“Would even Abrogail Thrune dare to try to unleash the greatest horror in the history of Avistan just to distract one of her many, many enemies? Is it possible someone in Cheliax did it without her knowledge, and if so, what does that say about the state of her regime?"

“And who manipulated the lesser seal?”
“Only a god can say, and only a fool pretends not to know. The dwarves of Kraggadon have always done their sacred duty, guarded their seal day and night, deep below ground and far from the influence of Avistan’s troubles and terrors. The people of Lastwall have stood their watch nine hundred years, and observed the trouble through close observance of their own seal. And the third seal is kept in Westcrown, in Cheliax, ruled by Hell and presently at war."

What the Hell are they thinking?

No, seriously, what?

There are things you do to win a war, and there are things you do to spite an enemy, and there are things you don't do because you like living in a reasonably-intact world.

She arranges for a wizard to make a copy of this transcript and then burn the original, and then bring the copy to the Lictor. Anonymously, on both ends. If they ask him to defend Cheliax against the invaders he deserves to know what the Crown and Church are willing to do to throw those invaders out, and she thinks Lictor Sabinius is the kind of man who cares.

This isn't the right time. The right time either already passed, or it's not yet here. But... getting close, now.

...She writes Sofia a letter. She goes.

For once she doesn't get the news from the radio. Her business scouts are mostly domestic, but she does have ones in Azir, and Almas, and Augustana and Absalom. And most of them have a single precious scroll of sending for anything of really pressing importance.

Azir is burning, and Almas is full of monsters.

And a few hours later she has confirmation from a contact who has their own contacts in Egorian that war's been declared against both Andoran and Lastwall.

It's barely past noon.

She takes a blank sheet from that stack, and signs it, fairly large.

She folds it up to place in an envelope. She addresses it to Rexus in her own handwriting, seals it, and hands it off to be sent by a horse messenger.

That's it. It's done. No turning back.

By nightfall, Kintargo is burning too.