A monk of Irori approaches the wrong sort of noble with an idea
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She is going to need to at least talk to a noble eventually, they make up a fourth of the convention, possibly more if additional nobles were also elected.  Her idea she has presented to other faithful isn't as clearly beneficial to the nobility, so she's not sure what idea she should approach them with.

It's Lilly, of all of her students, with her fantastical ideas, that gives Thea a spark of inspiration.  Lilly asked 'Why can't we all go be knights for some lord on some crusade, like Iomedae?'.  Indeed, monks are solid fighters, worthy of serving a lord as a retainer.  And the monastery can raise orphan girls well.  Any lord should be happy to have a monastery in their lands and pay them a modest amount to take in orphans and raise them as disciplined students.  And once raised, those same students need combat experience to level further (at least, so long as Thea is holding back from the old methods of the monastery), so they would be ideal retainers for any lord (or lady).  This idea would solve several of the monastery's needs at once, and it doesn't depend on some possibly fickle Galtan process. Thea has mixed feelings about leaving their monastery, and the other students, Dia in particular, are even less convinced. Even so, Thea thinks the idea is at least exploring... with a measure of caution.  

They've previously identified a suspected noble delegate in an inn.  After a few fruitless hours of debate on strategies for approaching them ('It's not that nice an Inn, kind of humble, so a Good noble?', 'No, a nearly destitute Evil noble might settle for that inn as well', 'no one has any idea what their heraldry goes with, no?') they settle on a simple approach.

Thea, with Dia following, goes up to the innkeeper "I'm a delegate of the faith of Irori to the constitutional convention.  I believe you are hosting a delegate yourself?  If you could pass a message for me... 'A delegate of the faith of Irori wishes to speak with him at whatever his convenience.' I'll check back with you two days from now and you can pass on a time and place.  I usually have a student attending me... so long as matters aren't too sensitive I would prefer to have one with me talking to him."

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Somebody lets Aniol know that someone wants to meet with him, an Irorite. He's generally very interested in Lawful Neutral practices - he's going to have to do something dramatic to dig himself out of the Evil hole once he's metaphysically even able to do that and would like to find a stable state to plan for after that - and has mostly been talking to Abadarans, but Irorites are neat too. He will send his valet to meet them and show them up to his suite.

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And there is a tall muscular young woman, dressed in formal grey (bleached from black?) monk robes.  She is wearing a symbol of Irori.

"Thank you for taking the time to meet me.  I hope you don't mind I have a student with me, she won't be any bother?"

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Dia smiles shyly.

She thinks this whole plan is a bad idea, but best Thea has her with her.  None of this shows on her face.

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"Why should I mind? Have a seat. Sorbet?"

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"How kind of you.  Of course."

She takes a moment to enjoy it before getting to discussion... wow it is really tasty.  Is this decadency what motivated the old nobility to their treachery?

She of course figured eating might be a possibility, so has detect poison already active and concentrated on before entering the room, with no outward sign (save to a detect magic).

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Dia will take one also if it's on offer.  If it's a poison that can hide from detect poison (and there are ways of hiding it she's sure), well, the other Sisters know where they last intended to go.

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The sorbet is just fruit juice somebody Ray of Frosted and maybe Prestidigitated sweeter. It is completely harmless. "So how did you sisters come by Irori, were you devotees prior to all the hullabaloo or did he reach out His hand afterwards?"

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There is no excuse to get sloppy!  Even if they can confirm this is a Good noble!

"After the Four Day War, the elder, fully initiated Sisterhood of Eiseth abandoned one of their hidden monasteries, leaving the acolytes behind.  I was one of the oldest acolytes and I sought a new divine patron.  I have since sought to follow and led my sisters in following Irori's teaching."

She'll skip the story about her "liberation" of a copy of Irori's holy text from an Asmodean priest.  No need to appear unlawful here.

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"Congratulations! I talked to Abadarans once it was legal for them to pass through Juncosa, but have less exposure to Irori. God of - self-improvement, yes?"

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She smiles at that.

"Exactly yes.  Not so far philosophically from where I started, but a different way of approaching it and a different way of applying the results."

