"Understandable. I'm a ways from my own Sendings but there's mail, if we don't have anything more secret to say than 'still alive, how about you' 'me too'."

"We can use ciphers too, depending on the grade of security needed and how much effort we're willing to put into ciphering." One-time pads are pretty good, but Tanya has no idea of the state of cryptanalysis on Golarion. 

"...well. I guess I should go - deal with things. I'll see you later."

Tanya has only known Belmarniss for a month and it would be ridiculous to feel any emotion about leaving her behind, compared to everyone she knows in Germania. So she'll try not to. It wouldn't be productive. They can keep meeting, anyway. Probably.

"See you! Good luck with the Iomedaeans!"

"Thank you!"

Before Tanya goes back to the Iomedaeans, though, she pays one (possibly) last visit to the Shelynites. Is Songbird Cuoco available?

She has choir rehearsal. After that (Tanya's welcome to sit in and listen!) yes.

She could use this time to try and ask some other Shelynites if any of them practice draftsmanship. 

...

She'll sit and wait. The choir is - 

- distracting. In a possibly good way.

It's less striking in rehearsal format where they're stopping and drilling a four-measure segment six times sopranos and tenors only at half tempo till they're tuned up, et cetera.

Cuoco comes over to Tanya when they conclude for the day.

"Hello again. I - do have a question, but mostly I came here to give you an update. We prayed to Iomedae, and she gave Select Oliva a vision saying we can't reach either Earth. I... have some doubts about the finality of this 'can't', in the long-term, but - it's probably only wishful thinking. So. The question I asked you about isn't relevant anymore. I... don't know if I was particularly Good, to struggle with it so much, I suspect once I've learned more I'll look back on everything I did for the last few days and see a lot of mistake and - incompetence." Why is she saying this. It's the opposite of what she came here to say! Tanya shouldn't bother or burden Cuoco any more with her pointless feelings!

"Without anything to hold me back, I expect I'll sign up with the Iomedaeans. I wanted to thank you, for your time and all the advice you've given me. I know I've been - difficult." She smiles bitterly. "But you helped me understand things and - move forward, and I'm grateful. Thank you."

Tanya doesn't know what the equivalent of bowing is in the local culture, so she tries to indicate by tone of voice that this is a sincere and weighty 'thank you', rather than a conversation-greasing 'thank you'. This may or may not be entirely successful.

Well if she isn't trying to indicate "do not hug" she will get a hug.

Tanya has no principled objection to hugs! They're not part of Germanian culture (outside of presumably families and friends and other such relationships, which she never needed to learn to navigate) but presumably Cuoco knows what she's doing. She can tentatively try hugging her back.

Oh good. Hug successful! "You're welcome. I hope everything works out beautifully for you and you find a place and people to call home here."

"I hope so too. ...I did want to ask you something, about local - artistic traditions. The - magic item that lets me create illusions also stores them, up to a limit, so I can reproduce some things exactly and not just from memory. Like the images of the city from above I shared when I first came here. I have some - personal images stored, of people I know" - she stutters. "Knew. People I knew, in Germania."

It's a custom only a few years old, like everything to do with aerial mages, one shared across all armies and nationalities. Cameras are rare and expensive, with developed photographs nowhere near the visual quality of being there. Your orb is with you always, in the trenches, in the sky, in bed, nestled next to your heart, the most precious object a mage owns and the most intensely personal for all that it is army-issue. It carries in it all your personal memories. Of the sights you've witnessed grand and terrible, of the stunt you pulled in that one dogfight you'll never stop retelling. Of the people flying next to you who might not still be there tomorrow, and those who are no longer there.

Tanya had, of course, followed the custom that the social consensus arrived at.

