"I am not sure I would agree in that case either. Valdemar is stable because of the Companions, which are god-created beings. Even if you were to realize they were wrong about something important, could you change it?" 

This is an incredibly uncomfortable conversation to be having right now and Vanyel wishes it would stop! 

"I mean, the point of Companions is to ensure that Heralds can't be corrupted, and that we - go on caring about doing right by the people of Valdemar. I'm in favor of that." 

A flicker of Leareth's eyebrow. "Would you weight the unexplainable Foresight of the Groveborn above your own conclusions on what is ethical, if those were to disagree?" 

"I don't know how to answer that in hypothetical form like that, and it's not really on topic," Vanyel says flatly. "We were talking about the Eastern Empire. Is their problem also something to do with gods?" 

To his surprise, Leareth smiles. 

"Yes and no. It is more complicated that the case of Valdemar. Did you get much of a sense from your source material, of how the Empire thinks about gods?" 

"Um. They...don't seem to, very much? I'm not sure, there wasn't a lot on that." 

"- You are approximately correct, though. The Eastern Empire has almost no practiced religion. The avenues for direct interference or miraculous acts by the gods are minimal; there are no worshippers to act through, no temples to concentrate a god's power locally. This does not mean that they are free from all influence, though, only from the most obvious. Indirectly, the Empire is still - growing along the path of least resistance, which affects its final shape." 

"....Er, I'm not sure I follow." 

"Fair enough. I had intended to cover more prerequisites before having this conversation. It might be best to return to it later." 

See, but the problem is that now Vanyel is desperately curious and he just wants to KNOW what Leareth was going to SAY. 

"You don't like gods very much," he observes, kind of pointlessly. 

"Not especially, no." Leareth's eyes narrow a little. "And you? I think you have been steered by Them more than most, and - not always in ways you would have chosen for yourself." 

Maybe noticing his discomfort, Leareth changes the topic. "In any case. I would not necessarily recommend that Valdemar adopt a particular policy used by the Eastern Empire, because - of something related to what I said about stable equilibria. The Empire has a huge amount of law and custom built around maximizing the gain and minimizing the suffering caused by, for example, making regular use of blood-magic for infrastructure projects. But - I do think it is worth thinking about, and that you might learn a great deal by discussing this source with the other Heralds." 

Is Leareth putting a slight but noticeable emphasis on 'source'. Does this mean he's SOMEHOW INFERRED from everything Vanyel isn't saying that he didn't find a treatise and instead a random powerful Adept fled political assassination and landed on top of him and now wants to help them win the war with Karse. Why is Leareth like this. 

"Thank you for the advice," he says dryly. 

"Is there anything else you would like to talk about, while we are here? You have had an eventful few weeks." 

...There are, on reflection, probably quite a lot of things that he could talk about, and where he might find Leareth's advice valuable. Like Deerford. 

Vanyel really, really does not want to think about Deerford right now. 

He could mention something about his bizarre experience in k'Treva, but he doesn't especially want to do that either. Actually, he's mostly out of emotional energy for navigating a contentful conversation with his destined enemy. 

"I learned some new songs," he offers blandly. 

By morning, Savil feels a little more prepared for facing Janos. She arrives at his room along with breakfast, carrying her satchel of notes. 

Janos has, in fact, still been climbing the walls! A delivery of more Hardornen texts sated his hunger briefly, but they're mostly on Hardorn, which he already knows about, or else about nothing relevant. He wants to be doing things.

He can, however, resume his mask - polite, cautious, bland - as soon as Savil arrives.

"Hello, Herald-Mage Savil." he says, with a polite bow of the head. "How has your night been?"

"Business as usual, I suppose," Savil mutters. "Anyway. My plan is to have you speak with Major Lissa Ashkevron - she's in command down at Horn, and she's been there since the first counterattack. Incidentally she's my niece and Vanyel's sister. After that, we can arrange for you to speak to some of the recent refugees, and maybe others in the region. I'm thinking we can Gate directly to the building that was taken over as the main House of Healing. Lissa knows to meet me there, but not why, yet - I figured I'd wait and check with you on how much you're willing to say about yourself." 

Ah, so that's what the Ashkevron means. "I appreciate it a great deal." So the entire family's important in politics; is it just that competence runs in the blood, or are they some kind of ruling clique - cousins of the king's, maybe? That's a question for later.

He considers. "I was discussing it with your nephew - he's extremely impressive, by the way, even - especially - by Imperial standards - and I think the story that makes the most sense is that I am a mercenary Adept - once I have the language, I mean to claim I was born in Valdemar but left it young - with a good deal of experience in the eastern wars who was hired by Valdemar as a military advisor in the war with Karse. I admit that fails to cover why I'm asking these questions about morality, but I think that's easy enough to explain simply as my wanting to know more about the war effort."

Savil nods along, still looking preoccupied. "Sure, if Van thinks that's reasonable then it seems fine. I shouldn't think anyone will be suspicious if you're asking morality-related questions about the war - ethics is part of the required training for our Guard commanders, too. Anyway, are you ready to go?" 

"Certainly." He gets ready to go with her. "Oh, I thought there was a spell Valdemar might want to know, and your nephew suggested I should teach it to you. For earth-mapping; very useful for mining. Tonight, I expect, once this business is taken care of."

Janos is curious to see what Horn looks like! Also what Valdemaran gate-spells look like!

Savil nods, and manages a polite smile, and then ushers him out into the Palace grounds, where her Companion joins her. She mostly doesn't try to make conversation as she walks him over to the Heralds' temple.

The main difference is in how long it takes her, and the extent to which it's clearly occupying her full attention. She builds the Gate on the Temple's tall bronze doors, which to mage-sight give off that undefinable impression of a threshold used for Gates many times. (There is, however, no sign of any deliberate magic applied, let alone a full permanent Gate spell.) 

The search takes a long time, and also seems - inefficient? Janos can see the energy draining from her aura, faster than it should, spinning out into tendrils that vanish from his Sight as they reach out through the Void. Savil sags a little in relief when the Gate goes up, and holds onto the pommel of her Companion's saddle while she crosses, giving him an impatient look. 

They cross into a snow-carpeted alley behind a large wood-and-brick building, two or three storeys and well-built, albeit old and with signs of fire damage repaired in the last year or so. From this vantage point, they're mostly out of sight of any passersby, but Janos can see through to the mouth of the alley, and a slice of the busier street beyond. The little he can see of Horn is, apparently, loud and full of soldiers. Even in the depths of winter, there's a whiff of horse-manure.