Do they... all pray now, or... "Shelyn, please bless us with wisdom and insight and let Goodness and love spread across all the land as inevitably as the songs of birds."

Lluïsa bows her head and silently prays the same thing just after him, memorizing it since she doesn't want to take notes during the prayer. Not a minute has passed and this is already educational.

She watches the room attentively.

Desna, grant me the wisdom not to botch this too badly. 

Well, if they are saying a bit of prayer, Thea will follow along.

"Irori, guide us in how to teach the virtues of our Gods to the Chelish people."

Lictor Rouen Stought normally wears full Hellknight armor everywhere she goes. Endure Elements is for weaklings - by the time you can punch owlbears to death with your gauntlets, if you happen to have left your weapons behind, you really don't need it.

She'll take the helmet and gauntlets off, though, because she might need to write things.

"May Irori, Abadar, Iomedae, Erastil, Torag and all the gods of true Law guide us to the annihilation of the Asmodean heresy and the - reeducation - of those of its supporters capable of being reeducated."

Yeah Nuria is not sure how she feels about a Hellknight being here. Absolutely none of her romance novels feature them as good guys. 

Oh good, a Sarenrite and another Shelynite; she's feeling at home already. She's less sure about the others, especially the hellknight, but she's not going to be alone in the room. She'll follow along with both prayers, and add a bit of her own to Laia's.

"Eternal Rose, help us to show everyone the good in their own hearts."

Wait, is it just the clerics praying out loud or is it everyone? Enric freezes and his breath starts. Even a year later it doesn’t feel safe to pray out loud in front of strangers. 

“Erastil- Erastil guide us true through this wilderness. Erastil help us do right by our home.”

Those two are the simplest ones, that his grandfather made him memorize. The wilderness one might not be right here, but it feels right as he says it.

Eumenes, who appears to be a boy of seven or eight, bows his head and prays, sure that he is among friends. "Erastil and Jaidi, protectors of the Summerlands, please help us show the people of Cheliax how to be good to one another, and be all right again."

WHY IS THERE A TINY CHILD HERE. 

Several faithful (or possibly Sowers) of Erastil?  Thea is relatively more confident in how her pitch will sound to them compared to a Sarenrite or Shelynite, so that's helpful.  And is that a child? Chosen by Erastil at such a young age?  They must be a prodigy at his faith.

Why IS there a tiny child here. "Are you... a delegate? - did that thing Archmage Naima can do turn you into a child?"

Lluïsa is really undignified in her instant fondness for the small child for not being taller than her.

(A small noble child isn't really weirder than a kobold. He probably has a very light-touch regency.)

Small children have no place in the halls of government, even when they are adorable.

Drevnic suspects that an innocent child might be less wicked than everyone else in the room, himself included. Good pick.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I have a county on the coast. I served in the armies of heaven for the last several years, but I was very small when I went."

With that settled, Tetula prays, "Cayden Cailean, please help us to build a country where everyone can feel joy and no one has to be afraid."

It takes Thea a moment to put it together, and then she is interested.  Heaven may not be as perfect as Irori, but they are probably still very skilled at shaping petitioners into outsiders, and lack the wanton destructiveness of so much (all?) of Hell.

Enric recognizes an outsider when he sees one, even before it admits it. This child is too calm and too clean, like one of those stories they tell about seeing a child in the woods and it’s really a ghost or fairy or angel. Sounds like a good one, if he knows the summerlands and was sent from heaven. 

"The first task of this committee must be to nominate a chair - who should, given the nature of this committee, be a cleric of a Good god, chosen by the gods and not merely Her Majesty the Queen to take on this task."

He steps back from the chair. "As a mere lay preacher, I am not qualified to fill this post."

"If the majority is set on a Good cleric, I favor Nuria, second circle cleric of Desna.  I trust her to work to see to the perspective of the chosen of many Gods.  If this committee is more open on who they will consider, I would put myself forward."

She gestures towards Nuria.

This would be a wonderful occasion to helpfully nominate a cleric of a Good god if she were sure which people those were. Not the monk of Irori, at least.

It's her own fault for not memorizing more faces in open session.

"Are we sure we need a Good cleric? I thought this committee was for virtuous churches, not just for good ones."

(She really hopes that Cayden meant for her to be here and not in the slavery committee.)

She nods towards the man who stepped back from the podium.

"The man speaks sense, though I am similarly disqualified. Solandra, I've heard them mention you on the channel rotations - have you thoughts on the role?"

"- well, I'm not second circle, but I can certainly pretend to chair a committee until I've worked out how to stop pretending at it."

She looks toward Solandra and Tetula

"My fear is that the perspective of (and thus the needs of and role of) Neutral Churches might not be fully taken into account especially given Duchess Carlota's opening maneuvers this morning.  I trust Nuria in that matter."  She turns to Laia "How able do you feel to take such perspectives into account?"

"Cayden explicitly told me to come to this convention-- I can testify under Zone of Truth about that, if people doubt my bare word-- and I don't know at all what he wanted from me, or if I'm even in the right room. I'm really a very new cleric and don't have the experience of other people in this room. But I think this is maybe relevant to who should be a chair? If you guys think maybe he wanted me to be a chair?"

She sounds very sincere, like she's just trying to share helpful information to a room of cooperative people and not trying to make a blatant power grab.

"I don't think I have anything against neutral churches but I do imagine they might need less - promulgating? It's certainly good to have them around but I admit I don't think they're likely to be positively helpful except insofar as they provide people who don't feel able to aspire to Good a spiritual home. Which isn't nothing, to be clear. - He spoke to you directly, like in words?"

She didn't think Chaotic Good had much ambition for power, but Tetula overturns her assumptions about alignment once again.  She approves, but the timing in inconvenient.  She still prefers Nuria, but doesn't want to draw suspicion on Chaotic Good, so best to deflect gently.

"I'm not sure that much can be inferred from a single intervention... I have the same question as Solandra… what were the exact words of his intervention?"

She turns to Solandra.

"I think given the opportunity I can explain the virtues Irori would have me teach."

The really horrible thing, Rouen thinks, is that Cayden might actually have done this. He's Chaotic. And drunk.

"Shelyn is very kind, and friend to everyone, even when they have great difficulty getting along. Cayden, Irori, Desna, and Erastil do not always agree with one another, but all of them respect Shelyn. If Miss Solandra is a cleric of hers, I think she will guide us all very well."

