That looks like someone notable!  Off to inform the Abbess!  There is all small delay in between seeing the oddly dressed woman and running off, to make the association between the two events less obvious, but the child runs fast.

Okay, that sounds like a cleric or at least a faithful of Desna.  Possibly a more obscure God... she can avoid assumptions and present herself directly.

Relatively soon after her student's report, she happens to wander down the same street as the probably Desnan.

"Are you here for the convention?  I'm Thea, a cleric of Irori and a delegate of his faith at the convention."

Thea is a tall and muscular woman wearing monkish robes and bearing a symbol of Irori.  She is trying her best not to look intimidating.

"Yes! Nuria Tosta, cleric of Desna." Irori, Irori...she doesn't know much about Irori, besides the fact that he's a member of the Godclaw. He didn't come up in her books much. But he's Neutral, not Evil, so probably it's fine. 

"I had thought it likely, given your choice of dress, but I didn't want to assume.  I've been trying to connect to clerics of other faiths, humility and considering wisdom from many sources is a precept of Irori."

"I don't know how much wisdom I'll be able to offer...I've never actually spoken to another cleric of Desna. Or any other Good god. Or neutral. But I'll try my best!" 

"Over the past year I've learned that many people have something to offer in terms of wisdom or at least perspective.  I haven't been able to locate a copy of Desna's primary holy text, The Eight Scrolls, but I do have an Asmodean text, that in between vile and frankly idiotic denouncements of Desna and other Chaotic Good Gods, has copies of 'Shrine Wall Writings' from shrines of Desna.  Perhaps you could find the time to read them and share your insights?" 

Thea is trying to be polite and not expect too much religious knowledge from Nuria.

"Oh, that sounds fantastic! I've never been able to find a Desnan holy text yet at all, not even as little as that."

"Would you like to read it now?  My books are back at my monastery."

"I'd love to!"

Thea leads her through one of the bad parts of town to what appears to be a crematorium bearing a crudely made symbol of Irori (an open palm) over the entrance. 

"This way, it's inside, underground.  It used to be somewhat secret but I ended that policy recently."

"Interesting place. Did you have it before the coup?"

She pauses at the entrance.  Best to get this matter out of the way before going further.

"I was an acolyte here before the Four Day War... of Eiseth, a minor Queen of Hell.  The fully initiated Nuns abandoned the monastery a few week after the war, so I turned to Irori instead, was empowered by him, and have sought to follow his teaching since."

"...Huh. I'm sorry your seniors abandoned you."

That... was not the response she was expecting.  She feels something, she isn't sure what, in response to it.

She replies softly. "If they hadn't I wouldn't have turned to Irori.  And if they had taken us somewhere else or maintained their presence... then I would be carrying out assassinations in Eiseth's name, fully initiated and sworn to a power of Hell."

Well, if Nuria wasn't scared off by that, she'll continue to lead her into the crematorium turned monastery.

"Well, I'm glad you found Irori. Good things and bad things can go together." 

She isn't quite sure what to say to that, so she nods, and lead Nuria onwards silently.  They go through the crematorium to what might have once been a large secret door but was now left open, through a long, curved, downward sloping hallway poorly lit by distantly spaced continual flames until the hallway opens to a large wide well lit chamber that seemingly opens to the sky.  A second glance shows the chamber isn't open to the sky, but rather, it's some form of permanent stable illusion.  Spread out across the chamber floor, doing various exercise are children and teenagers 12 of them, the youngest perhaps as young 6, the oldest perhaps 14 or 15.  If Nuria is paying close attention, she might notice some of the exercises are definitely martial in nature, the oldest 14 year old is instructing a 12 year old on how to properly hold and stab with a needle like weapon.

"Our library is through one of the side halls.  Well, library is perhaps generous after my seniors looted everything of value before leaving."

She presses her lips together. "I'm very sorry they did that. I do have some books with me, although I'm sure they're totally different from what you had before." 

She leads them down a side hall.

"Most of the books were not the pleasant sort, but even so, yes it is quite unfortunate.  I've spent the last year gradually rebuilding it.  I plan to allow access to the library to tenants for some collateral and a very small fee.  Perhaps I could cut a portion of it to you in exchange for the temporary loan of your books?  And here we are."

And they arrive at the library, a moderately sized room, with around a two dozen or so bookshelves, almost completely empty, and two tables with chairs, enough to seat a dozen people or so.  A child with bruises on her face is sitting at one of the tables, reading a new looking but cheaply made copy of Acts of Iomedae intensely.

Thea gets a badly made book from one of the higher shelves.  It is titled A Denouncement of the Pathetic Scribblings by Slaves of the Weak and Undiscipline.

"The author at least put a clear bit of space and a box around excerpts from writing of Caydeanites and Desnans, so it's easy to skip past his useless writings to get to the good parts.  I really recommend skipping them.  At one point he spends 5 paragraphs explaining how 'The road is fair in Summer and Fall, but often muddy in Spring and Winter' is a deep reflection of the failures of Desna on every level.  I think it's literally advice about a literal road somewhere."  Thea actually cracks a hint of smile at this.

Giggle. "I've traveled less than most Desnans, I think, but I've traveled enough to know that muddy roads are a real thing that isn't pathetic to observe." She starts skimming through the book to look for the good parts. 

