Purificació stands and applauds, cheering.

Yes--it's like she's known for years at this point--Good is there, if you can only bring yourself to reach out to it--

Most people in Cheliax aren't actually Evil? Awesome! He might not even have to shell out for an Atonement. Iomedae is great. Maybe he should try praying to her sometime instead of just Abadar.

She says, If you swore your fealty to Abrogail Thrune and still possess the lands, slaves, titles and riches that you stole under her auspices, and you are not repentant, then you ought to be afraid. Josep swore no fealty directly, but he obeyed, and would have sworn had it been asked of him, and he holds the lands and the slaves and the riches that he earned under Abrogai's rule, and he does not think, really, that Valia Wain or her ilk will spare him because he holds no title. 

She thinks that all of Cheliax would have followed the example of Pezzack. She conveniently forgets to mention all those in Pezzack like him, those who fled the city before the hammer came down; all those in Pezzack like his cousins, those who simply survived day to day as the siege went on; all those in Pezzack like his schoolmate, those who died in the streets or in their houses, afraid and undefended, because Valia Wain and her friends wanted to run their mouths about the queen and forgot to ask anyone else if they wanted to die for it. Funny how that works. 

Like she said, people aren't inherently evil.  He's not done enough to make himself Evil, so he's safe?  Right?

Daniel would have been more in favor of this before he moved to Cheliax and had to pick up the pieces of his family's ruined county. He's pretty sure 'the innocent' in Cheliax have quite a lot to fear from the antidiablosm committee, considering most of them are Evil.

Feliu ditches Joan-Pau with a wave. Hopefully Joan will see him. He can't catch Select Wain now, but he sure can the moment she leaves the room, to buttonhole her and tell her that this is not how you win.

Preachers of any kind have never had much impact on Theopho. Asmodean, Iomedan, Pure Legion, demagogues in Absalom he'd seen speak just for the novelty, their words roll off him and blur together until he misses good arguments even if they have them, buried in the slop. If you want to convince him of something, this way would never do it, no matter how right you might be.

But he can recognize them. Recognize people too splendid for their own good, who can't be convinced they're wrong because they're better at convincing people than anyone around them. Who can swirl up masses to their back and bring a riot anywhere they walk.

He's not afraid for himself. He's two moments from Absalom, if it comes down to it. That doesn't mean he's not afraid.

Professor Coeliaris is lawful good. She had it checked before she left, and every year. Tillia is good. They don't have anything to worry about. But this makes her nervous, and if this turns into another bloodbath, they're leaving immediately.

Perhaps it's time to try to prepare teleport again.

This is the speech of an only child who isn't close to her parents and doesn't have a lot of friends who aren't just like her. Raimon knows full well his mother has smothered two babies who came during thinner years than he did. Her friends have probably done in more. Is Raimon going to Hell? As he understands it, he can't, and can be sure of that as long as Calistria hands out the spells every morning. But that does not mean he has nothing to fear from a groundswell of This Sort Of Thing. Did she selectively buy all and only the propaganda that Chelish people don't care about anyone but themselves, that she thinks most normal people have nothing worry about?

Heloisa claps! They are not very likely to be rid of the diabolist nobles with one pretty speech, but it was a fine speech, after all.

Aniol will be happy to follow all this advice on how not to go to Hell once it has any chance of affecting the matter at all. He is getting to be wretchedly sick of people who on the one hand threaten the fires of the damned to elicit the behavior they want, and on the other condemn people in his situation for the impurity of their motives when those motives are one and the same.

Wow, what a great public speaking voice! Maybe she'll do it again during the pamphlet reading hour if Laia finds her to ask.

When Blai was in seminary a senior cleric once told him - witheringly, sarcastically, but still - "you may be glad to learn that your feelings do not matter at all".

He took that as permission. Permitted thus to be glad of the inconsequence of his feelings, he realized it was a gladdening fact: there was no urgency about sorting them out, there was no hidden meaning behind his twinges of random fear, there was no duty to report on them, there was no responsibility to beat them into any shape other than that which allowed him to carry out his orders. (This did not turn out to be the whole of the applicable doctrine. It turned out there were situations where there were expected feelings or situations where he was meant to use his discretion so as to be appropriately enjoying a tyrannical opportunity. But in the main, he -

- hears this, and it doesn't matter at all, how he feels about it.)