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"I appreciate your initiative in securing His patronage, then." He has some sorbet himself.

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She enjoys a bit more of her sorbet, and then moves on to business.  She settles into a partially rehearsed speech.

"So with Asmodeus pushed out, and non-Evil Gods slowly filling the gaps by selecting clerics, there is quite a bit of demand for clerics.  And with the general chaos, there is demand for adventurers, possibly even more direct retainers.  And well, the pamphlets are overall dreadful, but they do represent some sentiments going about, and there is some dissatisfaction with many institutions of the old order, such as the schools.  And of course, there is always orphans and such.  I have an offer that solves some of all four of these problems.  My monastery is able to take orphans and raise them, and potentially additional students, and I am myself a cleric, and my fully trained students have need of suitable tasks to apply their martial skill to.  All of this, of course, requires funding.  I have made do with the shortage of clerics driving up the value of even cantrips, but a more stable situation might involve a patron with finances to spare and the problems I listed in need of addressing."

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"Now, my understanding is that monks fight barehanded. Would this require more money than what is needed for food and lodging? It's an attractively inexpensive prospect if you could turn an old Asmodean temple with a dormitory and some grain tax into an anti-monster force that further absorbs stray children; I'm from up north and we have monsters forever coming out of the mountains."

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"You are correct, our primary means of fighting is empty handed.  And as monks grow stronger, our fist become as good as cold iron and silver at overcoming monsters that normally require weapons made from such."

He's possibly already preparing to low ball them?  Well, this is only the first noble she's approached.  And the way he phrases implies he might take a hands off approach, which could be good?  But first... how to feel out what sort of noble he is?

"I must confess, to my embarrassment, the Sisterhood of Eiseth did not see fit to teach much about titles and geography and I've only just started to rectify this... your lands are?"

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"The march of Juncosa! A positively lovely spot less the monsters. It's up north in Menador on the Molthune border. I've got just the spot in mind for you, there was an excessively religious baron under me who had no tolerable heirs after he was purged and left behind a great big religious academy, now empty as you please but in excellent repair. I'll cover the paint job if you tell me Irori's colors."

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The mention of a purge seems as good an opportunity as any.  Now, how to say it without too much offense.

"Ah there has been several cycles of purges, hasn't there?  Did you gain or lose much with them?"

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Not as smooth as she would have liked, but as good as she might have expected from Thea.

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"Some of my barons, aforementioned, and a nephew in the war itself. Happily I have been deemed relatively inoffensive and hope to build on that."

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So... probably at least a little evil, maybe not too evil?  She can feel things out and she has the perfect excuse for delaying.

"That's good.  I must admit I'm not planning on finalizing a decision about moving my monastery at least until the conclusion of the convention.  There may be some law or term of the constitution the Queen wishes for that substantially impacts such an arrangement."

She is emphasizing her most inoffensive theory of the convention.  If the Queen is planning on using the convention to restart a civil war to purge the remaining nobles of the old regime no point hinting at it to a noble themselves.

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"Of course as a delegate you won't be well placed to migrate until the convention's wrapped up, though if you'd like to send a student to see the place I'd be happy to write a letter to show my people back home."

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"I actually do have an older student competent to carry out such a task.  My geography fails me again... the best route on foot would be how long?"

Competent, but they won't have to sign anything as opposed to getting a feel for the area.

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Dia clear her throat a tiny bit as she eats her Sorbet.  Signaling her recommendation it is a bit too much of a commitment.

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"Some six hundred miles, three weeks if you're a fast walker. Quicker with a series of horses but my retinue found some of the waystations abandoned during this most recent trip."

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"My students are indeed fast walkers... but as you note with the waystations the country is still in a lot of turmoil, even for someone able to handle themselves in a fight.  I think I must refuse for now.  Perhaps after the convention they could return with you and at least then they would know the journey well enough for their way back."

And that gives her more time to research this noble and entertain other offers.

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"I'd be happy to have the company. And maybe a teleport or a caravan to Kantaria will become available, that's the overwhelming majority of the trip."

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