Ione gives Keltham the spell list.  "I lost track of time while listing all the 1sts and 2nds and so there's fewer 3rds and 4ths," Ione confesses.  "I could probably generate more if you gave me more time."

Keltham gives Ione a smile of this hopefully being good enough (since he forgot that Ione wouldn't understand him unless he fetches Security again) and heads back to his room.

Those spells, huh.  Those sure are some spells.

Aura Sight is on the list, but not Invisibility Purge; Glimpse of Beyond, but not Spell Immunity.  If they'd had all the spells he knew about, but no new especially interesting ones, that would indicate that they were being first-order blatant about telling Ione what to include or exclude.  If they'd omitted Aura Sight too, that might mean somebody didn't update Ione about the new list of what not to tell Keltham.  This pattern indicates... either nothing much, or that they're able to do basic damn reflection about what Keltham is likely to think of things, and avoided there being any blatant pattern in the spell list so it would mean 'nothing much'.

Anyways.  He needs to pick his spell-request-pattern for tomorrow morning, and then sleep.  There were probably other things he told himself to review today, but he is feeling a bit worn and not necessarily up for trying to remember what they all were.  Hopefully they'll keep.

Today he got four cantrips, six first-circle, four second-circle, three third-circle, two fourth-circle spells.  Keltham should not assume his god can do that every time, so leave some headway at each level.

He wants Guidance and Detect Magic among cantrips.  If he had to pick spells on his own, he'd want at least one truth spell and at least one Comprehend Languages.  Owl's Wisdom seems important to have in reserve for real emergencies, however dangerous it may be to dath ilani who didn't want to be Keepers, and you could say the same about Invisibility Purge.  By default he's got the truth spell and Sanctuary to keep overnight, possibly cutting down expenses to his god some little bit.

Are there any spells here that form useful mnemonic patterns with his questions and answers?  Though he should maybe also try to pick spells that his god wouldn't try to urgently assign him for other reasons.  And he needs to pick spells where he can see what they do, upon a cast, and without those spells harming the target.

Oh huh, Keltham thinks, as he starts poking through the list for something weird enough that there's no way his god would assign it unless the communications channel worked.

Early Judgment: give someone a glimpse of their currently destined afterlife.

Now there's a spell he wouldn't have expected Cheliax to show him if they were really trying to prevent him from figuring out his god, or for that matter, afterlives.  Can he use that to see somebody else's destined afterlife too, and determine their real alignment even if they're not third-circle?  That definitely goes on the list, not as a code, just as a default request -

(At this point, Keltham's translation spell runs out, but somebody is timing things pretty well, and somebody arrives back to cast Share Language (Taldane) on him again.)

Lay of the Land (2nd) grants instant knowledge of the surrounding lands; it sounds like an unambiguously interpretable spell to cast; and Keltham is unlikely to need it otherwise.  Could be used to signal 'this worked at all' or to signal 'flee with Carissa'; semantically it's a better fit for the second.

Stone Shape (3rd) - clearly interpretable, unlikely to be given otherwise.  Mnemonically it could mean '4.1, show them how to make things'.  At 3rd circle it's expensive, though.

Create Food and Water (3rd again) - unmistakeable effect, mnemonically fits both '4.1 industrialize' and '5.1 flee'.  He needs to look at cheaper spells though.

Okay, Obscuring Mist (1st) has unmistakeable effect and would've been an obvious fit for 'this channel is noisy', but Keltham eliminated that answer-spell leaving only 'this channel is clear'... it also works for immediately fleeing with Carissa.  Silly spells for silly adventurers, everything's going to look like it was designed for fleeing with Carissa.

Air Bubble (1st)... probably not something his god would need to assign him otherwise, if he resolves not to do any chemistry experiments today, clearly visible effect, and it can stand for 'This channel is clear'.  3.1 or 1.1.

Light... uses up a relatively precious cantrip slot, but it sure is unmistakeable.  Another good fit for several different possible mnemonics.  Hopefully not one his god would otherwise assign him.

Create Water, likewise uses up a cantrip slot, but is unmistakeable and could mean 'this channel is cheap' because water is cheap.

(Do they seriously mean create water and not just teleport it in, by the way?  Because then why can't you also create very large amounts of energy?  E^2 = P^2C^2 + M^2C^4 and all that.)

Oh, Lighten Object (1st) would also do to convey that things weren't expensive.

Share Language (2nd) would correspond very well to 'teach them' but it's also something a helpful, deaf god might assign if it thought that a student being able to hear a lecture in Baseline might be helpful to them.

Silence (2nd) and Silent Table (2nd) are unmistakable and could mean some things.  And Silent Table sounds less like it might be granted by a god that thought Keltham needed to flee.  2nd-circle is still expensive compared to 1st.

Oh, and Read Weather is 1st and sounds unmistakeable and otherwise-improbable-to-get even if it doesn't mean much.  At this point Keltham is ready to compromise on some meanings.

