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Fernando listens to the radio
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Fernando always has his eyes open for anything that will let him pay down his debt faster.  The 'radio' seem like the ultimate lucky break.  Even if nine-tenths or more of it is hearsay, propaganda, or outright lies, just having an ear on all the latest rumors could prove priceless.  And as for that one-tenth or less of truth, Fernando trusts that he can do better than the average person discerning it (and certainly better than the idiot peasants that he spends his time selling spells to).

The running list of prices don't help him much, they don't include spell prices by inland Chelish city, but he's optimistic as the radio grows in popularity there will be people broadcasting and he can adjust his circuit if when spells spike in price in some particular city within the county.  The adventure stories and chariot races and the like are fun, if the radio keeps working for the rest of his life, it will easily be a smart purchase for those alone.

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He misses Freedom's first broadcast, but he hears her second mentioned on another channel and tunes in.  It seems... definitely heretical.  The promises about truth and useful information are tempting... but he might need to be able to say he never listened to it again under a detect thoughts or truth spell.  And if it gets radio as a whole banned that ruins his hope of finding excellent opportunities through the radio.  And no more adventure stories or chariot races!

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Cheliax has shades of illegality both explicit and implicit. There are of course, laws that explicitly set different standards for slaves, serfs, peasants, nobles, and clergy.  There are, more subtly, differences in enforcement, where a higher noble might not even be hassled at all, a lesser noble might get off with a bribe, a cleric with an intimidating eyebrow raise, and a peasant be beaten to death.  There are some crimes even a well off peasant might find leniency for with a dozen silvers here and there.  And there are some crimes no one can get away with.  The question is, which is the radio going to fall under?  And how will Freedom's broadcast going to interact with the laws about the radio?

Thinking on it carefully, considering several more decades of mending and cleaning and the rare healing spell sold vs. some lucky break found through the radio (and some enjoyable radio programs to listen to in the meantime), Fernando has decided he's keeping his radio unless it looks like they are going to proactively search every parcel and bag of every person in the country.

With that decision already made, it's just a matter of planning around it.  His desire to retain a secret edge over the idiot peasants around him had previously won against his pride in owning a radio so he just needs to continue to keep it a secret.  He practices assembling and disassembling his radio in case he needs to conceal it further.  His travel pass is good throughout the county and he used to occasionally try new routes and circuits through it, but with the risk of the radio weighing on him he sticks standard routes to reduce the odds of bumbling into some unusually suspicious guard or soldier or priest.

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And if he's in this far he might as well risk listening to Freedom.  He's not sure he believes she is truthful, but you can't be Lawful and swear a false oath, and the church of Abadar has sworn oaths vouching for her, and she's in turn sworn not to lie so (tenuously) he believes she can't tell direct falsehoods.

She is a wealth of information on everything from sicknesses to economics to... more heretical topics.  He mentally runs through her words to look for tricky phrasings or double meanings or any kind of technical truthfulness that would still mislead him and can't find that many (although in his paranoia he imagines a few).

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House Thrune is losing. Many of you have been lied to about history, so let me spell it out. 

He knew he was taking a risk with the radio, but he must have subconsciously held out hope getting caught with one wouldn't lead to a maximally tortuous death, because this latest broadcast is making him outright scared.  He feels angry... at Freedom, for ruining the non-heretical applications of the radio, but also, unexpectedly, at house Thrune.  He continues to listen anyway, they can't torture him to death twice.. and if they tried, he could just refuse a raise dead and make them waste a diamond.  Somehow the thought of making the Thrunes waste diamonds on him make him crack a smile as Freedom recites increasingly ridiculous (but still sworn as true?) stories about how pathetic the Thrunes are.

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Asmodeus has to combat the natural human instinct to love one's children, the natural human instinct to love one's parents, the natural human instinct to love one's self, because all of those loves will guide you out of Hell, if you let them.

He has no friends, no children, and he hasn't seen his mother in years.  But he certainly values himself, and doesn't want to be a slave for eternity.  He was taught in school over 90% of people go to Hell, but, even if that wasn't a complete lie, people in Cheliax are terrible and he is pretty sure he can make the top 10% of them if he puts his mind to figuring out how.

He could try to escape from Cheliax (Andoran has apparently figured out how to make Good through constant war on slavers) but if he dies in the process he'll still be going to a lower plane, if not necessarily Hell.  Well, maybe the other lower planes are actually less terrible than Hell, he can hope Freedom says something about it in a future broadcast.  And he can listen for what she says about making Good.

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"Someone tried to cast a Wish, to interrupt our conversation. Now, it could be that they hate early-born babies, but that wouldn't actually be my guess."