"...Is that kid okay...? I saw some people sparring but there are, uh, other explanations for bruises. Especially on the face." 

The "Shrine Wall Writings" are literally just stuff people wrote on Shrine Walls to Desna.  Lots of travel advice, well wishes, snippets of prayers.  Sadly, the writer didn't seem to organize them, and in fact, they are intermixed with "Placards of Wisdom" (literally the pithy sayings and pieces of wisdom and jokes you would see on signs hung in taverns in countries not so depressing as Cheliax).  One snippet in particular might feel familiar to Nuria: "Flowers can grow between even the hardest of stones".  It's not clear if it is a shrine wall writing or placard of wisdom saying.

Thea responds "They aren't supposed to land blows to the head when I'm not there with healing already prepared, which I don't tend to have much to spare.  I'll check with the student who was overseeing the sparring to make sure the other student has been disciplined properly."

The kid looks up Thea, seeking permission to speak, and Thea gives a slight nod.  "I got extra reading time anyway!  And it doesn't feel that bad, I'd rather thicker stew tomorrow anyway!"

"Rather thicker stew...?"

"It's a apparently a unique spell I get from Irori.  I can make a handful of rice or nuts or grain so nourishing it feeds a person well for an entire day.  And I've found by instead adding such enriched grains or rice to stew or soup it thickens it nicely and makes it moderately more nourishing for many people.  Honestly, it hasn't been as necessary the past few months, our finances have been better and I've gotten better at stretching them, but some of the younger children also like how it improves the texture and taste."  She has a bit of fondness in her voice towards the children, but also a slight bit of disapproval as someone who finds good flavor somewhat frivolous.

"Oh, cool! I'd never heard of that spell. I take it you can't channel positive yet?"

"Indeed not.  I've taken in a few beggars that wanted a roof, and tried to change the methods and practices of the temple to better align with Irori, but I'm still Lawful Evil.  Perhaps it is a good thing I couldn't channel right away, the Sisterhood of Eiseth relied on healing to compensate for brutality, while Irori's text, The Unbinding of Fetters recommends a more moderate approach to both injury and healing, and so without easy healing I've been forced to reevaluate all our standard methods and redevelop them closer to those of Irori."

She considers how much she wants to tell this woman... can she trust a chaotic cleric?  But she is a good cleric?  Unless she isn't a cleric at all?  Well if its a deception, she'll figure it out eventually, and deal with it as necessary.  And somehow, on an instinctual level, she really feels she can trust Nuria.

"And there is another complication with that.  I don't have the standard ability to channel anything yet either.  I've made quite sure my spells are divine, and dependent on my holy symbol of Irori.  But I can only spontaneously cast a smaller "inflict light wound" type of effect.  I can do it without any of my spell slots 3 times a day.  I spent months trying to figure out if I was making a mistake in how I was trying to channel.  I looked up books on unusual clerics and varieties of clerics.  I finally figured it out recently.  There was an extraneous detail misleading me.  War Priests, most commonly known for being of Iomedae and Gorum, are not able to properly channel until 2nd circle and it's weaker even then, but have various other minor abilities, such as empowering their sacred weapons, and prior to being able to channel they can produce smaller amounts of healing, or harm, for some of Gorum's War Priests.  So I think that's what I am, and Irori's holy weapon is simply a fist, and my fist  are already powerful from my monastic arts, so I didn't notice a difference.  It does mean I can use the same energy from the inflict to cast spells on myself faster."

Hopefully Nuria finds this fascinating and not boring and won't chaotically share such a sensitive piece of information at random?

"Huh! Cool. That's one of the things I really like about Desna, is--finding new things you never expected. Well, I channel positive. I was going to ask someone at the convention if there was some way to make that publicly available that was, well, trustworthy, but," shrug, "the convention hasn't started yet." 

She had wanted to secure the positive channels for her monastery, but maybe she should help Nuria be as Good as possible, or at least as Good as she wishes.  So she has someone she could recommend to Nuria.  It has some risks, but some upsides as well.  Well, the same instinct that tells her to trust Nuria also likes Theopho, so she might as well trust that instinct consistently.

"Theopho, Watcher of the Runes, is a cleric of Erecura and channels positive energy.  Sometimes for pay, sometimes out of charity.  So he might have some ideas on strategies for how to effectively distribute your channels to heal people."

And now the difficult part.

"There is some complication there, Erecura is a demigod of Hell, but Lawful Neutral.  One of her domains is thriving in hostile environments.  Theopho was openly Lawful Neutral under the Thrunes, and is apparently planning on staying even under the new government as well.  I'm not sure exactly how his church will be looked on by the government and Good Churches, but Theopho seems confident and has in fact got himself elected to the convention.  But I thought I should make you aware of some of the complication."

There is all sorts of potential political complications to this, and Thea would like to explain, but she isn't very sure of them herself.  She'll see if Nuria has any questions.

"Oh, and of course we wouldn't mind a spare channel every now and then.  According to the Unbinding of Fetters, it is apparently not as useful for training as I would have thought, relying on easy healing can be a crutch that compensates for good training, but they would still be appreciated here."

Nod. "Of course, even if I do figure out how to do public channels, I can still let you know when and where, and you can bring anyone who needs it." 

