He moved from shadow to shadow, for all the world as if the Ways were full of assassins. I tried to speak with him and was scored, but later a servant came to me and relayed the Highlord’s words. His clothing is poor, and I have heard that it is so because he will accept no physical objects from anyone. I know at least that after speaking to him, I was followed for the rest of my time in the Ways by his agents. There is a great sense of desperation about him, but also more energy than one feels from any other of the House’s Highlords. If there is a political center to this House left at all, perhaps it comes from Duessand.

As I edit this passage for my book, some soft sound alerts me to the presence of someone just outside my camp. It has been days since I left the Ways of Rhial, surely Duessand would not still be having me followed…
Adrigal the Wanderer: The Tomb that is Rhial

Highlord Duessand is an extremely paranoid man. Paranoia can be healthy for a Highlord of Chaos, but this highlord takes it to a crazed extreme. Unwilling to wear anything that has not been checked over hundreds of times, refusing to eat or drink anything he doesn’t conjure himself, treating his own Ways as if they were the heart of an enemy stronghold… he’s exhausting just to watch. It’s difficult to imagine how he keeps up with it all.

But keep up with it he does, and as the house’s most active Highlord, he puts his paranoia to good use making sure that no one has a reason to attack Rhial or himself. And if he does discover such a threat… he eliminates it.