He did this to himself, it was all his idea, he could have listened to any of a dozen people who told him not to do it even though he didn't agree with their reasoning! He has absolutely no business feeling like he is about to vomit! And the conversation with the Calistrian went sort of okayish! So he's used up all his okayishness for the month and will not be okay until Erastus!

"Of course; my temple is this way."

“Thank you… I’m Thea, delegate of the faith of Irori.”

She decides to push on straight away.  Hopefully, having been murder by a mob himself, he’ll do a better job than Valia at not letting her information leak to a mob that comes after her.

“So I was raised in a cult dedicated to Eiseth, and they taught us a pretty warped idea of Law (in addition to being Evil), and they had an odd relationship with the hierarchy of the rest of Cheliax I’m only now making sense of in hindsight, and I’m working on making Lawful Neutral (I’m currently Lawful Evil) so I thought you might have useful thoughts to share.”

"My seminary covered Eiseth but only very cursorily, so I'm afraid I can't guess what warped ideas those might have been."

“They probably tried to keep their ideas secret from the Asmodean Church anyway.  They basically made sure that our sense of Lawfulness was completely divorced from obeying society’s laws or obeying anything outside their internal hierarchy.  And emphasized discipline and obedience to strength.  So that we could be assassins and covert agents but still read Lawful Evil.  At least, that’s what I’ve inferred in hindsight.  Maybe ignoring legal laws in favor of obedience and discipline is normal for other lawful evil teachings?”

"The church of Asmodeus had its tensions with the agents of the state but on the whole was well aligned and required adherents to obey the law where it applied. But Law is not identical to following the commands of whatever organization one happens to be in. Demons controlled by shrewd warlords often manage that for a surprisingly long period of time."

“I assume something about their teaching was lawful… actually I suppose Eiseth only needed Neutral Evil to select clerics?  I might be an exception in being Lawful?  I don’t actually know, most of the other former acolytes I’m left with are children, and the fully initiated members took all the records and writings with them.”

"Neutral Evil would do, yes. The Church didn't consider it a high priority to inculcate Law, just to ensure that anyone who sorted Neutral Evil at Judgment would tend to prefer Hell over the Abyss."

“That would explain it.  I guess I’m lucky I was Lawful enough for Irori.”

She pauses to mull it over.

"Were you Eiseth's before? I don't know what fraction of your order were clerics."

“I wasn’t chosen no, I was just a monk nearing full initiation.  I couldn’t tell you myself the true number of clerics, there were at least several other cells the details of which were secret to me.  We had enough healing to keep us healthy even with regular fights to near death as we came of age.”

"- as a circling measure, devotional practice, or both?"

"It was framed in theological terms at the time, but I think in truth it was primarily as a circling measure... well whatever the analog of circle is to monks.  I guess the development of ki?  My guesswork done in hindsight is that they lacked lower profile missions to use as training and lacked the resources or connections to find other more productive activities to use to strengthen us on."

"If you haven't already I think you should probably put a stop to that."

“I already did, immediately after being picked by Irori.”

She won’t mention how it was initially a pragmatic decision about her limited amount of healing.

She’ll move on to her next question.

“You mentioned in your interview you thought you were Lawful Neutral from some combination of fighting demons and a unique attitude even as a priest of Asmodeus?  Could you elaborate?  I’m trying to work my way up from Evil…”

"I don't know if I was, on the day He withdrew magic from His clerics, already Lawful Neutral. It took Iomedae some time to collect me and I could speculate about that that it had some relationship to my alignment or its trajectory, but it would be only speculation. But - I was very focused on containing the demons and that's something even paladins can do. I wasn't personally ambitious and abhorred the sabotage of colleagues some personally ambitious officers undertook. I permitted my subordinates the regulation amount of tortuous discipline of their inferiors but for myself preferred to reassign people if having them into my office for a chess game and dressing-down didn't curb misbehavior."

“Huh, you were able to maintain discipline just doing that?  That is pretty impressive.  I myself discontinued almost all use of corporal punishment on my younger sisters to give myself plenty of margin away from Evil.”

"The reassignment was possibly load-bearing. I believe I eventually had a reputation and anyone with the wherewithal to do so who expected to thrive at #11 collected there. The men who could not maintain an adequate standard of behavior under my system still wound up tortured, just at other hands."

“Still, even with a select group, it makes me optimistic about how little corporal punishment you can get by on.”

Now how to get more exact numbers.  He seems straightforward, she’ll ask directly as gently as she can.