"I woke up about a week ago with an awful headache, an cleric circle, and the message 'YOU ARE A DELEGATE TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION' very loudly in my head. I don't know any more details. For all I know, he arranged all this so I could have a very important five-minute conversation with a random sortition delegate. --I'm happy with Solandra if everyone else is, of course."

Lluïsa rallies. "I would encourage the cleric of Shelyn; I have no doubt that all present will happily defer to her, and that this Committee, being small and congenial, shall scarce need be called to order."

"Prophecy is broken, so probably when Cayden Cailean sent you the dream he didn't know this committee would even exist? --I think the point about Shelyn is sound." Hopefully this won't sound like a power grab. 

"I support the cleric of Shelyn." Shelyn is Neutral Good. Cayden is Chaotic Good. The choice is easy.

"As do I." He'll invite her to the chair at the head of the table and then go take her seat once she's taken it.

Not ideal, but Thea will just have to figure out this Solandra's angle and how to work it.

“We could just have all the clerics of good gods draw lots for it. I know any of you are on the same side, or all on the side of good at least. And like she said, I don’t think it matters too much who we make chair. Doesn’t seem like we’ll be trying to kick out or execute each other, like what happened in the big room.”

She smiles and looks at the faithful of Erastil.

"I think as long as Solandra isn't planning on shutting out the concerns and virtues of benevolent neutral Gods it will be much better than this morning."

"Very well then!" She switches seats. "We all seem to be in order already so that's half my job done for me. I should like to keep some notes, on attendance and votes - is there anyone here who could write them for us?"

"I have pretty good handwriting." 

"I am prepared to do so," says the Hellknight.

"I could bring one of my more disciplined students with me tomorrow if you want more help scribing or we need a message runner or we need other miscellaneous tasks?"

This is an angle on free ink and paper.

"I shall be keeping detailed notes in any event, and can cast scrivener's provided ink and paper," she offers.

Okay good they didn’t ask him to write. It sounds like there won’t be fighting, though Enric still isn’t sure about Theia. At least there wasn’t any real trouble over picking a leader.

Oh right, the diabolist lawyer.  Thea was so focused on winning the chair she didn't think about that little problem.  She won't raise any issues now.  This morning shows how it goes when accusations of diabolism start flying around.  Still, she can raise it, carefully, to Nuria privately later and watch for any wordings the lawyer suggests and anything she physically writes.

Lictor Rouen Stought is both Lawful, and not an agent of Mephistopheles, God Of Making Law Not Work For People, and so is the best choice, but someone needs to give in. "I will yield to Delegate Tosta."

"--I mean, if you'd rather, that's fine? I was offering, not requesting."

"Thank you, Delegate Cornellà, it will be good to have lots of copies! And if anyone doesn't read I'll be happy to read over the record for them later. Now, feel free to add things of course, but the way I see it is that there's the physical churches - we've pretty well colonized them here in Westcrown, but there's the rest of the country to worry about too - and there's the culture, and there's the clerical services, especially important since there's a lot of places short on water and healing now. Am I missing anything big in that list?"

Then she'll shrug, take out pen and paper, and - "Are all members of the committee present?" When the roll call is done she can start taking notes.

"There is the accommodations the government makes to clerics.  As we are writing a document that will direct the government, we can directly enshrine such accommodations and privileges into the highest law.  I myself have a number of students to support and take care of, with appropriate accommodations and support from the government I could turn more of my efforts towards benefiting the masses and country as a whole."  

"I would not wish to try to raise taxes to pay for our work. Every coin we collect must ultimately be taken the labor of the working people of Cheliax, whose debts choke them and whose harvests command no price at all outside of peace-glutted Westcrown."

"Much money went to schools that were very Asmodean.  I could do better with it with the students I have. And much money still goes to Wizard Schools and a well trained monk can be as useful as a wizard, at least in combat.  At the very least I don't want the government trying to take my students to put into public schools once they reopen."  She glances towards Enric.

Lluïsa is so glad the monk of Irori took her helpful advice to heart! It's more satisfying than wielding a mob of timid peasants awed by legalese would have been, honestly. How do you even wield one of those?

“Maybe we let people choose which church to pay tithes to, instead of taxes from the crown?”

“One more thing we can do. We have a lot of clerics at the convention, maybe we could put together a list of who anll the gods are and send it out to every village?”

“Some places don’t remember the good gods, except for what the asmodeans told them. People also don’t know the neutral gods or the small ones, how to tell which ones are good and which ones are bad. Uh, I already mentioned the fight this morning.”

Enric kinda wants this for himself too, so he can tell whether Erecura is actually evil or not, and who some of the gods he doesn’t recognize are. He’s figured out that Sarenrae and Dawnflower are just foreign names for The Sun, but there’s others he’s confused about too. 

Lluïsa knows the vague outlines of which gods are which but would actually be interested in reading this proposed document.

"I would add that, should we draft such a list, it might do good distributed to all the Convention, in hopes of forestalling such acrimony in the future. I would cast scrivener's for it, though it be taxing."

She nods toward Enric.

"Indeed, I would be happy to take on students and teach them both practical common skills reading and writing in addition to Irori's teaching and basic martial arts in exchange for a local tithe."

She decides to address the diabolist.

"Yes a list of Good Gods, and more generally Gods with good virtues would be quite helpful I think!  And maybe a list of all non Evil Gods for reference?"

"A basic primer about all the benign gods known in the new dawn of Cheliax, delivered all across the country, and tithes taking the place of some or all taxes to recognize what churches do for community capacity. I think the tithing idea is the sort of thing we could put before the convention; I'm not sure the primer idea is, but maybe we can just do some of it in our own persons. Do any of you already know how to publish a pamphlet, is it just as simple as scrivening it?"

"One of the problems there is that there are a number of good gods who do not have clerics here, and I'd rather we not simply ignore them... on the other hand, such a list is likely to be long as it is, and perhaps too many names would make it less useful for those who cannot read."

"A Partial Menu of the Benign Gods," suggests Laia.

"I can compose one," the Lictor says. "I have experience in the field."

She smiles, only a bit forced.

"We could try to request a government decree instead?  I've learned not to trust pamphlets after seeing some rather blatant errors so I'm not sure how well a pamphlet would be believed."

"Experience in the field of... pamphleteering, or of listing gods?"

"- Gods," she says to Laia. And to Thea - "The available middle ground is a pamphlet certified reliable and sold by a reliable organization, such as a Lawful church."

