What does him hating it have to do with anything. He knows better than to say that aloud. "Yes sir."

"The concern is that the books fall into enemy hands, which would probably lose us the war. If Tar-Baphon can just kill everyone who becomes useful in opposing him before they are strong enough to resist a Wish he'll do that."

"Yes sir. - if I were trying to secure someone or something under analogous conditions I might try to negotiate for the use of the Black Dome in Osirion but I think Osirion is not yet Abadar's and don't know whose it is."

"We are technically not at war with Qadira right now but we definitely can't store strategically essential resources in their cities."

"Understood. ...Aktun itself? Abadar might want the books if He didn't acquire them as soon as I appeared automatically."

"If I were writing the Commune questions I'd ask about that. If there are other good methods - besides 'have someone hide it, then execute them' - they're secret."

"I don't know much about what the church of Aroden is like that didn't come through in the book and am developing the impression that that window into it may have been tailored for a censor's reception."

"Well, hopefully it gets continually better over the next eight hundred years, that being its primary responsibility. I can speak to how it functions today but I do not know what has surprised you particularly."

"I don't think I knew enough to be surprised, exactly. Could you perhaps compare it to the Abadarans, who I'm relatively familiar with in my time - not in great numbers but the insurance adjuster came by with his party every year and he'd talk to me."

"The Abadarans have not yet invented insurance for forts though I can see the charm of the idea. I don't think you could put it in place in the present political climate without a lot of political talent. I see...more dissimilarities than similarities, really? Abadarans do not do politics, besides fighting for their right to collect interest. The Church of Aroden is very involved in politics. Abadarans do not serve in the army, generally. The Church of Aroden has many many priests in the Crusade and plenty in the Empire's other wars also. I don't think Abadar picks paladins; Aroden picks a great many of them. Abadarans you can buy at the right price; there are Arodenite priests who are mercenaries but not many of them and mostly only out on the fringes of civilization."

"Involved in politics to what end?"

"I do not know quite how to answer that question, in that I think an accurate answer would involve explaining which are the live political debates in Oppara and what side of them the Church is on, and I do not know that, except that of course one debate is over the Crusade and the Church is in favor of it. Many things that are very important to me are not live political debates in Oppara at all and the Church is not broadly inclined to expend credibility on them."

"I guess I was expecting non-Asmodean countries to have - more - live political debates."

" - I don't mean that there are few live political debates, there are quite a lot of them, I just don't know what most of them are. I have only been to Oppara once and had no idea what I was doing and was told to leave so I didn't mess up delicate politics I didn't understand. ...and then refused to leave and was arrested. I am sure that our attitudes are all shockingly barbaric to you because civilization has had nine centuries in which to surpass us, but it is not the case that little is debated, just that I have almost no exposure to politics."

"I expect today's Empire will surpass the society in which I grew up and fall short of what I have vaguely and groundlessly imagined about Lastwall, sir. I can stop remarking on it.

"Is there something I should be reading or hearing about the Knights of Ozem with a view toward swearing on if the notion is not preempted by Aroden ordering me to Axis or me preventing my own existence and vanishing or anything like that?"

" - why would you stop remarking on it? If we can learn the customs of a more advanced civilization and adopt them immediately we should! If anything the problem is that your remarks are not specific enough that I can identify what you suspect we're falling short of!

- the Knights of Ozem are committed to the Crusade, and the strongest reason not to join would be if you think you should plausibly be doing something other than the Crusade. We are a paladin order in Aroden's service, and aid the Second Army by being absolutely trustworthy against all temptations of barbarism, selfishness, or the Enemy. I recruit from every crowd I can gather; we do not expect a stronger understanding of the law than that one should obey orders except where ordered to disobey Aroden Himself, tell the truth or not speak at all, give one's word very reluctantly and die rather than break it, and strive to get strong enough to build paradise in this world and inspire people to it in the next one."

"My remarks are not specific because I have very little specific knowledge, of Lastwall, beyond what was in the handbook, and that was about keeping succubi out of their border forts and when I was supposed to execute people, not whether they have live political debates, except insofar as I can extrapolate from, for example, the fact that heresy is not a disciplinary matter for the rank and file. And it does not sound like at present you have - leverage to make use of anything I might note in any context greater than that of the Knights which I expect are already functioning well. But I can also continue remarking on it if you prefer, sir.

"Whether I should be doing something other than the Crusade probably depends a lot on how securely it is possible and necessary to contain me and what I know."

"Heresy is not usually a disciplinary matter here, either, but most heresies are less explosive than 'Aroden dies in the future and the Age of Glory doesn't happen'. I have had the thought that no true claims should be prosecutable as heresy but I don't know how that would work in practice and in particular how it'd stand up to adversarial action - if Hell's trying to conquer the Empire and in your timeline succeeds then preventing that is very very important and 'give Geryon cover of law' might be a serious mistake. 

I agree that whether you should be doing something other than the Crusade depends on that, and don't know the answer at this point. Hopefully it is being thoroughly investigated by my superiors."

"Do you have an opinion on whether I should cast my Create Food at some point today or hold on to it in case it is not replaceable in the morning?"

"I don't....think you're likely to find yourself in a situation where Create Food is of extreme strategic importance? I suppose if you can produce exquisite future cuisines that might be diplomatically valuable. Do you want dinner, I can have it ordered here."

"My fort was on slightly short rations at the time I left - our supply was drastically complicated by the war, Cheliax supplied the Wound by Teleport and a lot of wizards defected around that time - so perhaps it looms overlarge in my mind as a logistical constraint. I don't mind eating on whatever schedule is customary for prisoners."

"The city is besieged and I'm sure they're not feeding prisoners generally but I'll have food ordered." She steps away to the door to do that.

"The handbook obliges feeding prisoners."

"Huh. Is food much cheaper in the more civilized future or do they consider prisoner welfare a much higher priority?"

"It could be either. Or both. I don't have any money on me, I was planning to eat created food the whole journey, or I'd suggest comparing a coin, I can still do it but it will be a poor guess because Infernal Cheliax had paper currency."