“I’m trying to figure out how long doing charitable actions I should expect making Lawful Neutral takes… I have one ‘accidental’ death and one outright murder… you defended the worldwound for a little over 20 years if I understood correctly?  And avoided direct torture and murders in that time?  And before that… I can’t imagine you made it through seminary without some torture and murder… if you don’t mind me asking… what is the number of deaths and murders you were responsible for?”

"- so, I'm not sure that number is going to be useful to you, because plenty of the deaths were executions for judicial reasons, and some of them were in fact after I adopted the Lastwall disciplinary handbook. The number of definitively inexcusable deaths is four." He has practiced saying it now and while he vividly imagines stuttering it he doesn't. Yay. "But I think it is - more expensive - to change your alignment by trying to change your alignment as opposed to while trying to accomplish some Good thing out of its inherent desirability to you."

Twenty years and four murders is… she struggles with the math… 5 years per murder?  That seems reasonable?  Except the caveat he gave.

“I have some Good and non-Evil things I’m doing out of my own clear desire, like doing right by all my younger sisters.  The charity was on top of that in hopes of speeding up the process…”

If it’s barely getting her anything in alignment, she’s definitely not expanding her effort at housing and feeding beggars, but it would feel unlawful to kick the 3 she’s currently got out.

“I suppose I can direct future charitable efforts at things I care personally about.”

She’s heard vaguely about the Sower’s adoption sermon, she could talk to him about the wisdom of trying to raise a few more besides her sisters.  And maybe offer free reading lessons to girls if the schools don’t get reopened?

"This is to be clear a Pharasmin decision and not a decision by any Good god, if I am correct about it at all. Monetary charity at least does not do less good if the motive behind it is venial."

“I should try to learn more about her theology… I’ve been working through reading Holy Texts of various non-evil Gods.  That reminds me, are there any commentaries on the Acts of Iomedae for common people you would recommend?”

Thea suddenly has a clever idea.

“You know, given how packed the church has been (I assume from the desperation of the populace for Good teachings?), the censorship bill leaving many scriveners unemployed, the drop in price of paper over the past year, and the high literacy of Cheliax… if there was a suitable commentary for the Chelish people, you could have it copied and sold at cost.  It would be a substantial improvement on pamphlets, the few rare decent pamphlet series like the Inquirer not withstanding.”

"I actually have several different commentaries I brought back with me from Lastwall and you are welcome to Scriven copies if you will do it in the temple of Iomedae, they would be awkward to replace if something occurred in transit. None of them speak very specifically to the Chelish condition but it's possible when I have enough information to write the book I've been advised to produce it will take the form of a commentary on the Acts, though that doesn't seem likely to be the best form factor at this moment."

She smiles happily.

“I have scrivener’s prepared today, I don’t have enough paper on me but I can buy some and start making a copy this evening.  And yes, I’m fine staying at the temple with them while I make the copies.”

She’s mentally tired, but casting and recasting a cantrip is easy, almost relaxing compared to the convention.  And she can start reading as she copies!

“I suppose Chelish circumstances are pretty unique.  And if you’re writing a book from scratch, I suppose a commentary isn’t necessarily the best form.  Anyway, if you write a book I will be one of the first to line up to buy a copy, or even make one myself.  Is there any information in particular you are searching for?”

"I gave the interview to the Inquirer specifically because I hoped to elicit - questions and comments from anyone who thought, based on its information, that my experience would be valuably informative to their needs. So the nature of the conversation you chose to have with me is itself helpful."

“I’m glad I could be of help.  I should note I might be a bit unusual because of my background.  I’ve noticed I’m a bit more direct and a bit less subtle than most people.”

“I think I’ve asked my main questions, did you have any more for me?”

"What should I know about Irori?"

She should get better at proselytizing, she hasn’t bothered that much.

“Irori desires that people are able to pursue mental and physical perfection.  This is traditionally pursued through monastic training including exercise and meditation.  I’m still unsure if the monastic arts are Irori’s preference in and of themselves or if they are simply the best path to perfection, but either way that is the direction my existing skills and training are in so it’s the path I’m pursuing.  Irori values self-reliance, discipline, humility, knowledge, and truthfulness.”

"All good things. Do you happen to know why He's Neutral?"

"I'm not actually completely sure?  I think he favors an attitude focused on oneself and one's own perfection which isn't Evil but also isn't very proactively Good?  And he likewise isn't proactively pushing a Good overall plan like Iomedae, as opposed to aiding people individually when his support is requested?"

"That makes sense. The proactivity part, I mean. Like Abadar, a framework to be relied upon for good or ill."

"Right!  Except instead of money and numbers and an orderly society, Irori's focus is meditation and discipline and an orderly self."

"What have you been focusing on to that end so far?"