"...I'm not sure Lawful is enough, or the right criterion, or something--I mean, somehow, Geryon is Lawful."

"Lawful and nonevil," the person who hates Geryon most in the room corrects.

“We could make sure whoever brings the pamphlet knows how to read. That way everyone hears it at least once. Or the decree, if it’s on paper too.”

Enric doesn’t know enough about the specific gods they’re arguing to say much there. Just include the good ones and say to not worship the bad ones.

”Thea, would your school still have the…” Enric tries to figure out how to describe the dread he feels whenever they bring up school. “The making children sit still for hours and making them hurt each other and the thing where sometimes if you spend too much time there you act like an asmodean even when the priest isn’t in town?”

”If there’s a way to teach people to read without that, maybe we can have everyone learn? So they can all read it?”

Enric is still not sure about reading, but it seems useful if there’s a non-evil way to get it.

"I think if we want one that everyone would believe, it will probably have to be Iomedae's church, but perhaps Erastil's would work fine."

"I think Erastil was able to send more clerics to this convention for whatever reason, which probably reflects more Erastilians among Chelaxians, though they're likely not yet organized enough to do it all alone."

She addresses Enric.  Best to take every chance to explain Irori's virtues.

"We've changed all of our methods since I took over.  I've found pain is a poor teacher and a last resort at best.  I haven't taught a student from infancy yet just the students I already had, but Irori's holy text seems clear pain isn't the best method, so I'm optimistic I can find a way to teach without relying on it."

Murmuring to Thea: "Does Irori have the same not lying thing as Abadar? Like presumably not quite so much, unless Irori has a special truth spell I haven't heard of, but still."

Wait... does Nuria think she is lying... is Nuria counting sparring as pain?  That barely even hurts?  Or is she just asking for a truth telling?  She whispers back.

"Irori does not have a specialized truth telling spell.  I think the more general zone of truth is second circle so you could prepare that, and I could try my detect magic and spellcraft to tell if the subject fails their save properly?"

That’s… not completely reassuring. But good Thea is trying to find a way without hurting people. “I hope you can find a way to.”

”I’m not sure if clerics of Erastil are good for writing, though. Good for fields and weddings and healing, but I’ve never met one good at writing.”

Specifically, he’s heard that the cleric of Erastil back home thinks writing is just for asmodean lies, and for the truth you talk to someone you trust. But that might be different now.

"--Oh, no, I meant, as an example of a Lawful Neutral god, that's all. I'm just trying to figure out if 'Lawful Non-evil' is actually, you know, definitely a good way to distribute accurate pamphlets."

"Well, that's inconvenient if a lot of the best-distributed priests don't read. But we don't even have the thing written, and it's at any rate more of the sort of thing that we as individuals who care can do, rather than something that the committee should be talking to the rest of the convention about. Let's go back to the tithing idea."

Who... is the Good god for things like being good at writing, actually?

Is there a Good Mephistopheles drafting the grand charters of Heaven?

She doesn't have an angle on a question that would shed light on this just yet, though.

"Miss Solandra, I do want to talk about Erastil and Iomedae, when it's a good time for it. But I can wait my turn."

Stiff smile.

"Sorry, I guess I've monopolized the conversation.  After the... intensity this morning I may have overshot making sure i was heard.  I would like a chance to explain Irori, but I would also like to hear about other Gods as well, especially Lawful Gods like Erastil and Iomedae."

Right, she's spent so much focus politicking she's missing an amazing opportunity to learn!  A single morning and the Asmodean taint of politics has already started to warp her.  She could be learning from one taught by a lawful afterlife!  Her smile turns genuine at the thought.

"Thea, if you wanted to write something up I'd love to have a look at it, I even do readings of particularly good pamphlets on the steps of the church of Shelyn every evening and you'd be welcome to join me if you need a platform. Please go ahead, Eumenes!"

Enric looks on with visible awe. He’s actually going to hear about heaven and the gods from someone who has been there and, presumably, met them.

Lluïsa knew intellectually that planes besides Hell also had outsiders, but never gave it any thought.

Now she's intensely curious, and actually a bit visibly rapt.

A devil of Heaven, is how she's thinking of him. Which is frightening as well as fascinating.

"Oh, thank you! I've been thinking about the Queen's decision to listen to the church of Iomedae about everything. Iomedae is a great goddess to defend people from hell. The very best. But she's also very, very busy, and almost all of her work is fighting. Since we're not fighting anymore, I don't think that we should tell everyone to listen to her. Most people in Cheliax are very, very tired and scared, and most of them didn't grow up very well. You shouldn't fight evil if you feel like that. You've got to be all right first. But Heaven has a place for people who have got to spend more time being all right, too. It's Erastil and Jaidi's place, the Summerlands. I think it would be very good to try to be like the Summerlands. Erastil isn't so busy all the time, and he can listen to more people, and show them how to be mamas and papas again. But if everyone tries to be like heaven's armies, I think that they will hurt themselves, and Iomedae won't have time to explain to everyone. So I would like our main church to be Erastil's, and not Iomedae's. At least until people are all right again."

"That does make sense. I think Erastil was able to send more clerics than any other cleric except maybe Pharasma, to this convention, so we might be well on our way already. Is there something about it you think belongs in the Constitution?"

"I agree with the importance of Erastil, but I don't think we should really be establishing a single church at all."

Tetula’s got a good point.  But Thea was in fact looking forward to information about Heaven’s (nearly) perfect training!  Well, not that they were actually getting that instead of relatively standard lines about Erastil and Iomedae… maybe he was starting with the basics?  Either way she’ll keep silent for now and see how everyone else reacts.

Lluïsa considers this quite seriously.

Erastil is the god of countryside farmers, whose priests do weddings. Lluïsa is a city dweller with wizardry; this is a god distant from her concerns.

On the other hand, Erastil was still somehow the god of countryside farmers whose priests did weddings during the time when this was illegal heresy. If nothing else, he's a formidable god.

"The Establishment of that late unlamented Hellish Church," she says slowly, "was assuredly a Diabolical work, yet even under its odious Yoke, the faith of Erastil was never snuffed entire, but sprouted irrepressibly among the People. Though I dwell in this City, and my prayers turn to the Inheritor," true as of this morning, "it seems to me that though Iomedae liberates, Erastil preserves."

Maybe someone who knows Good theology can interpret this musing as a useful theological point. On to the more comfortable ground of law! She's hit the books hard in the run-up to the convention, and consults her notes briefly.

