Of course, that's just last loop. She hasn't done much this loop yet, but that doesn't mean nothing.

- Returning to herself on the 29th again
  - Praying with the weird instructions she got last loop
    - She was completely out with a headache for the rest of the day
- Sending the letter on the 30th
  - All of this is the consequences here! If she wasn't giving a summary this part would get kind of circular, and that would be an issue. Fortunately, she is.
- Going to the amulet location on the 30th instead
  - Mika and the wizards are dead
  - She has the money
    - Moving some money to the secret account, with basically the same letters
  - Meeting Yanor at the day's channel
- The Breaching
- Sending her letters, with the minor modifications
  - Probably will get the guards searching just like they did last time?
  - Probably will get the conspiracy buying the Wishes eventually?
  - Consequences here might well change as a result of this conversation! (Maybe she won't get her Wishes, that would be sad. She was looking forward to the extra cunning.)
- Volunteering with the guard
  - No consequences yet
- Meeting Isaac at the door
  - You know the rest!

She gets through all of that eventually. It takes rather a while, but she tries to keep it as summary-ish as possible while still being basically complete. It probably isn't perfect in either direction, but it's as good as she can manage, and she's remarkably good at keeping Morgethai's attention pointed where it really needs to go even with all this to get through. The perfect shifts, the telepathic overtones, the quick previews of what's coming up next... For all that Tencednil's memory is imperfect, and for all that her summary is only a summary and condensed into shockingly little time, Morgethai feels like she has a quite solid grasp of the basic structure of the loop. Or at least as much of it as Tencednil understands.

That is a lot. It will take some time to pick out what matters. First—

Do you remember where and when the gate opened? I do not expect to be able to use a gate from Hell to my advantage but there might be a way if the timing is precise enough.

I do. The gate opened on the 18th, approximately one hour before noon, directly in front of the Korvosan Temple of Asmodeus.

Morgethai's actual question aims to collect as much information on the situation as possible, though. To be complete—

It was cast in the open, and with a crowd clustered in the area. The crowd was attracted by the Temple making it clear on a prior day that they intended to hold a substantial event on that day and at that time, precisely enough that the crowd gathered in less than one patrol circuit, and the gate opened at the scheduled hour. Before it opened, the only visible defenses were the standard ones of the Temple and the presence of Ornher Reebs, though there may well have been invisible defenses as well.

And a gate has two sides—

The other side of the gate was to an empty field, without visible plantlife and with oddly striated colors. It was hot enough to be felt from a hundred feet away. I do not know enough about the planes to identify its precise location. On that side, it was defended by a troop of devils, a seventh circle cleric of Asmodeus who gave his name as Ricard Santaren, and an assortment of wizards, well-armored martial combatants, and other clerics. It also contained one claimed Ignasi Arabasti, who professed to be the formal heir to the Crimson Throne. I assume Aspexia Rugatonn and perhaps some forces in defense of her were also present on the other side, though the spell could have come from a scroll. The time streams on both sides of the gate appeared consistent.

You removed Queen Ileosa from the throne on the night of Sarenith 15th, and it was in the newspaper on the 16th. I do not know whether the delay before the gate would be the same regardless of your timing, nor whether it would happen at all in different situations. If it does occur, I expect its time and location to be reasonably clear due to the Temple intentionally spreading word, and thereby gathering observers for the transfer of power from Ornher Reebs to Ricard Santaren. It is possible they would instead hold a distinct event with similar traits, but in my estimation that would be unlikely unless they know the details of their planned event have escaped.

That sounds like Avernus. Ricard Santaren is currently the archbishop of Ostenso. I do not know if Ignasi Arabasti is a real person but it would not surprise me. If Aspexia is concentrating on the gate she will be incredibly well defended. Gate is a medium range spell. It can be cast from hundreds of feet away. I doubt this is worth pursuing without more information.

She noticed something more concerning within that summary. What god did you pray to? They gave you instructions? Was your headache the result of a vision you received or from some other source?

Ulon, I relayed a Commune message I received in the last loop. I remember no instructions whatsoever, and the details only vaguely. It definitely caused a headache. I assume and have thus far acted on the assumption that Ulon will not intervene to alter any relevant events.

What I am about to say is only a recommendation, but it is one based on my many years of experience dealing with the gods and their servants. I would deeply recommend not serving or communicating with evil gods. Especially in this context. An evil god having access to a prophecy equivalent when nobody else does is a disaster for everyone. Including you. You should not assume he will not intervene if he has not done so yet—this merely means the information he has gained so far has not made it worth it to intervene in a manner you have noticed.

