He look's at the address... yeah that's a trap.  Or a loyalty test.  (he thought Good governments didn't do those?)  He's going to find someone to report that to.  He finds someone, but apparently a lawyer advertising on prior experience (as a Diabolist obviously!) isn't actually a crime and they would need more evidence... and don't seem to be sure what the exact law is on diabolism?  He's not going to go in person to get more evidence, he's done his duty as a Good subject and citizen.

Unrelatedly, as street urchin glances confusedly at the sign.  Even someone paying close attention to her might make the mistake of thinking she can't read with the ways she glances at it.  But read it she does, along with memorizing it word for word.  Interesting.  Probably not worth exploring further, but the Abbess will want to know.

The sign is indeed interesting.  Eisethia (she still doesn't consistently think of herself as Thea at first thought, despite Dia finally having overcome her fear at contradicting Thea to explain the value in the name change) is curious about how such a blatantly diabolical profession has managed to transition with all of the changes over the past year.  Her old Sisterhood thought little of the tricks and contracts of diabolists (well actually they often thought of revenge for the trickery... there is a reason the Sisterhood declined under Amodean rule), and as one of Irori's now, Thea thinks even worse of such dealings.  But she recognizes its potential importance to the convention, and she's trying to be Lawful Neutral (helping people by stopping a diabolist should be worth at least some Good, especially if she can manage without violence or even explicit threat) and, if she is being honest with herself (and she strives to be) she sees a potential kindred spirit in this lawyer (as Thea is also making her way from a hellish discipline).

Her most trusted Sister on social matters, Dia, is wary of a loyalty test or trap, and even more wary of a hidden diabolical contract.  Dia has proven to be reasonable in her advice, so in a change of her typical policy for the past year, Thea decides to bring Dia with her.  They quickly work out a scheme for communicating between each other based on some standard techniques of the Sisterhood.

And so, two people wait outside the door of the firm.  Both are wearing monkish robes.  One is tall and muscular woman with wiry muscles and bears a symbol of Irori.  The other is a teenager (14, maybe 15?) much shorter and thinner, with still a bit of muscle, as thin as it is, and a shy look on her face.  They are trying not to look especially dangerous, but slight callouses are visible on their knuckles and their skin bear the subtle signs of many wounds and healings over the years.  The teenager is humming to herself, barely audibly.

Lluïsa answers the door, composed and ready, her laughably short height augmented a bit by the pointy attorney's capirote. Despite the passable clothing, she still looks somewhat bedraggled, and will likely manage to look somewhat bedraggled when they've flayed off her skin in Hell.

"Well, it's not often the firm is honored by a visit from monks of Irori," she says invitingly, standing in the doorway. "I don't believe you're clients of mine, are you? What business do you have?"

"Well, your sign said 'Consultations are free with proof of Convention attendance.' and I have such proof right here" she brandishes a letter formally inviting her to the convention as a delegate of the faith of Irori.

"So a new client," she replies with a smile, eyes quickly scanning the letter. "Please come in. I'll show you to a meeting room."

The interior is dismal, though tidy for it. Very few of the lamps are burning. The place doesn't smell of brimstone at all (after all, the ritual room is in the back).

"It's pleasant to meet so many followers of gods one never could have met followers of before," she says as she leads them a short distance, not actually lying because once is 'so many', and it is pleasant to do things, generally speaking.

The reception room for clients is well-appointed, if disused, and Lluïsa has never once set foot in it before, and is terrified to do so, but being terrified is much like, say, walking around with horrific burns under your clothing, in that it never stops being unpleasant but you do stop wincing all the time. She looks cheerful enough as she leads these dubious clients of Irori in.

Thea had already noted the bedraggled look, in conjunction with the apparent disuse it tells an odd story.  Maybe she is getting tired and dirty working as a laundry wizard part time?  And isn't especially adept with prestidigitation?  (Thea knows it cleans, but not how well it works on people exactly).  It isn't looking good for Thea's hope of seeing someone else adapt to new circumstances from previous Hellish servitude.

"Have you met so many followers of different Gods already?  They've only been accumulating at a trickle by my own observations."  There, poke at her pleasantries a bit, see how she reacts.

"My name is Thea Iroria, by the way, and this is Dia."  Ha, she's not going to forget to introduce herself with this person!

"Oh, yes. You know, the other day, I met a Caydenite!" she laughs, still not lying because she stepped over a rambling drunk yesterday evening, and quickly memorizing names and faces as she speaks.

"I didn't get much practical theology out of him, though. I hope their church, or whatever passes for it, will send someone more sober to the Convention." You can't really speak with small caps but she's sure trying.

"I'm afraid I can't offer you any drink He would approve of—shortages in Westcrown, it's a problem for us all—but water seems like more the thing for disciplined monks of Irori like yourselves. Just a moment, please." She steps out, remaining confident.

Thea has read some example "Placards of Wisdom" from an Asmodean text making fun of them and Caydean, but they actually seemed like rather practical tidbits of advice?   She's not sure what that means about Caydean in general, but she is keeping an open, humble mind.  Still, no point addressing that comment.

