"It broke away at... some point, I think it did not spend much time being ruled by Hell. Would you like me to try to draw you a map?"

"Sure. We can both try to draw one."

Iomedae's has no concept of what's on the other side of the Arch of Aroden. Monsters, probably. Otherwise the continents at least haven't moved. "Galatia province, Verduran - it's not really a province because it's a forest, but we keep the river clear - Carpenden prefecture, Arthfell prefecture, Sirmium province, Chelam province, Menador - that's where I'm from -"

He knows.

His map has Rahadoum on it, and Osirion and Mendev and the Wound and Absalom, and Cheliax divided into its archduchies - "Do you happen to know what they call it before 'the Hellcoast', I presume its name was changed but don't know what from" - and Thuvia and Katapesh and Lastwall and Belkzen and the little stub of what's left of Taldor, and Galt and Ustalav and Razmiran - he thinks Razmiran might not be very longstanding but has no idea what was there before - and Andoran and Nidal and some vagueness where the mammoth lords hang out and... Irissen is around here somewhere? - and Qadira extends to hereabouts - bunch of river kingdoms over here, he doesn't know any of them individually - Isger's here, it's a Chelish protectorate - he's forgetting stuff over here and also over here but cannot immediately call it to mind.

"The Empire hasn't settled that coast yet, it'll be named when it's incorporated." Iomedae has complicated feelings about the breakup of the Empire. She would like it to be more possible to build things out of Oppara's power and also she notices that it got conquered by Hell.

Nod. "Is the sermon one of the ones that made it into the book, or...?"

" - the one I'm going to give soon? I doubt it. It is not making a particularly complicated theological point. I think there are some interesting theological points to be found in why armies punish desertion but - I do not think that would be helpful to the men to hear tonight. They just - need to believe about themselves that they'll stay at their posts, and that their fellows will, and that they will all have paradise for it." She is suddenly curious how Hell convinced people to stay at their posts but it would be a rather intrusive question.

"The handbook requires trials and it is possible I missed something, as the Taldane is different, but it did not seem obvious that they were getting even a very abbreviated one."

"Is the idea that if you do not require trials you will sometimes execute someone who was innocent, or are they supposed to have some other benefit?"

"They are supposed to be entitled to deny their crimes under a truth spell if there is an Abadaran to hand but Zone of Truth is not reliable enough and I never had an Abadaran to hand during the relevant timespan... I'm not sure of the exact justification."

"That seems like a perfectly good rule to minimize the chances you execute innocent people, though in this specific case I do not think there is much question of their guilt. Which is why I wondered if there were supposed to be other benefits. I suppose you could learn of coconspirators who didn't leave with them, that way."

"There could be other benefits but the handbook did not specify what they were or how to conduct a trial in a way to efficiently achieve them."

"They are not my men and paladins mostly don't commit capital offenses but I am delighted about - bits of institutional design from a world that has done more of it - and I will probably adopt much of it."

"I will try to remember more of it as it comes up, sir, presuming you don't get access to the book itself."

They bring him food, and a chess set. 

"Aroden keep you."

"Thank you," Blai adds, when the chess set is passed in; he takes a bite of the food but then is occupied setting it up. The pieces feel strange in his hand for being real. It's been a long time.

"Of course. Has the game changed any, in the last nine hundred years?"

"- I think so, actually, because, uh, the difference between the standard kind in Avistan and the kind my book describes as Vudran is that the Avistani kind has a 'crusader Queen', moves like a rook and a bishop combined, but it could be that's apocryphal."

"Huh! Would you like to play a game?" It seemed like chess was important to him. He mentioned it when they were discussing wanting things.

"- if you have nothing better to do, sir. White or black?"

"Only if I have nothing better to do? I might not but I haven't specifically considered it and would need to think a moment."

"I - didn't mean to conditionally agree to play, sir, it's just that it is not clear exactly why you might want to."

"It seemed like it was important to you."

"- I hadn't meant to - impinge on your - I was planning originally to Prestidigitate pieces to play against myself, sir, in preference to staring at the wall, being as prayer is somewhat confusing as a pastime just now, and it will not rise to the level of actual importance for another three weeks and that's allowing some slack so that it does not become an emergency at the precise one-month mark -"

"- it would be surprising to me if an instruction to do something you enjoy once a month no matter how dire the surrounding circumstances were meant to suggest that one should only do things one enjoys once a month, or only consider doing things one enjoys a priority insofar as they are in danger of failing to meet the obligation."