"I think a lot of things are a mix of both. The Good, and also the fact it can be relied upon to continue."

This seems like the kind of advice that would be really relevant if he were the Queen of Cheliax, and not the Archduke of Menador. But he did ask, even though the border is the one thing he doesn't need advice on. This isn't really the conversation he meant to be having at all, and he's not completely sure how to have the conversation he meant to.

"Unfortunately, our border is mostly orcs and Kuthites. I don't think things were different there under Aroden, and I don't particularly expect them to be different now. But I do expect we'll see many other positive changes, as we learn and change our course."

"Are there specific questions that you wanted to consult us on?"

These people are really way more reluctant to tell him anything about the party line than he was hoping. He's going to have to somehow painstakingly draw out the information about what he's supposed to be doing, without being so obviously Asmodean in his assumptions that they report back that he needs to be removed immediately. 

"Well, it's not much of a guide, but I suppose the one I was advised to ask was - if not a new temple, then what? What needs to be ripped out and replaced first?"

"The - legal system, probably. I suspect that Asmodean Cheliax punished a lot of things that should not be punished, and punished things much more harshly than is necessary or just. ....torturing people to death is Evil."

"Well, of course."

....wait.

"Oh, you mean - always?"

"Yes. Always. Even as a punishment for crimes."

Have they managed to infuriate the archduke already.

"Huh.

Well, what do you do instead?"

"Lastwall beheads people, or hangs them so as to break the neck instantly."

"So in a case of, say, petty treason, you still want to kill them, but you want to do it as quickly as possible?"

"- Lastwall does not have, uh, petty treason, and I don't know precisely what actions it describes. There are crimes for which the sentence is death, sometimes without exception and sometimes only if other features of the case make it particularly egregious."

"For murder."

"Yes. Lastwall executes people for murder. As swiftly as it can be done."

"Huh.

Valèria, entertain these gentlemen for an hour. I have to go kill someone before I decide whether that makes any sense at all."

"All right. Hurry back."

"Thank you."

It is really extremely encouraging that he is willing to actually do it even if he hasn't yet decided if it makes any sense at all.

Narikopolus rides out to the town square, not alone, but not with anyone he couldn't wave over on the way to the door, and not particularly waiting for those to catch up. Children scatter and then peek from behind fences as they see him. Adults don't bother, or if they do they know how not to be seen at it.

Lastwall beheads people, or breaks the neck, but that's not the principle; the principle is that the man ought to be dead. He stops his horse, draws and takes aim without dismounting, and nails the man with an arrow right between the eyes. 

"Now that that's done," he says when he gets back, "I'd appreciate a longer explanation of why in particular it should have been."

"....well. You were familiar with the idea that in other contexts it is Evil to torture people?"

Shit, all other contexts?

"Sure. But in most contexts it's also Evil to kill them, and obviously we agree that this doesn't apply to sentences carried out for crimes."

"People suffering immensely is bad - I don't mean anything profound by that, just, we would ourselves much disprefer it, and everyone else mostly feels the same way for the same reasons. 

A lot of bad things are - the least bad thing we can do, doing anything else would result in a lot more bad things on the whole. Executing murderers is like that. You can try to spare some murderers, ones whose circumstances were very unusual and are really uniquely unlikely to murder again, and Lastwall does have provisions for that, but for the most part, if you didn't execute murderers, there'd be a lot more murders. You wouldn't be preventing killing, you'd be encouraging it. 

But you don't have to torture murderers to death to discourage other murders. Iomedae wasn't sure, in her day. Taldor did torturous executions and she wanted to know, as no one had checked, if it was really necessary, if executing murderers painlessly would be like not executing them at all in terms of how it encouraged more murders. But it isn't. If anything probably it's salutary for people to be less inured to the suffering of their fellows."

"Meaning it isn't in Lastwall, or is it not done elsewhere either?"

"Lastwall and Lastwall's protectorate and at Lastwall's Worldwound forts. It - may be more of a problem in post-Asmodean Cheliax. Though - I would not particularly expect it. The most operative thing is just that most murderers are very unwise and not considering the consequences of their actions much at all. If they were, the fear of Judgment would probably be sufficient to move them,"