Thanks for the kind words. I'm also enjoying the conversation smile Because this is long and you don't have time to reply I'll respond in more than one post. Two, brief, notes (for now)

Knights of Shield

The Emperor isn't a devil worshiper - it's more like Krolla. The secret lord of the shield is a devil who is seeking to become a god with the portfolio of corruption. Gargauth doesn't really care about the things that the Knights care about - getting rich, gaining new lands and aristocratic titles - he cares about corrupting the governments of Faerun. So while the members of the Knights have the same aims as the members of the Zents and Guild the true aim of the Knights is political corruption just as the Zents were once concerned with spreading Bane's tyranny.

By corrupting Stelmane he is advancing the cause of Gargauth and helping him move from demi god to god.

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Gargauth

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Knights_of_the_Shield

"seek to free of it"

I think had already responded to that with my 'lawyerly' comment earlier but, again, that's a very lawyerly reading and one I think any fair judge would rule against. In that sentence "IT" clearly refers to the tadpole. And, at best, it's a half truth.

I think if you find such sentence construction truthful you have to likewise conclude that Mizora was telling the Wyll the truth about Karlach. Karlach is indeed heartless

I'll say more on this later but as I reconstruct the emperor's evil plan it was: take over the nautaloid, grab some humanoids to infect, get them to become half illithid or full mind flayer and use those transformed humanoids to take down the elder brain.

In a guess about the original plot - where tadpole abuse made you a true soul - it was best make the emperor's lanceboard pawns into half illithids because full mind flayers and thralls are easily controlled by elder brains. The emperor would lose the tug of war for control of the puppets. Also, full mind flayers have a difficult time infiltrating human cities.

When the ship crashed the plan altered and the plan became - manipulate the few pawns it has left.

( I can't figure out how Shar was involved - hopefully the authors will tell us one day)