"In making an Establishment, several Factors weigh; the enumeration of the Sanctioned Churches, and the privileges guaranteed thereunto, in like but reverse manner the enumeration of the Proscribed Churches, and the rights denied thereunto, and lastly those rights and privileges belonging to those Churches which are neither; in addition to which it may behoove to fix a single Church in primacy for Ceremonial and Juridical usage. That loathsome Hellish Establishment now past, amounting to the Tyranny of a single Vile Faith, proscribing all not subordinated to it, or in the case of Pharasma superior to it, need be no Model for a Virtuous Establishment; in older law, the church of holy Aroden was fixed in primacy and held certain special privileges; an Established Church in the truest sense, but no Tyrant Faith that, e.g., an itinerant of Desna would fear."

"And how did the law at the time talk about the church of Aroden?"

"In ceremonial usage, His name was often invoked as guarantor, such formulas as 'in the name of holy Aroden' found prefatory to most Enactments; moreover, I have seen that that Church's privilege of regulating its own affairs is invariably respected, though the old Empire not being a Constitutional one, the language appeals to immemorial custom, a typical formula being something like 'respecting all those customary Privileges of the Church of holy Aroden', that in making a Constitutional Empire we need enumerate specifically, immemorial custom being sadly interrupted in any case."

"Oh, yes, there should be many churches, Miss Tetula. But when the Queen asks a church for help, we should ask Erastil first. Desna's clerics must be free to roam. Cayden's must be free to fight evil where they find it. Erastil's can be rooted, and we may ask them many things without being a bother. But it is a great shame if none of them can read, Mister Porras. I could teach them, if no other can be found. Reading is quite useful when remembering things. I used it often in the army."

"Miss Cornellà, I did not understand all that you said." No lantern archon is ashamed to admit not understanding; it is among the first and most important lessons, that one must always ask if one does not understand one's orders. It will happen very often. "Can you explain it more simply?"

Yes! Enric still isn’t sure how building a kingdom of Erastil would work but, now that the child of heaven has confirmed it’s the goal, he’s going to work even harder to figure it out. 

Even the strange lawyer seems to understand, and she sounds like she’s read so many books you’d expect her to be completely asmodean. She gets it, that Erastil was with us in the time before Aroden when the world was forest and there were no kings. That no matter who rules, he’ll still be with us. 

He stays quiet for now, putting together what it is he wants to say and listening to the explanations on what a church being the primary church means, when it isn’t the church of Asmodeus.

Do angels’ skill at complicated mortal language atrophy compared to their mortal life?  That seems… a step away from perfection!  Or maybe he’s just cleverly outwitting the lawyer by forcing her to use simpler words?  Thea hopes it is the second thing!

Or wait, he’s a child in resurrected form, so he was a child when he died, so maybe his skill at language grew slowly but perfectly and he is doing fine relative to his age?  Well by child standards he is doing great!  But it seems disappointing to think petitioners’ skills grow so slowly.

Lluïsa nods to the small child who isn't, taking a moment to compose herself and some sentences.

"First, that there is a Primary Church, used in Ceremony and having great Privileges; second, that there are Approved Churches, having Privileges; third, that even those Churches not Approved have certain rights and privileges; except that fourth, there are Proscribed Churches, to which even those rights are denied."

"For example, if the Primary Church is holy Aroden's, then it is His name used in legal formulas, and his Church with the primary right, for example, to construct its Buildings on choice Land and to Preach; if that of Sarenrae is Approved it also has that right, after that of holy Aroden; if that of Abadar is neither it may still Build and Preach but at its own Expense; and if that of Hell's Prince is Proscribed, then it is forbidden even to Preach its tenets on Land otherwise lawfully acquired."

"I'm not sure I like this stuff about the primary right to build buildings on the best land and to preach."

"Well, Erastil's not going to want city land, is He? This would be the countryside churches, which are all emptied out right now because the Asmodeans are gone. Maybe we could word it to be more equitable between churches within big cities."

“I’ve been trying to figure out how Erastil being the main god of the kingdom would work. He can try to get us living good lives again, not just fight evil. But there’s something I’m having trouble with. I don’t know if Erastil is the kind of god you can do that with. How do I say this…”

”Asmodeus could take Aroden’s spot because he was sort of the same shape. They’re both gods of cities and castles, you can put them into books of law… Asmodeus is evil but he fits in a country almost the same way Aroden did.”

”Erastil isn’t the same type. He doesn’t live in big cathedrals where they crown new queens, he lives in the field and the forest and at your dinner table. We can put Iomedae in the Aroden spot, she fits. But if we want Erastil to be the primary god we’ll need to change what the country is shaped like so he fits.”

Enric isn’t sure he’s making sense. Have explanation might depend on something he can’t say out loud— that it seems like Aroden doesn’t want to come back and rule Cheliax like he used to, he wants to stay in hiding and have his people make something different. 

Thea nods at Enric's words.  Any excuse not to let other churches (like Irori's) get cut out is good!

"I think lots of Gods have lots of roles to play in supporting the land.  I think this committee should make it a goal to talk to clerics of all the invited Gods so we know what each of their roles are."

"All right, let's see, who are we missing... I saw a Gozreh holy symbol and we don't have one of those... I saw Calistrians..."

She prepared for this part!  She knows all Gods with allocated seats!

”In order of number of allocated delegate seats gods with invited cleric are:” she takes a breath and then goes through a clearly rehearsed list

”Pharasma, Erastil, Gozreh, Iomedae, Abadar, Nethys, Desna, Calistria, Gorum, Shelyn, Irori, Cayden, Sarenrae, Chaldira, Milani, Torag"

She smiles to herself at reciting the list from memory.

"I don't know all of the Gods with allocated seats had clerics show up, or what other clerics might have won election or be nobles or even be sortitioned.  And of course minor Empyreal Lords and such should be approved even if they don't have clerics most of the time."

She'll elide revisiting the Erecura question as long as she can, maybe indefinitely.  Sorry, Theopho, she'll try to keep him from being outright proscribed if she can spare the focus.

"Mister Porras, Cheliax is not a land of cities, as Aroden's home in Axis was. I had never seen a Chelish city before I came here. We are very much like the Summerlands, which has cities, but only very few. If the rules of this country are not rules for a land of farms, then they are not good rules. But I do not mean that any good church should do less, apart from Iomedae's. We ask her to do too much work."

