"We're now allied with Karse, as you must know," Tantras adds. "And - we have no reason to think their god wants this war. Perhaps we have some avenues to - put diplomatic pressure on Iftel, convince them to back down. That seems to be the best solution for all parties, if in fact Cheliax didn't want this war." 

"We would be delighted if you could persuade them to arrive at a peace. Our terms are that we want them to acknowledge that they started the war and wronged us in so doing. We do not wish the portal walled up and all its potential for good lost to Iftel's isolationism, we want access through it to the rest of Velgarth even if Iftel declines diplomatic relations. We want the return of the bodies and souls of all our soldiers who died in fighting in Iftel, and will of course correspondingly return Iftel their dead for an honorable burial. And we desire that Iftel permit the free practice of whatever religion its citizens prefer."

"- We can certainly convey all of that, if our Karsite allies are able to deliver a message to Iftel's government." 

The last one is not going to happen but Tran doesn't feel like being the one to argue about it. 

"Thank you. We're obviously deeply grieved by the current state of relations with Iftel, but it's our desire to be good neighbors to this world and all its nations. Cheliax - and you are welcome to come walk our streets and verify this for yourselves - has not engaged in wars of conquest for many centuries, and if we intended to start, we would not start with a nation of entirely soldiers controlled by a hostile god who put a wall around the whole place, we'd start with, say, Nidal."

Tran nods. "We would be interested in sending a diplomatic envoy to visit Cheliax, I imagine. Once it is safe to cross through Iftel, of course." 

"And Valdemar shares your wish that the portal not be walled off," Vanyel adds. "This is a very significant discovery, obviously, and the possibilities - for trade, for learning from each other's worlds - are huge. ...We would also ask for free access, via Cheliax, to the rest of - what does your larger world call itself?" 

They're being so polite this is awful. Savil is so incredibly not cut out for this kind of thing. 

"Golarion. Of course. A discovery like this should not be controlled by any single country, on either side. As soon as it is safe, we would be delighted to enable trade and travel through it. There's so much we can learn from each other. Ships depart Cheliax for thirty-eight different lands and I have no doubt that all of them would be eager to meet you."

Tantras smiles and nods and says the right pleasantries and is so uneasy about all of this. 

"It sounds to me," Vanyel says eventually, "that some of these peace negotiations need to happen between the relevant gods, not just the human diplomats. Are you aware if Asmodeus and Vkandis are in communication at all?" 

"They're - trying. It is surprisingly difficult. Asmodeus does not understand Vkandis and says Vkandis does not - commit to his plans and keep his word in the manner typical of Golarion gods."

"...I can imagine that. Um, aren't there some Golarion gods like that too - isn't that sort of what the Law versus Chaos thing means?" 

"There are Golarion gods who will not make binding agreements but they also ....don't run countries. Since they know that they're not the kind of entity which will make binding agreements and that countries need to do that."

"Hmm. Maybe Vkandis should talk to one of them, for, er, translation purposes. I don't think are gods can be categorized that way. It's probably very confusing." 

"Asmodeus does not think the difference between Him and Vkandis is along the Chaos axis, exactly. But we are certainly holding out hope they'll find a way to communicate. Speaking of which, one of our most important requests is your permission to open a Church of Asmodeus here in Valdemar. The Church need not be affiliated with the Chelish state or indeed populated with Chelish clerics, if that would put you in too awkward a position."

Vanyel forces his face to stay politely neutral, but he is mentally SCREAMING. 

"What, er, do churches of Asmodeus...do?" 

:I'm pretty sure that whatever it is, we don't want it!: 

:Savil, please, can you be snarky later. I'm trying to focus: 

"The Church would offer religious services, to those who wish to attend them; wizarding education and classes on the history of our faith, again for those who want them, and refuge to those seeking it - at home, that's mostly people whose home situations are unsafe for them. In Cheliax, we also take in babies whose parents cannot care for them, run schools, and take in prisoners who require supervision but do not need to be confined to a cell all the time, but we understand that we are at the very beginning of our cultures understanding one another, and that the raising of children is something that a country might be hesitant to permit to outsiders. If you wish it, we can make our religious services open only to adults, though we do feel strongly they must be available to all adults."

The Heralds look at each other. 

:Savil, we can't turn them down out of hand: Vanyel sends, more snappishly than he intends, and then tries to answer while smiling pleasantly. 

"We are willing to consider it. In general, Valdemar is open to all faiths. Given the - level of cultural difference we would expect with being from different worlds, though, I think we'd want to send someone to attend one of those services first. Ideally to tour an actual church, if that can be arranged safely once the war situation is resolved." 

"This is an urgent priority for us, and we'd be happy to take someone back now with us to attend services and tour a church in Cheliax."

"I understand. We'll need some time to discuss it with the rest of our government, and we may have further questions, but - likely we can have a decision for you by tomorrow?" 

Tran attempts to smile and not yawn. "We can of course set you up with accommodations in the meantime, and arrange for you to meet with some of the other Heralds and members of our Council if that's of interest. Is there anything else we urgently need to discuss now?" 

They have letters, conveying the same things they've just said, and a gift for Valdemar; it's a pitcher of endless water. "They're commonplace in Golarion but I hear not here. They help with drought relief, and clean water supply." 

And they're happy to be shuffled off to accommodations.

That is actually really neat and so, while it's very obviously a bribe for Valdemar to take Cheliax's side in the Iftel situation, Vanyel doesn't find it hard to give his effusive thanks. 

- and now it's time to dash off to yet another meeting, with Karis this time, to find out what Karse is able or willing to do about their current mess of a situation.

Still no time to check on Leareth. It's probably stupid to be worried that Starwind and Moondance will mistreat him, though. Let alone that the Healers would. They're good people. Melody's there, and he trusts her...