TLDR :
What is Fex's endgame goal in relation to the Crown and his place in government/power?
At what point in the books does Fex start planning the Inferno Gate?
Why does Fex help turn the PC's into the threat he sees necessary to eliminate in book 3? (via making them Thrune Agents)
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Longer Thought Process:
I'll be GM'ing our first game of book 1 this weekend, though I've read all the way through the 4th installment.
The one thorn in my mind moving forward is Darellus Fex and understanding both his personal ambitions/choices and his relationship with the PC's.
1) In book one its pretty straight forward. Fex finds some up and comers to help him solve some local rebellion issues that he personally doesn't have time to deal with (perhaps because he's working on plans for the Inferno Gate?). His choice to have them sign the Hellfire compact makes sense. It establishes some measure of control over the party and ensures they're the right type of mercenaries he wants to be dealing with. Book one makes sense.
2) Book two is where I start to have issues understanding what Fex is thinking. Has he started planning for the Inferno Gate and how to make it happen? If so, why induct the PC's as Thrune loyal agents? He himself has ambitions that go against the crown. So why go out of his way to make his own underlings beholden to someone other then him? What does he really gain from making them go through that ritual? The book says he would gain prestige as the patron of such agents. But is that type of prestige something Fex even wants?
Moreover, how does having said agents retake Kantaria fit into his plans? How is Fex leveraging the accolades from this victory into something he can use? Is he trying to get closer to the Queen? Or does he have some other plans?
3) Third book has Fex bring in a Bound Thrune agent to induct the PC's into the Trusted. This choice and progression is the hardest to understand. At this point Fex has already figured out the Inferno Gate and is planning to betray the PC's who he considers a threat. Why make the PC's even more legitimate? Might there be some blowback for killing Thrune Trusted agents?
Also, why betray the PC's at all? To this point they've shown a fairly high capacity for both loyalty and competence. Why destroy such a valuable resource? Do his future plans not include any competent allies? Why not simply have the PC's gather some powerful Glorious reclamation NPC's to sacrifice? Also, wouldn't having the PC's bring sacrifices be much safer then trying to attack them at the Gate?
The choice to engage in mortal combat with the PC's when it doesn't seem completely necessary seems odd. Also, he doesn't stack the deck very well in his favor (as he's invariably supposed to lose). He's gambling a hell bound soul on attacking a competent group of adventurers 4 on 1. And to make it worse he HAS to win. He can't escape if the fight goes poorly. He's going all in on this one moment. It seems at best risky and at worst foolhardy. He's had time to prep this and seems calculating yet it comes off as rushed. Why?
A sacrifice only works when it has meaning. Fex using the PCs to further his goals and improve his status within Cheliax increases their value to him. Thus by sacrificing them, they are more important and have greater impact for what he is trying to bring about than just snagging four peasants and sacrificing THEIR souls.
In short, the PCs HAVE to be valuable in order to be an effective sacrifice.
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Twirl-able mustaches are incredibly distracting.
Peasants would never work anyway.
The book specifically calls out that the Devil needs CR 8 creatures for the sacrifice. But theoretically it could of been anyone of that power level. Why not someone who doesn't happen to work for you?
ANd how important is it for Fex to gain prestige with the government in book 2 if he's just going to betray the Queens wishes by taking over and not closing the Inferno Gate.
Does he intend to keep that a secret? Or leverage it in some way?
1) As you said, pretty straightforward.
2) Gaining prestige within the Court of Cheliax is not quite the same as loyalty to House Thrune. Also, as For Queen and Empire shows, even loyalty to House Thrune doesn't guarantee (lasting) power.
As far as Kantaria goes, it's entirely within his self-interest to keep the Glorious Reclamation from claiming portions of Cheliax before he gains control of the Inferno Gate. His end-game is to basically stage a coup d'etat, not start another civil war: He wants to replace Abrogail II as the ruler of Infernal Cheliax; allowing the Reclamation to conquer parts of Cheliax would just shrink his potential power base. The Reclamation would not be likely to accept him as a ruler, after all.
Sending the PCs to Kantaria also "gets them out of the way" while he conducts some of the more secret preparations.
3) Fex may not have had a choice; it may be that Izinio wasn't invited to Longacre by Fex. This could also be a reason for Fex "rushing" his plan instead of waiting until all the preparations were in place; the Reclamation in Senara and increased activity by Thrune Agents push him into going for control of the Gate before he's completely ready. Given the recall at the start of For Queen and Empire, it's possible that Thrune Agents had been given orders to expand the ranks of the Trusted as part of the growing conflict with the Reclamation; to replace losses and/or to increase numbers for expanded missions.
As far as him underestimating the PCs: It's somewhat cliche, but he's a noble looking down his nose at "riff raff." Not only is he a noble, and thus "better" than a bunch of "hired help," he's favored by Hell itself (or so he thinks). A touch of megalomania and a little disregard of others (mild sociopathy) tends to inhibit accurate estimation of threats.
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Another thing to remember is that Fex's plan hinges on everyone around him not spotting the threat he poses until it's too late. His endgame appears, ultimately, to use the Inferno Gate to bolster his own forces so he can secede from Cheliax and rule his own little infernal kingdom.
But in order for that to WORK, he has to gain control of the Gate without arousing the suspicions of House Thrune, whose wrath towards traitors is great and terrible. Ultimately, he views the PCs as assets that, while valuable, are ultimately expendable. He doesn't particularly care if their loyalty is divided between House Thrune and himself because he's ultimately going to kill them anyway, and only needs to ensure that they don't catch on to what he's really up to until he springs the trap. The big "twist" in the Inferno Gate IS that he's underestimated the cunning of his "pawns." What he doesn't expect is the PCs being smart enough to figure out he's setting them up, which grants them the opportunity to reverse the trap, ultimately hoisting Fex by his own petard.
Good points.
Though I think Fex would have to be a little deluded to believe that controlling the Inferno Gate would in some way allow him to secede or overthrow Abrogail. At least on its own.
Perhaps I'm not fully respecting the power of the gate, but Fex is lacking the kind of infrastructure (armies, land, POWERFUL ALLIES) that would be necessary to unseat one of the most powerful nations, and specifically ruling houses, in the Inner Sea region.
Fex is, after all, simply a low level baron in charge of a second rate town. Having access to an army of Devils is certainly powerful, but hardly unique in Cheliax. If he had machinations to perhaps work with the Glorious Reclamation. That could perhaps make things a bit more interesting. Though as written I'm not sure they'd accept his help.
We are not told the constraints that prevent Thrune from more personally dealing with the Inferno Gate. But those complications (if they do indeed exist) would be helpful to perhaps understand Fex's intentions.
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I'm running this with a party of six. Fex's plan requires 4 souls. What to do with the other 2... I was thinking of having Fex reach out secretly to two of the party who he sees as most loyal to him and trying to recruit them to his plan.
His plan would be to sue for peace with the Glorious Reclamation if they place him in control and oust Thrune. Later as he builds up his devil forces, he'll take over the remaining parts of Cheliax controlled by the Reclamation, rewarding the two loyal party members with vassal lands.
My party is most likely to stick together rather than betray each other, so that should increase their hatred to Fex.
Two of the party took the Noble campaign trait, so I may have Fex start subtly showing interest/favoritism toward them.
Reading up on House Thrune in book 2, I think I'll have Fex be a supporter of Infrexus Thrune.
We'll see how this plays out. Maybe the party will side with Fex.