So, attempted code, v1:

1.1 Read Weather (1st):  This channel works at all, and can tell you things, like the Weather.
2.1 Lighten Object (1st):  This channel doesn't cost much.
3.1 Air Bubble (1st):  This channel is clear.

That uses up all his 1st slots if he keeps Sanctuary and a truth spell, and requests a new Comprehend Languages.  Wait, didn't he want to keep one 1st-circle slot clear in case his god can't assign him six first-level spells every day?  Well, it's probably a little safer if he's keeping some of his old spells... hopefully?  He may not have better options.  In 2nd, he already has a request for Early Judgment and emergency Owl's Wisdom, 4 slots total of which he should leave one free, and:

5.1:  Lay of the Land (2nd):  Run.

Okay, so instead of using expensive 3rds, what if on the topic of whether to speak freely or stall:

4.1:  Light (0th):  Shed light on their ignorance.
4.2:  Create Water (0th):  Stall with a great volume of cheap stuff.

Those are alternates, so they only use up one cantrip slot, leaving the other two free for Guidance and Detect Magic, and the fourth for his god's choice, or empty because his god strained itself to give him so many spells before.

And then when it comes to 3rd and 4th... he could mostly leave that up to his god, but if his god wants any suggestions, Keltham will go on Invisibility Purge for 3rd and... he doesn't really have much he wants in 4th.  Well, he could ask for Tongues and use that to free up the valuable 1st-level slot occupied by Comprehend Languages.  Actually, can clerics request lower-level spells in higher spell 'slots'?  That would make his life noticeably simpler in this regard and save his god money.  Keltham should have asked this question earlier.

Keltham starts to stand up, to go outside and call Security to ask this question, but then it occurs to him to try a different experiment.  Just in case, you know.

"Security?" Keltham says to the empty room, not particularly loudly.

On recently communicated orders Security is to be behind a wall from Keltham at all times it's feasible. They can keep a closer eye with a scrying sensor. 

This summons is not answered.

Keltham steps outside his bedroom and again tries the Security call.

Security goes visible this time within his field of view, taking off a ring. 

"Wait, the reason I never see you guys until called is that you're also invisible?"

"Yes." 

"You know, I'm going to ask explicitly, because I'm confused, if the idea here is that you were trying to hide the concept of invisibility generally from me, and that didn't work, so now you think there's no more point in hiding it or hiding the fact that you were hiding it, or if I reacted to that earlier incident in a way you considered weird and like you didn't understand why I was so offended and now you're trying to be more explicit about something you thought was innocuous or... what."

"...Security is invisible when our visible presence has not been requested because, should anyone attempt to attack you, knowing our positions and numbers would advantage them over knowing we're around but not where. Security is trained to activate or deactivate magic items while alone where possible, emerging only once not occupied with activation or deactivation. Guidelines were recently updated to note that you prefer persons in a room with you not be invisible, and that this ought to take precedence over the rule not to activate or deactivate magic items in company, barring a time-pressured or dangerous situation."

"...legit.  Maybe when I get more used to Golarion local customs that'll change, but yeah, I currently prefer you be visible around me for now in non-emergency situations.  Thank you for considerateness."

"My question was going to be, if you happen to know, whether clerics - always get the same number of spells, of each circle, every day, and whether they can request lower-circle spells to fill up a higher-circle slot if they'd rather have the lower one."

"The same number and circle distribution of spells are typically granted to a cleric each day. You can request lower-circle spells in a higher-circle slot."

"Thank you very much for that information.  And, just to be very clear on my general policy, if Security accommodating my weird preferences means I'm probably going to die, please have an explicit conversation with me about that instead of doing it my way."  Keltham heads back to his bedroom.

So, if his god doesn't have anything better to do with them... maybe use one 3rd slot and one 4th slot on an additional Owl's Wisdom to potentially tap a student with, and an additional Early Judgment to see if he can look at somebody else's current afterlife destination with it.

And that's a plan for prayer tomorrow.

Keltham tucks himself into what passes for a bed in Golarion.  Good night, Cheliax!

Zon-Kuthon cultists don't attack in the middle of the night, yet, growth mindset.

Before dawn, a mysterious and unnaturally-beautiful woman steps, without any sound whatsoever, into Carissa Sevar's bedroom.  If you were to trust your eyes, looking at her, she would look like a very-high-level Asmodean fighter, with obviously magical armor and arms, decorated in barbs, spikes, stylized flames.

She lights a black candle that burns with a dark crimson flame, and then speaks.

"Carissa Sevar."

- startles awake like someone who startles awake a lot. 

She doesn't sleep clothed in Cheliax; her sleep clothes are for the Worldwound and far too warm. However she thinks that's not at the top of the priority list here. 

"Yes," she says, because anyone in here has the security clearance to know that, surely.