Oh, of course that's the obvious solution to get both public Good and her monastery's needs taken care of.

"Right of course. Should I leave you to the book or books for a while?  Oh and I can direct you through the library's limited contents if you wish?  The quick overview is that upper shelf there is Asmodean texts, all vile with occasionally useful bits you can pull out.  I have a section on non-Evil theology texts there, and some practical books on various topics there.  Not much but I'm working on it!"

"This is amazing! I mean, maybe an established temple in another country would have more, but--this is really impressive."

It is barely three shelves, but Thea is happy about Nuria's complement, even if she feels she doesn't deserve it yet.

"I think I still have a long way to go.  I still even don't have all the major inner sea region Gods covered!  I have the most major Holy Text for Iomedae, Erastil (if you can count the very damaged book I have), Abadar, and Shelyn.  But that leaves texts for Sarenrae, Gozreh, Calistra, hmm, the proper Holy Text of Desna that I mentioned early, the Eight Scrolls, oh and Pharasma, as popular as she apparently is in the country side her clerics don't have much demand for her text."  And she wants texts for all the major Evil Gods as well, as long as it isn't outright directly against the Laws of society.

"And there are apparently a few major books that don't belong to any one faith I have yet to get a copy of like the Windsong Testament" and excerpts from the Book of the Damned.

"And then beyond that there are more foreign Gods like those from Tian Xia, and minor Gods like the various Empyreal Lords, and of course numerous commentaries and discussions of the major Holy Texts.  And that's just trying to cover Theology!  Once you start to learn how many subjects there are and how many books of each subject, you simply can't get enough of them!"

Thea is genuinely delighted discussing this topic.  She would not have thought of herself as a reader before the Four Day War, and indeed could often barely make it through the required reading of the Asmodean Monograph and less secrete mission reports of senior Sisters and various simple educational texts, but  since then she has come to appreciate books as a valuable source of information about the world around her, and if she's honest with herself (which she makes regular meditation efforts to be) to enjoy reading them in and of themselves.

"That's so cool! I hope there are foreign clerics at the convention, ones with more experience and if we're lucky extra copies of their holy texts. That would be convenient." 

It's a good lead in to the political angle.  It feels... uncomfortable jumping into politics after the nice conversation about books, but Thea is uncomfortable with politicking in general, so she'll just have to endure it.

"The impression I've got from the broadsheets and pamphlets and a few conversations is that the convention is meant to primarily include Chelish people?  So I would be surprised if more than a few foreign clerics are invited as delegates?  It would be helpful if we had them... Irori's text is thought provoking and challenging, but correspondingly not always straightforward or direct in explaining Irori's teaching or his will.  And of course knowing his will towards the convention would be useful."

"That makes sense. Well, I am a cleric of Desna; after the convention I'll just have to go traveling and pick up holy books that way." 

"That sounds exciting!  At some point in the future I mean to take a sabbatical to adventure to test my skill and develop it further and grow stronger."

And now to the political part... why is she so nervous about this?  Except for potential Chaoticness, Nuria is probably one of the safer clerics to talk to.

"Of course taking a sabbatical would mean making sure the monastery is financially sound and politically secure before I leave.  I mean to propose at some point during the convention that our future constitution should make at least some legal and financial provisions for the churches and faiths of non-Evil Gods.  In particular, it seems sensible to me that the government has an interest in educated citizens, and many churches are suited to providing education, and as such should be financially compensated for doing so.  It would mean money for more books, and for taking on new students, and for various other resources for educating them.  And it sounds like you have a lot of good things to teach yourself!"

There, spiel over hopefully Nuria doesn't think she is weak or petty.  Articulate her thoughts don't suppress them without reviewing them... she is, for some reason, afraid of appearing weak and petty to Nuria.

"That's a really good idea. Replacing the Asmodean institutions is important; people need water and healing and so on. And I for one would much rather that schools," she makes a brushing gesture, "be run by non-Asmodeans." 

"Right, well that's my plan, or at least the beginnings of one.  Assuming the convention is as described by the broadsheets" and that's a big assumption she's still not sure of and will need to warn Nuria now if she realizes it is wrong "then we will need to convince a majority of the other delegates.  It should be a straightforward case for the other religious delegates and faiths.  The elected will vary heavily I think, but maybe the popularity and good sense of the idea will appeal to them.  The sortition are literally just common people, so maybe lots of individual conversations appealing to their common sense... which I'm still figuring out.  The Nobility... I don't know any reason this idea should offend them or be opposed by them, but there might be one, and it might offend their pride to be negotiated with as equals, and the nobility strikes me as most dangerous overall, so I'm still considering my approach.  And one question I haven't figured out is what concessions and tradeoffs will be asked and I should make in the process to secure the votes for my idea of funding for religious education."

And there is yet a more dangerous possibility.  She'll mention it in case Nuria is as naïve as she presents herself and needs the reminder.

"And of course, ultimately, the matter will rest on the Queen's interpretation of the constitution and her Law in carrying out that interpretation.  And well her adventuring companions as well, as 2 of them are archmages proper and one is a very powerful shadow sorcerer."

