"Er, all right, noted?" 

Vanyel doesn't feel like his conversations with Leareth are normally anywhere close to this...awkward? Failing to be on the same page? He's not sure exactly what keeps going wrong, or even whether it's Leareth fault at all versus his own - he's been so off-balance ever since that first awful interrogation session with Leareth - but it keeps feeling bizarrely as though all of the words they're saying are - slippery, sliding past each other, not quite landing...

Leareth nods, shortly.

"He calls himself Malduoni, now, but he - used to be Aroden - still is Aroden, I suppose, or at least whatever subset of Aroden-as-a-god was able to fit and exist in a human mind. ...Aroden was an immortal human before He was a god. It seems his human immortality setup still worked." 

"Aroden was the main god worshipped in Cheliax before his - death. Which happened when He had been prophesied to - bring about an age of glory? And now prophecy no longer even works in Golarion. But Aroden is intending to take Cheliax back." 

- all right, focus, he needs to at some point say something rather than just staring stupidly at Leareth until the dream ends. 

"I, er, and - is Iomedae fighting Aroden now, then? Or did She change her mind about that?" 

"- sorry, what?" 

"...You'd said that She betrayed him, but thought She had gotten the math wrong or something?" 

"Oh. Sorry, that - was my fault - I was not being clear. Iomedae is the god I prayed to, when I was being held prisoner by Malduon– by Aroden. She told me some things to convey to him, but She was not the ally who betrayed Him as a god. It was...a different god, I am trying to remember - Milani, I think." 

"....Er, did I - what - did you actually just say that you tried to solve a problem you were having by praying?" It seems so absurdly un-Leareth-like. 

"Yes, I did. I - did not have very many options, and the fact that I know She opposes Asmodeus was informative. Apparently it is surprising that I was able to reach Her, since my alignment reads Lawful Evil." 

A pause. 

"- I had to do it by thinking of you. Because you understand Good, and...also why sometimes it requires ruthlessness." 

- he is probably supposed to say something or somehow respond to that in any way, and he has no idea how to. 

"...Ummm. Thank you? I think?" 

"Anyway. Now She knows that Aroden is alive - sort of - and is planning to help him invade Cheliax. And they want my help as well. Asking for your help did not specifically come up, but I imagine it would be highly appreciated." 

....What. Just. What. 

"- Um. That - seems good, I think? ...I mean, no, it sounds awful, war is always horrible, but..." Shrug. "Seems like someone has to, at some point." 

"Indeed. And - sooner is better than later. With only my own resources, I would not have been ready to attempt it for - a century or more, most likely." 

....Of course Leareth was already planning to personally fight Asmodeus. That's exactly the sort of absolutely insane thing that Leareth would attempt. 

Vanyel still doesn't have the slightest idea what to say. 

"Anyway. The main implication for Valdemar here is that Iomedae sent representatives to Velgarth, when Malduoni freed us. They are consecrating land and making shrines so that She can see things here. I think that the Heralds would - get along well, with Iomedae's paladins. And that their being able to add more shrines in Valdemar would be of value to Her." 

"...Umm. Right. I - can pass that on? Should I?" 

"Probably. Did Nayoki set up any method of communication with Valdemar before leaving? I - have not exactly had time for a debrief with her, yet." 

"Er, I think yes? I'm not sure, I was - er, kind of distracted. And the part you think I maybe shouldn't mention is Aroden being alive? Honestly, I maybe shouldn't mention, er, what was his cover name again, Mal-something? - We don't think the diplomats are mindreading us, but I've probably got the best chance of blocking that. And I'm guessing it'd be pretty bad if Cheliax got warning that...what was the country called again? That it had an army?" 

"Malduoni. He is a leader in Rahadoum, which is the country that banned all of its gods - apparently that was his doing, because Aroden knew he had been betrayed by one of his allies but not which, until Iomedae conveyed it. So he did not trust any of the gods." 

"Huh. Kind of sounds like you." 

"- Honestly we seem surprisingly similar in a few ways? Though he reads Lawful Neutral, not Evil. Hopefully that will work in his favour with the other Heralds." 

"I'm still getting used to this whole thing where there's a literal kind of Sight for whether someone's good or evil!" 

"...Well. 'Good' and 'Evil'. I am not sure that the sorting concepts used by their death god are ones that...especially map to my own values. Or to yours. But, yes, it certainly - changes the incentives. It is rather fascinating."