"- Honestly I think I just disagree with whichever god of yours does the sorting. It's just rude of them to make abortion Evil, why does that help anything - would they prefer women get stuck in more bad situations where they've too many kids to feed and end up stealing? Seems worse!" 

"- well, I suppose that's a reasonable stance, but lots of things are like that, so in practice lots of Evil looks like that, not like anything you'd want to condemn people for."

"Well, in that case I think your death-sorting god is dumb and someone should punch them in the face." 

Marius raises his eyebrows at Lissa. 

What, is he judging her for not being diplomatic enough? She is totally doing diplomacy here. It's called 'bonding'.

He shakes his head. "Well, don't let me stop you."

Siri changes the topic back to asking about neighbouring countries. Which ones are on good terms with Cheliax? What's their trade with them like? Are there any that seem like they'd get on particularly well with Valdemar? 

Isger and Molthune and Varisia are all on good terms with Cheliax! Nidal is too, honestly, insofar as one can be on good terms with the god of suffering's country, but they don't have to police the border or anything, and Nidal offered help with the war in Iftel though of course Cheliax turned them down. Rahadoum bans everyone who is religious. Any religion. This is a barrier to diplomacy but they do trade and that works all right? Unfortunately they probably won't let any Heralds in but Lissa could probably go if she wanted.

"Huh! That seems - weird and extreme of them?" 

"Maybe I should go visit! No one in my entire life has ever accused me of being religious, so they can't complain." 

"Honestly," Marius points out, "a lot of Heralds aren't particularly religious? Certainly not the way people here seem to be, with...prayers and attending all the services on holy days and things." 

"I've noticed that! But you are - the products of a divine miracle that selects you to rule your country, right? I am almost certain they'll consider that relevantly - committed to gods, even if you aren't conventionally faithful about it."

"No one even has the slightest idea which god! Or gods. And it'd feel more like a commitment if They ever, you know, gave the Heralds instructions or communicated in any way. But I guess." 

On reflection now is maybe not the best time to bring up how her aunt and brother both seem to find the concept of gods and their interventions rather exasperating. 

"Well, we certainly won't stop you trying to convince them, I'm just warning you I expect they'll be unconvinced. Anyway, are you up for another meeting?"

"Sure, let's do it." 

Siri takes the opportunity to check in with her Companion. Has he been noticing anything interesting in his meanderings around and nearby the sleepy little village? 

People mostly avoid him. They're kind of harsh on their own animals. Other than that, there's nothing obviously suspicious up; the village seems to have about the population you'd expect, no one vanished or rushed in to impress them. There's a decent amount of trade along the coast. The children all look well-fed.

Lissa is going to keep up the flirting with their guide, who continues to be deeply impressive, though at this point she's wondering if he's just not interested. 

Leareth finishes praying, does a round of checking in with his people for progress reports, asks Zahra to contact her father for updates on the life-monitoring rings and the resurrection plans more generally, and is about to check in properly with Nayoki when he gets the message from Iomedae's paladins down in Valdemar. Yfandes has apparently dealt with the blocking factor, and is pretty worn out but wants to be reunited with Vanyel. 

Leareth agrees to do a Gate in fifteen minutes, so they can brief the Heralds first and make sure there won't be any misunderstandings over the Web-alarm he's inevitably going to trigger. And then, since fifteen minutes is not really long enough for any serious work, he goes to find Carissa. 

She's lying flat on her bed, singing music to herself loudly in her head. 

She gets the door. "Hey."

Leareth nods to her. "It has been a while since we spoke properly and I was - wondering how you are doing? Are you making progress with the spellsilver?" 

"Yep! It's not enough for even a simple spell on its own but I've been working out some ideas while they get me more. How's Vanyel?" Loud internal singing.

Leareth notices the mental singing but does not ask about why. 

"Not in the mood to talk, apparently, but I just received very good news! His Companion has addressed whatever the difficulty was and I will be Gating to collect her in a few minutes. I - anticipate that Vanyel will still need significant recovery time, and that making sure he gets it will be obnoxious, but... It should help." 

"- oh good." And she sits up and pulls her knees to her chest. The internal singing stops. "There's something I should tell you."

Leareth sits down on the bed beside her. Is very careful not to look angry or upset. "Oh?" 

"I offered to kill him, last night. He did not take me up on it, obviously."