Delulu realms

i used equipment slots to stack items together.

This is the only time in the entire game in which we see Sceleritas begging for anything at all. And it is for his life. Sceleritas is a servant of Bhaal, and it's a sin in Bhaal's religion to ask to be spared from dying, because to do so is to ask Bhaal to forsake his very nature. He represents the process of dying. Before the Time of Troubles, he was the god watching over almost every aspect of it. Myrkul, for example, took a part of Bhaal's portfolio (dying by old age) after his resurrection. Bhaal is more than just murder; he is everything that takes life away. Murder is just his main domain, the one that empowers him the most (he is also a god of violence, brutality, and, I am pretty sure, hunting as well).

Bane is not only the god of Tyranny, but he is strife, hate, and fear as well. Myrkul not only rules over necromancy; he represents decay, autumn, dusk, exhaustion, and even parasites.

And yet Sceleritas begs for his very life and, in so doing, commits one of the greatest offences possible against Bhaal: he tries to deny Bhaal. Sceleritas goes against him. The butler sent to guide Durge, the one who claims he is part of Bhaal, the one who always urges Durge to obey Bhaal and his whims, acts against him.

It's not a real action, I admit. He doesn't attack Bhaal or curse him or anything like that, but he still defies the doctrine of the god he serves. Sceleritas isn't doing this out of bravery or even loyalty to Durge; he is forsaking every rule he has been taught and is putting himself into a risky position because he is utterly afraid. He doesn't want to end.

And I think that's not only very tragic, but also explains so much of what he says and does.

Sceleritas himself claims that he is a part of Bhaal himself:

"I am but a table-scrap of Bhaal's will... As long as there have been Bhaalspawn, there have been Butlers, but Bhaal only makes them for the children he has use of."

This can't be true. Sceleritas cannot be a part of Bhaal's will and then continue to beg for his life. This is a clear contradiction. Also:

'...before he sank throat-deep into Bhaal's clutches.'

Sceleritas must have existed outside of Bhaal's control once, or else he could never have fallen into his clutches to begin with. Especially not if he is nothing more than a part of Bhaal's will made manifest.

I think Sceleritas is lying when he tells Durge that he is a part of Bhaal. Why? Because he knows that if Durge views him as expendable and/or useless, Bhaal will never allow him to live again; he would be unmade.

Sceleritas is faithful to Durge, but not necessarily because he is programmed to do so. He has to be; otherwise, he would no longer be of use, and that would spell his doom.

Furthermore, he seems to lie to Durge on multiple occassions:

"I am not certain. You were never disobedient before your little accident. You may kill in your sleep again. You may be executed. You may even be disinherited. Let's not find out."

Sceleritas tells Durge that they had always been loyal to Bhaal, and yet:

"Orin had her own Butler, who she insolently killed on his first visit, claiming she didn't need him to follow Bhaal. Poor Cruor, never stood a chance. The only way for a Butler to die is if we are not of use to our Master. But you have always needed abundant assistance."

Also:

"You truly have been lost without your Butler, haven't you?"

He doesn't say that Durge has always needed assistance because it's the truth; he says it to make them think that he is needed. As long as Durge believes that Sceleritas assists and guides them, and that he is useful, he will continue to live because Durge won't allow them to die.

Also, the wording: 'Insolently killed.' The mere implication that if Durge were to truly seek to kill Sceleritas could be an offense against Bhaal, may yet be another way to ensure that Durge will not even think about letting him die. Especially not if Durge has always been obedient.

As for why he seems to lie about being a part of Bhaal: Durge would, logically speaking, be more reluctant to truly kill Sceleritas if they believed him to be Bhaal's will made manifest, which fits nicely with the 'insolence' part (how dare they think they know better than Bhaal?).

There is also this part:

Durge: "Have we always been together?"

Sceleritas: "I was sent to guide you to your birthright, on the day my vile Lord/Lady/Liege reached his/her/their age of majority."

Sceleritas is not only avoiding answering the question here, but he is also straight up lying to Durge:

'A little Urge - not even an adolescent - stands with a tiny dagger atop a bloody heap. Two bedroom cottage. Relative squalor. Poor part of the city. Indiscriminate whole-family kill. Baby's first murder spree. Words creep from the darkness:

Sceleritas: "Young Master, precious fledgeling, follow ever your heart. In time, your true family will find you."

Sceleritas was already with Durge before they reached their age of majority! Also, he may have started guiding Durge way sooner than that:

Sceleritas: "I was worried when you didn't kill the silly bard I sent for you to play with, but forgive my lack of faith - I had only your best interests at heart."