I do not know much of Ulon. He is, to my understanding, a nearly forgotten god of secrets and conspiracies. This does not mean he is any less horrifying than Asmodeus and the other archfiends. You cannot be sure he isn't.

Felandriel tries to make that as convincing as possible. She expends one use of her grand destiny and is under heroism. Deconverting people from evil cults is sadly often difficult.

The words don't quite come across as that. The Destiny reshapes Morgethai's phrasing halfway through, even as the Heroism fills her telepathy with overtones showing how sincerely she feels about this. Most things like this, Tencednil would brush off in a moment. The direct focus of a master of persuasion assisted by magic, even one granted that persuasive ability only through headbands and with no particular native talent in the area, is impressive.

She doesn't answer for a moment. She needs to put her thoughts in order.

First, you either do not know much of Ulon or know substantially more than I, if you refer to Ulon as he. Ulon's holy books state no gender, though being male is intentionally implied. It is— I cannot state that in a way which is complete and honest. Ulon's teachings— She twitches violently. I cannot state that in a way which is complete and honest.

This must be intentional. 

She pauses. I will attempt to find something I can say. She shifts to a thinking posture. Unless Morgethai interrupts her, she will remain there for a few minutes.

This is like Geryon all over again. Felandriel has never read Ulon's holy book but it's unsurprisingly full of lies. She will wait and listen for what Tencednil puts together.

Ulon's teachings are intentionally confusing. It is inappropriate to... share directly false information with someone who understands the straightforward meaning and can in some way discover it to be false, because this reveals that you care about that information and are misleading someone about it, and therefore you have produced someone who knows a point you care about and has incentive to identify your particular truth on that subject. As she thinks this she twitches, increasingly curling in on herself until she eventually finishes her thought and suddenly stops. 

The statement I just made is false, and obviously so. However, there is a similar statement which I cannot convert into words, and which is never written in words in Ulon's holy books, and which to the best of my knowledge has never been put into words by a proper devotee of Ulon. This is the teaching of Ulon on lies, and it is shaped from— Twitch.  —ten thousand whispers and fifty thousand phrasings and a hundred thousand stressed syllables and this too is false. She stops twitching with that. 

The proper way to understand Ulon's holy books is to be taught them by implication, to build a web out of a thousand strands none of which point in the right direction on their own. I have some level of understanding of Ulon. I can tell you whether or not something is proper, and I know Communes and histories consistently confirm the understanding gained this way, impossible as it is to write out or pass along, is also consistently accurate even in situations which seem entirely unlike anything that was actually taught. I cannot describe Ulon in a complete way which isn't almost entirely metaphor and lies and me being wrong.

Feeling this, I suspect this is intentional, designed to ensure domination and geases are inefficient ways to uncover information. You aren't an alghollthu. I do not doubt it is possible for me to explain Ulon to you, eventually. Even if I couldn't, you don't need to understand Ulon for this, not in general. I simply cannot say anything relating to Ulon completely and honestly, and thus I expect this conversation to be better had while I am not under the geas. There is almost certainly a less restrictive geas phrasing which would work — I will not attempt to mislead you, for instance, though you may want more guarantees than that. This geas will not.

So you have an incomplete understanding of Ulon and are aware of this and so struggle with the geas. Hmm.

None of what I said before depends on any specific teachings of Ulon. The alignments of the gods are not like those of mortals. If Ulon is evil it is because they have chosen to be evil. They have considered all of the methods of achieving their goals, all of the ways they could be shaped, and determined the kind of thing they want to be is one that hurts people. If Ulon was not like this, they would not be evil. Ulon's holy book could profess any number of teachings with any number of goals, but you should expect to be hurt by them. You should expect that the harm Ulon inflicts will outweigh whatever you get out of serving them. It always does.

At the first line, she against begins to cringe slightly. While I expect I do have an incomplete understanding of Ulon, I am aware of this, and I do struggle with the geas, the implication is invalid. Those aspects of Ulon which I understand I still cannot put into words effectively — I could answer factual questions using what I understand of Ulon, and I believe none of my answers would be incorrect with respect to the actual Ulon, but I cannot describe the processes which permit me to answer those questions. Someone might be able to, but if so I expect they also would refuse to.

That seems to be enough to stop her twitching.

