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An adventuring party recruited from Osirion teleports into Azir on the 8th of Desnus. Rahadoum's recruiting contact in Osirion wrote ahead to note they were expected. Couple of guys he's known a long time - a wizard, a ranger - and a new guy, sorcerer, probably to replace the cleric they usually travel with. They spend two days in Azir getting oriented and head out to the front. The ranger wears an unusually high quality amulet of Nondetection; the sorcerer wears a headband for intelligence, which is a bit unusual as sorcerers usually don't need it to cast, but some variants do; they are otherwise unremarkable. Chaotic Good, Lawful Neutral, no reading, which could mean neutral or 'hiding it'. They work quickly and effectively, manage resources reasonably well, get recommended to higher-ups for a closer look on that account.
"This method did result in, well, rather more showing off of your unusual cleverness and creativity," Leareth says. (Is that a reassuring or a frightening thing to say? He has no idea! He's smiling though.)
"We should go somewhere else a little more comfortable," Aroden says.
Parmida, should we invite her over to our rooms, or is that just going to frighten her more?
..I'm not actually sure it's about the location? It's your country wherever we are. I don't know what would help, though.
"Carissa, I am going to Plane Shift all of us elsewhere, and we can sit down and explain a little more thoroughly. I am very sorry this happened to you, although I am almost certain Iomedae will refuse to apologize for it even if I shout at Her."
He stands up, holds out his hand to Parmida and to Khemet, who's next to him.
She takes it. She is - kind of maybe having a bit of an adrenaline crash at this point.
They Plane Shift out and land in Aroden's hallway, where everyone else's magic works again.
"Carissa," he says to her, "you are, at this point, welcome to Teleport yourself out of the country if you have decided you are done with all of this and all of us. However, I would like to finish our conversation, if you do not mind humouring us and our strange lives."
"I was gonna go to Vigil. If I got discovered and had time to run. Figured probably someone there could figure out what in the world I was supposed to be doing. Uh, I like Cheliax, I don't want to leave, but I'm still pretty unclear on what criminal penalties I am facing here, and which things I know I am allowed to know and what's going to be done about the other ones."
"We will need to discuss and figure out what to do, there, though honestly none of what you found out is especially sensitive anymore. Abadar solidly won his bout with the Star-Eyed, and all of the Heralds now know about this. Out of curiosity, did you end up speaking with them at all?"
Meanwhile he's leading them out of the hallway-demiplane and past his private office to a nice conference room. He sits.
Leareth pulls out a chair for Carissa, trying not to look too emotionally engaged in whether she decides to stay.
She sits. "I spoke to the King's seven year old daughter. I needed an explanation of how mage-sight worked and what Leareth had been up to in his original world and who the Star-Eyed was and she was harassing me anyway so it seemed like the best place to get it. I didn't talk to any of the heralds, I wanted to figure out what my artifact was failing to cover first - though it would have been a good idea to test it on them first instead of on Leareth first -"
"Not with magic, your magic setup worked as far as I know perfectly. I just thought you seemed a bit off."
Aaaand now he can ask Khemet for advice. :I do not want to lie to her about - what I asked Iomedae to recruit for - but I also do not want her to feel she is obligated to marry me! Can you help me think of a way to say it that leaves it up to her and what she wants?:
Yeah, it's very tricky! I bet Iomedae's going to tell us that the straightforward approach wouldn't have worked but I don't know why not. She does seem to be, uh, gradually changing her mind about how bad to expect things to be.
You really like her.
:She is so impressive! - If not for my suspicion about Iomedae's motives I do not think I would be - thinking of her in that way - but I would most certainly want to recruit her for something. I hope to persuade her to stay even if she does not wish to marry me. But... I think she is someone I could come to love. Maybe:
And next to where they're sitting in the conference room there is suddenly a shimmer of coalescing energies, with none of the precise tightly-wound complexity of human magic.
"How kind of you to join us, Iomedae. Care to reassure this wonderful young lady, after arranging for her to have such a fright?"
It resolves into a human woman's form. Chelish. She and Carissa don't look that alike really but there's something in the eyes.