"Delegate Porras, would you say that a Primary Church for Ceremony and Law might be distinct from a Primary Church held as first in the Privilege of Preaching; that a Patron God for Enactments and Formulas be that most concerned with Enactments and Formulas, rather than that God held first in the hearts of the People?" she asks.

Exciting, novel legal theories, this is what a Constitutional Convention is for!

"This is the first real city I've seen before either. But Cheliax is for the cities and castles and queen, the rest of us were just a way to get them food and workers and money. That's how it was under Asmodeus, and I think Aroden too? A country with Erastil as the primary god would be the opposite way, the cities and castles and the country is for the people living here. So I agree with what you said but I don't know how to get a country like that."

It takes him a while to figure out what Lluisa is asking. "Are you asking if the country can pick a different church for different things, based on what that church is good at? I think that makes sense, but I think a country always has one god as the main one in charge? I know Lastwall and Mendev have Iomedae in charge the same way Cheliax had Aroden. There's one country where Abadar is in charge, Nidal has the shadow god. So even if we put different churches in charge of different things, one is going to be the main one?"

Someone who knows more countries about than just stories he's heard from an uncle who fought at the worldwound, please speak up here.

"Rahadoum, Absalom, Andoran, Galt, Thuvia, Molthune, Ustalav and Taldor do not have a single god of the nation. Absalom and Taldor did have Aroden, prior to his death, but no longer do."

"And Sarenrae is goddess of Qadira and the entire Kelesh empire, which prospers well under her."

She has a vague idea Irori is a more major God in Vudra... but not if he leads it?  And she isn't going to falsely boast on Irori's behalf, that feels distinctly wrong!  So she doesn't speak up.

"Well, Andoran's probably a good and a Good example, so if they're getting along without a single state religion we can too. I really did like that tithe idea. Churches help support and protect communities as much as a lord, even a particularly good one, ought to, and a portion of taxes going to the benign church of the choice of the taxpayer seems good to me. Is there a problem with the idea I'm not seeing or should we write that up?"

"Any churches that provide important services and lack a local base of support may lack for subscribers, such as those that maintain guards against desolate wilderness areas. City churches with little work will grow rich off of the tithes of merchants; country churches with much will grow poor. But I have no superior alternative strategy."

He does not think he will get a Sarenrite theocracy and so he will just try to go for her being a very well-worshipped Good goddess.

Lluïsa addresses the chair. "Would the Churches beneficiary to such Tithes be chosen from an affirmatively Approved List, or chosen from all those Churches not Proscribed? I favor the former, but stipulating that such Church be Virtuous, and with provision for diligence into unfamiliar gods, the latter might be practically possible."

The Lictor raises a hand.

"Delegate Stought?"

"This touches directly on a proposal I wished to present to the committee."

"I am Lawful Neutral, and, as many of you know, a survivor of the Asmodean regime. My chief concern during that regime was opposing demon cults. As beings of pure Chaotic Evil, demons are opposed both to Asmodeus's Lawful Evil and to the Lawful Good society we wish to build, hence why I was retained afterwards by the new Queen."

"I suspect you may not be aware, but there are a truly staggering number of demon cults in Cheliax. Over the course of the past fifteen years my Hellknights, working in close concert with local allies in law enforcement, have exposed and destroyed three hundred and forty-three demon cults, not counting ambiguous entities such as daemon cults and cults of Chaotic and Neutral gods."

"These demon cults, being both Chaotic and Evil, have no fear of lying, and they do not identify as demon cults. Most identify as 'new religions' worshipping foreign gods - often Good, otherwise simply 'very powerful' - previously unheard of in Cheliax, or as worshipping unusual aspects of various Good gods. They use this false guise as friends of the people to lure mortals into acts of lawless Evil which then provide blackmail material to use to force them into greater acts of evil, until such time as the cult is located and destroyed, having damned large numbers of subjects of the crown to the Abyss as well as caused considerable disruption to respect for the law, collaboration between church and state, mortal life and civilian infrastructure."

"With the shift of Geryon, Archdevil of Heresy, and Mephistopheles, Archdevil of Betrayal, from co-vassals of Asmodeus alongside the old queen to the new Queen's sworn enemy, this situation is expected to rapidly deteriorate."

"I therefore propose:

- First, that all churches acknowledged as friends of the state be officially registered and lists of these churches publicly placed in all cities, so the people of Cheliax can know that they are friends of the state.

- Second, that all temples and religious orders established by these churches be officially licensed by the state and inspected to ensure that they are not actually fronts for demon lords, daemon lords, archdevils or other similar entities opposed to the interests of the state.

- Third, that all other churches that have not achieved recognition be presumptively considered hostile to the state, until such time as they achieve recognition, on the grounds that most of them will be.

- Fourth, that procedures be formed to allow any not presently recognized by a church friendly to the state to petition Her Majesty the Queen to be recognized, with agents of Her Majesty inspecting their operations in foreign countries and interviewing their priests to confirm that they are, indeed, servants of powers opposed to the interests of Hell, the Abyss, and all the forces opposed to the Chelish nation.

"I have a list of churches here, all of which may be considered presumed friends of the state, with their epithets and holy symbols. Seven copies." She'll spread the stack across the table. (The list is Erastil, Folgrit, Iomedae, Gruhastha, Ragathiel, Torag, Chaldira, Jaidi, Kurgess, Sarenrae, Shelyn, Desna, sigh Cayden Cailean, double sigh Milani, Abadar, Irori, Pharasma and Gorum.)

Lluïsa nods approvingly as she takes notes, and happily peruses the useful list. Lictor Stought seems sensible!

(It takes maybe a week of law school at the late, unlamented Lodge to be numbed to things as intimidating as an armored Hellknight.)

"Overall the list looks good to me..." she'll overlook the exclusion of the Calistrians, she isn't too sure about them yet herself.

"...but is it not possible to make a general judgement based on ability to channel positive energy?  And this would suffice to at least ensure that neither the cleric nor God are evil, if not necessarily beneficent or virtuous?  And I would have thought channeling positive would take, at minimum, a carefully disguised mass cure light wounds to fake?  I wouldn't want to proscribe an Empyreal Lord if they happen to find a worthy chosen among the Chelish people?"

"Priests of Razmir can channel positive energy. Razmir is an Evil god, if he is a god not a mortal, and plausibly Geryon."

Alicia does not like the idea of letting the hellknights do witch hunts on clerics of empyreal lords!

