"Literally only spellbooks, and how is that a thing the spell can tell, and what counts as a spellbook, and can you write a spell over the outside of a luggage and pack the whole thing away, are some of the questions that leap instantaneously to mind, but they are not urgent ones.  I sure will want a Bag of Holding once I have anything to hold in it."

"Do you need, or for that matter want, a separate room so you can prepare spells?  And I also need, if it's possible, a space where I can sometimes be where other people won't be there without knocking, if this ends up our shared bedroom."

“Only spellbooks because this is a hyperspecialized version of a more general third-circle spell which a research team at the Worldwound shaved down to first by making it incredibly specific. It has to be the spellbook you prepared the first circle spell out of, it has to be magically unique or you might get someone else’s spellbook with the exact same spells written in it, the weight limit is what a Mage Hand can lift, and non magical notes or writing don’t tend to come back when you summon it back. You can use the third circle version if you don’t like those downsides. 

I think this is meant to be your bedroom, and you can request me a separate one if you want space that’s not shared, even if you’re generally going to want me in yours.”

"Hope we can at some point get to a situation with three rooms instead of two, but given the Security situation I can live with it temporarily.  Do you need to formally report in to Security about last night before spending a lot more time with me, do you prefer to prepare spells before you do anything else in a day, do you desire breakfast above and before all other things..."

“My priority is you, Keltham. But I guess you’ve got spells to pray for and so I’ll probably by default report to Security and prepare mine while you’re doing that.”

"Ione's list of spells got burned, so I figured, especially given what happened yesterday, I'd ask my god to pick whatever, in which case praying won't take long... if I get a busy signal and have to figure out my own spells for a new request, it might take longer, I suppose."

“…right, I have no idea if the godwar affects prayer. We could ask whether the Asmodean clerics here are getting spells normally but that’d only tell us so much because Asmodeus is a much bigger and more powerful god.”

"I'll just try it now."  Keltham, who has some alien mental training involving task-switching and calm-states via biofeedback and also lacks preconceptions about how fast sacred rites should take, shifts his thoughts into a more meditative and contemplative mode.  The Taldane word 'prayer' means more to him than it did yesterday, there's a novel concept inside Keltham for its connotations to translate onto.

Keltham remembers what he saw in Early Judgement, and thinks about his desire to engage in mutually beneficial interaction with the God of Coordination, the god who runs the afterlife of golden gondolas that are sold and not given away, because money symbolizes mutual benefit that spreads out beyond two people bartering directly, and that is what binds people helping each other into a Civilization even of many life forms.  Whatever spells his god thinks he should have today to serve that goal and make skyscrapers in Golarion, those are the spells Keltham wants.

Abadar is (a) busy (b) very confused about how His attempts to help the strange squirrel via spell choice have been playing out so far and (c) feeling somewhat more relaxed about His initial attempt to open trade with the squirrel in a way nonharmful to the squirrel's own interests, now that the consequences will include the downfall of Zon-Kuthon.  If the squirrel is Good, which it might possibly be to some degree, it'll probably feel sad about how this whole business ended up helping Cheliax; but having also helped cause the downfall of Zon-Kuthon should make up for a lot, relative to what a Good squirrel's interests probably are.  And if the squirrel isn't Good at all, the squirrel is even less likely in those branches to regret having ever tried to trade with Abadar.

But, most importantly, Abadar is busy.  Call again later.

"No reply at all.  I'll try picking out my own spells and praying again, but that'll take some time to think.  We should - request a room for you, so you can prepare spells there, I guess?  I'm not sure how my brain will respond to you being quietly in the room preparing spells and I don't want to unnecessarily fight my brain about anything right now."

"Very reasonable. I will go report to Security and can convey that request on my way?"

"Make it so, Carissa."

She curtseys, and off she goes. 

Dawn has come, and Asmodean priests receive their spells.  One soul stands near the top of the new priority list.  If they don't act soon, they might not get her back, if it's not already too late.

Pilar Pineda wakes in the dawn light of Elysium, still immersed in the pool of glowing slimes where she was resting that night. It seems that she is no longer chained, no longer bears those marks that tell Elysians how to mistreat her.  She is as naked, now, as when she first appeared here; though the pool slimes would be protecting her modesty if Asmodean wizard students were allowed to retain any.

Standing before her is the bizarre, brightly colored, un-reality-resembling form of Cayden Cailean's - herald?  Delegate?  It's not clear what she is in many senses, just that she (or is it She?) obeys, or, as the locals would have it, 'works with', Cayden Cailean.

Pilar knows, even before She speaks, what She will say.

"They'll call you very soon," says She to Pilar.  "Are you still sure you want to go back?"