He wasn't aware Cheliax had any 9th circle wizards or sorcerers!  Or maybe Asmodeus himself authorized a devil to use that wish on behalf of Abrogail Thrune.  Which makes it all the more impressive that somehow Freedom withstood it.  Also, she is apparently a terrible liar, it was obvious something was happening, so he retroactively believes her that much more.  Even the strongest power Asmodeus can bring to bear wasn't enough to stop Freedom.  She had sounded young in her broadcasts... maybe she is actually a body hopping Archmage or something who is currently on a young body?  Or, more plausibly, she polymorphed younger?  Either way, there are people strong enough to withstand Asmodeus's wrath.  It underlines Freedom's point about Cheliax losing territory, and makes Asmodeus's claim of his inevitable conquest of the outer planes that much more suspect.

Hearing that, it almost pushes him to go through with his plan, but he'll wait a little longer.  With the spring weather, he won't need endure elements as much, which will mean another mount at his disposal.

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He continues to listen to every scrap of advice on Goodness Freedom has.  She isn't really giving it out in what he thinks would be a sensible order, but he does eventually hear enough to confirm that his plan is valid.  He'll be coming around at just the right place on his circuit soon, and from there he only needs a few minor deviations from his standard course to cover everything properly.

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The worst thing(s) Fernando has ever done is sell people into indentured servitude.  The next worse thing is continue to extract money out of peasants he tricked into unfair loans.  And the third worse thing is probably tricking them into the loans in the first place.  To make maximally sure an atonement counts for the purposes of Pharasma's Court he needs to take actions that show a "genuine change of heart" and "at least make a true attempt to repair harms caused".  He had already started pricing his healing more fairly after he decided to make Good, he can't realistically do anything for the people he's already sold into indentured servitude, but he can make things right with the people he currently holds a debt over.  He's visiting each one and personally swearing to absolve them of all debt he holds (along with giving them signed papers indicating this).  The problem is that this is really odd behavior, and its only a matter of time before someone decides it is a trick and reports him to a priest.  So he has to time his forgiving of debt to the end of this time in each town and move on to the next village quickly before any news of it can spread.  He also wants to position himself to escape from Cheliax, so each subsequent village needs to be further eastward.  He's also been preparing for crossing over the Aspodell Mountains into Andoran.  His travel pass can get him to the eastern edge of his county, and then he'll need to cross through at least one more county, cutting through woods and forests.

 

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This is Freedom Radio, with some exciting news. The liberation of the last five archduchies of Cheliax has begun!

He's halfway through his last circuit, his "atonement circuit" (as he has mentally labeled it) when he hears the news on Freedom's broadcast.  He is struck with indecision.  Should he have waited, with a war properly on it might have been easier to escape?  Or, alternatively, with soldiers about will it be even harder to escape now and he has waited too long?  Or maybe this is perfect timing?  Of course, if the Glorious Reclamation actually wins, then his escape will be kind of pointless, he could have just waited for them to win and make the whole country like Andoran.  He is already committed though.  If he stops now and gets caught, even without a radio found on his person or a detect thoughts to ferret out his secrets, some of the things he said to convince people of his intent in forgiving their debt definitely count as heresy against Asmodeus and would be enough to have him executed.

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He makes it through his atonement circuit and is in the process of bushwhacking through wood and forest.  He knows from Freedom radio that you can make water safe by boiling it, and running water tends to be safer than still water, but at one point he has drunken through his multiple water bladders and he isn't so far into the forest that he can afford to risk a fire, so he drinks some water that isn't very fast flowing.  Possibly his prestidigitation will help?  Freedom might not have mentioned if it would, wizards are less common outside Cheliax.

It does not in fact help and he is sick to his stomach for the next several days as he gets into proper forest.  He thinks he's through the worst of it, but the sickness interrupts his sleep and he doesn't have spell prepared.  Without a mount, he is an easier target for something with a massive beak and his acid splashes don't dissuade it.

His last thoughts as he is ripped apart by beak and claw is that this at least this death is still less painful than the torture Cheliax uses so he made the right call in expectation.

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He definitely made the right call in expectation!  It's not an easy case, but it is winnable case, especially with a solidly developed use of the Newton test to show atonement.  Fernando feels regret for previous actions, took responsibility for his previous actions, changed relations with those affected, attempted to repair the consequences of his previous actions, and reliably and consistently changed his behavior.

It is especially hard to make the case for the people Fernando already had sold into indentured servitude, but the Silvanshee can build the case that Fernando accurately judged freeing them was impossible with his resources constraints and that he took other actions (i.e. the debt he went out of his way to convince people he had forgiven them of) indicating he would free them if it was possible, and the Silvanshee ultimately succeeds.

With Fernando's loan schemes discounted, the next major action of Fernando's life was attempting to flee Cheliax and from that point the case is solidly in Good's favor.

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So he wakes up, as some type of lizard, in Nirvana.  He had heard Nirvana turns people into pathetic animals to humiliate them, but he actually feels perfectly fine as a lizard.  He heard that you lose your magic in the afterlives and it takes centuries to regain it, but a few other reptiles he meets gets him started on some techniques to learn their magic right away.  It will take centuries to actually get good at it, but there is no rush or pain or punishment taking his time with it, and he can enjoy discussing theory with them even as he patiently spends his time learning magic and unlearning the pain of mortal life.

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