"Reworking all of the training and teaching of myself and my younger sisters.  The Sisterhood of Eiseth focused on a bare minimum of intellectual studies, like basic literacy and theology (of Asmodeus and Hellish Demigods).  So I've expanded to a much broader curriculum of reading.  I mean to improve on our math as well, but I'm not good at that myself.  And they taught us meditation, but with strictly utilitarian aims like developing Ki usage, resisting spells, staying focused in combat, and collecting information in espionage.  So I've expanded the range of meditations we practice based on those described in Irori's holy text to more broadly develop the mind.  Stuff like generally improved memory and understanding and reasoning ability.  And finally I've reworked our philosophical approach so it is no longer emphasizing pride and brutal revenge and striving to force our place in the world but instead on self-improvement."  

"And then I've been busy with practical matters... like keeping us financially stable.  The fully initiated cultists of Eiseth took all of the money when they left us acolytes, so I was lucky the shortage of clerics drove prices so high I could support all of us despite only being at first circle."

"How many of you are there to support? Was the Sisterhood previously doing no remunerative work other than covert ops?"

It feels kind of awkward to discuss her abbey’s problems, but Select Artigas seems to have both discretion and good sense, so he should either offer worthwhile advice or at least not go spreading it around if he has nothing helpful to offer.

“Myself and 2 others are of age and there are another 16 sisters ranging from just under age to five years old.  And indeed, you are basically correct, the Sisterhood of Eiseth had a cover operation of a crematorium, but almost all their money came through, uh payment for covert operations.  Most of our skill is martial… I’ve been considering taking up adventuring or arranging it for the sisters that are of age, but I wanted to have things on a stable footing before doing that.  Oh, and I started renting rooms, the monastery was barely half full even before all the full members of the Sisterhood of Eiseth abandoned us, so just finding enough tenants will be enough to get us financially stable even without worrying about how my spells sell."

"That's clever of you, especially with the lodging market the way it is at present."

"It's obvious in hindsight, but it actually took embarrassingly long for me to think of it, I only started a few months ago, and I've been choosey with my tenants, I don't want anyone that will cause any trouble.  But yes, I'm happy with the solution."

"Well, it sounds like you have it well in hand however awkward it was to inherit."

"I think we'll be okay unless there is something major I've missed.  I'm not sure how much slack I'll have to proactively offer beneficial services to the public, like classes on meditation on something, I'll think about things after the convention." 

"I suppose I do worry something outright idiotic might be passed in the convention.  Like if the conservative nobles that thought the censorship bill didn't go far enough succeed in passing some blanket ban that incidentally bans all writing and leaves it to the discretion of prosecutors or something absurd like that."

"At their best the pamphlets were encouraging about the remaining spirit of Cheliax and it is a pity they had to go. I'm not sure how optimistic to be about the convention, but there are nine paladins there now, so that's something."

'At their best' is doing a lot of work in that sentence.  Thea won't argue about it though.

"The better sortition delegates seem worth a lot... they've made me rethink a lot of opinions I had about commoners."

"Oh?"

"Prior to the convention, I hadn't reexamined the attitude I had been raised with that commoners were weak willed, lacking strength, and/or easily coerced and manipulated.  All of these flaws have had clear counter examples at the convention, besides the obvious example of Delegate Tallandria, I've seen many sortition delegates regularly pursue their goals and interests with determination and cleverness and resistance to schemes to sideline them or manipulate them."

"It's the commoners from whom are drawn almost all of Cheliax's wizards, priests, and - unless I am confused about where your order gets its five year olds - monks. That some of them might be worthy in ways not well represented by those particular extraction methods is no great surprise to me."

"Putting it like that, it does seem obvious in hindsight.  I suppose even if that argument had been put to me before the convention I would have still failed to grasp just how much strength there is in the common people that the infernal regime had failed to extract and apply to it's own ends... Delegate Tallandria mentioned in an education committee meeting that she was failed out of school and beaten near to death.  That example seems like a clear indictment of everything about the old regime."

"A lot of people - do much better under gentler disciplinary arrangements. I was in the habit of collecting those people, at the Worldwound, and exchanging away people not well described that way. I'm sure the military pipeline did not deliver me anyone even more on that end of the distribution but I am unsurprised they exist."

“Huh, I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

She had thought a lack of usage of pain an obstacle to overcome, not something that could play to some people’s strengths… she tries to work through the implications but finds herself mentally drifting, she is pretty tired after the convention.

They're at the temple of Iomedae now. "Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

“You answered all my questions and more, thank you for your help!  Good luck with your book.  If you can have a commentary ready, I’ll be back with paper, I want to get started on a copy right away!”

The thought of another book to add to her library wakes Thea up.

"Of course. I'll see you presently."