"Merchants and diplomats, mainly. Mercenaries who accompany merchant caravans, though I think sometimes they are asked to stay behind at the border. Couriers. Their own people are allowed to leave and return, of course, but - well, I was not aware they had a substantial number of military-trained gryphons until very recently. They are secretive as a country." 

"Ah huh. Why don't you want to kill their soldiers."

"I have a general preference against killing people unless it is absolutely necessary to achieve my goals? And in this case, I am unsure whether Iftel is to blame for starting this war, and - well, also I am unsure which side is most aligned with my own interests."

This isn't the most conciliatory thing to say, maybe, but it's true, and Leareth has a suspicion that this woman is almost as paranoid as he is and, whether or not she can mindread him, isn't going to believe him if he tries to seem like he's more on Cheliax's side than he really is. 

"Well. I'm not going to convince you on who started the war, though if we'd started it I think our Queen would have recalled the bulk of our forces from the Worldwound before starting it and not in a desperate hurry once it was already underway. But your interests seem - very clear to me, here. You have something very valuable to us - you understand this world, you are used to operating with this magic system, you know what it can do, you know how wars are waged here. You are also very expensive and logistically difficult to hold prisoner in territory we don't control. That is a situation where I would name my fucking price, not hold out for someone who shares my life philosophy."

She isn't wrong to notice her confusion, and Leareth also isn't sure how to elide around it for much longer. Not without either literally lying - and however good he is at keeping his expression neutral, she might notice - or making an agreement he's unwilling to keep. 

The problem is that he doesn't know enough. He doesn't know which agreements with Cheliax he would be willing to keep, because he's holding far too much uncertainty, right now, about what Cheliax really is. 

"You know," he says lightly, "it is not uncommon here for mercenary companies to hold to strict codes of ethics, in terms of which contracts they are willing to take. I suppose one could say that is part of the price they ask. Is that not the case in your world?" 

Leareth is fairly sure at this point that both of them know this is an evasive answer. 

"Sure."

"It is entirely possible I would be willing to work for Cheliax, if I had all the information. But - making that decision without the relevant information, is one of my own standards, and so is part of my price." 

What in the world does he think his alternative is.

"Then if I were you I'd be trying to learn those things about Cheliax as quickly as possible."

They're not going to kill him.

...Honestly it might be more convenient if they did, it would cost him five years of catching up but he'd be free. But Leareth is fairly sure that he's too important a prisoner, right now, even when they have incomplete and misleading information on him. 

"That is why I was asking you questions, before," he says quietly. 

And then doesn't add anything else, and waits, calmly. He's very aware that most people in his position would be terrified, and he's - not not scared, but it's unhelpful and he's setting it aside. He can tell that the wizard finds this confusing. He's - curious what will happen, if he keeps confusing her. 

Presumably like any adventurer with magic items this nice he has a resurrection lined up, so he thinks his alternatives are fine. It's rarer, here, what with the lack of divine magic, but you could still do a clone. 

They could trap his soul but she's not sure if that's a useful observation or just a very, very escalatory one.

"When the First Arcane wakes up," she says, "he's going to want you to stop that shielding thing you're doing so we can mindread you. So personally I would try to have my questions all resolved before that."

Of cours. Leareth nods, with the faintest hint of a smile. He was wondering when the inevitable escalation would happen and what it would be. It's nice to know. 

He doesn't trust most of what she's saying and it's impossible for him to verify, but maybe there's an area where that matters less...

"The Worldwound," he says. "Could you tell me about it? It sounds - unfortunate, that Cheliax's armies have been pulled back from it to wage this war instead. How bad is that?" 

"It's a planar rift torn between my home planet and the Abyss, where there are infinite demons. It's a hundred miles across. Cheliax was the bulk of the forces defending it and it's going to be quite bad, without us. Hopefully we can wrap this mess up very quickly and get back to it, I think they'll hold on three months without us but I wouldn't bet on them for a year."

Leareth goes very still. 

The mental image of a hundred mile wide rift leading to the Abyssal Plane is...not one he especially wants to be imagining but now he is. 

"- All right. If that is true, then I would have minimal objections to fighting at the Worldwound on behalf of Cheliax, in exchange for my freedom. That– I cannot imagine it would be good for anyone on your planet if they failed to contain it." 

"No, it'd be a disaster. Which is one of the reasons I don't think we would've started this war. I'll see, about getting you there. We'd need to verify you mean it."