And she'll see if Nuria picks up on the implicit danger of the Queen deciding the convention needs a bit of gentle correction, or subtle manipulation, or outright archmage backed dominating.  And a danger Thea didn't think of until now is if there is some internal conflict in the Queen's adventuring party... a war amongst themselves could be devastating to Cheliax.

"But the Queen and her companions are Good, right?"

Okay, good thing Thea is addressing this now!

"Galt tried to be Chaotic Good and had almost a decade of revolutions and reprisals and lawless chaos.  And Good people... well actually you are the first properly Good person I've met as opposed to simply working at Neutral, so maybe you have some insight on what that actually means?"

The Unbinding of Fetters mentions guiding someone to the beginning of an answer is often better than simply telling them, and perhaps there is some chance Nuria has an insight that neither Theopho nor the Lawyer had.

"Good means..." she drums her fingers on the table. "So, in Asmodeanism, the ideal interaction to have with another person is one that benefits you and harms them. For Good, the ideal interaction to have with another person is one that benefits the other person, and ideally but not necessarily also yourself. Which seems counterintuitive and unappealing, on paper, except that helping other people actually feels really nice even if you don't get any tangible benefit out of it, which is a truth that Asmodeanism is desperate to cover up." 

Thea wants to shift back to the political question, but pauses for a moment to internalize and genuinely consider the idea instead.

"I want my students to benefit at strengthening and perfecting themselves.  I would want this and it would feel 'nice' even if it cost me something without other benefit to me, or even some detriment to me. I... can't really imagine feeling that way about a complete stranger, or, even harder to imagine, about someone I had a prior dislike of.  I can try to imagine if you think it will help me learn something?"

The girl reading the Acts of Iomedae has been very quiet for this whole conversation.  The Sisters don't exactly gossip much, but for what gossip they do have this feels like prime material.  She trusts that Thea is tracking that she is hearing this conversation, but no point giving any reminders that might cut off the stream of gossip fuel and get her a direct order not to spread it around.

"I think mostly just wanting to benefit the people close to you is okay for Neutral? But wanting to benefit strangers is Good." 

"That makes sense?  I'm trying for Lawful Neutral, but it would be worth it know how Good thinks and overshooting on Lawful Neutral wouldn't be that hard to correct compared to getting to Lawful Neutral in the first place." she almost shows a wince as she realizes how that may come across.

"But back to the political question... the Queen could mean to benefit everyone but that could be in fact be very hard to do so we should be prepared to do everything we La-" she remembers Nuria isn't Lawful "reasonably can to support the Queen and help the convention work out that way."

"You're right...clergy are only part of the convention. The nobility is...I'd rather extend everyone I can the benefit of the doubt, but, uh, hope for the best plan for the worst?"

Thea has thought some about this.

"If it turns to outright civil war I assume a legendary adventuring party like the Queen's puts an end to it as swiftly as they won the Four Day War.  I'm planning on having enough food ready to survive a week or two sealed up in the monastery if it comes to that."  And she'll elide over truly worst case scenarios where the Queen decides to give up on Good and purges the entire convention for now at least.

And a bell rings clearly through the room.

"That's the bell for a half hour before dinner.  I need to go cast my stew thickening spell and oversee the conclusion to the day's exercises." she smiles a bit as she says this "You can come with me or stay here and read for a bit.  Lilly"  the girl reading looks up quickly "Yes Abbess".  "Are you fine leading Nuria to the dinning hall from here on time?"  The girl replies quickly "Of course Abbess!".  Thea turns to Nuria  "Lilly can guide you to the dining hall if you would like some reading time."

"I'll read, then. Thank you so much for your hospitality." 

"See you at dinner!"

Lilly glances up from her book again, then resumes reading intensely.

The Library has a moderate selection if there is anything Nuria wants to read besides picking through for the Desnan and Caydean writing within "A Denouncement of the Pathetic Scribblings by Slaves of the Weak and Undisciplined"!

There are a bunch of Asmodean texts on a top shelf in the corner.  Among their titles (and appearances):

    Basic Exercises and Education for the Newly Empowered Faithful of Asmodeus (moderately worn)
    An unlabeled text (with some alarming stains on the exterior)
    The Asmodean Monograph (a standard copy)
    The Inferior Flame (roughly made, but in good condition)
    And Several Commentaries on the Asmodean Monograph (in varying level of wear and age)

There is a closer middle shelf with theology texts including:

    Another copy of The Acts of Iomedae, (the girl is holding a new but cheaply made copy, this one is well worn and old)
    The Unbinding of Fetters (well used and aged)
    Theology for the Intermediate Armiger of the Godclaw (Good condition and well made)
    Manual of City Building (new and reasonably well made)
    Parables of Erastil (partly burnt and very worn)
    Melodies of Inner Beauty (new and cheaply made)

And another shelf with practical texts, including several on spellcraft, a book of riddles, a book listing common cleric and wizard spells, some standard educational primers on basic mathematics and reading you might see in any Chelish school, a cookbook, a dictionary, an Almanac with weather predictions from 10 years ago, an Almanac on common herbs, and... another cookbook "Cooking Almanac of the Inner Sea".

...She's going to peek at the unlabeled Asmodean text. 

Lilly, glances at her and starts to say something, but then thinks better of it.

