It was a small measure of control for himself in that tainted world. It held the scales of balance for him. As long as he had that, purity could be inflicted to a degree. If the world be tainted, then let it be tainted through a good story, he did think. It was fine if it was a tragedy in the end, just as long as the lead up to the tragedy was a thing well told.
Karstly supposed he had expected that of his life, from the very start, which enabled him a degree of self-sacrifice that others would have been disinclined towards. More than once, did he invite the sword to come for his head. He'd strengthened his sword arm to match it, and achieved a physical strength that ought to have been impossible for a child that had once been so weak and sickly, but still he invited the blow of death, ever so casually.