"Yes I am sure," Pilar says firmly.  "And, if it's in any way possible, I don't want to come here next time.  Even if I can't get Maledicted in time, don't take me here again, just let me get my proper trial from Pharasma.  I belong in Hell.  And yes, I know that when I'm in Hell, I'll many times wish I was here.  But I'm actually Lawful Evil, and this was a lovely place to visit, but it's not where I belong."

The strange being nods Her head.  "Okay."

Pilar was expecting more of an argument.  "Okay?" she repeats.

"An it harm none other, do as ye will!  It may not be the whole of the Law, but it sure is a great big part of Chaotic Good!  We're not going to keep you here if you say you'd rather be somewhere else."

From far away, Pilar hears the call.  Yes, she answers, with her mind, with her soul, and a majority if not the absolute entirety of her heart.  Yes, I want to go back.  To serve Asmodeus in Golarion, and then in Hell.

And she feels herself start to fade.

She's fading really very slowly, for some reason, and seems to basically be still here.

"Time is running super fast for us right now, relative to Golarion," says the strange being.  "I am willing that it be so.  Raise Dead takes a minute to cast, and it turns out, there's a few more things you need to hear before you go!"

"Is this where you spring some sort of Chaotic Good trap on me?" Pilar says suspiciously.

"No.  It's where I tell you that Cayden Cailean won't be able to take you, if you die for real.  He was only able to get away with this because you were going to go back and Cayden Cailean knew that.  You're right, Lawful Evil to Chaotic Good is something of a stretch.  We could arrange a visit, but we can't offer you citizenship, not really."

Pilar now has additional questions.  "Wait - if I could never stay here in the first place, why did you keep asking me if I really wanted to go back to Golarion and go on to Hell - why send me on this whole tour to convince me to say no to the Raise Dead -"

The strange being laughs Her strange high-pitched cheerful laugh.  "Well, because it was important that you knew for yourself, you see!  There's not many people who can go to Hell with a whole heart, or who really and truly want to belong to Asmodeus when Asmodeus cares so little about them.  Many, many, many fewer people than have convinced themselves that they're okay with it."  The strange being looks sad, now.  "Not many people in Cheliax would make the decision you just did, if they had really been to Elysium, and if they really thought they could stay.  If Asmodeus's followers had any sense they'd throw you a huge party about it, when you got back to Golarion, but they won't do that either.  Most of them won't want to admit, if they even let themselves know it, that they would never do what you did."

On reflection, the Elysians never once did tell her explicitly that she could stay, just kept on asking her if she was sure she wanted to go back.  "What in the name of Asmodeus... um.  What is Cayden Cailean planning?  Why do that?"  She doesn't expect them to just actually tell her, but, Chaotic Good outsider, she should at least try.

"You don't think it's just the sort of thing that Chaotic Good people do?"

"No," says Pilar.  "This is way, waaay, waaaay too much effort for just getting one Asmodean to know for certain that she's an Asmodean, when, in fact, she already knew that."  (Elysium has affected her speech patterns, Pilar notes, she'd better watch that when she gets back.)

"Did she really know it, though?  There'd be an awful lot of Asmodeans who said they were certain they were Asmodeans, who'd never let themselves think that wasn't true.  But if they were in Elysium and had the chance to stay, they'd say yes in a heartbeat.  Could you know you weren't one of those, if you hadn't really tried it?"

"Yes, I could, actually," Pilar says.  "But more importantly, that is not the whole point of this operation.  What is?"

The strange being slyly winks one of the inhumanly huge, luminous white-black-blue-white eyes in Her head.  "Well, that would be telling.  But, guess what - the part where Cayden Cailean turned you into His oracle is going to help Asmodeus, in the end!"

"Really."

"Really!  You're truly loyal to Asmodeus, Pilar.  I'm not going to say we'd never use somebody like you against her own god, but it's still the sort of thing that Good prefers not to do.  According to Asmodeus's own values, He'll be better off in the world where Pilar Pineda became an oracle of Cayden Cailean than in the world where you didn't.  Obviously that's not the real point from Cayden Cailean's perspective, but it still happens to be true."

Chaotic Good and Lawful Evil don't have a whole lot of common interests, but they do have some.  "...Is this about keeping Rovagug sealed, or the Worldwound, or something?"

"One of those three for sure!"

Pilar can feel herself to have almost entirely faded, now.  Golarion is calling her, it's not her home, but it's on her way.