"The device will likely break eventually without maintenance. Or it might simply be requisitioned for reverse engineering. And my own memories will fade with time. I - would like to find a way to preserve those images, but I have no idea what would be suitable. And affordable. They're three-dimensional, of course, but I imagine painted lifelike statues are far too expensive and they'd take up too much room, and miniatures feel - wrong.  Belmarniss said the local spell that creates a permanent illusion is sixth circle, so I assume it's also too expensive... I'm sorry, I don't even know what my budget will be. At some point I'll have to - stop - even if I have the money it would do much more good as charity. Nobody here knows any of these people or has a reason to care, so in terms of art it's just - realism, I don't know if local traditions value that. I... would appreciate your advice on how to approach this."

"...How many images are we talking about?"

Um. "I haven't counted precisely, but - at least fifty if it were free or very cheap, which I don't expect it to be. On the other extreme, I could try to group images of different people that were taken separately, but the poses and expressions won't really match. Or the lighting conditions. I do have a few group images but they're - from more formal events. I can probably get it well under ten with reasonable grouping. But I'm not an artist."

"I know portraitists, and they'd probably enjoy the opportunity to paint a subject who can't accidentally make a different facial expression in the middle of a sitting, but... the novelty alone would only go so far... I can get you their rates."

"Just a rough estimate will do, if you have one. I probably won't be based out of this city anyway. My real question was whether there was something better or - more appropriate than portraits, that I hadn't thought of, since the original is three dimensional... But I suppose portraits will have to do."

"Depends on the portraitist -" But she can give an order of magnitude.

Nod. "Thank you. Then - I suppose that's all. I am, again, grateful for all your help and advice, and I hope we will meet again some day." Under better circumstances, she stops herself from saying. Tanya doubts circumstances will improve very rapidly for Taldor, at least not for humans already occupying a respected position in society. "...Belmarniss is staying here, you can meet her if you want to. I'll do my best to keep in contact with her, at least."

"I'll certainly at least keep her posted on whether we get anywhere with the mission. I hope you can keep in touch with her, I think you both could use a friend."

"I'm not sure I know how to use one," Tanya tells her honestly. Not one of the kind Cuoco means. "Maybe I'll have the opportunity to learn."

She smiles, and nods.

Then Tanya will bid her goodbye, and go talk with Select Oliva for what may be the final time before he refers her to his superiors.

He will meet her in his office once more.

"I've decided to sign up with your organization, in the cause of promoting Good. I'm not sure if that means applying to the church or Lastwall or another project directly, and I would appreciate being referred to someone who is cleared to hear everything I have to say - including details of technology and so on - and who could then start the process of deciding how best to use my skills. I do have a request, in exchange, and some questions I hope you can answer."

"First, the request. With the Earths out of reach" - at least for now - "there seemed to be nothing holding me back, and yet." And yet Tanya is greedy. She would like to have started being Good earlier, if she can, and not only from the moment she signs on the dotted line and her actions become Good by dint of all being pursuant to Good orders. "After thinking it over, I decided that what I would like to ask for is that your organization evaluates the danger Belmarniss may be in because of her association with me, including in the future if I become more widely known or more of a target under your direction. And that you offer her adequate protection."

"I know security is easiest and most certain in a secluded fortress, and that she might not be willing to relocate or to trust herself entirely to you. I hope some compromise can be reached, although of course she's free to turn it down. I do ask that you make the effort. The same goes for Songbird Cuoco if her church can't or won't do it; either way she should be informed of your analysis."

"And I realize there is a way this can become a bad idea. If I have drastically overestimated my own importance, or your organization decides it is wisest not to make use of my potential, and yet some adversary who does not know this might invest a lot in attacking Belmarniss, it might cost you more to defend her - actually or in preparations - than you will gain from having me. She is going to be sleeping alone unguarded when I leave this city and it's cheap to improve on that, offering for her to sleep in the temple or some other secure location would be an obvious first step, but I don't know nearly enough about Golarion to speculate what else might be needed or how much it might cost, or how to determine the appropriate level of security. Do you have established procedures for this kind of thing?"

"It means the church but it's headquartered in Lastwall. ...if your friend wants to adventure and circle up, danger per se is an active ingredient in growth of that kind. I've never personally managed this kind of thing and higher-ups will know more. I expect it'll at least be worth buying her resurrection insurance."