Ser Cansellarion has just returned to the hall following his meeting with Catherine and...

...Perhaps he shouldn't have left the Iomedan cleric delegation to their own devices. Not because Select Wain is wrong that the convention is full of evildoers, or wrong that a convention of only good people would create better laws, but - 

Archduke Narikopolus is trying, very sincerely. More than many others here. Alex knows that's in large part because he has more to make up for, more to prove than most, but - nonetheless. In fifteen years the Menadorians might be among the most Iomedan nobles in the country. And even if not... The church of Iomedae abandoned Galt, or at least so every Galtan believes and that's very nearly the same thing. Many, Catherine said, because they felt the purges weren't going far enough. The church of Iomedae cannot abandon Cheliax as well.

It's a good speech. She probably even means it, if she's an Iomedaean priestess. The problem — well, besides the fact that she's calling for his head — is that it isn't true. 

(This isn't the sort of thing he would have noticed, or been capable of noticing, five years ago. He'd never admit it, even to himself, but Joan's rubbed off on him a little.)

Most people are Evil. Most people will hurt others if it benefits them; most people won't help others unless it benefits them. The people of Cheliax are probably more Evil than the people outside it, but this is true of almost anyone anywhere. Even in Lastwall, people don't avoid hurting others out of the Goodness of their hearts, but because there are a lot more things that'll get you in trouble with the law.

And most people won't stand up and tell you no, when you conscript them into fighting your brother, as long as they know you're scarier than they are. 

He'd be worried, if she were right. Even with her being wrong, he'd be worried if she were in his barony; she's a good enough speaker to persuade people. 

But she isn't.

...Does she think everyone in the room is stupid?

"The innocent have nothing to fear" is just a way of saying that if you hurt someone, that means they weren't innocent. He wishes abruptly that he had checked how the anti-diabolism committee voted on the slavery issue. He's been worrying about his livelihood, not his life. That may have been a mistake. He needs to send a message home to his wife now, to start preparing to leave the country. Where to go... maybe Katapesh, he's heard good things about Katapesh. 

If the Queen meant to kill him, Archduke Narikopolus would already be dead. He tells himself that the Queen's will matters much more, on this point, than that of this convention hall.

He claps enthusiastically! Evil is the archdukes voting to make the normal people here give them all their money! Thank you, Iomedae!

And how many lives have you saved, Valia Wain?

Gods all curse idealists. And may Iomedae show her the error of her ways before she does any more damage.

If you swore your fealty to Abrogail Thrune and still possess the lands, slaves, titles and riches that you stole under her auspices, and you are not repentant, then you ought to be afraid.

He doesn't exactly still possess his riches, he cut the difference at a 53% loss to try to turn them towards a better direction.  But maybe that remaining 47% is still a reason to be afraid.  He'd be happy to be rid of it... if they cut away his debt owed to that useless wizard school, which Fernando is pretty sure swore featly even more often and more firmly and possess substantially more riches and slave and titles than he does.

The speech is passionate and energetic.  It might trigger a mob.  But Thea thinks Valia means well.  Thea is at least repentant enough to reach Lawful Neutral, she just needs time.  And for all Valia's passion, Thea knows, roughly at least, what the Acts of Iomedae teach.  Carefully weighing the costs, reaching out to make friends and allies, acting in good faith.  Thea thinks Valia should understand that she wants to help.

That's a fanatic.  And the future instigator of a riot, possibly a mob leader if the mob is organized enough to even have one.  How long do fallen clerics take to lose their powers?  It could be decisive in trying to fight through a mob if the mob is getting channeled positive energy.  They need to make sure their plans for swiftly sealing off the monastery are in place.  And Dia supposes they should warn Nuria and the Hellknight and the peasant of these plans so they don't get sealed out with a mob behind them.

And the worse part is Thea might still be trusting the propaganda that is the Acts of Iomedae and thus think Valia can be cooperated with in good faith.  Well, after an attempt to meet the anti diabolism committee today, hopefully Thea will recognize her folly and play things more intelligently (and listen to Dia more).

What a stupid little girl. 

Girl has a point. Arlet's not evil. She's a normal person doing normal things with her life and it was to the Asmodean clergy's benefit to lie to her about that when actually she doesn't need to change a thing.