Teres

I am quite sure it is because Hagen and Gorgrael are written to be evil caricatures, while Douglass thought Axis and Azhure were justified. She actually put some thought into the second, and so we can see why they are so evil. (Naturally the second variety is quite a bit more compelling.)

She beat Paolini to the punch by about a decade in that department.

Yes, that would have been the smart thing to do; it would not cause resentment among the villagers, for one.

They should be up in arms over him beating up their priest. I mean really.

Notably, in the forty years between this and Wayfarer Redemption, all kinds of things change, so it feels to me like Douglass pressed the pause button during the thousand years in between and let it play afterward.

She was one of those twits who think making the timescale hugely exaggerated makes it more "epic" instead of ridiculous.

Why is he even tying up his lieutenant like this? Surely Arne would be as good?

Why indeed? Belial is his second in command, not a lowly sentry. And he's terrible at it anyway. (Also, NEVER have just one sentry, and especially not for a job this important. Axis doesn't even have any patrols set up to ensure nobody even gets into the building without permission).