It is a guide to how to hunt down various clerics of other faiths, especially Good ones!  If she is willing to keep reading... she will see some descriptions of unique domain powers and spells provided by Good Gods... along with tortures designed to be cruelly ironic given the cleric's God.  The chapters aren't well ordered, one will focus on a particular God, one will focus on a set of patterns of behavior of clerics, one discussing what drives people to betray Asmodeus to Good Gods.  If she is willing to read a chapter on Desna, she might learn some interesting things...

Nope! As soon as she sees what it is her curiosity is satisfied. What's that Melodies of Inner Beauty, is it Shelynite? It sounds Shelynite.

Lilly lets out a small, almost inaudible sigh of relief seeing her turn away.

It is in fact Shelynite!   It contains the history of the goddess... although it does elide a bit in regard to Zon-Kuthon (but it does make sure to say the Shelyn still hopes to find some secret to redeeming him).  And it has various stories about Shelyn and her church's dogma.

Nice, nice. She reads a bit of it and then settles in with her selection of Desnan graffiti. 

Assuming she can skip the commentary (it was pretty helpful of the Amodean writer to separate it so cleanly from the rest of the text) there are all sorts of wacky, practical, and mystical sayings:

"Follow your intuition, but bear the consequences."

"You'll need a map for the next section, the road breaks into a lot of footpaths"

"Goblins ahead, but they fear books and love fireworks!"

"Across the sea of space, the stars are other suns, you travel beneath a thousand other worlds"

"I drink to make other people more interesting" (probably a Caydeanite one)

"Travel far enough, you meet yourself.  Nice reflective pool ahead."

"The road less traveled may have sights less seen, but there is a reason it is less traveled.  DO NOT take a shortcut by the swamp!"

“If it scares you, it may be a good thing to try.”

"Flowers can grow between even the hardest of stones."

"liquid courage last hours, bruises last days" (and another Caydeanite one, the book is pretty poorly organized, especially if you're skipping the commentary)

"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them."

...Okay, how is the Asmodean going to clown on himself by making fun of "you'll need a map for the next section." 

The fact that anyone would be traveling without a map (the author is blind to the privilege of their wealth) is a demonstration of chaotic people's unwillingness to follow proper direction and the Chaotic Gods' unwillingness to give proper direction!  The Asmodean spends another three paragraphs ranting on the lack of discipline of chaos and the perfect instruction of Asmodeus!  In the next paragraph, they finally address the other part of the quote, the lack of discipline of chaos has split the road into chaotic footpaths that are harder to navigate, just as chaos and lawlessness propagated by the Chaotic Good Gods make it harder for people to follow the true path set by Asmodeus.  The author spends another 3 paragraphs working this point to death, in increasingly belabored metaphors and analogies with some obnoxious pieces of terminology worked in without definition (it is possible the author tried to force the usage of the terminology without understanding it).  By the final sentence, the original meaning is undecipherable without previous context: "And so, the corrigibility of the path and its potholes is only as straight as the road it is laid on, just as Asmodeus's instruction is the true path laid on the road for corrigible mortals to have their holes filled and all footpaths are the incorrigibility of the useless, weak, and undisciplined Chaotic Gods rife with flaws".

And... it's probably best not to read any further in this section, the author goes on a tangent about torture.  (And although the torture is impractical in its brutality, it is in fact pretty brutal.)

Yeah she skips the torture bit. This guy clowned on himself just as much as she expected, though! 

Once she's more or less finished with the Desnan lines, she goes back to the shelf. What's the Unbinding of Fetters? 

It is Irori's Holy Text!  Some of it simply practical instructions on techniques and methods relevant for monks such as meditation, diet, exercise, training, and so on.  And some of it is riddles and mental exercises and layered metaphors with varying levels of explanation (some are left completely unexplained!)

Huh! ...She's not going to lie, she had expected that book title to go with a chaotic god. Well, she's in an Irorite temple right now; she might as well read a little of this before dinner. 

If she wants a practical (and topical) section... a section on dietary regimes discusses merits of vegetarianism vs. various amounts of meat in one's diet.  (Among humans it makes sure to note) there is something essential in meat for good development of muscles... but certain types of beans, certain types of nuts, eggs, and certain cheeses can all seem to substitute for meat!  There is a translator's note that the humbly admit they don't have Taldane words for all the exact types of beans, nuts, and cheeses.  Also, too much of some meats is bad (for humans), but the text is less sure of this.  A footnote adds that after a dispute a commune confirmed excess meat is in fact harmful.

Before Nuria can get into too many details, or look for another section, Lilly speaks up "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but the bell for dinner will ring soon and we're on the other side of the abbey, so we should start moving a bit before that."

"Oh! Okay." She puts the book away. 

And Lilly will lead her through the hallway, back to the central open area with the false sky (now empty of students).  A bell rings as they cross it, and Lilly continues to lead her, reaching a large room with long tables.  This room also has a permanent illusion on the ceiling, buts it a more ominous reddish glow instead of a pleasant sky.  The students are lining up in front of a large pot of stew, leaving space in front of them for Nuria.  "That's your spot in line"  Lilly points out.  Behind the students also waiting in line are three haggardly looking women dressed in worn down clothes, the kind of wear that a Mending can't fix. One is clearly old, the second has some sort of deformity leaving her body asymmetrical, and the third doesn't look old in number of years but by how much life has worn her down.

