"Both of you have Rope Trick and Communal Mount, so we don't need to be too conservative with planning out other second-circle spells."

"That reminds me, if you happen to have extra spellbook ink, you are welcome to copy any of my spells."

"I have at least enough ink for one third-circle spell, and I don't have many third-circle spells, so anything that isn't enchantment and is third-circle would be helpful, conjuration would be best.  I don't even have Summon Monster III yet."

It is one of the strongest signs that his old group didn't really like or value him that they didn't spare more resources on getting him another scroll or two to copy before sending him off.

"They are likely to favor illusions... the other three wizards I knew in the cult were all at least somewhat specialized in illusions.  Protection from Evil should help with seeing through illusions.  Greater Invisibility is a possibility... I could prepare a Glitterdust?  Although I'm still pretty hopeful they don't have someone that can teleport, even if they have someone that can scry, so spells that will be useful for any other fights or such are a good idea."

"I actually don't have Summon Monster III either — clerics can cast it too, so it's always seemed less urgent than other spells. Most of my third-circle spells are transmutation, but I do have one conjuration spell at third-circle. It's a fairly obscure one, developed by some researchers who were trying to compress Dimension Door into a third-circle slot by reducing its range significantly. More importantly, the current version is blocked by any solid object, even a thin sheet of glass, so I rarely prepare it. Outside of conjuration, I also have Haste, Slow..." He's perfectly willing to recite his third-circle spells, with occasional commentary on where they're unexpectedly useful or useless.

...Right, the man also had a strategic question about Glitterdust.

"—It's rare to encounter invisible enemies in this area, so the main benefit against most opponents would be the possibility of blinding them. It may be better to plan to cast it from your bonded object if necessary."

"They probably don't have a teleporter, anyone who can teleport and hasn't sold their soul to Hell could just leave Cheliax. Even if they're really dedicated to fighting Asmodeus, people who can teleport mostly spend most of their time outside the country. But it's good to be prepared just in case."

"They might have sold their soul to Baphomet instead."

"—That's true, they might've." It'd be a stupid thing to do, but so's selling your soul to Asmodeus. In that case her best guess is that they would still leave Cheliax, but they might still be taking orders from Baphomet's priests. 

His old group's leading cleric had made mention of rituals to gain boons from Baphomet, culminating in a demonic mark which granted the ability to recast a spell once a day, and a few other perks, like summoning demons without a spell.  But successfully completing the ritual requires fourth-circle, at a minimum, so Fernando hadn't inquired for more details.

"A 3rd circle teleportation sounds really interesting!  …I shouldn't use the ink if it's not going to be useful for a potential fight... but if someone teleports right on top of me, even a short range repositioning could be vital!"

Teleportation is one of the best tricks of conjurers, but Fernando had resigned himself to not being able to teleport (even short distances) until he died and worked his way up as a demon.  He is tempted to get sidetracked with discussion about teleportation as a subschool of conjuration... he needs to focus on the tactically relevant for now.

"I'll focus on spells we are sure to need and save the more niche spells for my bonded amulet.  A Mage Armor for myself, more Mounts and Communal Mounts, a Summon Monster II... " he lists out some options for them to work through.

He is reasonably knowledgeable about arcane magic and will endeavor to discuss the strategic implications without getting too distracted by magical theory.

The rest of the group is less knowledgeable about arcane theory in particular, but they're perfectly competent to discuss strategy.

Eventually, the halfling peeks out of the Rope Trick. 

"It's getting late." She fishes some food out of her bag and starts dividing it up into five portions.

All in all a productive conversation!  He also made good progress on studying the third circle teleportation, Phase Step.

"If I get to sleep soon and wake up before dawn I should be able to finish getting this spell copied well before the possible scry time.  And I'm not sure I mentioned it among our other magical discussion, but at risk of repeating myself, I only need around half to a quarter of the time for spell preparation... I'm kind of inconsistent, but I can definitely finish under a half hour."

Then once they've eaten dinner, he can cast the Extended Rope Trick, and they can settle in for the night. 

The next day is largely uneventful. Fernando is able to copy Phase Step into his spellbook. They manage to find a reasonably good location to ambush a Teleport strike team, but no one attempts to Scry Fernando at the scheduled hour. They don't encounter any other people in the woods, though they do see signs of a trail heading northwest. At one point they have to fight off a colony of hostile human-sized beetles with enormous teeth, but it's nothing the five of them can't handle; they don't even end up injured enough to need a second channel. They manage to avoid fighting something the halfling identifies as a man-eating tree.

Nothing disturbs them overnight.

The morning after that Fernando is playing around with his scaffold at the expected time of the scry.  Well, not really expected.  If a scry was going to come, it probably would have come yesterday and he didn't think it particularly likely in the first place.  If he is clear today, well, it wouldn't hurt to be cautious, but that probably means he got away free and the cult doesn't have anyone strong enough to teleport.

Leading the Cult of Baphomet in Cheliax is often an exercise in frustration (insofar as it even has a single leader dedicated to the country).  The better half of the cult is still not as smart as they think they are with constant clever plans that aren't usefully clever.  They constantly engage in schemes to outwit and humiliate the Asmodeans... that only barely accomplish any tactical or strategic goals.  The worse half of the cult think of Chaos as mere inversion of Law and regularly engage in stupid randomness.  

