Piety was after a creation of Maligaro's called the 'Baleful Gem'. It's nearby, and it's something that heartless bitch must never get her hands on.
You have it already? Thank Innocence. Alright, take it to the Azmeri village by the river. I'll meet you there, for my days with the Ebony Legion are done!
Have you the Baleful Gem? No? That troubles me. Were Piety to obtain it... it doesn't bear thinking about. I'm positive that the gem is in the Chamber of Sins, somewhere.
Can you find the strength to return to that putrid place, saviour?
According to his notes, the Baleful Gem was a byproduct of Maligaro's attempts to enhance the already formidable qualities of virtue gems. It was an abject failure yet Maligaro wasn't one to waste his atrocities.
By combining the Baleful Gem with the venom extracted from one of his arachnid subjects, he brewed something called 'Black Elixir'. He proudly proclaimed it to be 'the most potent poison in existence' until it was stolen by a man named Victario.
It was rather entertaining to read Maligaro's intentions for Victario once he caught the man. Twisted... yet I can't fault the Inquisitor's creativity.
Maligaro had an assistant, a man named Raulo. If Maligaro's records spoke truly, Raulo offered himself freely as a test subject. With the Spike, Maligaro injected Raulo with a high dose of calibric extantia, thus gifting the poor man with both endless life and horrific deformity.
In honour of his sacrifice to Maligaro's work, the Inquisitor gave Raulo a new name. Fidelitas.
Piety led us into that wretched place in the hopes of finding a device named simply 'The Spike'. Fashioned by Inquisitor Maligaro, it was said to enable the injection of 'Calibric Extantia' into living flesh. Calibric Extantia being the corrupt energies locked within virtue gems.
We couldn't find the Spike, yet we met its most successful application.
I thought Dominus was a leader of vision, of purpose. The man who would resurrect the Eternal Empire. In truth, Dominus is only after power... the black, thaumaturgical power locked within the Virtue Gems. He wishes to create a new empire, one in his own image. I drank every night to try and wipe that image from my mind. It's still there.
Our expedition made camp in the western forest while Piety took a few men through the pass to Axiom Prison. She was after the research notes of one Shavronne of Umbra, a witch who devoted herself to the study of transfiguration during the latter days of the Eternal Empire.
Piety returned alone and disturbingly happy with her findings. I've learned that when Piety is happy, misery is soon to follow for everyone else.
Piety would've concurred with Eramir's theory about that north-western ruin. The Vaal were a powerful civilization predating even the Eternal Empire and Piety very much wanted to see what toys the Vaal might have left for her to play with behind those stone doors. Yet we couldn't budge them, not with that giant of a tree holding them fast in her roots.
You now carry a cure to that problem, or rather, a useful illness. Use the Spike to inject the Baleful Gem's calibric extantia into the roots. One day soon, Piety will find her way into that ruin. You need to get there first.
There's one bright spot in this darkness you've released. At least it was you who did it. And you can undo it, I know it. Had it been Piety, we'd likely never see the sun again.
Thank you for returning our reality to us. I think we've all had a glimpse of what could happen if Piety tries to harness the power of the Vaal for her own ends.
A man-crafted mountain of four sheer sides... that's a pyramid. Vaal architecture.
I've covered a lot of the countryside with Piety and seen nothing like that. Still, history is in the habit of burying its dead. Perhaps you could try looking down instead of up.
The Blackguards will never stop pursuing someone they consider a traitor. I'm a danger to everyone around me, and not long for this world if I can't find a place to hide. Based on what the Azmeri have told me of this region, the Dread Thicket is rumoured to be a terribly dangerous and wild place. The Blackguards will never search there. Let's travel separately to avoid detection, and I'll meet you there.