Ulon is the kind of being which hurts people, yes, but— twitch — twitch — consider my actions as I have described them to you, but remove the results. Discard the cult. Rather than an attempt to sacrifice all of Korvosa for blood power, consider the conspiracy instead seeking to perform some other empowerment ritual they wished to keep secret, and my own goal to steal it from them. My actions have misled the conspiracy, caused them to turn upon themselves, forced them to expend an exceptional quantity of resources, and then perhaps destroyed them ti steal their ritual. This would be commonly agreed as evil, to do such a thing unprovoked simply for my own benefit. It is highly pleasing to Ulon.

Most plans Ulon favors have this shape. They disproportionately harm those they target, in painful ways. The guard has been misled, in this hypothetical, used as my agent and left with a poorer comprehension of reality. The hypothetical archmage is... inconsistent, in truth. They do not fit cleanly into this alternate story, and the archmage paid only for Wishes and with no desire to investigate further is left no worse off. Even so, this plan degrades the lives of most of those it touches, without the benefits my true plan gifts to them. This is a more typical form for Ulon's plans to take, and they therefore leave most people they touch slightly harmed, and this makes Ulon evil.

You must still remember this hypothetical version of me had no intent to harm most of those I did. The loss to the guards is simply instrumental, a necessary step in my plan but not actively desirable outside of how it assists me. I do not know what Ulon's true goals are, and therefore what Ulon's plans might achieve. This is irrelevant to determining alignment. Unless Ulon's plans are highly beneficial, Ulon's methods pull towards evil. This does not mean Ulon is not in fact aiming for evil ends! That remains entirely possible. However, Ulon's sorted alignment is worthless in determining that, because it would be the same for most possible ends.

—I do not think Ulon's ends are good, but if they exist I would expect them to be neutral, or evil in the sense that acquiring more power for oneself is most easily done in an evil fashion. This statement should be almost entirely useless to your calculations, and I include it only for completeness.

I do not desire to see Ulon's ends furthered because they are evil. If Ulon's ends were not evil, he would not be an evil god. That's part of what being an evil god means. There may be times when his interests and yours and mine align, such as ensuring the conspiracy doesn't sacrifice the population of Korvosa, but they align only by happenstance. It would be very bad if he gained a persistent advantage over the other gods. People being harmed and having poorer models of the world is bad. I do not want this, unless it is instrumentally valuable for some greater good. You should not want this either.

I want to work with you. The potential here, if the time travel is real and functions reliably, is immense. If it is not, I would very much like to figure out who faked it and why. Either way, I would like us both to be better off after our interactions. But there are things I cannot tell you, if you are giving information to an evil god. I do not know what Ulon did to your mind. It's possible they did more than just look.

I continue to be uncertain about Ulon's ends. Do you believe a god of building strong, self-sufficient, well-defended, prosperous cities whose preferred method for doing so was necromantic labor could not exist, or do you believe they would be neutral despite the mass zombification, or do you believe something else entirely? ...but that is not the point. If you wish only to avoid Ulon's actions, the argument holds equally well.

Consider again me acting maliciously. My plan still involves getting the assistance of Mika and the wizards, and assume for the moment that they represent my only way of accessing the amulet I need to commence my plan. If in exchange they ask of me a thousand gold sails in a month's time, I would be foolish to turn them down, yes? This is in fact the heart of Abadar's law, that to be able to keep a bargain is a strength. Ulon — twitch — does not speak the language of coin and trade but the same principles hold for whispers and secrets yes I know that's false but it is more correct than the alternative can I have my ability to breathe back! This last is crammed together, accelerating over time to the point where it would be hard to distinguish if she was using speech to convey words. Telepathy has no such problems.

It takes her some time to recover. The cramping and diminishment seems to have started from her throat this time. Eventually, though, she manages.

Where was I, I'm doing this all wrong. Secrets and whispers, right, it would be a foolish choice for Ulon to take up an offer of information and use it to draw more information than was given. Ulon doesn't push the cult to grow, but does not push it to shrink, and that would push it to shrink. Information you give to me I will not give to Ulon unless you ask me to, and that should be the end of it, Ulon will not learn about those secrets any more because of my actions. I had something else I wanted to mention but I seem to have lost it, my apologies.

You do not need to push yourself. I should be the one apologizing. I did not expect the geas to cause so much trouble. A zone of truth would not have these issues but it's not a wizard spell. There are other reasons lesser geas from her is better than zone of truth from a cleric. It's quite hard to sneak enchantment foil past Felandriel with her buffs and magic items.