"Oh wait, I have create water prepared for today, you don't need to go out of your way to fetch anything!"   Doing favors for others without any expectation of them being returned is Good, and thus brings her one small step closer to more healing to work with.  And there is no way in Hell, (or Axis, or any other outer plane) she is going to accept food or even water from a diabolist.  If she was a more powerful monk she might be confident in her ability to withstand poison, disease, or ingested spell, but as it is, she is not going to chance it.

Wow, she wishes she had create water. She'll just retrieve her own glass of water from her desk, then, making sure not to pause on the threshold as she returns to the meeting room.

"Are you sure you want to trouble yourself? I know Westcrown's water table isn't in the fairest shape, but we do have a quality well here. But I'll hardly insist on not seeing your magic."

She sets out a pair of glasses obligingly.

Unobtrusively as she can, she presses her finger to the interior of one of the glasses to feel for any substances smeared on it (poisons can be delivered via surfaces that come in contact with food and water with only a moderate amount of extra effort).  And then without, an extra drop spilled, casts create water to fill the glasses precisely, just short of full to make it easy to hold the glass without spilling any water.

Dia makes a small change in her barely audible hums, indicating that she will hold back from drinking just in case anyway.

"So, you have advice on how to best do one's duty to the Queen at the convention?"

She's curious how this will compare to Theopho's advice.

Lluïsa sips delicious well water.

"I have. How familiar are you with the concept of a constitution? It's not just a strange foreign thing, you know."

She's already somewhat rambling about law in her head, but can at least try to be polite first.

Thea and Dia gamed this out ahead of time.  Thea wants to appear somewhat ignorant, but a little more informed than she was before taking to Theopho, so that she can get a more interesting response.

"Well Andoran has it's Common Law, and Rahadoum its First Law, and Galt, where our Queen is from, has a constitution.  They are all a set of higher precedent laws of some form?"  She's gone with appearing relatively more informed, the upper end of what she and Dia discussed.

Dia notes some small oddity to how the Lawyer (who has still not introduced herself?) drinks the water.  Perhaps the water is scarcer than she claims?  Or she drinks water to stave off hunger?  She'll discuss it with Thea later.  She also makes a small fidget, reminding Thea not to appear too well informed.

"A fascinating thing about constitutions is that when you really know how to look for them, you find them everywhere!"

This is a topic that makes her relax a little.

"To have a realm, and laws, at all, is to have a constitution. Even many of the more lawless lands have a constitution, if you really consider it. A king, or a council, or a parliament, may make laws, but greater than any of the laws they make is the custom, known to all, from time immemorial, that here, in this realm, the council, say, makes law. This is what makes it law, and not just some fantasies drafted with false solemnity."

"But a constitution such as the one her Majesty envisions? Well, consider that ordinary laws are invariably written and recorded when made. I have many volumes of them here. I'm sure you'll agree that's quite sensible. But if there is a law higher than law, its very font and source, why entrust it to immemorial custom? Custom may be disputed, or abrogated from disuse, or interrupted by conquest. No, even the highest law, perhaps especially the highest law, should be a matter of written record, and her Majesty in her great wisdom knows this, and would not see the Realm languish without it, and has summoned those such as you and I to a great Convention to carry out this valuable work."

"So consider, in a thousand years, a monastery of Irori long standing on some count's land, which he covets, and purports to seize the monastery, arguing that its privileges are false, and not immemorial custom. But then consider this, that the abbot may cause the count to yield by brandishing the ungainsayable Constitution, where, a thousand years past, the illustrious Thea caused to be drafted 'the privileges of the monasteries of holy Irori are to be respected'!"

This wasn't a prepared spiel so much as prepared sentence fragments woven together on the fly. It's left Lluïsa looking visibly excited.

The first and highest law is strength.  She believed that when she worshiped Eiseth, and although it isn't exactly Irori's teaching (which she is still working to understand), she still feels it in her heart.  She could say that directly to appear as ignorant, but best to stick with less legally suspect forms of ignorance.

"Do you know what sort of immemorial customs the Queen wishes to see become a matter of written record?"  A simple straight forward question in line with those she and Dia planned to ask.  She'll follow up on the bait about the privileges of monasteries afterward.

Thea isn't sure how to interpret the excitement, it seems too blatantly expressed to be her true emotions as opposed to deliberate posturing or poise?

This lawyer is a true believer if Dia ever saw one.  Still, even if the fanaticism for Law is true, it doesn't mean there isn't a layer of lies over the core of truth.  The emotion is real, a bit odd to be openly expressed, but people can vary even in Cheliax.

Another shift in her faint hums, to indicate a core of truth and real emotion.

And it's good that Thea is sticking to the plan.  A diabolist wearing their emotions on their sleeve is still dangerous, there is little to be gained revealing too much.

"Well, that's the trouble, isn't it?", she asks, returning to poised cheerfulness. "I'm hardly privileged to know her Majesty's mind, but I can follow her reasoning. As the law understands it, an immemorial custom must be uninterrupted as well as ancient, and we've had our share of interruptions between the Even-Tongued and today. Were she inheriting in unbroken succession, and desirous of a written Constitution, it would suffice to write and promulgate it, letting custom pass into written law directly. No, she is returned from exile, and wise enough to know that won't do, with custom shattered, and as is the right of any monarch, has asked this service of us. Desiring a flourishing faith of Irori, she does not thoughtlessly decree 'the faith of Irori shall flourish', but asks the counsel of Irori's faithful."

