“You are welcome.

- would you like a hug.” That is sometime else the Shadow-Lover understands to have effects! A lot of things about souls are very confusing but that part they kind of understand.

Blai is not sure what the point of hugs is.

...he's pretty sure this god also doesn't know what the point of hugs is, which makes it much less awkward.

"All right."

The Shadow-Lover understands hugs and rest in a place where nothing hurts better than a lot of other things! Everyone needs to have different new information and is affected differently by it, but the souls that come here are affected in a fairly consistent and predictable way by being offered rest and hugs!

It’s a very good hug! Cozy and comforting and with all of the weird awkward bits left out, and - like even more of the thing where this place is quiet and peaceful and it’s impossible for thoughts to be acid.

The Shadow-Lover smells nice, apparently. 

How edifying about the point of hugs this is!

Is there anything else he needs to think about here in the time-dilated demiplane...

"- can souls here make it to Golarion afterlives?"

The Shadow-Lover doesn’t pause this time. Apparently the god has already considered it.

“We believe they would not be prevented. If a god of your world had greater remit than any of the gods here, which has never happened before.” 

"So mine would go on and you're just - borrowing it? - what about Seldan -"

“I cannot see directly. If it is true that you can say things to your goddess easily, and he wishes Her to have remit — We would not contest it.”

"...Iomedae doesn't so far as I'm aware manage soul destinations directly, that's Pharasma's department. If you can bypass that and hand off souls directly to Iomedae - or other gods - that might be very very important."

“We know very little about how your world works. Why does Pharasma have first remit over all souls, even when they do not follow Her?”

"She's the Creator and also the goddess of death and Judgment. I'm actually very confused about why She's letting your soul-recycling program here function, I would have guessed She'd object, has She not commented at all?"

“She has never communicated anything to any gods of this world, that We know.”

"Huh. I guess She lets Malediction exist and this might not be qualitatively different to Her.

The gods I would be inclined to recommend to You to speak with would be Iomedae if She is available, Cayden Cailean, who I already mentioned, Desna, of travel and dreams and the stars, Sarenrae, of redemption and the sun, Shelyn, of love and art, and Abadar, of trade. Not necessarily in that order. Maybe also Erastil, farming and hunting. If it helps to find them, they dwell in afterlife planes - Elysium for Cayden and Desna, Nirvana for Sarenrae and Shelyn, Heaven for Iomedae and Erastil, Axis for Abadar. If you have any experience of souls - flowing? - before you catch them, we call the mechanism that delivers souls to Judgment the 'river of souls' - that would lead to the Boneyard, the Neutral afterlife where Pharasma dwells, which I would expect to have a relatively direct connection to the other eight afterlives. I recommend against attracting attention from the Evil afterlives and less strongly against it with the Chaotic Neutral one."

The Shadow-Lover seems to be cataloguing all of this very carefully, in addition to continuing to hug Blai.

"The reason it might be important if you can pass souls directly to specific gods is that Judgment often sends people to the Evil afterlives and even Evil people should not go there. Nirvana wants them. I don't know how much the other decent afterlives want people who don't sort there when judged, but Nirvana will take them all."

"That is important," the Shadow-Lover agrees. "...Why does Judgment do that?" 

"Pharasma prefers to send people to afterlives matching their alignment. I don't know why She prefers this."

"How strange." The Shadow-Lover mostly seems confused, insofar as emotions come through legibly at all from the god's avatar, but - definitely does not seem to approve. 

(If Blai is still not objecting to being hugged then he will continue to be so thoroughly hugged. The Shadow-Lover thinks that part is important.)

One of the many things Blai doesn't know about hugs is how long it's normal for them to last!

"Is there any more detail Leareth should know about how You're steering for contact with Golarion - if I understood you correctly to mean that -"

Detail is so hard! Especially indirectly. 

This is important, though, and the Shadow-Lover will spend a long time (insofar as that means anything in the place mostly outside time) considering it. 

...The Shadow-Lover can see Blai, more clearly, at least right now while Blai's soul is here. 

"The Star-Eyed Goddess and Vkandis oppose this, but We can steer that Their distractions cost Them more than They gain. The path is straighter if he is not steered by Their distractions." 

Another long pause. 

"There is...a tool of the Star-Eyed Goddess...a soul who was important and is now removed from Her gameboard. That soul could help, but will not, unless the path is changed further than We can see." 

"...Brightstar?"

The Shadow-Lover seems to be trying this on. 

"He would have destroyed Leareth. You stopped him." 

"...I think that's Brightstar, yes. Can You hear prayers by people who are properly alive such that people could be updating You with information as it becomes known to us?"

Another thoughtful pause. 

"Most mortals are not close enough to Foresight. Companions are." 

"So I could be asking Seldan to give You situation reports?"

"You could."