It’s been a while since Alicia stopped by a tavern. Too long, frankly - she’s starting to get a bit homesick about it, though the cafe is similar enough to put off most of it. Probably it'd be harder to get paid for singing at this one than she's used to, but she's got magic and a delegate's stipend these days, she could do it free. She hasn't actually been to a Caydenite tavern before - if this one really is, instead of just using the name - but the most relevant thing she knows about him as a god is that he sometimes serenades Lady Shelyn, so probably his followers have good taste too. 

She'll order a beer and some comfort food, before looking for someone to talk to about music - maybe the tavernkeeper, if he's not too busy, but she knows how it gets in the dinner rush. This girl looks promising!

"Hello there!"

"Hi! Are you looking for clerical guidance of some kind?"

"Not exactly? I was looking for who I should talk to about singing here, but if you've got some guidance on offer I'd take it. Alicia Rivera."

"That would be the tavernkeeper." She points. "I'm the local cleric of Cayden Cailean but I have no connection to this establishment other than the tavernkeeper being Cayden Cailean's most enthusiastic worshipper."

She can go talk to him, then! It's a pretty easy negotiation once she gets his attention, because Alicia is charming, talented, and willing to work for free. Even she needs to give her voice a rest sometimes, though, and better to do it early then once it starts acting up on her - she'll take a break and go back to talk to Tetula. 

"I guess I do have some questions now, if you're not to busy. What's it like, worshiping Cayden? Like, how does your day go, what do you preach, that kind of thing."

"So far all I've done is be a delegate."

"Right, you were on the virtuous churches committee - I'm sorry for not recognizing you, it's been a bit of a long day. Are there any other committees that caught your eye?"

"I'm also on the one about rights-- that seems important because Cayden wants people to be free."

"That does sound pretty important - both because there are a lot of rights we really need to make sure to protect, like the worship of the good gods, and also because I expect some diabolists would love to have rights that prevent them from being investigated or convicted. Obviously some of them will be good at hiding it, but I'd still trust your gut instincts - do you think most of them are trustworthy?"

"I try to think the best of everyone!"

What a charming attitude! Remembering to always see the good in people has always been one of the hardest parts of following Shelyn for her, and one of the things she most often prays to the goddess for help with, so it's good to see that other good churches and their clerics also work towards it. Perhaps it's not the best attitude for identifying Diabolist plots, but - it's the way you would be to inspire them to be better than they are now, and she's not going to give that any less than the respect it deserves. Besides, having a cleric there on the committee reliably making Good proposals will probably limit their ability to trick people anyway.

"I'm glad to hear it. Is there anyone you think particularly highly of, then? For my own part I've been very impressed by Del Mar and Select Wain, as well as of course Solandra and Lord Damian from our shared committee."

"Enric Porras-- I don't remember the title for Erastilian clerics-- is very wise. And the Archduke of Sirmium is-- well aware of tradeoffs."

Alicia favors Tetula with a brilliant smile. She'll definitely have to look into both of those names.

"I'll see if I can meet them, then, getting to know more Good people isn't the main reason I'm at this conference but it's definitely an excellent side benefit. I suppose I've also got an official reason too, though - my other committee is the one on rooting out Diabolism, and I think it's the one I most wish was larger. I'm sure there are lots of things we just won't think of that we should, and that plenty of other people have thoughts they could share on the subject - it's something that touches on all of Cheliax, really."

"I was thinking about that in Rights, actually."

"Perhaps I ought to see if I can spectate it at some point, then, but I'm frightfully busy during convention hours as it is. The committees seem decently enough designed for getting things done quickly, but if I wanted to do everything as well as possible I'd have them meet half as often and let more people get around to more of them if I could."

"Well, we will eventually get to read the reports, right?"

"Eventually, yeah. But that doesn't change the fact that we're not there helping give ideas before the reports get made, and - sometimes a report doesn't capture all the nuance. Like on the virtuous churches, if the hellknight had gotten their way and we submitted their proposal to the floor by one vote, I think the plan might have ended up looking a lot more reasonable than it really is because everyone reading it wouldn't have heard all the problems and counterarguments to it. I figure most of the time the people on the committees will be able to avoid it by just submitting good plans to the floor, but maybe not always,  and there's also the opposite problem where a committee picks the best option but it's hard to understand all the details or the reasons for all the picks. Like all those things that you need everyone's perspective to know are important, people who don't have that perspective will probably be less sure about. That's why I've been trying to put together a group of people with good judgment who can tell each other about what their committee has been up to, so we can tell when something that sounds complicated is complicated because it's the only way to handle a complicated problem, or because it's a compromise between a bunch of people but still a good idea, or if it's because someone is trying to hide something people wouldn't normally support."

"That seems like a great idea! I'm definitely interested in Diabolism."