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.
"Fair enough. Is there anything else you wish to pass on to us, or questions you have for me?"
"Abadar seemed optimistic. On a - grand scale, obviously, I don't think His optimism distinguished how many tens of thousands of people die along the way. But - He doesn't think Asmodeus is going to be willing to escalate.
You should get Iomedae's people in. They know, She's been answering when they ask, and She was Chelish when She was human, they might trust it..."
"You're welcome. Good luck. - also, if you have time, read up on your cleric abilities, Abadar says He can give you more if you'd know what to do with them."
Leareth nods. "I will do that." If he has any time at all tonight - well, he might, his Ring of Sustenance has had another day to get its bearings, and he reads fast. If the Ring isn't working yet, though, and the Chelish army gives them trouble, he may be about to give it some very unhelpful training data.
"Thank you. We are, as always, deeply grateful for what support Osirion has provided here. May I Gate from here, or if not, use magic to disguise myself so that I am not recognized on the way out?"
"I think you'll be unable to Gate from here, the Dome's protections are much more expansive than an anti-teleportation ward. You have permission to try if you'd like. If you can't, you should be able to use magic to disguise yourself, it'll just take you significantly longer to get the spell right."
"Interesting." Leareth wonders if being very good at Gates, and as versatile as he is, is going to help here; he can try it a couple of different ways, if on the door doesn't work.
Oh, how clever! Leareth is really impressed, actually. Since he's got a threshold up anyway - what if he routes the search-spell between planes, like the interworld Gate, except instead looping back to Golarion?
"Your defences are extremely good, congratulations. Blocking Gates by our magic is next to impossible." He takes apart his threshold and tries for the illusion again.
"I'd offer you a enormous beetle shell of your own but we don't have any spare ones."
The magic in the Dome makes magic harder to wield. It's not impossible, it's just wiggly, and takes a lot more time and concentration.
Leareth has decades worth of good concentration habits, here, but this is still very irritating when casting an illusion in particular, and he settles for a much worse, magic-leakier one than he'd usually consider acceptable, it won't be for long. He nods to the pharaoh and heads out.
And he Gates out in about three seconds, to a nondescript abandoned building on the outskirts of Ostenso just in case.
:Vanyel, tell Aroden I am back: It's a lot easier to Mindspeak a fellow Mindspeaker and Aroden must be very busy.
Leareth scans the city with his Othersenses. Anything new going on since his departure?
(Yes, of course the unconscious one has some Mindhealing-compulsions on them not to fight or run away or use magic, Nayoki confirms to Leareth, she isn't stupid although she does wish people would stop waking her up when she's napping just because she's the only Mindhealer around.)
Aroden tells Leareth to stay in Ostenso, but get some sleep (while well guarded). He grabs memories of the soldiers Leareth successfully scried, and Teleports himself back to his well-shielded area in Rahadoum; he's low enough on spells that he prefers not being in Cheliax, at this point. Of course, Aroden 'low on spells' could still out-power almost any wizard who isn't also ninth-circle. But not an Archdevil, necessarily, and Asmodeus must be very desperate...
And he drops Alter Self. Before going to sleep, which he intends to do in his personal demiplane that no one else can use magic in, Aroden heads to his own crystal ball and starts searching, first for the soldiers Leareth spotted in some anonymous city in Velgarth.
The Gate opens on another world and Ramira tries not to look overawed, and walks through with the others. They split up, on the other side; they don't know where they'll have the most luck and they need as many mages as they can persuade, as quickly as possible. Someone gets in the air with some magic item for distance vision and points out cities, and off they Teleport. They can Plane Shift back.
It's hot, and the sun isn't as high in the sky here as it is back in Cheliax which means it's going to get even hotter. She has Tongues up.
"Excuse me," she says to the first person she meets. "I need to hire a powerful magic-user for something, urgently. Do you know who I should talk to?"