"Hello, do you require a bodyguard?"

"Maybe? I'm still... figuring that out, I guess."

"...I'm able to accommodate some reasonable requests for things like the sex and religious persuasion if that's relevant."

Probably she would actually feel more comfortable with a woman bodyguard, except then the bodyguard would probably be worse at fighting, which seems like it kind of defeats the point of having a bodyguard.

In any case that's not the actual issue.

"...well, it's more that — uh, apparently there are a bunch of people who want me dead? And I don't want to just get my bodyguard killed." And also bodyguards are for important nobles who think they're better than everyone else, but there's no way to say that without it sounding stupid.

"...paying someone to defend you is much cheaper than resurrecting you, and this prices in the risk to the bodyguard."

"...but is the bodyguard okay with it? ...or will you bring them back too if we both get killed, if they'll also come back then I'm definitely fine with having a bodyguard."

"Are you trying to tell me you only want a bodyguard if he has his own resurrection insurance? Some of them might but it wasn't a job qualification that the bodyguards already be that rich."

Victòria didn't even know that resurrection insurance was a thing! How would that work?

"...I'm not saying they need to be rich! I just don't want — if someone signed up to be a bodyguard to protect delegates from pickpockets and maybe have a tiny chance of needing to fight a mob, I don't want them to... get stuck defending me? If that's not — I don't know how to explain it better than that."

"These bodyguards were hired mostly in Absalom and Osirion at short-notice rates for defending politically important targets. I don't think they heard that and expected pickpockets."

She doesn't really think she's politically important! She's just a person! 

...probably if they're from other countries she doesn't have to worry about them going to Hell unless they actually deserve to, at least. A bodyguard who did deserve to go to Hell would admittedly also be bad but probably the archmage made sure the bodyguards weren't, like, secretly Norgorber cultists who liked to murder innocent kids. 

"...What are the, uh, religion options? Like you mentioned before."

"I've got a lot of Abadarans, obviously, but there's some people left who listed most other legally permissible deities as their favorites - they're not clerics, any of them, it's just where they go Sundays. You want a Calistrian?"

"A Calistrian would be great if you have one but it doesn't have to be a Calistrian, an Iomedaean would also be fine, or a Desnan, or probably lots of other gods if you don't have any of those." Victòria thinks of Desna as mainly the goddess of travel, but she wants a bodyguard so that she can travel to different places without getting hurt, and Desna's Chaotic Good so there's probably not anything wrong with her.

"Not a Sarenrite and probably not an Abadaran — or, it's fine if they sometimes pray to them, obviously, I'm not that picky." As far as Victòria can tell from what his priests have been saying, Abadar seems to mostly think that you shouldn't stop doing blatantly Evil things because it will make rich people sad. "And not someone who worships, like, Evil gods, or gods that technically aren't Evil even though they live in Hell."

Wow, who has anything against Sarenrae. (He doesn't say that.) "I've got a Calistrian. Oi, Jadon."

Jadon is a half-elf with twin swords on his back. He bows a little. "Avenger. This is my principal?"

"Looks like it."

"Hi! It's, uh, nice to meet you, I'm Victòria."

"Charmed. Anything I need to know about your schedule, lodging situation, scary looking friends who like to greet you with their swords drawn in a deceptively friendly manner, etcetera?"

She glances around to make sure there aren't any other delegates within earshot.

"I've been staying at the temple of Shelyn, one of the other delegates I talked to thought it would be less likely a noble would be willing to just walk into a Shelynite temple and murder me. —Uh, a bunch of the nobles are mad because I helped Valia with her speech. There's also a pamphlet calling for my death but it doesn't have a description of what I look like or anything, they didn't even know my name, just that I was a Calistrian priestess.

My schedule is... I mean, the convention takes most of the day. I was going to go to Lluïsa's office after this but we both got invited to a party so I think we're going to have to reschedule. I didn't really have a consistent thing I was doing in the evenings after the convention, probably it won't be the same thing every day." She'd kind of planned to try going for a long walk every day like the azata suggested, it seemed like the sort of thing that couldn't hurt, but first there was all the rain and then she got arrested and now she might get murdered if she tries.

"And I don't think my — friends — are going to show up and threaten you with weapons or anything. I did get arrested a couple days ago? But they let me go after, I don't think they're going to arrest me again.

Uh, I'm first circle, but I don't know all the spells there are so if there are spells that are helpful for not being murdered I might not think to ask for them. And I channel negative, I'm Chaotic Neutral."

"Well, I'm not going to stop you from getting arrested but anything short of that I should be able to at least slow down. I don't know if Calistria gives out anything special, I used to adventure with a Gorumite, but I can tell you what he used to go for in his first circle slots. I don't know who any of those people are but I can come with you to parties and offices generally speaking."

Nod. "What'd he prepare? ...If I go to meet with someone and I don't want you to listen in can I have you, like, wait outside or something?"

"Yeah, of course you can, maybe with some signal if you don't like how things are going on your side of the door. He liked Shield of Faith and Bane and Divine Favor and summonses. ...and also Compel Hostility but that is not applicable in this situation. Plus if you channel negative you have to prepare your Cures."

Nod. "The signal idea sounds good, do you have a suggestion for what kind of signal to use?"

"We used to do it like, you cast a Light, I hold it, and you cast a new one on your side of the door casual-like if you want me to burst in."

Oh, that's clever, she wouldn't have thought of that. "That sounds good to me. I didn't ask for Light today but I can ask tomorrow."

"You can also just yell," he shrugs.

"Fair enough. Is there anything else we need to figure out now?"

"Are you going to want me to kip near you in the temple, will the Songbirds allow that?"