"This doesn't cover everyone invited to the convention - Gozreh, for one. And I don't think we have so many good clerics we can afford to turn them aside just because their god isn't picking that many people. But channeling isn't proof that you're a cleric of a good or neutral god - I can channel positive, but my magic does not come from Lady Shelyn."

"Thank you both for that information."

What the fuck.  Well, she needs to apologize to Dia over an earlier paranoid argument, it is apparently easier to fake channels than she thought!  Two separate ways even!

"All self-proclaimed clerics of empyreal lords can be interviewed by blessed inquisitors of Lawful Good gods using truth-detection powers, and should they pass, the churches they establish of those empyreal lords can be added to the list of recognized churches."

Enric isn't sure about this. He knows there's villages closer to the forest that worship fairies or Gorzeh or some small angel or some other outsider. Sometimes they're actually worshiping a demon and doing all kinds of evil, he's heard stories, but sometimes there's no cleric of Erastil and a fairy is the only one who can make the fields grow. Plus even good clerics know better than to get their names added to a list, in case the crown goes back to evil and uses that list to find them.

"Maybe do it the other way around? Send people to investigate a cult first, shut it down second if it's evil. I know that means they get to do evil for longer, but that also means good clerics of small gods get to do good without being hunted?"

"I fear that under those circumstances the many minor cults of unlicensed gods will serve as effective cover for Geryon, Mephistopheles and all the demons of the Abyss, and we will therefore have a great number of Chelish people lead away from true Law into evil." What Lictor Rouen Stought wants is for the country to be Rahadoum, but that's not happening.

"How do you make sure that the cults aren't of benign gods? If you've done it so many times you must have a very quick way."

"Under the rule of Asmodeus, all cults not of Asmodeus or His servants were presumed hostile, and there was no attempt to preserve those who were His Good enemies instead of His Evil enemies. The standard procedure used outside the borders of Cheliax takes at least a day's work by a third-circle inquisitor to eliminate all magic on the suspected cleric and then interview that cleric under Zone of Truth, with several other tests also used of which the details are classified to prevent them leaking to hostile cultists. None used by Lastwall are physically harmful to the suspect."

"Even if all those people were actually demon cultists," which Nuria is not 100% convinced of, considering what was just said, "I can actually see why someone would think turning to a demon cult to get away from Asmodeus would seem like a good idea. I think assuming that demon cult problems would continue at remotely similar rates under the de Litran throne as under the Thrunes is...premature?" 

"And I don't want someone who's worshipping, hm, Bolka, or Black Butterfly, to have a hard time just because some inquisitor doesn't recognize the name, but maybe the crown should maintain a list of known churches in good standing, and then people who want to be particularly sure can just stick to those."

"To my knowledge, I do not possess copies of the Codes of Law of Lastwall or of other Realms beset by the Abyss such as Mendev, but I will, this evening, review the stacks once more, in case I find a useful Example therein," she pipes up.

"I'm reluctant to put my trust in a method too classified to know what it is, but even if you replace Zone of Truth with Abadar's that would only cover what they themself knew. When I first learned how to channel, I assumed I was a cleric, and could have testified as much under such a spell without issue. There are also plenty of spells that can defeat it, for more experienced operators - it seems like trading virtue for security without even actually obtaining it, and that's a trade I'd be skeptical of even if it worked."

"Clear communication of a list of known churches in good standing and a list of proscribed churches sounds like a useful thing.  The constitution doesn't have to decide everything, just the highest set of laws.  We can trust the Queen with instituting a more fine tuned process for more ambiguous or obscure Gods."

"There's a lot the crown doesn't know about, some good and some evil. Up until a year or so ago, the only way to be a good cleric was to be someone the crown couldn't see. If we try to ban every cleric and church that doesn't get permission, that will put a stop to more good than evil."

To Nuria "- I expect the rates to functionally increase, now that Geryon and Mephistopheles are illegal." To Alicia "- I am confident that cases like yours are only a small minority, and the chief trouble is active cults of active and unaware demon lords, daemon harbingers, and archdevils."

"Do you have an example in mind, Delegate Porras?"

"Why?" Andreu asks Enric. "Yesterday, that was so. The Church of Sarenrae in Ravounel was illegal. Today it is not; today we fly the Dawnflower's banner high. If they wish to do so, they can do the same. The need to fear has passed for all save the wicked."

“Okay but…Sarenrae being illegal was bad. I’m sure if we make worshipping someone not on the list illegal, those people will find cracks to grow through, but it’s still our job to do better than that.”

"Why don't they obtain recognition? The hour of secrecy has passed, and the Church of Sarenrae would gladly support any Good cleric in being recognized as such and allowed to practice freely."

"A surprising number of people don't read, so it's hard to make sure a message definitely gets to everyone!"

Some Gods innately value secrecy or mystery or don’t care for recognition.  But, they don’t have officially allotted delegates at this convention so Thea sees no advantage in raising this point.  And she isn’t very sure of it anyway.

“Also, is it actually the case that Geryon or Mephistopheles would have to disguise themselves as someone unknown and not pretend to be a slightly weird sect of one of the approved gods?”

to Laia "Ah, I'm not- I can't use any who still don't want attention as examples. Because of the hiding. I'll try to figure out a way to explain..."

How does he explain that hiding from the crown and the church and the nobles is the default, for anyone doing anything, and you only come to their attention if there's no other way?

to Andreu- "Not everyone trusts the new queen yet. I thought she was Iomedae, at first, but now I don't know what's going on. Or the next queen might change her mind about a good church, and use the list of all their clerics against them."

To Laia, "If we cannot spread the word of the defeat of Asmodeus and the triumph of the Good gods to every corner of Cheliax, we are failing at our primary purpose - and if we can, we can say what the laws are and are not."

To Nuria, "Hence point two, regarding each temple being inspected by the leadership of their respective recognized churches."

To Enric "- If the Queen does that, the Good churches assembled will strike her down, knowing her to to an oathbreaker and a tyrant and no true queen of Cheliax."

“The Queen is strong enough I don't think any objections mean much unless the Archmagi also agree with them." 

And in which case there will be a more brutal and protracted war than the Four Day War.  Thea should possibly increase her stockpile of food and resources.

"And as for the the leadership... it is still lacking or developing even for normally larger and more organized churches... and many chaotic churches aren’t very centralized or hierarchical in the first place.” 