Given that Sceleritas keeps guiding people to Durge they can kill, it may very well be that he is also, partly, to blame not only for Durge's foster parents, but also for the (implied) deaths of their childhood friends. Then there is also the whole thing with Isobel and their lover going on.

Anyway, what I actually wanted to say is that all of Sceleritas bluster, all of his "devotion" towards Durge and Bhaal, his guidance and advice. and so on, are nothing more than his attempts to keep Durge at least mildly reliant on him, because that means he gets to continue living.

When they speak about Cruor this become even more obvious:

"Now, as you are the last true recipient of your Fathers blessing, I suspect I am the last living Butler."

The way he says that, the tone and the pause he takes, just scream that he is coming to realize that Durge has reached a point where they may soon decide that they don't need him anymore. The weight of death, the mere reminder that Butlers can die, is haunting him.

Sceleritas is in a constant state of fear, and not only due to Bhaal's grip on him:

"I will not fault you for fear. You think I don't fear Bhaal? Fear of Bhaal ruins me."

It's not just that; it's also that every time Durge slays Sceleritas body, he remembers that he is not beyond dying and that this might be the death where Bhaal decides that another Butler should help Durge:

"No matter how many times I am reborn - the rotted phoenix rising from sheer agony - I can never get my heart to slow its tormenting lurches."

It's not pain, it's utter and complete fear. And this conversation also reinforces that:

Sceleritas: "A Butler lives to serve. And as I can no longer serve, I will surely die. Once and for all."

Durge: "Then die."

Sceleritas: "I hate you, Master. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you."

He doesn't say this because he truly hates Durge; he says this because he is afraid and alone, and the one person he confined in, the one person he still cared for (in his own, twisted way), the one person he adored and loved like a child, just dismissed his greatest fear (dying) completely.

And I truly believe that the part of Sceleritas that once had to be mortal did care for Durge:

"Know that I love them best."

"N- no...! NOOO! Poor, poor, Master! Get up. Please. Please. Get up. If you don't get up, you will be disinherited! Desecrate the pretender! Take vengeance!"

"They won't write books of you, but if they do, let history tell: Sceleritas Fel died of a broken heart."

"I don't wan't anything. Every moment we were together, I was perfectly content. But now..."

"There was a day where I longed for your caress. I dreamed of sitting like a pup in the lap of the Slayer."

"Why... why...? I adored you."

"The only moments of hope amidst the terror are snatched from tje dark when I am around you, Master."

Furthermore, Sceleritas may call himself a Butler, but he keeps treating Durge like a child, and not out of malice. He does seem to view them as his; as the little child, the orphan-baby, that he had a hand in raising ever since they were a mere infant:

"Oh... it still pains me to see my little liege in distress. Oh, please don't cry. I... will always love you. But I must go."

And Sceleritas seems to value at least the notion of a family:

"What's the point of all that brutalising domination if you don't have a family to go back to at the end of the day?"

It's not about Bhaal. It's about him. Because now, Sceleritas will never be able to be at Durge's side again. Both of them will be separated: Durge because they are fated for madness, and Sceleritas because he will perish.

There is also the fact that Sceleritas accepts his death at Durge's hand if they tell him that they considered him a friend:

Durge: "A Bhaalspawn can have no friends."

Sceleritas: "A friend? You considered me 'a friend'? Yes, my Lord/Lady/Liege. If this is how it mus be... Goodbye, Master. Being in your service, was an honour."

Only by telling Sceleritas that they did like him is he capable of accepting his death without argument. He doesn't weep here; he isn't angry or distressed. Instead, he seems strangely relieved/happy. Because he realizes that Durge did care for him, that he was loved and appreciated.

Sceleritas spents the whole game trying to stay alive by ensuring that Durge obeys Bhaal (it's not cruelty, it's self-preservation and also a twisted kind of genuine care foe Durge (because he has a wider grasp on what's going to happen to Durge (and him)if they refuse Bhaal)) believing that he is completely alone, only for the child he has raised from birth (Durge), the one he has started to truly care for (or at least the part of him that must have been mortal once), to look at him and admit that they cared too.

Both Durge and Sceleritas can't afford to be too affectionate because Bhaal would never stand for this. But in this single moment, in the instances where Sceleritas is about to die, they are honest with each other and allow the pretenses to slip away. They have never been allowed to show emotions; both always needed to be perfect: Durge the perfect child and Sceleritas the perfect Butler. And despite that, they allow themselves a single moment of honesty.

All of this is so strange and beautiful and immensily tragic to me.

I don't know what caused Sceleritas to fall into Bhaal's clutches, but given how he acts, it might be that, as a mortal (or whatever he was), he had a family of his own. Maybe even a child. Perhaps that is how Bhaal managed to take control of him.