"That which can be destroyed by the truth should be."
-- P. C. Hodgell, Seeker's Mask.
Well he's obviously going to go check that, looking through a set of books to fix their titles in mind, picking a number 213, then computing which book is 213 mod that number of books, then opening that book to a random page.
Then he's going to check the page before, and the page after, and flip through other parts of the book, checking against the title he just picked to verify that the title makes sense in context, and that the other titles would not make sense in that context.
Did the Most High already know that Nefreti knows everything about the tropes and is leveraging them on purpose for Nethys' goals which she can do because she's practically omniscient. Carissa did not already know that and it's kind of prompting her to need to recalculate a lot of things.
....she thinks that at this time, Keltham having invoked his right to leave, they let him leave, and prepare to declare war on Osirion, or to force a peace that doesn't let Osirion do anything threatening without this knowledge, or -
(- Carissa kind of assumes that she will, personally, be being punished for this failure and will not have to figure that out, actually. There is some reassurance in that thought; instead of the unrelenting agony of failing at the most important task in the world in front of everyone you respect, there will be only the unrelenting agony of suffering as you deserve for it. And maybe this time she'll get it right, and suffer enough to stop being broken.)
Absent orders, Asmodia will remain silent to Keltham's question.
Right now is a time for Asmodia to be very professional about things.
...Aspexia briefly considers instructing Sevar to pull herself together, that this is not a good look for an Asmodean; but Aspexia is not sure that Sevar can in fact do that. It's possible that taking away the Crown of Infernal Majesty from Sevar, before she entered the Rope Trick, was an error; she hasn't been at her best since then even with spell-boosts. Yet Aspexia was not in fact comfortable with leaving the Crown to Keltham's possession within the Rope Trick. It seemed like a possibly fatal case of underestimating an ilani.
Aspexia broadcasts generally that she is now in command here. Abrogail is still recovering from her own ordeal -
"No," Abrogail says into the Telepathic Bond.
"Sevar. Pull yourself the fuck back together. Your current objective: to increase the chance that Keltham in time returns to us, Lawful Evil, to reclaim what is here, that is truly his and waiting for him."
Carissa knows that her work isn't done, that they were never going to keep Keltham forever and that there would still be lots to do to ensure Cheliax's triumph once he left. She also knows that she is disintegrating, and that she shouldn't be that weak. But all her thoughts claw around inside her head reaching for something she no longer has the capacity to grasp, or else terminate pointlessly in the crystal-clear observation that she lost, that Keltham is leaving, that there are no paths around it now, or else elaborate in cheerful depth on what horrible things will happen to her next.
Abrogail's voice does not put back together the fragments of her mind, but it does sweep over them like a magnet over scraps of iron, swing them around so they're all pointing in the same direction -
But telepathic debate is not a free action. Even as the command gets transmitted, Keltham has turned and headed towards the apparent door of the library.
He'll just keep exiting layers and possibly wake up somewhere else, is what the intuitive part of him is thinking; but he is tracking other possibilities as well. You can never be sure you're not inside reality, dath ilani stories teach that lesson too.
"Carissa, follow me, don't try to escape, take no other voluntary actions except talking."
It's not impossible they'll just let him leave with her, because, like, is realism much of a thing here?
"I am genuinely unclear on who I'm being ordered not to try escaping from, at this point," says Carissa, as she follows him.
"Me, you're free to escape from anyone or anything else."
"Okay never mind this hurts too much, stop talking."
Keltham exits the 'library'. What's outside? Giant vast blank space by any chance?
He'll wonder if the tinyness and bareness of architecture here, outside his nice fortress, reflects perfect realism about small-town temples of Nethys; or if this reflects extremely hasty construction, or if they had to strip off all the furnishings because this was a temple of Asmodeus at dawn this morning.
And then keep going, looking for the exit of the temple.
"Oh, hi there. Ordinary Asmodia or Conspiracy?"
It hurts, but not as much as talking to Carissa.
"Ordinary Asmodia now contains a contradiction, she's based on - what Keltham knows? I can't coherently imagine her anymore."
The Splendour wore off sometime while the second Nefreti was talking, and Keltham's emotions feel diminished, now, by comparison, along with the drive that was holding them in check. It's not really challenging some of his earlier sense that messing with your 'mental attributes' is not all that safe for people who want to keep their personalities intact, especially if you raise and lower them on a daily basis.
"You want to swear to me about how you're bound by Cheliax's agreement not to interfere with my attempts to leave nor buy passage, and that my telling you what I'm doing won't hinder my goals as I currently see them?"
"Actually no, I'm not particularly loyal to Cheliax, which they know. I could easily end up seeing myself as a free agent not bound by Cheliax's agreements." There are things Asmodia could swear to, but to swear to anything that provokes Keltham's incredulity - might lead him to doubt oaths, which might not help Cheliax at this point. ((More importantly, it might not help Keltham, given his mental state.))
"Conjecture, you're trying to get outside the Forbiddance they claimed was here, in order to use Summon Monster III for the next step of a plan you did a really impressive job of never thinking about. I don't think there's actually a Forbiddance up, here, they didn't have time, also I think that does block Gate. I worry that you are about to go outside the scry wards."
"If you want a minute to persuade me that's a bad idea, it's going to cost you a Teleport scroll."
"I don't actually know enough about the larger situation of who might be looking for you to say specifically why it's a bad idea. I was just noting the point and that I'd expect Summon Monster III to work here -"
"Not taking the risk of wasting it" plus this might not work if he can't be scried Keltham flings open what looks like it might be the front door of the temple, and steps out.
Keltham briefly considers the possibility of trying to talk to any of the few visible people, decides against it, keeps walking.
He'll walk until he's three times as far from the temple as the (supposed) radius of the Fortress's (supposed) Forbiddance.