"The church holds that the pharaoh is the embodiment of Abadar in the world. And - Abadar selects them personally, with a lot of attention to the question, and gives them exceptional ability as his highest cleric, and they take it appropriately seriously, but the metaphysics is a bit shaky, if you want to say the pharaoh's part a god. And don't want to say that every village healer is."

"Okay. So you have siblings. Or, half-siblings, I guess."

"I have fourteen half-siblings."

"That seems like a lot but I don't know how many is typical?"

"I mean, most people are married monogamously. - have to be, there are as many boys born as girls. That's less than the pharaohs of old report but their numbers might be inflated and the imperial concubinage system used to be a lot more - horrible."

Nod.

Sigh. "Is she all right? The one in Arda."

"I can't give out a lot of details because I took a confidentiality oath but I can tell you she's alive, and once I have the interplanar earwire I can see if she wants to talk to you?"

Nod.

"And nobody else who knows anything about the situation is under any confidentiality oaths, including Fëanáro, who I believe will definitely want to talk to you."

"I'll look forward to it."

A book of natural philosophy is brought in by a slightly harried-looking but smiling servant.

She knows how to say "thank you" in the local language by now!

Then she will have her natural philosophy book! 

"I should go explain all of this to the pharaoh."

"Oh. Okay, I can wait."

"Shouldn't be that long. Just - give the book a look and I'll be right back."

"I can't read it. But I'll be fine."

"Oh! Tongues. I'll have to wait it out for you to teach me any Quenya but there you go, now you can."

"Thanks!"

He bounds off.

She reads the book.

Natural philosophy is the study of why fire burns and why the tides happen and what sand is made of and at what temperature things melt. They haven't gotten very far on any more interesting questions but they seem to have safely studied these ones.

That's really promising! She will take about two hours to get through the whole book, though.

He is back before then.

"Hi!"

"Is it what you hoped for?"