She gives a nod to Nuria and Tetula about this point.

"But overall, I think that just means whatever constitution is enacted, we need to include a gradual rollout of the terms of the constitution.  It would give time to build up trust and spread the word."

She looks to Enric about her last point.

"The Queen and her archmages are supported by the lords of the Upper Planes, but should they all succumb to evil, nonetheless it is better for us to side with the powers of Heaven and Nirvana and Elysium than with the powers of the earth. The living may kill you, but the power of the upper planes is to save your soul, and forty years of agony on earth - or four thousand in Hell - is meaningless compared with the eternity of bliss reserved for those the gods of Good save. Put not your faith in the powers of lords of this world but in the gods of Good and trust in them, and your reward will come."

"A lot of Chaotic gods don't even have temples. Cayden Cailean doesn't, Desna doesn't... if I start a tavern am I going to have to register it with the state?"

"I think if we try to do this, then Cheliax will have fewer clerics of Chaotic Good gods, and more unnecessary trouble for the ones that there are."

"See, some of the things I'm thinking of are things like what Tetula said, where if you let the crown make a record of what you're doing that just means the officials can mess with you. Even if the queen is good, some places still have barons and tax collectors. So better for your life to be none of their business."

"It's not just a chaotic thing either, not having all that structure for your church. I've never heard of a high priest of Erastil or any ranks there, he just puts a cleric in a place that needs one. Unless they have one now?" Enric isn't a cleric so he doesn't know this for sure.

to Theia- "That sounds like a good idea in general, not messing with how people worship too fast. We've all gotten used to hiding worship of any god, good or not, and that habit takes time to break. If breaking it is a good idea at all."

to Andreu- "You're right that it's better to die good than to live evil, but it's even better to live good. If evil takes Cheliax and all the good clerics die fighting, there's no one to teach the next generation how to be good or to heal or make the fields grow. If evil takes Cheliax but there's a lot of good clerics hidden from them, they can keep things together until good comes back again."

"I also don't understand why it's harder to root out possibly-Evil cults that people know exist than possibly-Evil cults that people don't know exist."

She's going to lose because everything is full of Chaotic people and they hate sense. "Erastil's church has a hierarchy in Andoran," the Lictor says to Enric, in an attempt to appeal to even the horrible chaotic place having a sensible structure, "and in Absalom and Taldor. Each country has its own church of Erastil."

To Tetula "- It is difficult for clerics to remain hidden, especially if they wish to accumulate power. A cleric of Baphomet has few of his powers available if he wishes to keep his status as a cleric secret, and if he then attempts to act as a cleric of another god can be recognized by the church of that god as an imposter and so exposed and destroyed... if that god's church is prsent. Otherwise he must merely claim to be a cleric of some totally unknown Protean Lord - provided, that is, the Protean Lord's worship is legal."

"I don't see any reason why worship of Protean Lords shouldn't be legal." 

"I think we are basically agreed that there should be a published list of what churches are in good standing, but this committee is not actually about cults! It's about spreading benign gods throughout Cheliax."

Lluïsa doesn't see any reason why worship of Protean Lords exists. Why?

"A published list of churches in good standing sounds fine as long as worshipping somebody who is neither evil nor on the list isn't illegal. And you're right, promoting churches more topical. ...I wonder if we can get any of the archmages to make or fund the building of new churches." 

"Proselytisation by Evil gods will interfere with the worship of Good gods by displacing the words of Good clerics with the lies of Evil gods, and so any attempt to spread the word of gods aligned with you must necessarily include an attempt to exclude the word of gods opposed to you. If you believe this is not the business of this committee, I will withdraw my proposal." To start a dedicated committee to discuss opposing demon cults next session.

"I think we should prefer other funding than the archmages, if possible. Particularly if we're putting it into the constitution, which should be designed to last beyond our lifetimes."

The Cotonnets are powerful enough as it is and she really doesn't want to leave the churches more dependent on them then they already are, especially if they continue to oppose the necessary work of the diabolism committee.

"So there are, the way I see it, three kinds of churches - known benign churches, which can be on a list of good standing; known wicked churches, which can be on a list of banned ones; and obscure churches. I know that a cult of someone obscure could be bad, if the someone is bad. But if they were going to displace a major benign god they wouldn't be obscure! So I don't think it's central to our work here - does anyone else besides Delegate Stought disagree here?"

Is it in her interests for another committee to form?  Maybe?  It splits some credibility, but allows more focus.

"I see a strong value in a committee focused on opposing evil cults, but I agree it is not in the original scope of this committee?  I'm fine either expanding this committee's scope or starting a new committee... and although it is not Irori's focus, it is an interest of mine."

Perhaps she could take the offensive to wherever the Sisterhood of Eiseth ran off to someday?

"Though this is not a Committee On The Rooting Out Of Cults Of Abhorrent Powers, it is a point well taken that the work of Promulgating The Teachings Of Virtuous Churches is not unopposed by said Abhorrent Powers," adds Lluïsa. "We may not devise plans for such rooting out here, but need be mindful that such Opposition exists."

"Indeed. Rooting out Mephistopheles and Geryon, at least, ought to be the business of the Exorcising Diabolism committee. I don't know that demon lords will be important enough to merit their own."

"Perhaps I should join the Exorcising Diabolism committee?  I know of a particular evil cult I would like to see hunted down..."

She should have thought of going on the offensive sooner.  She had been trapped in her previous mode of hoping they didn't come back to kill her and her sisters.

They really missed the "thirty demon cults a year" thing, didn't they. Still. They aren't the people to pitch it to.

"Acknowledged. I withdraw my proposal."

"All right. Circling back! Physical churches, cultural change, and clerical services. Possibly, the liberty to give some taxes to a benign church instead of one's lord. An acknowledgment that demons and similar may be at work on the Material but that inquisiting them is not the task of this committee. Have I forgotten anything?"

Enric feels bad for Stought, everyone disagreeing at once like that. Even though he really doesn't want some kind of inquisition putting clerics away for not having papers.  He hopes the hunting diabolists committee actually makes a plan to deal with the demon cults; and they're not just there to contain the people calling for revenge beheading away from the other rooms.

"What are the kinds of things we could in theory do to promote virtuous churches? So far I've heard... government funding, switch tax revenue to them, give them better land, the government prays to one god specifically, make a list of the churches we approve of, fight churches we don't approve of?"

