"That didn't happen in front of your face at all. You're learning!"

Leareth exchanges a look with Aroden, his shoulders tensing just a little. "Go on." 

No wonder this is a stressful topic for him. Vanyel shifts his chair a little closer to Leareth. 

When Nefreti does not immediately say anything he does. 

"Abadar is, as I think everyone here knows, planning to take the superweapons out of Urtho's Tower because the Star-Eyed can't be trusted with them. He also said to me that there was something else we could potentially do if Nefreti and Nethys were interested in helping, and should not attempt if they weren't. 

He thought that working together on it and spending an absurd number of diamonds Aroden and Nefreti could fix the Pelagirs. Which would - mean that the condition that would bring about the end of the Star-Eyed's pact with her people was met."

"That's–" His breath catches. "That's...wow...that would be incredible. The Tayledras haven't gotten all the way through fixing it in two thousand years. It would help a lot of people - it'd help Valdemar so much, we still lose villagers every year to horrible Pelagirs monsters..." He's awed at the scope of the entire concept. 

Leareth stiffens a little more in his chair. "I - am concerned that would be unsafe, if the Star-Eyed prefers to keep the pact intact." 

"Abadar thought they should not set foot in the Pelagirs and flying over them wouldn't work either, but Aroden knows things about using Wishes to scaffold distance casting. I don't have a lot of detail beyond that and obviously you should be very careful, but -"

"We'll do it."

"I think it would be possible. And - it would be very, very good, to finally bring to an end the grief caused to your world by the Cataclysm." 

Leareth can hardly deny that part. 

"What's, er, the part you need my advice on specifically?" 

"I mostly just wanted to ask you, uh, before I brought it up with Aroden and Nefreti, whether it would be a good priority if we could make it happen. Abadar mostly has perspective on the god things, you'd know how it'll affect peoples' lives."

"I mean, I think it'd be good for almost everyone? More farmland, less danger. I'm - not sure what'd happen to the Tayledras, though. If the pact were over. I don't know if Heartstones rely on the pact existing, even, and She would take them away without it. Which might be fine, if it becomes possible to live in what's right now the Pelagirs without magic, but it'd be so disruptive to them." 

He looks down at the floor. "I...think maybe we have to, though. If She's otherwise going to - use that - to do things like what just happened here." 

(Why is this still such an upsetting topic, he was calm and relaxed and happy ten minutes ago and now he feels like crying again and is completely unable to participate in the conversation.) 

Nod. 

"When's a good time to stop by and figure out how to approach the magic side of it?" she asks Aroden.

He glances at Parmida, then Nefreti. "Tomorrow would do fine, I think." 

Parmida, I would usually speak with Leareth about the advice he was giving the Tayledras, before this, but - I do not think this is a pleasant topic for him. If it were myself in his shoes I would not want to be cut out from giving valuable help simply because it was distressing, but...

I think using the advice he was trying to give them freely when they murdered him to solve their entire problem and obviate their whole society is great, she thinks back fervently. It's so fitting. Probably he will need a little time to see it that way.

Khemet stands up and walks over to Leareth's chair and puts his hands on Leareth's shoulders.

It's confusing why that helps so much but it does. Leareth takes a few deep breaths, reminding himself of all the reasons this is a very valuable conversation to be having that will advance a number of his goals. 

"It is possible I have suggestions," he says tightly. "Since I - worked with them, briefly, on adapting divine magic to replace the Healing and earthsense elements that they use." 

Aroden doesn't miss Leareth's reaction at all - neither the part where he's calmer now, nor the part where he's kind of baffled about it. He remembers being baffled about that category of thing, too, a very long time ago. (Well, a long time to his limited human mind; from another perspective, a century is the blink of an eye.)

Interesting, he says to Parmida. 

It's much less practical than a Chelish girl. Well - less practical in some ways, more practical in others, I think.

"This is very petty but once we've done it it would be great to be able to tell them that that collaboration was so productive."

"Someone else who is not me can tell them."