Rytlock snorts. "I don't know what the gods were like where you're from but here I say good riddance."

"Don't pay attention to him, the charr are still sour on their old religion being false."

"Lathander, like Bol mentioned, embodies the sun and values healing and prosocial behavior, the kind of stuff that keeps civilization together. He'd probably contact Tyr, god of righteous battle and justice, and maybe Ilmater, god of withstanding suffering; they're his closest allies among the gods. They've got a score of lesser deities along those lines they could call in. And they really value people being happy and safe. They'd want to take care of your dragon problem and - make sure that your civilizations aren't riddled with corruption and injustice and persecution, or anything like that, and they'd probably send some evangelists to get worshippers because that helps them and their churches are a good thing to have around, but they wouldn't - demand worship, or try to conquer your nations, or anything like that. Just try to make things better."

Rytlock grunts but doesn't otherwise reply.

"I'm sure we'll take all the help we can get with the dragons."

"And, petitioning divine intervention aside, I'm very willing to set a dragon on fire."

"That might work best with Jormag. That's the ice dragon. Although maybe Mordremoth—plant and mind one, the one we're fighting right now—maybe that'll work on him too."

"It's metonymous, I can do things other than fire, that's just my best element."

"As a necromancer I'm afraid we just killed the dragon I had any sort of comparative advantage towards."

"...huh. I've never worked with a necromancer before, I don't think. I don't suppose you have some way of doing it here that doesn't involve... barely-controlled monstrosities fueled by the opposite of all that is good and holy?"

James blinks a couple of times. "Is... that how it goes, where you're from? Uh... They are fueled by lifeforce, either my own or absorbed lifeforce of my defeated foes? And very well-controlled. Also undead minions are only one part of the job, it's really more about using the lifeforce thing for various things."

"That does sound much tidier. Back home necromancy kind of sucks for a lot of reasons, if your corpse has been reanimated you can't be resurrected and for some reason you also can't go to your destined afterlife. Bad news all 'round."

"The way Zhaitan used to do it, your soul did get stuck with the body, yeah, but as soon as your reanimated self is destroyed you go back. The way we do it no souls are involved at all, and corpses are not strictly necessary, although that is a more recent invention and having a corpse around makes it easier."

"...sounds more like conjuration than necromancy, if you don't even need a body. But I guess if you're using life force it's the closest thing. Anyway, it's good to know. And - I'm guessing you're an illusionist?" he says to Kasmeer. "Based on the sheer quantity of illusions you've got on you."

"The local name is mesmer, but yes," she says, curling the corner of her lips in a smile. "Although we also double as generally good with magic itself. I don't think most people who aren't mesmers, here, can tell what other people are by looking."

"So, illusionist-diviners, more or less. I will not underestimate how incredibly obnoxious you would be to fight. Or how useful it presumably is to have you on-side."

Her grin widens. "I do think we're pretty useful, if I can say so myself."

"...hmm, now I'm wondering - Bol, do you know if they've got any connection to Shadow here?" To Kasmeer: "The Shadow Plane's where our illusionists' scariest techniques come from, and it seems like a fun kind of innovation to share around."

"...not the usual Shadow, but... there's something. I think they've got their own."

"Shadow plane? Sounds necromantic more than anything..."

"Self-imposed limits! Superstitious nonsense!" Bol says sharply.

"What Bol is trying to say," Haruk says less sharply, "is that magic is magic. There are absolutely limits, but you don't actually know where the hard lines are until you try. And there's almost always a loophole somewhere. It's not always worth using, mind, but there is one."

"Oh, I don't mean it's not illusion, just that it seems to have aesthetics. I believe you it's illusion. Tell me more?"

Haruk begins explaining shadowcasting, with occasional interjections from Bol. The general concept seems to be that, first of all, the essence of the Plane of Shadow is incredibly malleable; and second of all, in Shadow all things are reflected, so the pattern of every spell already exists to twist into reality. It's very technical, and probably not in a form Kasmeer has encountered as such, but the outlines of it do seem to line up with Tyrian magical theory. More Orrian than Krytan in flavor, maybe.

Kasmeer... finds this all fascinating. And she has encountered ancient Orrian tomes that help bridge some of the gap!