A paladin approaches with a plate of tiny sandwiches. "May I sit here?"

Paladin!  Or at least a well armored cleric!  

“Uh, um, yes, of course!”  He stammers.

This could be a great opportunity, if he can avoid any too bad accidental heresies.  The temple has been too crowded for Fernando to get any questions answered.

"Thank you. I'm Ser Goés, and yourself?"

“Fernando, elected delegate to the constitutional convention.”

There is some pride in his voice at his position.

"I'm one of the Iomedaean delegates now. Where are you from?"

Now?  Oh wait!  If the convention isn’t a test, did a select of Iomedae really accidentally trigger a riot?  Best to avoid the subject.

“Sirmium, I moved around a circuit selling spells to smaller villages that lacked a dedicated laundry wizard or cleric.”

"Ah, I've been riding a circuit most of this last year myself - assizes in the Heartlands. And I suppose you must have been well-regarded to be elected by your customers?"

“More of being a familiar face throughout the county than any particularly strong well regard I think.”

It was probably a combination of hatred and the popular misconception that the convention was some combination of loyalty test and collective punishment, but no need to come out and admit it.

"How did they take to being offered the chance to vote?"

“Oh, uh, well… I think a lot of people assumed it was some form of collective punishment they were picking a sacrifice for?  I didn’t, obviously, that’s why I put my name forward.”

You'd think he'd have run out of surprise at some point. "- well, even if you were nearly certain they were mistaken that has to have been nerve-wracking," Elorri offers.

“I think I was doing fine until after I got to Westcrown”

…and met that Sower.

“and realized the scope of what we are doing at this convention.”

That part happened an hour ago.

“Do you know how the Judge looks on collective actions that affect an entire country?”

It would be nice to get some Good for the slavery vote.

"I know it's - reportedly very hard to do it unerringly. Ser Codwin of Andoran remains in good standing so I would expect it's not impossible but it's a terrible burden to put on people who never asked for it and do not have a god's hand assuring them of warning before they must account for themselves."

“Ending slavery seemed obvious enough, I was surprised the vote wasn’t overwhelmingly in favor.”

"In terms of the policy itself, yes. But intention matters as well as effect, and this is double-edged; it can save you if you mean well and make a mistake but it can also do the opposite. I worry there may be someone in the hall who contrived of their vote as a way to destroy people."

“Well, uh, wouldn’t destroying Evil enough people, like slaveowners, be Good?  Or at least neutral, you know, a necessary tradeoff?”

He is listening carefully for any hint of disapproval, or worse, plans to report Fernando for heresy.

"The ways in which that is sometimes true are complicated." He didn't think they were two years ago! He's revised his standards! "In terms of the intentions to hold in your heart as you vote to release halflings from bondage, no, that shouldn't be about destroying anyone."

Well, this is useful advice for getting free Good points and/or avoiding Evil points, Fernando just needs to avoid too strong a heresy the Paladin has to report him.

“Huh, I wouldn’t have thought it worked that way.  Is generally focusing on helping people as your intention the most reliable way to earn Goodness and mitigate Evil from intent?”

He needs to focus his intent on helping wizards in debt and not destroying the Wizard Schools to maximize his Good points.

"So - much information about this is fuzzy, as you may know, since it's so costly for the gods to explain it and then once they've done it there are many ways to misunderstand. I think that if you hold the action constant, what you describe would help, and it might be good to keep in mind for a simple choice like a vote where you must decide yes, no, or abstain; but in most situations you are not holding action truly constant."

So it’s not helpful outside the convention, but at least he can maximize Goodness earned while he’s here.

“I had another question if you don’t mind… it might be one of the fuzzier ones?”

"Please go right ahead."

“Do you know what the non-evil interest rate for loans is?  Or how to calculate it if it changes?  Or if it’s too fuzzy at least rules of thumb to keep it non-Evil?  I assume it’s greater than zero since Abadar is Lawful Neutral?”

"I don't have a lot of finance knowledge. I can tell you that the church of Iomedae works with the church of Abadar without hesitation whenever it's called for, and I don't think we would do that if we were thereby doing Evil or even supporting the Abadarans in doing Evil. I think Abadar falls short of Good not because His methods don't improve things for people - they can and often do - but because He's concerned intently with the means he prefers, trade, and still prefers it in situations where the results would be better another way. Goodness requires aiming at an end, the support of people in all their variety toward security and happiness."

Well, that answer is useless.

He tries to think of anything else he wants to ask… a few questions seem too obviously incriminating if Fernando’s guessed wrong.  He could try asking his loan question a different way?

“Does Lastwall have indentures?  How long do they last?  Does it ever have loans or indentures turn out as long as someone’s entire life?”

"I've never actually been to Lastwall; I'm Molthuni. Indentures where I grew up are limited term."