The god you speak of did once exist. His name was Aroden. His ends seemed good to me. His means were often but not always evil. The various nations Aroden once sponsored did terrible things under his rule. Sometimes he intended them. Yet he was Lawful Neutral. I think you perceive being nonevil as much more difficult than it actually is. Especially for a god. This kind of overestimation is rather common in countries ruled by evil gods. Not that Korvosa is ruled by an evil god, it's more Abadaran than Asmodean, but the source of Tencednil's worship of Ulon is clearly not the city she lives in.

The exact particulars of Ulon's ends are not actually the most important thing here. Ulon having accurate predictions of the future when the other gods do not is very likely to go poorly. There's a strong prior that either the means or ends of evil gods are evil. Both are bad for everyone, be it you or I or others beyond our sight. I do not think you can promise me Ulon won't know my secrets if they decide to rip them out of your mind. You are sincere in your desire for Ulon not to know. That matters to me, but it might not matter to Ulon. Why is sharing information with Ulon important to you. Getting to the root of the problem should hopefully clarify her understanding of the situation.

Nod, and some time to think. She can sit quietly for that. Answering honestly and completely is clearly different from sharing every thought that comes into her head, especially when many of those would be misleading out of context.

I do not believe Ulon would rip your secrets from my mind, but the reason for this is the structure of Ulon's teachings. That would to my understanding be prohibited for a follower, and equally so for Ulon, but to convincingly show why I believe that would require an analysis of twenty or so books and the background for understanding Ulon's writings, and even then would require trusting me on some contextual assumptions. Short of that, I will ensure no relevant prayers to Ulon come from a mind which also contains your secrets.

Aside from that, my actions this loop, and I expect my actions next loop, are in Ulon's eyes pleasing and will preferentially succeed. Do you know of another god whose assistance would be more likely and more helpful? Empowering a god who favors my actions seems quite valuable! Even if you worry about evil gods in general, when the options are Ulon or Asmodeus I think the choice quite clear, and I would like to ensure Cheliax's attempt upon Korvosa goes worse this time than it did the last. An informed god assisting me is valuable, and even for only that reason I think it worth giving relevant information to Ulon. There are parts of this thought process I cannot clearly phrase, but I believe what I can phrase is nevertheless essentially honest and this is more complete than failing to add it and as such it is in accordance with what you means by the geas there is no need— good.

Her breath catches and her fingers twitch, but only briefly.

I am confused as to what Ulon did to you if they were not reading your mind. It gave you a headache and you felt their presence but experienced no vision. I suppose Ulon could have only taken information that isn't secret. I do not particularly expect Ulon to assist you via direct intervention. You are not their cleric, though you do worship them, and most kinds of intervention that don't involve making clerics are very expensive. Access to information about the future might make it a worthwhile expenditure for them, but they have not indicated their intent this way. I think there are many more suitable gods who favor your actions in Korvosa. The good gods are opposed to mass blood sacrifice and the spread of disease. The followers of Iomedae, contrary to what some expect, maintain an extensive espionage network. The followers of Milani are well-known for this kind of work. The means you have described to me so far do not seem limited to Ulon alone, when aimed at preventing mass murder.

I observe we are presently interacting, and I have passed — perhaps minimal secret information to you, but relatively little I would not have shared if I was asked. Ulon has all the same reasons to verify this that you do, is worth much more expense to entrap, and had less information to go on than you did. My first guess would be a meeting much like this one, sensibly done in a situation which my memory would not record just as you wish me to keep your own secrets.

Beyond that, Mother has claimed she has strong reason to think Ulon more invested in us than the average god is in their average follower. On this I believe her. Iomedae's church's paladins somehow manage to regularly violate their oaths and remain empowered, and Milani's favor rests on those who foment public unrest and rely on the subtlety of their whisper network to go untouched. If there is a good god who specializes in agents performing solitary and unmentioned actions, I quite sensibly have never heard their name spoken, and they would not welcome an apparent infiltration. These means, even aimed at preventing mass murder, are a topic in which Ulon more than any other god specializes.  As she sends this, her thoughts seem to pile up on each other again, the telepathic equivalent of words are being forced from her mouth.

I apologize, that was mostly tangential to your point and rather rude. Apparently it was necessary to providing a complete answer here.

