"Of course." She knows all the people here as nobility by sight by now but not all of everybody; he's dressed as a nobleman but she doesn't recognize him. Elected, then. 

"The Committee on Succession and Inheritance among the Nobility has been drafting our preliminary recommendation, and I was wondering if you'd be willing to take a look and advise us on anything we might have overlooked. I'd like to make sure it's satisfactory to everyone before bringing it to the floor."

He has copies with him. He can't cast Scrivener's Chant but it's the sort of thing he can purchase cheaply.

"—I've already noticed that we'll need to modify the wording about 'powers of the lower planes,' so as to not risk seeming to legitimize Norgorber cultists."

Oh, delightful, she doesn't know all the specifics and couldn't guess without more study but this has the smell of Asmodeans contract-lawyering around a dozen very specific constraints. She doesn't mind at all, and in fact it's leverage over everyone involved.

"Hmmm," she says thoughtfully. "You'll have to describe the process by which an heir is designated, presumably with witnesses who can confirm the lord is of sound mind and not influenced by magic, and it is often the custom to disinherit the heir should it be demonstrated that he brought about the death of his liege, among disqualifying criteria. The custom has been - well, before the diabolists, at least - that sons inherited before daughters, and you can change that but I can't imagine you'll get it through quietly, you may as well lean into it and give a speech about being inspired by the Queen and Iomedae and Archmage Naima's example and so on.

Are you hoping to evaluate anarchic character with divinations? That'll be disagreeable to the honorable Comte de Ganisa, who rebelled against evil powers, and for that matter for our honored senior Galtan delegate. 

It would ordinarily be the case that no one could hold power in Cheliax who had been a diabolist, on the assumption diabolists would still have influence over them up to and including their soul. I understand the present impossibility of enforcing that expectation but I'd be disappointed to see it a permanent fixture rather than a singular amnesty. 

I acknowledge those houses that desire to affirm some other mechanism of succession, so long as it's unambiguous, and I imagine there are those in this assembly to whom that is a matter of great importance, but you want to oblige them to do so promptly so that we're not facing thirty years of slowly unfolding headaches about it. And the first time someone uses it to start a civil war - and someone will - people will be trying to figure out how many houses that is and what precisely qualifies. I'd say they should write the Queen at once seeking her blessing on their tradition. And then, were I of such a land and possessed with any sense, I'd make some friends at the convention who could write in alongside my letter affirming that the tradition is sensible and the heir qualified."

He's taking notes; he doesn't want this to fail because he forgot to include some entirely reasonable provision.

"I don't expect that formalizing the process by which an heir is designated to pose any issues with the committee, nor requiring houses to formalize their traditional forms of succession with the Queen — there might be problems if any of them seriously expected her to withhold her blessing, but I trust that should not be an issue." Because the Queen can do what she wants and none of them can stop her, and everyone on the committee seems sensible enough to understand that, especially if he finds a way to spin the wording.

"I expect the committee to be reluctant to enshrine any provision explicitly prioritizing males, though of course many people will preferentially choose to designate their sons as heirs. I'm happy to take your advice on how best to present that matter to the convention; I would hardly wish to prevent honorable women from inheriting." (True, but he's being very selective about phrasing.)

"I did intend to use divinations for the anarchism provision — I'm sure there are many virtuous people among the rebels, but I confess that I would expect most of them to be unsuited to providing the stability that a county or even a barony needs. But if you think there are qualified individuals of such a disposition, I expect the committee would be willing to modify that provision slightly to allow the Queen to grant dispensations for individuals involved in overthrowing the previous regime." He is not quite managing to hide that this is the clause that's most important to him.

"Our first attempt at formalizing the qualifications made explicit reference to diabolism, but we revised it into the clause about 'manifest worship of any power of the lower planes' on the grounds that being a demon cultist or a div-worshipper should also be disqualifying. The committee was in wholehearted agreement on that point, and I'd be happy to revise the wording if you have an alternative suggestion, so long as it is, as you say, possible to reasonably enforce."

"I am broadly skeptical that you can run any kind of useful process off divinations like that," Carlota says, frowning. "I personally know a spell by which I could appear to be of whatever persuasion suited me, so long as I had a little time to prepare in advance. And the thing to keep in mind is that by far the greatest virtue of an inheritance law is not that it makes the best man lord but that it makes a single man unambiguously lord, one adequate enough he can hold it. Disputes about someone's anarchic character seem likely to be - not unambiguous. I do think oathbreaking, or perfidy, would be reasonable standards for disqualification."

He does not visibly react to that with anything but thoughtful consideration.

"I expect that — with the exception of those who appear anarchic for rising up against the previous government — the vast majority of lords and ladies of anarchic character would not rise even to the level of adequate. That's not just a matter of being able to hold the territory, but to govern it stably enough to prevent bandits from menacing the people, and of administering justice in something resembling a fair fashion. Verifying it with divination might not be sufficient to fully eliminate such people, but anyone who appears as such to a divination, again excepting the rebels, is certainly unqualified. By analogy, a family might keep an imbecilic heir recused enough from matters of court that no one notices they've designated an imbecile as their heir — but in cases where it is apparent, they should of course be disqualified, if it isn't the sort that can be fixed with magic."

Thoughtful pause. "Perfidy is certainly disqualifying, and the vast majority of oathbreaking — but the nobility was sworn personally to Abrogail Thrune, and I would hardly wish to disqualify someone merely for technically being in violation of that, any more than I would wish to disqualify the Comte de Ganisa." He supposes there's technically a risk that she decides that is disqualifying, but so far she seems sensible enough not to attempt to replace the entire preexisting crop of Chelish nobility. "And in any case, while such provisions would certainly be an improvement over nothing" and probably sufficient for his purposes if he can thread the needle just right "I worry that they would nevertheless leave in power anarchic men who are not merely imperfect but wholly inadequate."

"I don't know you to be wrong - my own acquaintances having overwhelmingly been lawful - but I believe the senior Galtan delegate, who is himself Elysium-bound on all accounts, would disagree. I suppose this convention itself may be proof or disproof of whether there's wisdom in his perspective. I think I'd be reluctant to vote for these rules as written but could imagine finding myself reassured by the character and diligence of the committee members." Which is a not particularly indirect way to say, what do you have to offer me?

The senior delegate from Galt is barely capable of ruling a single room of six hundred people, but of course she knows that.

"It is of course reasonable to want such assurances; I myself intend to rely on similar factors, in matters in which I have little expertise." Which is an equally unsubtle way of saying both that he'll obviously support approximately anything she tries to push through the convention floor and that he understands this to be clearly insufficient in terms of winning her support.

"Even under Thrune rule I sought to rein in some of the worst excesses of the Asmodean inquisition, with the result that my lands are not nearly so starved for priests as others at this convention." Both halves of this sentence are technically true but they have approximately no relation to each other; he had neither the time nor the goodwill with his peasants to hunt down Erastilians and Pharasmans. "I have also sought to ensure that my land's infrastructure is kept in good order insofar as possible" (very technically true) "and would be glad of the ability to support my fellows in similar projects, if I could be confident those resources would not be needed to quell disorder in my own lands." (Some people would mean that as a total non-concession, seeing as there's nearly always some way to turn additional resources towards quelling disorder, but he clearly intends it as a genuine offer, and expects to be good for it.)

"And of course, if there are any specific reassurances as to our character and diligence that would be of relevance, I speak for the whole committee when I say that I would prefer to eliminate any doubts about the quality of our work."