"Of course, the drafting of law can be a subtle thing. Though you and her Majesty both desire a flourishing faith of Irori, it wouldn't do for you to draft a vague generality such as 'the faith of Irori shall flourish' either. How would such a law be enforced? Might not a foreign prince of Vudra claim, absurdly, that its true meaning is 'Cheliax shall be annexed to my own kingdom', considering after all that the faith of Irori flourishes there? All care must be taken in this."

"Hmmm..." she says to herself, also giving both signal and opportunity for direction to Dia that Thea is planning to risk a more insightful question.  Hearing no hint from Dia, she continues on.

"Do you think the faiths she has invited delegates from is both the full list of faiths she wishes to learn the desired customs of and not including any faiths for other reasons?"  That could have been Theopho's play, underemphasize the extent to which he had been snubbed so as to make open alliance with him seem more acceptable?  And everything else was simply to distract from that?  Also this question is potentially too insightful if Lluïsa turns out to have some connection to the Watcher or word gets back to him some way or another.

"And the sortition delegates?  Are they meant to be some sampling of the various customs of the common people?"  Lluïsa's explanation of the sortition delegates would make more sense than Theopho's explanation... but overall Theopho accounted for more evidence and has a much better reputation for wise advice.

"Yes, well spotted, we see a preference for breadth here. It's not that, say, the church of Iomedae has been established in place of the late establishment, but various faiths are invited. Older law invokes the name of holy Aroden frequently, and my own feeling on the matter, perhaps similar to her Majesty's, perhaps not, is that it would be an injustice to establish any church but His."

It's actually been surprisingly easily, mentally, to insert Aroden's name wherever pieties are required, perhaps because it comes up so much in older law. It may help a little that Aroden is dead and can't hurt anyone who invokes His name.

"The established church is, of course, vital to the constitution of any realm. But as to whether certain specific churches are to share the place of holy Aroden's, or the role be left to priesthoods in general... well, to give an example, the clergy of Norgorber are hardly fit to serve in the establishment of any realm save, perhaps, a lawless den of pirates. It may well be our duty to bar the worship of certain gods."

"And the choosing by sortition may well be an opportunity for gods unknown and unnamed to nonetheless lend their wisdom to the proceedings. Bearing this in mind, I would expect her Majesty's will to be that we remain open to more faiths than are explicitly numbered, while guarding vigilantly against certain ones."

Dia notes the way she says 'Holy Aroden'.  Nothing worth signaling Thea about, but it seems like the lawyer has perhaps simply substituted in Aroden for Asmodeus mentally and verbally?  Dia wonders if older laws and decrees once had the reverse substitution made.

"Naturally, as for myself and my faith, I had the modest goal of assuring the Crown's support of the privileges' of Irori's church, but perhaps I should be thinking broader than that?"  She was suspecting some diabolic trick by now, but perhaps this is simply the establishment of a relationship the lawyer will seek to use later?

"You represent the faith of Irori, of course, and such advocacy is expected of you. But you also, in your own way, represent a piece of holy Aroden's faith in its absence. He, Himself, was a lawgiver," she's pretty sure from context clues, though hasn't ever seen a law that claimed to be drafted by Aroden "and I often think on Him while drafting my own work." Along with how much she misses having devils to talk to, but Aroden isn't proscribed or dangerous, though her mental image is necessarily vague. "And only the greatest care and attention to the detail of law is worthy of Him, who did not draft foolish laws." Axiomatically.

Dia is even more sure of her assessment.  Probably with a bit of pressure or disruption she could get the lawyer to stumble over her crude substitution of a dead God's name for Asmodeus and his devils, but there is no point pushing the issue now.  She thinks they're done here?  Her hum becomes briefly audible, indicating her assessment is that there is no further value or information to be obtained here.

Thea has thought of one more move to make, both a way to send a bit more coin her way, and possibly do a small Good deed by providing some check on this lawyer's treachery.

"Thank you for your help.  I'll keep your advice in mind at the convention." she pauses, as if she was thinking of the idea right then instead of putting together some existing pieces she had preplanned "The other delegates you are advising... have they been able to find affordable housing?  The rates have been getting higher recently.  I have many extra room in my monastery.  Perhaps you could recommend me to any in need of housing?  I only plan to charge a silver a day, including breakfast and dinner in the price.  And I would be willing to pay you a silver piece for each recommendation you make that stays at least 4 days.  I am at the Abbey of Ashes, formerly known as the Massacre House to those in the know.  It is built into the old crematorium part way across town from us."

It will give her an easy excuse to keep an eye on people that deal with this lawyer, and help her collect other delegates, and earn a bit of coin on the side, and set up bait if this lawyer is really the sort to introduce a contract at the first opportunity.  A silver piece is a pittance compared to how much a lawyer can properly earn, so any eagerness for the money will help confirm the obvious conclusion that this lawyer has no business.