There is a woman in front of Nuria's spot.  She glances back at Nuria.  She is nicely dressed, but with notable scars on her face extending down to her neck.  Her clothes don't match with the robes of the students, and her build is thinner than any of the students.

Thea is behind the pot, prepared to serve from it.

"Hello!" Nuria cheerfully greets the woman in front of her. 

"Hi" she answers back in a raspy voice and a thin forced smile.  She gestures towards the food, and moves forward to get her stew.

"Do you want some of the students to sit with you, and if so, do you mind questions from them?  And this is Estella, a tenant, but not student here, and wizard.  I mentioned I'm starting to take on tenants to help the monastery's finances, right?"

The students are disciplined, but they have the expectant look for Nuria to move forward in line.

There is also some hard bread to dip in the stew.

"Right! --It'd be really convenient to stay here for the convention, what're your rates?" 

She collects stew and bread. 

"And I don't mind questions."

Thea nods to the students, of which it seems it was picked in advance for 4 to sit around Nuria along with Estella.

"I was planning on a silver piece per day, including a room to yourself, stew for dinner, some porridge for breakfast, plenty clean water, laundry once a week at a set time by our resident wizard, optional participation in morning and evening stretches and warm-up exercises.  Optional add-ons sold by the day include 3 additional copper pieces for a light lunch, 15 silver pieces for a cure light wounds given a day's notice, and with a 50 silver piece collateral value, access to our rather sparse library for a day for 1 copper piece.  I'll announce price changes at least 5 days in advance.  And I might have to if things get crowded."  She says this efficiently as if she has rehearsed it several times now.

"It's a moderately high price, but with meals included its not too bad, and rates in the city have been getting higher, possibly with the convention approaching and various attendants coming with the 600 delegates."

"Of course, positive energy channels are quite valuable.  If we could get one every evening at a convenient set time here, that would more than pay for the entire price.  But probably you could do more than a silver's worth of Good with one or earn more than a silver piece a day with a channel, so arguably you should pay the silver piece if you want to stay and use your channels as you will.  Both are small compared to your stipend"

The students have a spot for Nuria with one on either side of her, Estella across from her, and a student on either side of Estella.

"A silver a day is a great price, I think, with the delegates' stipends. I'll have to think more about the add-ons. And I'll almost certainly do public channels once I've talked to Theopho or whoever, but," shrug, "that's not going to happen tonight, I think." 

"Of course.  In that case, Welcome to the Abbey of Ashes.  And the add-ons can be purchased as need arises."  Thea takes a seat a bit further from Nuria, to give space to the students sitting closest.

The student seem to have many questions now that they have permission to speak freely and bother the interesting new person.

"Can you turn into a butterfly?"  One of the youngest girls sitting near Nuria asks.

"That druids not clerics" a 10 year old girl answers for her.  "What is the highest level, I mean circle spell you can cast, your favorite spell, favorite cantrip and coolest thing you've ever done with a spell."

This is apparently a good question, as the other girls go silent while they wait on an answer.

"I can cast second-circle spells, my favorite spell is Book Ward, my favorite cantrip is Create Water, and I think the coolest thing I've ever done with a spell is still saving someone's life right after I became a cleric." 

2nd circle... she substantially underestimated Nuria.  Either she reached 2nd circle in under a year after the Four Day War, or she was a covert cleric under the old regime and not nearly as naïve as she appears.  A front?  Or a change in personality and presentation after the Four Day War?

She'll let the kids continue with their questions now.

"That's so cool" the 10 year old says.

"How high level do you think you will get, what's the high level spell you want the most?  I think the Abbess just wants more healing to train us and herself better.  So I'll add, besides healing what's the high level spell you want the most.  I think stone shape is cool." A 12 year old asks as the next question.

"Does raising the dead count as healing? I'd like to get strong enough to do that. Besides that, I've heard Desnans can Teleport if we get to fifth circle. I'd love to Teleport. I don't know if I'll make it that high, though, most people don't."

The kids are all impressed by the idea of teleporting!

The woman sitting across from Nuria speaks, "Have you cast Dream Feast before?  It's a 1st circle spell that gives you a meal in your dreams.  It's a nonstandard spell, not a domain spell, but not one offered by most Gods, with somewhat tricky and complicated conditions around who can cast it, but from what little I know it should be available to a cleric of Desna."

"Oh, yeah, that one's really useful. It doesn't scale as well as Create Water, obviously, but I still used it a lot when things got tight in my neighborhood after the Four-Day War when everything was uncertain." 

"I'm quite curious about that spell... if you've learned how to scribe scrolls I would like to see it.  I can-" her voice painfully rasps a bit and she is careful to speak quieter when she continues "I can of course pay, but given your convention stipend I'm not sure how competitive what I can afford would be."  She gives an awkward but genuine thin smile.  "And I have inks.  Additionally, I would like to see it cast, and I would like it cast before I sleep... I do have some skills in trade, besides 1st circle wizard casting.   How is your spell craft?  I'll give two hours tutoring per casting"  A bit of a lowball, but it shouldn't be offensively so.

"...If I were smart enough to be a wizard, they'd've sent me to wizard school. Can you...tell me more about why you want it...? I don't want to pry, but I want to understand what I'm helping with." 