"I am a high-ranking noble who chooses not to identify herself, for now."  A playful smile, backed with such vast Splendour that even Sevar is going to feel, very briefly, like she is really being invited to some harmless pleasant game.  "I'm wondering whether you'd be interested in overthrowing the Queen of Cheliax.  Oh, and your little security wizards won't think there's anything unusual about our conversation while that black candle burns."

Carissa wants to be that pretty and to have a voice that rings that confidently and to have lips that move that seductively-

- and to survive the next hour! Let's do that one first! It's a test, obviously it's a test, but there are all kinds of things one tests for. Loyalty, the willingness to say 'I serve my Queen' even when it's a losing move in the moment. Theological purity, going through the right mental motions on your way to the truth. Strategic competence, where one gets to contemplate considerations like how, if this is real, immediately angering the powerful stranger is a poor path to protecting the Queen or the country. 

"I serve Asmodeus," she says, and bites her tongue, hard, so erasing her memory of this conversation will also require healing her, and there's still the hope of recognizing the taste of blood in her mouth. 

"Oh, absolutely.  That's rather the point, dear.  The current Queen has a pact with Asmodeus.  The Queen is not Asmodeus's servant.  The compact between the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune and Asmodeus Himself specifies that He is not to punish them in Hell for presuming to pursue their own interests as well as His, in this world.  Now, somebody truly loyal to Asmodeus, someone who Asmodeus deemed worthy even of His explicit notice, to be someday among the most treasured souls in His possession, might, perhaps, think it was presumptuous for the Thrunes to dare to bargain so with our god, as if the Thrunes were only His juniors and not His servants.  Or simply believe that it served Asmodeus better to have a Queen who was His slave in truth."

Carissa does not understand Aspexia Rugatonn, but she's met her, and so she has a fraction more context with which to reject this than she would have had yesterday, when she would have rejected it on general principle. You do not serve a god by giving his interventions unexpected effects. 

So that's the question answered, but not the strategic situation at all resolved; only in tests for five year olds do you win by defiantly screaming the truth for all the world to hear. And the Church and Queen do diverge, sometimes, Maillol's story about the slave implied it, and it's possible this is a test from a different angle than Aspexia Rugatonn's. The first priority is to survive it, then to report it, then to seek correction in any mistaken details of her understanding of precisely why you do not overthrow the Queen of Cheliax. 

"I presume myself to understand nothing about the Queen, or her House, or any matters in which I have not been directed," she says. "But I was directed that, if I serve Asmodeus in this world, I will be raised high in it, and so I will listen to your explanation; I assume you have more of one."

How could she possibly win this. She hasn't prepared her spells yet. - she isn't sure if she'll get enough sleep tonight, to prepare her spells. One should of course die for their country as needed, but if there's a plot against the Queen it is better to live to report it. She can try talking her way into getting more time unsupervised, but that kind of Splendour usually comes with excellent interpersonal reading and she shouldn't count on it. Can she cancel the candle. Quietly trigger a ward. 

"Dear, I have the transcript of your conversation with Hell.  And not from the Grand High Priestess, either."  A playfully raised eyebrow.  "You asked for a county, I believe?  That doesn't sound to me like a meek little unambitious thing who knows nothing about any matters in which she hasn't been directed.  Do discard that pretense.  What do you want from your mortal life, Carissa Sevar, besides a county and a crafting allowance?  Do your ambitions lead you to want a more Asmodean rule of this country, for you to be raised high in?  Would you take the throne yourself, if you could?  If your answer is that Asmodeus would hold either ambition against you, I'd like to hear your explanation of the theology behind that.  The Church doesn't teach that Her Infernal Majestrix is a poor Asmodean for having presumed to murder her predecessor Infrexus."

(On paper, Infrexus I accidentally drowned.  For a seventh-circle sorcerer to accidentally drown, and then for Cheliax to accidentally forget they had any clerics who could resurrect him, is the sort of story you put in the official history books when you actually don't want people getting confused about what really happened.)

Disrupting the candle seems doable but if the woman's smart the candle will have nothing to do with whatever protections might hide this conversation from security. She didn't even claim it did, just, 'while this candle burns', and while you're not supposed to give in to the temptation to speak to adversaries in beautiful technical-truths like that when a simple lie would do it's still information.

"Well, see, I don't know how I'd like having a county; and it was pointed out to me that if it had been the will of Asmodeus that I have one He could have ordered it." And it feels like there's an incoherence, in the claim that Asmodeus wants a slave and not one who made a pact with Him to serve their own interests, and in claiming that Carissa's own interests point her towards power, but confusions there don't matter very much because there's already no way that the Church desires this and her top priority now isn't parsing out precisely why not. "And the throne, as you note, seems to burn one up sooner or later, besides which it feels implausible you'd go to all this trouble to put someone else on it."