And it's much costlier to assume something is true when it's not than to keep in mind it might not be, under normal circumstances. 

:- For me, yes. I...am not sure that holds for ordinary people in, say, Valdemar - I think perhaps Cheliax is different that way: 

Leareth squeezes Carissa's shoulders a little, and then lets go and stands up. :Anyway. I had best see how much more progress I can make on Gate-research before I need to transport the paladins' delegation over to Valdemar: 

Good luck.

By the time noon approaches, Leareth is pretty sure that he's ready to attempt a test Gate. 

He puts it off until after this part, though; he doesn't want to be tired already. He heads over to find the paladins in meeting room two, and check who he's dropping off and whether they're ready to go. 

Ignasi is going to go with Alsina.

And Leareth concentrates, and Gates them very precisely to a small remote Guard-post just off the North Trade Road, about a third of the way from Haven to the northern border. 

The Heralds, in the end, settled on sending Herald Vanyel, Herald Tantras, and Herald Keiran. They've all been riding since well before dawn, but made sure to arrive early, and are waiting to greet the new arrivals. 

- Vanyel flinches and throws even more power into his shields when he feels the Gate. Maybe he should have arrived early enough to shield a Work Room and hide in it after all. 

As soon as the delegation is through and the (impressive, terrifying, unscaffolded) Gate is down, Tantras steps forward to introduce all of them. Though he can't introduce himself as King's Own, which still hurts. 

Ignasi introduces himself and Alsina as well. "We are paladins of Iomedae, Lawful Good goddess of Golarion. I appreciate you taking the time to speak with us."

"Vanyel informs us that you, er, decided to ally with Leareth?" Tran is trying not to look too unhappy about this, but he can't help it. "How is that going?" 

"Leareth decided to repent and work for Iomedae," Ignasi says. "It's going well so far. There's much for him to learn but he's a quick learner."

"He did– Wow. He must have been...very impressed with Iomedae's work." 

Or maybe they bribed him with something. 

Tran does not say this out loud because they are, after all, trying to be diplomatic here. 

"I think that the gods in your world, with all due respect.... aren't Good? Their top priority is not fixing everything wrong with the world. They don't consistently side with Good over Evil. They don't ensure that their societies are safe, abundant places where people live long lives, and they don't provide afterlives where their followers have eternal abundance. I think Leareth had fallen into the trap of believing that he would gain nothing by acting admirable, as there was no admiration worth winning which it was in his power to win -- and that he would lose nothing by acting evilly, as there were no allies who'd be at his side either way. And Iomedae is Good, but expects the same of her followers, which changes things, for ambitious people tempted to Evil."

"...Yes, I - can see how that might get Leareth to change his mind." 

"- I don't see why anyone should really expect gods to be 'Good', in - that sense - trying to fix everything in the world from the point of view of us? They're not people, they're...a different sort of being." 

"But Iomedae used to be human," Vanyel says quietly. "Isn't that right? And She - became a god, because that was the only way to really have at chance at, at fixing everything..." 

"Iomedae was once human. And I don't think it's a coincidence that She's - the best of the Good gods, the one who really is fighting for every thing that'd make a Good world. But there are others, and you don't have to be humans, to care about others - to care about everyone - to notice they matter and notice they are crying out in pain."

Vanyel nods. "I know. ...And that's what Leareth wanted in the first place, right - just for there to be a god who was fighting for what mattered for everyone. I'm - not even a little bit surprised he'd just work for that god if She already exists." 

"I feel like once you're talking about murdering ten million people to make a god, you don't really get to claim anymore that you're doing it to save everyone and fix everything." 

"Do you...have the concept of repentance."

"I mean, we - have the concept that sometimes people do bad things - in anger, or fear, or just not knowing better - and later when they're able to think it through, they regret it. ...I am kind of dubious that Leareth would actually decide he shouldn't have done any of the things he did. He seemed very set on it - said he'd thought about it for a thousand years -" 

"For context," Vanyel says tightly, "since I'm not sure if he would have told you - Valdemar was holding Leareth prisoner for a couple of days, before. We - the Heralds - questioned him very thoroughly under a coercive Truth Spell. And that is what he said, but...if he'd known at the start of it that it was even possible for there to be other worlds, with - different gods, better gods -" 

"Van, all we have to go on here when it comes to Iomedae's character is what he told you in a dream! ...Er, no offence," Tran adds quickly to the paladins, his voice stiff.