"Oh... well for a nightly casting the porridge in the morning is pretty bland even with a prestidigitation, it's not anything important.  For seeing just one casting... sometimes wizards figure out how to stabilize cleric spells as wizard spells.  I probably wont succeed but I'd like to make a passing effort at trying.  It's a rare enough spell not many people have tried yet, and there is a small chance I might have a unique angle on it?  And scribing scrolls and spellcraft doesn't require nearly the smarts hanging spells done.  With enough practice you can develop an intuition for spellcraft.  I tutor Thea a bit each week on spellcraft as part of our dealings."

At the mention of the porridge, the faces of the children seem to agree with Estella's assessment.  The stew is good at least!  It's thick and well seasoned, with plenty of meat in it... although the meat is so tender (to put it charitably) it practically falls apart, it is almost like the thickness of the rest of the stew holds it together.

"Alright, that's fair." 

"How are you liking the stew by the way?  The seasoning mix is my own invention, no prestidigitation, and I have a few mixes I cycle through so we aren't eating the exact same thing every night even if it's all stew.  It's something of a hobby of mine, basically my only hobby besides wizardry."

The kids expressions look still at the mention of the stew, even as much as they seem to enjoy eating it.

"It's pretty good! Definitely not something I've ever had before." She points her spoon at the wizard. "From a Desnan, that's a compliment." 

The youngest kid near Nuria has their expression outright frozen, but the rest of the students expressions are all normal.

Estella smiles "Thank you, I appreciate the compliment."

Thea has a tense smile that might be noticeable if Nuria is paying attention.  She should have figured out a way to explain part of this ahead of time and it will sound even worse if she has to explain the whole story.

...Something's up with Thea. 

That's concerning. Also the kid who froze. 

Well. Nuria's plenty good at pretending everything's normal. It kept her alive while the Asmodeans were in power. 

Dia, Thea's right hand and confidant in all social matters, saw that Nuria knows somethings up.  Well... time to do damage control.  Best to go with the more moderate story, see how she takes it, and maybe the full story after.

She's one of the oldest student at 15 and sitting across from Nuria next to Estella.

She sighs (but not too dramatically) "Thea is ashamed because the way she's made the food stretch so far is using lots of purify food and drink on otherwise spoiled meat and vegetables.  With so many Asmodean clerics disempowered, there is an easy cheap surplus of spoiled foods like that since almost no one else can purify it.  It normally wouldn't taste good even with that, but Estella's cooking skills, which she just had to brag about, she can turn it into something that tastes great."

There, almost the full story, and if you have a decent knowledge of magic and alignment of spells, the full story isn't actually much worse.

"Oh, well, that's nothing new, I did something much the same back home for a while."

Best to push the whole story out then.

"Well... there is a 1st circle necromancy school spell that restores flesh to bones of the dead.  It doesn't touch souls, just the flesh, and it doesn't detect as Evil, and purify food and drink will remove the completely rotten parts and restore to edibility to partially rotten parts... but we'd still appreciate your circumspection with this information, some of the poorer eateries in the poorer parts of town do profitable business with Thea and Estella."

She looks to Thea "And I think our finances are good enough that at this point we should switch to normal meats, especially if you want to go forward with the plan to take on tenets."

"But fresh meat just isn't as tender!" Estella's voice is quiet but mirthful.

"I guess you're right Dia, I should have listened to you sooner..."

The youngest girl next to Nuria speaks up "But the purify makes it okay." as if repeating a mantra she had absorbed earlier.  "And I like the thickened stew!"

The mention of 'thickened stew' makes some of the other kids smile, just a bit.

"Oh, that's clever! But, you know, you don't need to tell me all your secrets--I mean, I won't tell, but there's no need to trust me so much so early. Even without being malicious, some people are really bad at secrets." 

Wow, that was literally the best reaction Thea could have hoped for.  Dia is genius and Nuria is great.

"I trust Dia.  That the student sitting across from you, who finally explained it, is Dia, she's basically the second in charge here.  If she figured it was best to just tell you, I trust her judgement."   She pauses.

"It's good it was you not someone who would take offense or accuse us of evil necromancy or something worse.  If some people..." she glances at Estella, glance at a few of the kids who had worse poker faces, and stares off a moment in the distance for herself  "can't keep that piece of information close, it's probably best just to switch to normal meat."

There are some sighs from the kids, who have apparently grown used to it.  Or maybe it is some in-joke among them?

"I'm capable of seasoning normal meat as well.  I wasn't lying about having cooking as a hobby... but I did develop the hobby incidentally to figuring out the best usage of Restore Corpse."

"Well, it was very creative of you. I approve." 

Nuria is the best person ever.

The ten year old speaks up "I've been thinking about Desna and I have more questions.  Where do you most want to travel?  Is Elysium really you're preferred afterlife?  And did you get chosen before the Four Day War or after?  If after, what did you do to get to second circle so fast.  And if before, how did you avoid getting caught?"

This ten year old has ambitions of getting strong fast and/or being amazingly stealthy.

"It was before. And the thing you have to understand about me is that I had been working at not getting caught for a lot longer than I've been a cleric. I was a romance novel smuggler for years, and before that I was trying to become one without tipping off the authorities when I found some."