"I think we will need unique things for each church?  I tried to think of some before the convention... for example... automatic travel passes to any cleric with a God with an interest in promoting travel, like Desna?  Maybe even the right for clerics of such Gods to issue travel passes?"

She glances meaningful at Tetula and Nuria.

Nuria nods.

"And, well...there's always my favorite method of promoting things. Write a romance novel about it." 

What.

"That's very - specific."

Lluïsa takes off her hat and brushes some dust off it.

Lictor Rouen Stought really, really hates Chaotic people.

"All right, yes, when you say it less specifically I agree completely."

"Would they not actively seek them out because they contain the Tenets and Teachings of the Virtuous Gods?"

They should do what they're told to even if it isn't candy-coated for them, the fools, if they don't want to be eaten by demons.

Thea calculates quickly... she's recently taken a closer look at Nuria's romance novels... and she isn't sure how Good generally feels about sex even if Nuria is fine with it.  So she'll play this one cautiously and not back Nuria's idea openly.  No wait, the Shelyn priest is in favor also?  Obviously, now that she thinks about it.  Moderate statement quickly...

"Iomedae herself uses an exciting narrative in her holy text to communicate moral lessons.  One of my students has read it so many times she lost count."

"Oh! That's very smart of Iomedae, I haven't read much of the Acts yet." 

"Now, I personally only really have influence in specifically the theater scene of Ostenso, and I gather Delegate Tosta is also a specialist, but maybe we could receive the blessing of the Crown to put out a more general call for the artistically inclined, and throw ideas around. They'd pay for themselves, if well-executed, and I imagine that's got to be a selling point for the Queen just at the moment!"

"The easier it is for people to learn, the more of them will pick things up and the faster they'll do it, which is better for everyone in Cheliax. When I gave sermons at the church back in Halmydris, the words I said often didn't have the same effects as the songs - people have a much easier time remembering things if you can rhyme them or set it to a tune. I'm not sure books would really have the same effect, especially for people who can't read - there are a lot of good holy books out there people should be learning, and if any books we publish take away from those I think that's a bad thing. But music and artwork, to reach more people - absolutely we should be encouraging that, and making more copies of the Acts of Iomedae and Melodies of Inner Beauty and such.

"You've been doing the dramatic readings of pamphlets, right, Solandra? I haven't had time to come to many of those, but if there are any writers you'd recommend that could be useful--personally I think whoever is writing the Badger pamphlets is a good comedian but a bit tasteless in their choice of character voice." 

Shelynites. It's not that they're wrong, per se, though he doesn't agree with their emphasis. It's just... Shelynites.

"Have you not talked to Estella much lately Nuria?  She found the necromancy spell in one of her pamphlets for preserving food was real but poisonous... there is some possibility Lady Eriape is a genuine undead."

"I have been doing readings, yes, so many people don't read and the pamphlets are the best way to keep abreast of what's going on. I do filter them a little, though, and haven't done the Badgers. I think it would be a hard sell, the character that is, without makeup and costume I just don't have time for right now... and if she's real I'd worry at all about provoking her... but I digress. Our proposals now amount to: list churches in good standing, possibly allow taxes to be diverted as tithes, and put out a call for, maybe even invest in, religiously enlightening entertainment."

"What about trying to outright replace the currently closed Asmodean schools with schools ran by churches in good standing?  I don't think even combined we currently have the numbers for it, but it seems worth considering?"

"Well, that's concerning, but being undead doesn't rule out being a comedian, even if it's probably disqualifying for the project at hand. I just think anyone as gullible as badger-lady is portrayed as being wouldn't have survived long enough to become a lich."

"Lichdom often drives the prospective wizard mad. Such liches are the easiest to locate and destroy."

"I tried doing some teaching, back before the committee, and it's asking for a large investment of time from some of the most busy people in the country. Maybe we could encourage some system where a priest has a class once a week, or something? But certainly nothing like the old Asmodean systems."

"I do caution against the attempted casting of Purported Spells from Pamphlets, though one can't scrivener's a spell and the entire Phenomenon described is most bewildering."

"Are Schools under the purview of Virtuous Churches something that exist, in other Lands not so recently burdened with Hell's Yoke?"

Shrug. "Well, if the badger pamphlets aren't satirical, I hope someone locates and destroys her soon. I think the Abadarans do classes?"

"I believe Irorian clerics typically train students in martial arts, meditation, physical exercise, and monastic arts in general."

"We're apparently supposed to have art classes, though we've been very busy so I think mostly it's just been teaching by observation as the visual arts people repurpose Asmodean decorations."

"I don't know about novels, but I can say that stories and songs are half of how good stayed alive in my village. Send a traveling show from village to village going with a traveling cleric, that would promulgate a lot of good."

Enric absentmindedly hums a piece of a song to himself, the one that kept him hoping for the age of glory through the worst of it.

"Maybe we can ask the foreign priests if they run schools, and how they do it? Oh, that's another thing we could do. Once we get a list of gods that are friends of Cheliax, make sure churches to those gods in other countries are allowed to send people here, and our priests are allowed to go there. Making ties there can help build the good churches here."

"Mm-hm, that's already happening but could stand to be more official."

- We are agreed that there should be an official list of churches of benign gods in good standing whom it is definitely licit to worship, and a similar list of evil gods, demon lords, etc., whom it is not, with it understood that there is a gray area between the two (obscure empyreal lords, minor deities) the handling of which is beyond the scope of this committee.
- We are considering the ideal nature of a proposal by which some part of a citizen's taxes owed may at that citizen's option be diverted to a benign church instead of their lord or the crown, to encourage the establishment and proliferation of these churches and the services they offer most particularly in regions where the lord's service to his people is unsatisfying.
- We are considering whether it might be desirable to expressly endorse Erastil as the state god but at present the committee leans against.
- We suggest that the Crown consider hosting a sort of Grand Salon of artists, writers, and performers from all across Cheliax, gathered into Westcrown or another suitable city, to exchange ideas for the presentation of Good catechesis and cultural mores, and then disperse again with these ideas to the corners of the kingdom.
- We are considering the best ways to integrate the benign churches, given their limited coverage and staffing at present, into an improved system of education throughout Cheliax, with each church taking on different subjects of instruction, but do not have a firm proposal as yet.
- We recommend extending formal invitations above and beyond those informal ones already presumed, to clerics of benign gods from abroad to visit and teach in Cheliax, and perhaps also to send some Chelish people on pilgrimages of religious study to bring back their learning to their homes.