"I guess I would expect that if anyone could be rigorous enough in their thinking, it'd be him." 

"Mmm. Anyway, my thinking right now is - you should tell Randi the highlights, hopefully that doesn't cause difficulties in itself but I don't think it should. I think if you approach it right, not minimizing it exactly but starting with the fact that you're fine now, it won't make him any more worried about your, er, trustworthiness and judgement than he already is. You should mention the alignment shift just because it's a visible consequence, and I could imagine it ending up relevant for some reason. I don't think your emotional state during that period is any of Randi's business." 

Nod. 

"And I'll talk to Yfandes, to make sure I'm not missing anything important here." Smile at Fazil. "Thank you for helping fill in some of the gaps here." 

"I'm glad I could help."

Then Melody will head off. 

"Thank you," Vanyel says quietly. "Sorry for, um, dragging you into this." 

"It seems to be going okay, we're not on fire at all. 

How sure are you, of Leareth?"

"–Gods. That's a hard question to think about. More sure of him than I ever expected I could be. What about you." 

Hopeless shrug. "Feels very - 

- either he's probably Aroden or he's probably someone who read all our minds in the first five minutes of being free and figured out how to sell it as a cover story and either way he is now off to conquer Cheliax. Usually there is more middle ground than that.

Picked up Aroden's holy texts. In case they were helpful. I don't really know that they are, but."

"Oh. Hmm. It might be. If only in that I'm very familiar with Leareth's - style, I guess, the way he thinks. And that's not something where he could fake a resemblance by reading our minds." 

Pause. 

" - you know, I really wish we could learn more about Leareth's background. From an independent source, I mean. I have some books written by him in the past, so I know what names he went by, but, well, they were all written by him. And I don't know how to learn more about the Mage Wars period, I'm not sure much is known about it by anyone." 

"That would be really useful. What...happened in the Mage Wars, is it known ..."

"Some mages fought, I guess. Whatever happened, it really badly damaged the land, left around a lot of wild-magic residue that Changed the local animals and plants into dangerous forms. The Tayledras have a pact with the Star-Eyed Goddess to cleanse the land, they've made a lot of progress; everything west of Haven was Pelagirs, uninhabitable land, when Valdemar was founded eight hundred years ago. The Shin'a'in are originally from the same people, and they have a pact to protect the Dhorisha Plains. For some reason. You know, I'm not actually sure why." 

"Are they similarly uninhabitable?"

"I don't think they're as bad. Just really dry and arid. And flat, obviously. They're pretty far south - I could show you on a map, I guess." 

"I don't think we should do anything that might annoy the Velgarth gods while we're here. 

It would be nice to know more about Leareth's history, though. If we think of a way that definitely won't offend any of them."

"I have no idea what might offend them! Vkandis set us on fire for accidentally teleporting into a country that Valdemar is allied with!" 

"So I'm worried that if I try to do a nice normal exploration mission on the Dhorisha Plains we will awaken the Tarrasque or something!"

"I mean, I think we absolutely should not turn up unannounced and start exploring, because the Shin'a'in will murder us. Or try, at least. I...could ask our friends with the Tayledras if they think it's all right? If we were to go in with their approval, I think that'd be different." 

"Sure, that sounds good. I still feel odd about adventuring without a wizard but I expect we can make do if we have gotten permission from relevant gods."

"I'll ask Savil. Er, after they're done their meetings about us. I think at this point I should probably not Gate to k'Treva without talking to any of the other Heralds first." 

"Today why don't you stay in and I can read Aroden's holy texts aloud to you - they're in Taldane - and you can tell me if they seem characteristic."

"Sure, that sounds good." 

Shortly after Fazil and Vanyel and Yfandes leave for Absalom on what turns out to be an ill-fated attempt at getting to Velgarth, Mahdi takes Hagan and Leareth to Azir. It's a port city, cooler than Sothis, with the Arcadian Ocean to the west and the eternal stormclouds of the Eye of Abendago visible on the horizon to the south. 

Leareth looks around with interest, using both his eyes and Othersenses.