What motivated Xachariah?

[Jules]

Dak'kon followed him because he was enslaved by his words to The Nameless One at Shra'kt'lor.

Morte followed him because he felt guilty about killing on of TNO's earlier incarnations while he was alive.

Deionarra followed him because she loved him.

Why did Xachariah followed him? TNO had a clear motive for enlisting him -- he wasn't dependent on light to see, and the Fortress was dark -- but what was Xachariah's motive in actually signing up? Did TNO keep a stash of really, really good booze that only he had access to, and he used it to pay Xachariah?

This isn't really the main point of my post but as a sidenote, it's also a bit unclear why Fall-From-Grace follows you, and I didn't buy the "I'll just wander off with a complete stranger whom I've talked to for five minutes, because, gosh, that'll be a new experience!" line (some of the crazier sensates might do that, but FFG is one of the most sensible characters in the game). I've heard that Black Isle had plans for more character development for Fall-From-Grace, but was rather rushed, so I guess that's forgivable, plus she's an awesome character so I don't care. Vhailor's motive for sticking with you even if you don't pursue justice (so long as you don't actively commit injustice) is also kinda unclear, but he's such a cool character and his history with TNO is good enough that I don't really

[Ravager]

I think the general motivation for characters to join TNO was the torment that they all seemed to be under. So some of the characters hadn't managed to get over their pasts (like Morte or Ignus) and others despite seeming to have free will for joining the party don't really have a choice when asked.
TNO was responsible for Vhailor's fate and may be the only person who could lie to him. That grants him a measure of power over Vhailor that may be respected most of the time.

[Jules]

Well, yes, yes, they're all tormented, but there has to be a specific torment, I think, as Ravel makes clear when she talked to you about your companions.

What's Xachariah's torment? Alcoholism? Blindness?

And, moreover, what does this have to do with TNO? Morte, Dakkon, Deionarra, Annah, Ignus, Nordom, and Vhailor all have something to do with the Nameless One. Xachariah... why? Perhaps he was just a mercenary at first, and TNO intimidated him into staying along the journey through hell and back? Fall-from-Grace is also tormented by her seperation from her "home" in the Abyss, and the fact that she was "built" to be a horny, lascivious temptress, but her morals (i.e., not sending people to the Abyss for all eternity) prevent her from acting on her urges, but that has nothing to do with TNO.

[VonDondu]

I think the general idea is that people who have torments of their own are drawn to the Nameless One, and they become bound to him by the Symbol of Torment because their fates become tied to his merely by associating with him.

Originally Posted by Jules

Fall-from-Grace is also tormented by her separation from her "home" in the Abyss, and the fact that she was "built" to be a horny, lascivious temptress, but her morals (i.e., not sending people to the Abyss for all eternity) prevent her from acting on her urges, but that has nothing to do with TNO.

On the contrary, if you read between the lines, she is very attracted to the Nameless One, so that in itself is a source of torment for her since she is unable to act on her desires.

Same with Annah, who says in effect, "I like yeh, but you're doomed, so I'm scared."

But there's more to it than that. The Nameless One has a way of drawing other people into his own torment, thus chaining their fates to his. I think the simplest explanation for Xachariah's allegiance is that once he began following the Nameless One, he couldn't leave. When the Nameless One asks him in the Mortuary, "What led you to this state?", Xachariah answers: "It's a hard path following in your footsteps, cutter, and many terrible things did I see. I took to drink, and became half-sodden with the stuff. Once, when I was sodding drunk, I signed my body off to the Dusties. Fate decided ta kick me when I was down, and I died shortly afterward." The way I read it, he didn't start drinking until he stopped working for the Nameless One (after a failed adventure that left them separated and the Nameless One with no memories). You would think that being free of the Nameless One's service would lead to a better life, but it ended in misery and death.

If you want more details, Xachariah tells the Nameless One, "You were a strange one, always suspicious and watching for something... reckon somebody like you had got enough enemies in yer lifetimes. And there was no denying that anybody who messed with you ended up in the black chapters of the dead book...

"You could be damnably ruthless, too... like when you made me sign that contract, or abandoned that one mewling chit on Avernus. We had a Balor of a time, as well. None of us ever even entertained the notion to jump ship on your watch, son."

So there you have it. The Nameless One hired him and made him sign a contract. Xachariah didn't like it, but he didn't dare leave. But he spent enough time in the Nameless One's company to shorten his life and die a miserable death. THAT was Zachariah's torment.

[Jules]

I thought it would be pretty funny if, when you ask Grace "What do you think of me" and the like, and she says, "A lady must have her secrets," she really meant, "you're a hideously ugly man who smells like vinegar and really should wear a shirt, and maybe get a better hairdo, and I only stick around you because you're so damn pitiful, but I'm to polite to say any of this, so I'll stick with 'a lady must have her secrets.'"

[Fenix]

Originally Posted by VonDondu

On the contrary, if you read between the lines, she is very attracted to the Nameless One, so that in itself is a source of torment for her since she is unable to act on her desires.

Wow, that was quite a post VonDondu , but could you provide an example of where it can be seen that Grace is attracted to TNO?