"And maybe it's not the real point either," says the un-reality-looking bright-pink sort-of-horse, "but with so many people in Hell, who don't want to be there, it would be sad if one of the very few people who did want to be there, couldn't go.  Asmodeus isn't a friend to anyone, but that doesn't mean He doesn't need anyone to be a friend to Him.  After all, sometimes -"

Pilar hears the last words with her soul's mind more than her soul's ears.

"- friendship can be the greatest magic of all!"

"Though," the Element of Laughter murmurs to herself, a little sadder, by the now-empty pool, "this isn't one of those times."

Carissa has no idea who in the palace she's supposed to report to and is mildly worried that if she just wanders around she'll either run into the Queen (hi your Imperial Majestrix you can do whatever you'd like) or run into someone that some random god can oracle or otherwise work through. ...if she's not more or less immediately stopped by Security she'll try for a temple.

Security will direct her quickly enough to Maillol, who's in a temporary guest office at the annex temple.

"Sevar."  He's had any sleep, now, and is going to need to have it for an entire damned week until his Ring of Sustenance kicks in again.

Well, that's one of her questions answered, which was whether he was back and Project-related decisionmaking appropriately located so that she can stop doing it. The other things she wants to know are whether Pilar's back or whether she should start setting up excuses for that/evaluating a Pilar-replacement, whether anyone has any guesses on the mysterious Second Law that allowed Keltham to predict Pilar would enjoy being forced and have an interesting backstory, "and, in the spirit of continuing to be proactive about this, whether the Church has any correction for me."

"I'm probably just stupid from the Raise Dead, but I seem to be unable to find any flaws to pick in your performance over the last half-day.  Perhaps I'll have found some tomorrow."

Pilar's back, carrying a story that got her instantly kicked to the almost-but-not-quite-absolute-top-priority line to talk to Aspexia Rugatonn, which is, unfortunately, a pretty long line while the gods are at war.

Sevar is unfortunately the expert on whatever the Abyss this Second Law business is about.  Maillol can barely understand any of the game Sevar is playing against Keltham's mastery of the Law he's already lectured on.  If it wasn't for Sevar's thought transcripts, nobody else reading the surface conversation would've realized that there was a great mystery here in the first place.

Still, even with everyone incredibly busy, there's probably somebody here in the palace who can beat Keltham's Will save on Detect Thoughts with enough reliability to make it worth the risk.  Though they should probably ready a story about Nidal infiltrators in case that person fucks up.

Anyways, Maillol can't think of anything besides sending in somebody to ask Keltham why he thinks one girl is a hidden Kuthite cleric, and hoping that makes him think about the Second Law.  Maybe have somebody go in who's old and impressive-looking and wearing a big visible intelligence headband so that Keltham is more likely to try to explain to them than to Sevar.  All they need is for one of Cheliax's three eighth-circle wizards to have the time available for a Detect Thoughts.  During a war with Nidal.  Well, there's also always Aspexia Rugatonn, it's not like she'd be busy.  Or Gorthoklek, as the general of Cheliax's armies this must be like a vacation for him.

"I assume I can't be of any help to the war effort that's worth distracting me from Keltham but if I can, he'd accept that as a reason for me to be doing other things." Carissa would have some kind of feelings about how she had the best spellcraft of anyone at the Worldwound including the wizards with two circles on her and can only serve Cheliax by getting chained up in bed except that would be pathetic. 

"It may be useful to have him think something like that exists when it doesn't, to give you an excuse to be places, but you're the one in charge of lies."

"I am still making an effort to understand Keltham myself in case you're not available, so, Sevar, correct me if I am mistaken.  My guess is that you'll say that Keltham doesn't think quite the same way we do about how he's obviously more important than anything you can do for the war effort, but that it's still a lie he might notice as out-of-place even if it's not instantly obvious to him the same way.  Confirm or correct me."

"He would - try to extrapolate the equilibrium where third circle wizards on a secret directly divinely commanded project are needed for the war effort and something wouldn't add up, I don't know what, but if we're not in fact doing it then there's a reason we're not which bottoms out in reality, maybe in pieces of it he can see."

...right.  Maillol really hopes that going around saying "extrapolate the equilibrium where" instead of just "figure out how things work if" is meaningful and important and not, when you start saying it, a sign of increasing Kelthamization.

"Give me your current best guess about when Cheliax will gain more than it loses from resuming extraction of information from Keltham, given that your thought transcripts suggest genuine and not simply posed concern about his ability to recover from the shock.  We could find a spare room within the Palace's Forbiddance for lessons, but not if we're eating our seed grain by doing that.  The actual call will remain yours after further observation of Keltham."

"He thinks he'll be better by tomorrow or the next day, I predict he's right though he seems quite not okay right now and if he's still like this tomorrow I'll push it off."