From further away on the table, the girl who was reading The Acts of Iomedae in the library earlier asks loudly "Cool!  Do you have any with you, can we read them?"

The advance arrangement on seating was supposed to prevent any loudness, but this is fine.

"We could do... no charge for you using the library, in exchange for borrowing some of your novels while you're here?"

"Sure! That was what I meant when I said I had books with me that probably weren't like what you'd had before." 

"Right.  Well I'm sure we'll love them!"  And spar even harder for turns at reading time.

The students are finishing up there stew, and its getting later into the evening.

"Should I have someone show you to your room?  In a few hours, we'll have a bell for 30 minutes until quiet hours, followed by another bell once quiet hours start.  And then a morning bell around an hour after dawn (not that you can tell down here) indicating morning exercises are starting, followed by another bell around 3/4 of an hour after for breakfast porridge.  You don't have to feel obliged to stay if porridge isn't your preference, I know with the convention stipend you can find better elsewhere."  Thea is slightly embarrassed she hasn't figured out something better than porridge but still cost effective.

She lobbied hard (and traded off quite a bit on the Restore Corpse meat income) for the later bell time.

"I'll at least try it! If I don't like it I can do something else on later days." 

"Sounds good."

"I can show you to your room if you're done eating?"

"Let me put my books in the library first." 

"I'll walk with you" and Dia starts to lead the way in case Nuria has memorized the layout already.

"I think you're the best scenario for test case tenant we could have had."  If you're, you know, actually a Desna cleric.  Thea was supposed to be more suspicious and rely on Dia's assessment of people's characters more.  Well, at least Dia can make her assessment now.  And they should be able to contrive some excuse to check if Nuria is actually a cleric... actually, since she's a good cleric there's an obvious one...

"Is Estelle not your test case? Or does she not count."

"Well she isn't paying in money, but rather collaborating on the meat situation and tutoring a bit on spell craft, so I guess not?  And the beggars we brought in don't count either, they aren't paying and if they made themselves too much of a problem we would just have them leave." and neither Estella or the beggars are going to be as tied into the fate of the country as the other future tenants, but Dia is trying to actually exercise patience and caution, so won't bring that up just yet.

"That makes sense. I'm glad I'm doing well, then."

"I was talking about us, but that's true too!"  Her personality seems way too... sunny, but maybe romance novel smuggler 2nd circle Desnan clerics are just like this?

And in a few more minutes they reach the library.

"Oh, if you have any spare channels leftover today or leftover spells to convert to cure spells, it would be great if you could heal Lilly.  She acts tough, but those bruises on her face are going to look worse before they look better.  We can spare... at least 5 coppers on it, but I would have to check with Thea if you wanted more."  And if Dia can at least confirm this is a good cleric, she can sleep easier tonight (as opposed to organizing a careful stealthy overnight watch on her room).

"No, I won't charge for tonight's channel." 

"Thank you.  We should get Estella as well, her old injuries aren't helped by the simple positive energy of a cure light wound, and it's likely the same for a channel, but I'm pretty sure it eases her pain for a bit"  And Estella can detect magic to make sure it's not actually a mass cure light wounds disguised as a channel."

And they arrive at the library.  Lilly beat them there and is back to reading the Acts of Iomedae.  

"Lilly, could you get Estella, Nuria has offered us a channel" and Estella has already been briefed on their plan to confirm clerics are indeed Good clerics.  "We'll meet in the main area."

"Well... pick a shelf, lots to chose from" Dia chuckles at her own joke.

Nuria unpacks her books and lines them up on a couple of empty shelves. 

...More of her trunk contained books and less clothes than most people would have packed, even if they were the sort of person who had books. 

That... certainly fits with the romance novel smuggler story?  But, if the Sisterhood of Eiseth had sent an assassin after them, they would probably at least equip her in a way plausible to their cover story.  A channel should be proof against that scenario.  A single use item of mass cure light wounds would be unusual (well except for scrolls), and one that could beat a detect magic to appear as a channel completely unheard of.  Dia gives no outward sign of her worries.

"And I think we're going to meet back in the main area."  Dia leads the way... the assassin should prioritize Thea, so turning her back is would be worth it if it got the assassin to reveal themselves sooner.

Nuria follows along while continuing to not be an assassin. 

Lilly, Estella, one of the beggars, and a few other students are standing around waiting for the channel.

Estella already has her detect magic up, and is giving no visible sign she is concentrating on anything.

”I also have some ideas and things to test about channeled positive energy, if you have spares on other days.  Probably dead ends, considering no one else has invented arcane healing based on the existing spell False Life.”

"Well, I encourage you to try!" 

And when everyone is ready, she channels. 

“For one of the tests I need to prepare a few things ahead of time with a few hours notice.  Yes, it’s worth trying.”
And it is indeed not a spell, nor a spell like ability, and her throat feels slightly better so it healed, and Lilly’s face is fully healed.  She gives a slight nod to herself, the signal for Dia (not that she is making eye contact, that would be too obvious).

It's so good to see that kid's face get un-bruised! 

Dia doesn’t give any outward sign of relief, because she was actually taught some social subterfuge, unlike most of her Sisters.

“Well I’ll show you to your room then!” And Dia leads on towards another hallway.

And Nuria follows Dia to her room and unpacks a little and then goes to sleep.