"...Oh." He taps the desk. "I'm not immediately sure what to do about that. Is there a fix?"

"...maybe. I don't know if it works if I say it, you might need to talk to the new [Clerics], but I might as well try - 'the gods are alive'."

"The gods are dead," he says. "Why do you say that?"

"I said it to check if it would get through the mental block but it didn't. Will you come meet the [Cleric]s?"

Sure! They have been sort of lingering outside.

"Can one of you please tell this gentleman that the gods are alive? It doesn't work when I do it."

"The gods are alive?" Hamil tries.

    "I still don't know why you're saying that!"

The professor raises a finger. "Is your question 'why are those sounds coming out of your mouth, they make no sense,' or 'why do you have that belief'?"

    "It's a grammatically sound sentence, but... I suppose it's the second thing."

"One of them visited me yesterday. He said his name was Laedonius Deviy. He's a god of our world, this world, not the Select's. He's not dead, he's alive."

    "I don't get it."

"They're alive." he snaps. "We heard them, touched them, he made me a [Cleric]. It's real. Don't just listen, you have to—try to hear and believe the words I'm saying. The gods are alive."

    "...Okay."

The professor asks, "Is that 'okay, I hear the words you're saying' or 'okay, the gods are alive'?"

    "Based on what you said, it's... plausible the gods are alive, I suppose."

She turns to Blai. "It's not obvious to me what he's doing different."

Hamil shrugs.

    "Was that the result you wanted?"

"I think so. Can we retry the search of the library now?"

The archivist [Locates References] again, this time going over the drawers more carefully, but—

"Nothing. Same result, I mean."

"Thank you. I'd appreciate best speed on calling for searches in other libraries."

"I'll contact other libraries as I think of them," he agrees.

Does he want to make a report to the King now?

Yep.

"We could," he says, "attempt to buy something from Axis. Abadar is said to have a copy of every artifact ever produced by mortals, including all of their books. I don't know how readily available His possession of a book makes it to a near-random inevitable we're trading with, but I can ask if you judge it worth the expense."

How does Abadar have a copy of every artifact made by mortals, how does that even work—not important.

"Your intent being to request a book 'concerning the matter of the gods of this world, at the time of their living and describing Kasigna and Laedonius Deviy among others', or along those lines?

"On the subject of expense... perhaps. We are willing to dispense for knowledge that may be actioned on, but not to trade riches for the mere satisfaction of historical curiosity. The dilemma, of course, that it is difficult to determine one way or the other without knowing the same information we seek. If it is less than a hundred times the price of the books you purchased previously, consider it approved. Otherwise, we shall have to contemplate it further."

"Per book or gross, your majesty?"

"Per book."

"I'll speak to Shfan. Thank you."

"If they quote a higher price, it's not necessarily denied, but it would warrant further consideration.

"What are your immediate plans for Professor Ariens and Hamil?"

"I am not sure of your policies as relate to making impositions on private subjects. It would be - convenient - if they were willing to remain in the project's vicinity and report on any further visions, Skills, etcetera, but I have no grounds to insist."

"Professor, Hamil, I ask that you obey the instructions of Select Artigas until he deems the ambiguities of the situation resolved to his satisfaction. If you have any trouble, you may appeal to us or Chancellor Llorick, but I trust the Select's judgment."

Aaaaah. "I don't think you've done anything wrong, you're just our only points of contact for these entities and we don't know yet what they want or how they mean to pursue it."

"Should we refrain from—proselytizing?" asks Hamil.

    "Should I avoid using the compass I was given—after it's back from inspection, I suppose—and should we avoid using our Skills?" The professor feels like all this is overblown and wants to get back to doing cool necromancy with her new toys, but she can appreciate caution and the King has spoken.

"I think you should hold off for now, at least until the low hanging investigative fruit has been picked."

:(

"Do you need anything else from us? The current leads, as we understand, are consulting Shfan, consulting the Historians of Ger, and casting Greater Detect Magic and Detect Alignment spells on the artifact. When do you anticipate being able to do the first and the last?"

"I can do all of those things tomorrow with my next day's worth of spells."