He began considering the creation of a thieves' guild, with Vael’Karn's influence continuing to push him toward darker and more organized forms of power.
Sylvan also became increasingly entangled in the affairs of the Veiled Hand, while simultaneously helping establish the Phoenix Inn alongside Argos, Fuji, and Paul.
Despite his criminal activities, Sylvan retained a strange moral boundary. He could manipulate people, steal, deceive, and work with criminals, but his past continued to haunt him—particularly the memory of the child sacrifice he had escaped.
The Ring
At some point in Sylvan's life, he placed a cursed Ring of Rejuvenation upon his finger.
He eventually discovered that the ring was far more significant than he had understood.
The ring belonged to Glasya, daughter of Asmodeus.
Its curse was not merely magical.
It was infernal.
The ring represented a claim upon Sylvan that had existed independently of Vael’Karn's pact.
An ancient concordant, signed roughly 2,000 years earlier, established circumstances under which Glasya's claim through the ring could supersede Vael’Karn's claim through Sylvan's contract.
There was, however, one extraordinary complication.
The concordant expired at the exact moment Sylvan died.
Death
Eventually, Sylvan's life came to an end.
He died.
And his soul was sent to the Nine Hells.
But instead of simply becoming another soul claimed by his patron, Sylvan found himself at the center of an infernal dispute.
Vael’Karn claimed him.
Glasya claimed him.
The matter was serious enough to require an infernal legal proceeding concerning ownership of Sylvan's soul.
Vael’Karn argued from the authority of Sylvan's pact.
Glasya's claim rested upon the ancient concordant and, more importantly, the cursed ring Sylvan had worn.
But the timing of Sylvan's death created an absurd legal paradox.
The concordant expired at precisely the moment he died.
Thus, the very agreement that had granted Glasya precedence over Vael’Karn ceased to exist at the moment its authority would have mattered most.
The Infernal Arrangement
During the proceeding, Sylvan was presented with the consequences of the competing claims.
His relationship with Vael’Karn was complicated.
Vael’Karn had saved him.
Vael’Karn had been with him for years.
The Devil had whispered in his ear throughout his life.
Sylvan had fought against that influence, but he also knew that Vael’Karn genuinely feared losing him entirely—particularly because Sylvan possessed the possibility of renouncing the pact.
Glasya was different.
She was powerful, mysterious, and entirely unfamiliar to Sylvan.
When Glasya's claim was explained, Sylvan initially approached her with the same irreverent attitude he had carried throughout much of his life.
He essentially told her that while he was normally drawn toward Vael’Karn because of everything they had been through, he didn't know Glasya.
Then he suggested that perhaps she should take him to dinner first.
It was during the ensuing discussion that Sylvan learned the full implications of Glasya's claim.
The arrangement was not merely about ownership of his soul.
It involved marriage.
Rather than surrendering himself completely to either side, Sylvan chose the third arrangement presented to him—a split arrangement that allowed the claims of both infernal powers to coexist.
And so Sylvan, despite being dead and standing in the Nine Hells, somehow managed to turn an argument over his soul into an infernal marriage arrangement with Glasya.
After Death
Sylvan's story did not end with his death.
His surviving friends eventually learned that he was dead.
But they also learned that his story in the Nine Hells was far from finished.
A spined devil was eventually sent to deliver wedding invitations to Sylvan's closest surviving friends.
The invitations made the circumstances rather difficult to misunderstand:
Sylvan Silverstein was dead.
His soul had been disputed.
And now he was preparing to marry Glasya, daughter of Asmodeus.
What began as the story of a Drow escaping a cult had somehow culminated in Sylvan Silverstein becoming entangled with the highest levels of infernal society—not because he sought such power, but because a cursed ring, an ancient contract, a Devil patron, and his own death placed him directly in the middle of an infernal legal dispute.
And, characteristically for Sylvan, when given the choice between two powers fighting over his soul...
he found a third option.
