial impression of Mephi are that of suspicion and amusement (she doesnt know yet xD) when she does find out its a large amount of anxiety and even more suspicion.
* i have fucked with the pf timeline because after spending time look at the pf wiki the timeline is nonsensical to me so this makes scent in my head, i can go into more in another post if anyone want me to
5. A time when one helped the other out of a tough spotÂ
Lucien had gotten onto the hit list of a rather unhinged silver dragon whom was a devotee of an Empyreal lord (depending on when this happened, maybe its Ragathiel, maybe Vildeis or Arqueros, lots of options really). This dragon goes through the trouble of summoning his patron to help him hunt Lucien down.Â
At this point Lucien ego isnt big enough to fight a demigod in addition she isn't particularly purported for that sort of fight, Mephi doesn't help fight this Empyreal lord, instead hes able to quickly whisky Lucien away from the situation.Â
After that incident im considering having her stay in Alushinyrra or maelstrom* for some time to let things cool down before she hunt and kill the sliver dragon
* Yes she could just go to her own demiplane but in my mind going to a ârealâ plane would add a layer of protectionâŚÂ cosmic cold war and all that.
9. Whatâs the kindest thing each one has said to the other?Â
Of course both LOVE getting complemented, but for the most part i dont think either would be big on complementing each other because that could break the delicited balance of whatever the fuck is going on between them. But I do think they would both tell one another how exceptional their respective schemes and cleverness is, Mephi might say something about Lucien's exceptional magical talent and Lucien might say something about work ethic. But nothing too personal.    Â
14. What does each value the most about the other person?Â
I would say they both value loyalty which is great because they are both more or less loyal. They are both impressed by one another's skills for coercion and manipulation.
Lucien may be old but Mephi still has a few years on her so she values his input on a variety of things. She also recognized his gift for creating magic items and appreciates his way with words. She admires how many plots he has going on at any given time.
Mephistopheles can't help but value Lucien's expertise in all things magic, how well she can play other beings and her dedication to spreading hell influences. He's incredibly impressed by how thorough her plots are.
15. How has their relationship changed over time?Â
Obviously at the start they were not friends or really friendly to each other at the start, on Lucien end she is aware that devils are fiend and its is extremely stupid to trust a fiend, and Mephi was just interested in getting her soul and torturing/study it when she dies.Â
Eventually Mephi decided that the effort that it would take to actually get Lucien to sigh anything would be pointless as she is most certainly already going to hell and likely she would be one of the few souls to be sent to Nessus, he decided to stick around because even if he cant torturer Lucien soul he can still observer her deeds.Â
Despite his haterade of mortals in general, Lucien was always one of the more tolerable mortals, she displays a lot of traits that are very devilish which get more pronounced as time goes by. At first Mephi finds these traits to be endearing at best but as they spend more time together he realises that she does a better job at âbeingâ a devil then some actual devils. Because of that Mephi slowly gets more comfortable around her and realises that she's one of the only people that would understand and have enough discretion that he can complain to, about the other Archdevil, his subordinates, other mortals and miscellaneous things. Â
(Lucien copys this habit, ill post it separate from this ask after)
For most of the time before Mephi realization Lucien is incredibly suspicious of Mephi, its not as though shes about to try and ban a demi-god from trying to see her but said demi-god is also one of the best devil in hell, so shes in a pickle of sort. There is also the fact that Lucien is also incredibly lonely, surprisingly being a near immortal wizard is not a common career path. So Lucien doesn't try and stop Mephi from hanging out, she just tries to appear cold and uncaring (fails miserably btw, in a sort of âwell its been a long time *where* have you been?â way) . When Mephi starts venting she is completely caught off guard.
That's around the point where they start to actually be friends, its takes a long time of course but they can rely on each other because at the end of the day they are both trying to farther hell reach and when they aren't, helping one another with plots and schemes is fun.Â
(watching earthfall together)
I would probably near the time of wotr they have some level of codependence, yes both of them are fully capable of functionally by themself but that's less fun. I would say both of them have very bad jealousy strikes and are both a little bit starker-ish, they like helping each other they like fucking over other mortals.Â
17. Any secrets either one is keeping from the other?Â
Not in like a secret secret way. There are probably 100% things they don't tell each other but i cant really think of anything major, expert ig Lucien is kind coy about what her plans are with Mendev and galfrey. Â
