Has it occurred to you that possibly if he were a proper Asmodean we wouldn't now be without all our clerics, and that the lack of discipline around here is a bad thing, and that ignoring things until they get inconvenient enough to merit shipping people to other forts is a stupid and extraordinarily costly way of solving discipline problems that could be solved with a single normal punishment? No, of course not, because you're barely even a spellcaster and were appointed to your position purely for your slavish devotion to the commander's problem-solving method of not doing anything.

She doesn't say that, obviously. 

"I acknowledge my error in not having realized how grateful I should be." She actually hadn't particularly resented the commander for being lazy until being told she was supposed to be grateful but now she does. "I can probably pick up wands but I don't think I can pick up wands of cleric spells, certainly not before our inevitable deaths."

"Endure Elements isn't cleric-only. Dismissed."

It will only delay their inevitable deaths by a few weeks but sure, she can start burning the fort's spellsilver to make wands of endure elements. Probably. How complicated could it be?

Artigas is little-seen for the next while. He takes meals in his quarters and mostly operates through Grec. When a demon stuns itself within sight of the fort he does emerge to help beat it to death, then retreats.

Perhaps he too is wondering if he should have been a better Asmodean, even if it's too late now. 

(She totally could assassinate him. She's got all this spellsilver and you can really assassinate anybody with enough spellsilver. But she doesn't actually want to, and she actually isn't a traitor, and also it's deeply nonobvious what the next step would be. They're all going to die; they may as well die with more dignity than the demons do it.)

Supply continues erratic. He dismisses almost all of the camp followers, sending them on the long slog one patrol at a time to the overland supply hub where they can be sent home. Or fuck off into Mendev if they'd rather; there's no real reason to stop them from doing that. The ones who stay are assigned to hauling in snow to melt and drink and are not to be detained from doing so. Rumors continue to filter in, from patrollers, that the Wound's been closed by the archmagi who conquered Cheliax, but there hasn't been any noticeable downturn in the demons so people are skeptical. Grec tells her they're to stop preparing Detect Thoughts; they need the Endures and the Infernal Healings.

One morning he strides into the mess hall at breakfast with his table knife on his necklace in place of the pentagram, carrying his Light-doodad. He casts Light on it in front of everybody, with the knife, and announces, "I am again a cleric of the third circle answering now to Iomedae. Expect changes accordingly."

Oh thank - Iomedae, she guesses, that's who to thank - they're not all going to die. They're not quite out of spellsilver yet and they have a third circle cleric again and they might not die.

Carissa does not know anything at all about Iomedae but it does not matter. The god that exerts themself to gain your worthless soul is the one to obey.

She will close her eyes and pray very diligently for Iomedae's correction. And for - Heaven, she supposes, rather than Hell, though that's a very terrifying leap to make while still unsure if Asmodeus is going to eventually destroy it -

The mood about it is mixed but even stretched across hundreds of people a Create Food and Water is a welcome respite at the Wound. Rumor has it Artigas burns the fort's scroll of Malediction. He writes a letter to Lastwall for instructions, but it takes a long time to turn around. The camp-followers-turned-snow-gatherers are now all on kitchen duty except one who's managed to get herself ingratiated to the quartermaster's assistant, and they have instructions to report directly to Artigas if anyone touches them and they would rather that not be happening. Every fort is understrength and even if he can't get replacements he will still reassign units that can't behave to the neighbors, and those don't have any clerics at all. He gathers everybody who needs a channel twice daily in the mess hall; wizards are not to spend slots on Infernal Healing anymore. Sometimes he visits the neighboring forts to channel there, then turns around and comes right back with the next patrol. When he gets the return letter with the Lastwall disciplinary handbook, he Scrivens a copy, has each wizard Scriven one too, and puts them about as the new law of the fort. It means no more chess, and some people are very alarmed about that.

It doesn't actually seem to forbid chess, it just says that the punishments for misconduct should be...punishments...which seems appropriate and correct to Carissa. Lenient punishments, but - Lastwall does hold their share of the Wound, and if this is how they do it then it must not be intolerably lenient even if it looks it.

She reads the rest of it.

They put people to death for rape! She...has no idea how to feel about that, actually. It seems really quite excessive but in the satisfying way that sometimes witnessing a really gory execution is satisfying. 

Yeah he has to put seven people to death for that when one kitchen girl talks.

That in fact seems kind of excessive once she witnesses it. In a satisfying way, but still. They do...in fact...need to save the world.

What is Iomedae's objective to just torturing people for rape and then not having them be in Hell and having them continue to be available to save the world?

The handbook doesn't specify! Does she want to try asking the priest?

- yes, actually. It seems important, if they are Iomedae's property now. 

"Lord Commander. I am trying to understand the teachings of Iomedae regarding punishment."

"- well, I've read the same handbook you have but my guess is probably better than yours. What about them?"

"It seems to me that putting people to death makes this fort weaker, and sending them to Hell doesn't serve Iomedae. I see why she'd do it for things like desertion that you can't otherwise discourage, but - rape you can discourage easily enough by just torturing people."

"I'm not actually sure you can. It is not systematically tried in the forts that would have enabled the experiment. It does seem like it ought to work in principle. Sending anyone to Hell doesn't serve Iomedae but I think this doesn't slow down Glorious Reclamation soldiers taking our cities back home and apparently it is not to slow me down rooting out men who can't keep their bits to themselves. It's possible that it would be directly Evil in such a way that I'd lose my spells again, to order or allow it, whereas by-the-book swift execution is construed by the Judge to be a matter of Law and not Evil."

Well those are as good guesses as any. Carissa will think less of Iomedae but only moderately so. "No further questions, sir."

"Dismissed. - actually, no, I have something unrelated to tell you."

"Yes, sir?"

"Your personnel file instructs that you are not to be allowed to know that you are a dramatically swifter and more valuable crafter than most. There's nothing specifically about this in the Lastwall handbook but I'm operating under the assumption that I'm no longer allowed to lie. You may see the file if you wish."

What?

"- oh, because people improve more if they think they're behind? Do people improve more if they think they're behind? Why would Iomedae want to forbid that?"

"- based on the file alone I cannot rule out that this was among the motivations for the instruction but it read to me more like you'd be a defection risk if you knew what your abilities would command elsewhere. I don't actually know if I am forbidden from lying; I've met Iomedaean paladins, but not clerics. It seems safer than assuming the rule does not apply to me."

Carissa wouldn't defect and is quite upset someone thought so!! 

"Are we all supposed to be doing that, since we're Iomedae's now?"

"You're not going to lose spells if you break one of Her rules and if it were required for me to order all soldiers under my command to give up lying I do think the handbook would mention that, so no."