Still, he likes to think he has a workable system the usefully channels the chaos.  Isolate information on a need-to-know basis, weed out the stupid using them up as distractions and cat's paws, strengthen the more clever and hone them into reliable tools worth keeping around.  He's seen how dysfunctional the Church of Asmodeus can be over something as small and petty as building a new cathedral, he knows he is doing better, even with all the mid-wits and would-be-schemers he works with.  Even as frustrating as they are, he's actually kind of fond of them.  But he can't afford to be lax or lenient, especially in the face of treachery.

Which brings him to the case of Fernando.  He contemplates the reports he's read as he works the scry.  Reading between the lines... Fernando actually has decent long term potential.  Fernando's apparently barely smart enough to even hang third-circle spells, but he's managed third circle, a headband could fix his deficiency in raw intelligence.  Fernando's a bit squeamish and a bit cowardly, but that also means he is cautious enough not run wild with idiot schemes or complications.  And his hatred of Asmodeus, desire for a greater purpose, and desire for companionship should all ensure his overall long term loyalty.

The best case scenario is that Fernando is hiding nearby, waiting to be directed back to the planned meet-up.  (He's still frustrated that the cell Fernando was intended to meet managed to misread a map that badly!)  A slightly more annoying possibility Fernando is in the process of returning to his original cell.  He will use a teleport with his demonic mark, allowing for a second casting, so that he can pick up Fernando and relocate him to his new cell as well as make a visit himself.  He doesn't like exposing himself over such petty things, but it is likely both Fernando and the cell that apparently can't read a map would benefit from his guidance.  And it's not like he will risk showing his true face or leaving so much as a hair behind.

One of the worse scenarios is irrational cowardice or deliberate desertion on Fernando's part.  Irrational cowardice, well the cult doesn't have a lot of third-circle's to spare, it will take a delicate balance of punishment to make his point without breeding resentment.  He's seen how Asmodeans regularly destroy their own potential or turn it against themselves.  As to the possible case of deliberate desertion... Fernando is too much of a liability.  He will swiftly make an example of him with a scroll of Malediction.  

The very worst case scenario is that Fernando is captured and compromised.  In principle some cunning and ambitious Asmodeans could use that to set a trap for himself, layering a False Vision or disguising a scene mundanely on a Dominated Fernando.  He will need to examine the scry carefully to mitigate this risk.  But in practice the constant infighting makes most Asmodeans unwilling to take risks (and sometimes even proper initiative).  It is one of the upsides of his Cult over their Church.

The scry resolves, showing Fernando inside of a Rope Trick.

Fernando is apparently struggling to prepare a spell with motions twice as fast as normal, the magic partially slipping from his control without being entirely lost.

He hears a voice

This is your contact, confirmation the laughing bull under the moon.  Report.

Fernando flinches just a hair and begins his report, responding back through the Message that squeezed through the scry.  "My contacts were not at the location at the agreed upon time.  Fearing the worst, I began to return west to my old contacts before chancing upon news of a disturbance and corresponding Asmodean activity and I headed back east a different way than I had gone before."

Get your scaffold put away within the next five minutes and then exit the Rope Trick to allow me to get a teleport location.

One of his inquisitors arrived to be on standby as the scry finishes and he instructs the inquisitor now.

"Tell Mateo to grab his belonging and have both of you ready to teleport out with me 6 minutes from now.  Bring two of our second circles, not for coming with the teleport but to cast the standard protections and buffs."

Taking Mateo will serve a few purposes... Mateo has seemed a bit discontent lately.  In the event Fernando has outright attempted to desert Mateo would benefit from seeing him swiftly and decisively Maledicted.  In the more likely event they all teleport out together, Mateo has the apparently rare skill of being able to fucking read a map and would serve both to supplement the errant cell and settle his own restlessness doing some useful work.

He continues to study the scry while he waits on Fernando to finish preparing his spells and the Inquisitor to gather his people.  He is looking carefully for any illusion or sign of treachery.  He manages to squeeze a detect magic through the scry as well.  So far everything seems normal, but he can't see very far outside the Rope Trick, Fernando has sensibly hidden it amidst some trees.  He'll take another minute studying the scry once Fernando is outside.  You only have to get sloppy once.

He ties off his scaffold at around four minutes, seemingly failing at finishing the last spell he was working at, and pokes his head outside the Rope Trick's entrance, quietly and cautiously looking around.

Cat's Grace. Haste.

Bless. Communal Protection from Evil. Prayer.

And a little luck for Shakti.

When no one immediately materializes she starts tapping everyone else with Guidance. It's not like it can hurt.

She's ready with her bow, waiting to shoot whoever looks most like a wizard as soon as she sees them.

She's likewise ready to get in close with her daggers.

The haste gets his head.  He quickly moves out of the rope trick once he feels it take effect, the teleporter will need a good view as soon as possible.  One potential problem is if the teleporter takes their time, their shorter round duration spells will wear off, so he doesn't want the teleporter to have any reason to delay.

"It looks clear to me, no one else is around, and I don't have any reason to think I was followed."