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.
"If everyone else is on board then I'll do it." Honestly it sounds easier, in some ways, than a normal fight. Less thinking required. Point at enemies, explosion, repeat. He doesn't like the fact that his greatest strength is killing things with fire, but it is what it is, and it seems more justified than usual for Evil beings. And - fewer deaths in the long run, probably, if they can win here.
Nod. "I appreciate it. Our allies here are willing to help, I think, if we can supply the diamonds. Anyway, there is another thing I wished to ask."
He gives a brief, neutral description of the call for Mindspeakers.
Vanyel nods. He can fill in enough of the gaps, there. "I can certainly ask. Probably we'll get some volunteers."
Yfandes, listening via Vanyel, jumps in again. :Honestly, Companions are pretty good at this. We can all Mindspeak the non-Gifted, which only very strong human Mindspeakers can do, there are a few other than Van but - gods, Tran isn't in any shape for a war: Mental sigh. :Hellfires. I wish Taver were alive. He can Mindspeak any Companion in Valdemar, his range is incredible, and he can Broadsend more easily, his attention is set up that way...:
"Taver is the Groveborn. Do you think he would even agree to help - if it meant cooperating with me, and fighting gods..."
"He knew about you - about our conversations, I mean. Not that it matters, at this point."
"I am not sure. Abadar was negotiating with the Velgarth deities on matters such as whether Golarion's resurrection would work on Velgarth natives, in Velgarth. But it seems at least worth asking the pharaoh, since Taver's presence might be such a game-changer. If you think he would agree."
He makes a face. "I doubt he'd agree to fight the gods in Velgarth. But - these ones aren't his gods, and Asmodeus seems pretty unambiguously evil, I don't think it's all that complicated." Valdemar protects innocents. "If the King is on board with this, I think he'd find that compelling."
"Then I think it is worth asking the pharaoh. We ought tell him of our success with the diamonds anyway. Come with me?"
It's not until halfway down the hall that it occurs to Vanyel how horrifically awkward this is probably going to be for Tran.
The pharaoh tells them to sit. It's very hard to catch, you'd have to be looking very closely, but he's paler than when Leareth talked to him a couple hours ago, and tireder looking.
Leareth notices. He sort of wants to say something sympathetic, or apologetic, but he can't Mindspeak the pharaoh with that impenetrable shield up and he's literally mind-controlled against saying anything in front of Vanyel.
His expression is less delighted than it would be otherwise, when he shows Khemet their two large diamonds. "We tested a small one, for Restoration. It worked."
"I am quite pleased. It is tiring even for Vanyel, which limits how many he can do even with Lesser Restoration, but - perhaps five in a day, if spread out? I can make the spell more efficient but only with ten times as much research, so that is not going to help us before the war."
"But someday the war will be over and we could - we could offer life insurance - to everybody - price it like trips to Axis -"
Vanyel is also pretty pleased about it, but mostly it's surprising and weirdly adorable to see Leareth this happy.
"Speaking of resurrection, we - thought of something, earlier, when discussing strong Mindspeakers and their uses here. Companions like Yfandes are better Mindspeakers than humans. The leader of their herd is apparently even better than that. He was quite recently killed. A few months ago, I believe. We were wondering if the negotiations on this matter with Abadar were at a position where we could, well, attempt to resurrect him for the war effort. Yfandes thinks that he would agree to help."
"Groveborn, er, the Companions who lead the others, are - kind of complicated. They're immortal, they don't age; they can die by violence, but they also - come back, I think they rotate with each other. Er, and we do have his body."
"We are expecting our resurrection spells to work differently in Velgarth - not at all if the person has been resurrected and not with the cheapest spells even if you try to raise them right away, because your souls go wherever they're going quickly. But then they just - stay there -
- we do have permission to try, if this is the person you'd like us to try on. And if you have the diamonds we could potentially do a lot of Heralds who've died in past wars, so long as they haven't been reincarnated..."
"Oh. I hadn't - that..." Vanyel blinks hard. "Has a lot of implications. Er, are the gods going to tell us if someone was reincarnated?"