What. That's not how anything works—

Iomedae's paladins do not regularly violate their oaths and remain empowered. That is in fact one of the things a paladin can specifically never do. I'm not sure where you heard that, but it is false. I cannot deny that Milani often empowers revolutionaries. I would describe her first and foremost as a goddess of hope and strength against oppression. Many of those she empowered rose up against Cheliax and Hell in the People's Revolt. They certainly used subterfuge as part of those actions. I believe you would be better off seeking the aid of a non-evil god. It is, however, your choice. Will you agree to not willingly reveal private information I tell you?

Felandriel still expects Ulon to learn everything Tencednil knows. She cannot actually force the girl into breaking with her faith. There are techniques that could nearly guarantee it but she really hates using them and the risk is far too great here. No method of memory modification she is aware of will hold against an arbitrary number of attempts to break it. It's too risky to try anything if her hostile actions might be remembered forever.

Iomedae's paladins do still hold to the Acts, yes? The book which is provably false? Unless you are claiming the Iomedaen church engages in a large-scale scheme to deceive all their paladins, which they might, but in that case I think the spirit of my sentiment remains accurate.

I will indeed agree not to willingly reveal private information you tell me. Do you have Mindlocked Messenger? I don't know if it ever got above the ground. If you do, I will accept it on any subjects you desire and will attempt within reason to notify you if your castings are broken in a Dispel, and not reveal any information you wished to conceal in that fashion even while I am capable of doing so. It is also possible that whatever effect makes it impossible for you to read my memories will cover others, but I do not understand it and I would not trust it against divine tampering even if I did.

I do not know the Acts of Iomedae to be provably false? The Acts are very widely read. If they were so easy to prove false someone would have done it already. The Church of Iomedae is almost certainly not engaged in a large-scale scheme to deceive all their paladins. That sort of thing is very much not what Iomedae is about.

I do not possess or recognize the spell mindlocked messenger.

The Acts quite clearly state that the death of the Sprouting Hope left the Crusade without an archmage, and this is obviously false for anyone who was paying attention at the time. Mother was told of the negotiations with the Whispering Tyrant which broke down over his refusal to ensure their safety against the Thoughtreaver, and without the Thoughtreaver's reputation those talks would most likely have succeeded. It is possible she was told inaccurately by someone who was falsely claiming to have been present, and that the records of those talks are inaccurate, and that the gifts were sent for another reason, and that every other sign was similarly falsified? I find it unlikely. This is irrelevant to the point.

Without Mindlocked Messenger I believe you will have to rely on my own security. I know of no copies of the spellform you can access. It is a wizard spell, third or fourth circle, which makes a message impossible to reveal even to thought detection outside of pre-fixed conditions, in case you know it by a different name. Without that I can only promise to attempt to avoid thought detection and to avoid deific focus on my mind in particular. If you have other policies I should use to keep your secrets, I am open to further recommendations.

Why does Ulon's cult teach of a second archmage in the Shining Crusade. "Thoughtreaver"? Seriously? Do these people have a mandatory edginess quota?

Right. I have never heard of this supposed Thoughtreaver. I will investigate them later. I don't know of a spell with that effect and would love to have it in my spellbook but that will also have to wait for later. Your best effort is all I am asking for. If you are correct about both Ileosa's horrible schemes and her vast wealth, I should be able to offer you security against thought detection. Gallipsiwhoop and I can make mind blank last forty-eight hours when working together. A ring of mind shielding offers total immunity. They usually sell for around eight thousand Absalom pounds. Wishes to increase your Wisdom would also help, and carry over to the next loop, but they are incredibly expensive.

The only way I know of to procure Wishes is via the conspiracy's purchasing, but if you learn of alternative diamond sources I would happily record them for the future. A persistent Mind Blank would prevent me from being visible to detection spells, even those which should detect my presence, would it not? I can't cast Nondetection, I believe the added notability would lose more security than the direct protection gains. If you wish me to wear a Ring of Mind Shielding I will if you provide it, but my only way of acquiring one myself would be with the funds which are tied to having foreknowledge. They would be a poor way to deflect attention.

If any of these problems can wait two weeks or so, I expect the account being tied to someone tied to you would no longer risk the collapse of my active plans, so at that point I can provide you with the account information to do with as you wish. If approximately forty thousand gold sails is insufficient, I can sell the cure for the plague to the Bank now that I know the formula I recall is sufficient, but that will be another week's delay. For the moment, though, interacting with it would risk everything, and I don't believe it necessary if I avoid any reason for others to associate me with you.

And on the matter of the plague, I have perhaps — doubled time here, so thirty minutes by Golarion time before I need to meet the guard to discover the cult for them. That is not urgent. Disregard this, we can continue.