"Yes." And Leareth is fairly sure that he does. 

- there are also a number of other intentions he has, many of which Cheliax - or one of the possible ways Cheliax could be, at least, within the bounds of his uncertainty - would be less pleased about. But if what she said about the Worldwound is even half true, then it's not difficult or controversial at all. 

"...I agree," he adds thoughtfully, "that - does make it seem less likely your country would have started the war by invading here." 

"There are a lot of serious threats to Cheliax at home and we haven't started a war with any of them. And we get a lot less out of a war in a foreign world. And if we'd known we were about to fight a war we'd have redeployed people first."

"I am also unclear on what Iftel gets out of it. But I see your point." 

Leareth yawns. It's an unfeigned yawn; it's been a long day and he did a lot of magic. Which means he also burned a lot of energy; he's not hungry, but that's to be expected too. 

"Are you willing to feed me, in the meantime?" he asks. 

"I don't object but we don't actually have any food. Maybe in the morning, if there's a village near here."

Leareth nods. He can unfortunately predict that he's going to feel terrible by the morning if he doesn't eat. And he badly needs some sleep, too, but he also has a lot of thinking to do...

"Using magic is tiring for us," he explains. "Do you have water, at least?" 

They all have Rings of Sustenance. An astonishing expense, but wartime logistics are also an astonishing expense and they were expected to be operating far from their supply lines. "I can send some people out for water once they're awake."

"...I understand. Tell me when the First Arcane is awake?" Still lying on the floor of the not-floor of the not-space they're in, he closes his eyes, waiting to see if she'll interrupt him again. 

That seems fine. "You may shift your weight occasionally," she says, and - she'd love to lie down herself, but then she's going to fall asleep, which she shouldn't - 

- stands up, and leans against the wall, and Prestidigitates her hand and sleeve clean of dried blood.

Leareth appears to fall asleep promptly, his body relaxing and breathing deepening.

In fact, he first spends a while thinking. It could be his last opportunity for private, uninterrupted thought in a long time.

What are his prospects, here? Not ones he's delighted about. His captors might kill him, if they decide he's too dangerous and can't be trusted to let loose at the Worldwound but is too expensive to keep captive. (That claim, if it's true, implies that whatever they're using as a compulsion is costly to them - maybe it's tiring and limited duration?) They might sent him to this 'Worldwound' with precautions still in place that prevent him returning to Velgarth. 

They might absorb the cost and just keep him prisoner. It could be unpleasant. Leareth can endure unpleasantness. It's more concerning that the longer they have him, the more chances there are for them to learn things he would rather they not. 

His people may be mounting a rescue - are probably planning an attempt, at least - but this is Vkandis' territory. And a lot of things went perfectly wrong, for him to be captured at all. Vkandis isn't going to let him slip away so easily. 

...Leareth does some emotional processing, because it's not like he'll have a better time for that either. He's scared. Frustrated with himself, for failing to be cautious enough. Significantly more frustrated than that with Vkandis, because seriously?? 

He's also thirsty and exhausted, though, with a headache sprouting behind his eyes, and he doesn't know how long they'll grant him to rest. So he folds away the emotions, again, and sleeps. 

In two hours the First Arcane is ready to trade off. She hands him her notes. "Leader of the adventuring party or maybe mercenary outfit that was hanging around by the border. He's not religious, I think he's Good but I could be misreading him, he claims to want to go help out at the Worldwound. He's halfway cooperative? Withholding a fair bit but he could get a fair bit less useful, too, so I thought I'd wait for your guidance on how much to push him. We've got a map, some notes on nearby countries. Valdemar's allied with Iftel but he thinks they won't send spellcasters."

      "We'll need to check that."

"Yes, sir. I can get you a translation spell once I've slept. - he also asked for food and water."

     "I'll send someone out for water." He squints at Leareth. "...Lawful Evil, actually. Why'd you think he was Good?"

"He didn't want to kill the locals. He seemed sympathetic to Valdemar. I guess he might just feel -- allegiance to his planet over ours. He seemed very concerned with - things that I wouldn't expect to concern him." Shrug. "He seemed to care who had started the war."

       The First Arcane scowls at their sleeping prisoner. "Get me that translation spell."

"Yes, sir." She closes her eyes and has time to feel frustrated that she isn't asleep immediately but is asleep before that thought has passed.