Reply that afternoon: Germina has records of Miracles but nothing mechanically specific. No mention of summoning outsiders. The Quarass will probably be able to provide specifics from memory, but they're in negotiations  so if it's not high-priority she's probably not going to get to it before the treaty with Reim are finalized at the end fo the week.

One of his staff that's familiar with local magic does mention that there are "summon elemental" Spells which don't actually summon anything from another plane, but rather create new elemental entities with golem-intelligence.

What is the nature of golem-intelligence as it's understood here?

It's not a very well-defined term, but basically intelligences that can take natural language instructions, can only perform complex tasks if the task is very precisely specified or the construct is specifically engineered for it, and can't reason about abstract objectives or make common-sense adaptive corrections.

So you can tell it to attack something, or move something from one place to another, but can't ask it to do math, or come up with an attack strategy, or cook a meal (unless it's a custom cooking golem programmed with cooking subroutines).

That would be a pretty serious nerf relative to Planar Inquiry. He'll plan to call Shfan and ask it about it, though he's a little concerned he's going to get the "silently paying itself six more diamonds" behavior again.

There are "summon" Skills and Spells which work by moving things to you, like [Summon Allies] or [Summon Document]. If he's calling Shfan anyway he could try doing it with the Miracle just to see if it works, right?

No, the point of calling Shfan with the spell first is to get its permission to experiment on it.

He's the boss!

...these people understand that inevitables are people, right, and if the miracle does something weird it might harm a person who has been nothing but cooperative (in a mysterious inevitable way, but still)?

Right. They're not used to reasoning about his variant of summoning, but when they think about it more like [Summon Ally] than [Summon Fire Elemental], it makes sense. They don't really have a threat model where a Skill... a Miracle from the system will do anything actually bad, but of course you shouldn't use untested Skills on acquaintances without notice.

The fire elementals he summons are also people, though they're pretty dim people, at the size he can get ahold of with his current power level.

Unless there budgetary objection, the next day he preps a Planar Inquiry, compensates Shfan for participation in the experiment, and then Miracles at it.

It takes a bit of mental effort to cast, and when he does, he feels... weakened, in the same dimension. Not in the way of a Skill, where he can sort of tell how many uses he's got left but is mostly personally unaffected. He feels less sure of himself, less confident in his thoughts, less mentally grounded...

If you were to quantify it in Pathfinder mechanical terms, an approximate model might be that casting the Miracle requires a DC 10 will save, and on success applies to him a –10 penalty on will saves. He can't immediately tell how long it'll take to wear off, assuming it does.

For the Miracle itself, it has a similar but noticeably different mental texture and interface than a Skill. It offers the same options for specifying a summonee as Planar Inquiry.

Oh, wow, he hates it, why is that happening. Shfan, please, mysterious miracle. Guidance, for the paltry help it is.

Dialing Axis, please hold.

Eventually Shfan shows up. It reports that the call felt odd but was mostly presenting a Planar-Inquiry-type interface - sort of as though there were a third kind of magic, neither divine nor arcane. It goes home after describing the differences insofar as it can.

Blai retreats to his office to wait out the will save problem.

It doesn't significantly decay for around half an hour, then starts to wear off faster, half strength by the end of two hours, then three more to be completely gone. It does feel like he can do it again before it's worn off, if he can make the save to cast. It might get easier with practice as he gets used to it? It's closer to being hit by Qualm than having his Wisdom cursed.

He's never actually been on the receiving end of a Qualm. It's not a favorite of the demon hordes.

Once it seems gone he emerges again. Reports to the King in case he wants to know that """"Miracles"""" are a thing.

"Interesting. If 'Miracles' are a recurring phenomenon for religious classes, should the clerical programs be selecting for strong-willed individuals, as well as wise ones?"

"I would usually identify those as the same thing, though I'm not aware of any discernment methods capable of teasing them apart if they were separate so perhaps they are."

"File a non-urgent request to the Quarass for comment; her experience will yield more useful insights than our speculation. If there is nothing else, you may go."

"Thank you, your majesty." Off he goes. Who does he give a note for the Quarass to?

His comms staff can handle it.

Note for the Quarass and back to cultivating a bunch of fledgeling churches.

On 17 Elfebelfast, the Quarass sends a letter.

To Select Artigas and whom else it may concern,

As agreed in previous negotiations, I provide in this letter information which will aid you in your search for concrete knowledge of gods. The Quarass does not possess any recollection or knowledge pertaining to the topic. However, there are other sources that may be of use to you.

The first is the Carven City of A'ctelios Salash, which lies to the south of Chandrar. It is believed to have never fallen in all of its history, which stretches at least thirty-four thousand years, and claims to have never suffered internal revolt, and therefore may have the most intact and ancient records among all sources I know of. It is highly reclusive and secretive, but does accept visitors, so a personal visit may be necessary. Note that the corpse of the ancient being which A'ctelios Salash is carved into is said to have climbed up from over the edge of the world, and may, considering recent events, be a god itself.

The second is the Kingdom of Calanfer, of Terandria; more specifically, the Eternal Throne of Calanfer upon which the capital city is built. Calanfer itself is young, but the Eternal Throne was gifted to its first Queen Marquin by Dragons after the conclusion of the Creler Wars, and is itself far more ancient, of age unknown. It may contain records by its previous Draconic owners predating the memory of the Quarass. It is possible that these records and other features of the Eternal Throne are unknown even to the current occupants; Dragons do not part easily with their secrets, and the gifting was contentious at the time, after its prior owner which had been slain in the Wars.

The third is the Dragonlord of Flame, Teriarch. He is the oldest dragon I know of which may still live to this day. He is at least forty thousand years old and was last sighted in the Creler Wars six thousand years ago, after which he returned to hiding. Those who assume from his inactivity that he is dead are fools with a lack for perspective. Dragons do not die quietly. Teriarch was in good health when he was last sighted; it is possible that he has met his end since then, but more likely he retreated into seclusion. If he still lives, he may be found in Izril, where most recently made his home.

The Dragonlord of Flame is the oldest of these three and most likely to possess relevant knowledge, but the least likely to be accessible; I know of no specific clues to his potential location. Negotiating for access to the Eternal Throne of Calanfer will likely be a lengthy and unfruitful process; espionage may be more effective on that particular front. A'ctelios Salash is the easiest to make inquiries to, but is less amenable to diplomacy, although not as much as its reputation may suggest. I do not recommend espionage operations in A'ctelios Salash.

Regarding Miracles: they are known to us and were a common feature of religious classes. They cost faith to use, which naturally empowers the stubborn, zealous and delusional, whose blind faith cannot be as easily depleted. I advise against blindly selecting for the most faithful and fiercely-willed in your clergy, and suggest instating institutional policies to forestall the inevitable regression towards fanaticism which befalls many a religion.

The Quarass of Germina

Well, time to warn all his spellcaster-clerics about using class-given Miracles.