"Stand, Men of the West! Stand and wait! This is the hour of doom."
-- J. R. R. Tolkien
Ri-Dul sets aside his distaste at the thought of a talented wizard embracing this nonsense; it is his foolishness, not hers, if he imagines that Sevar ought not to take advantage of such ready offerings.
Teleport to Indapatta.
Indapatta as it appears to the casual visitor is not the largest city Sevar will have seen, for she has seen Dis; it will not be the prettiest single place she's seen, for she's seen Abrogail's quarters within the Imperial Palace.
Nonetheless, Sevar will have seen nowhere larger and more beautiful than Indapatta.
Indapatta is laid out like the concentric petals of a lotus, in circles of diminishing wealth. The innermost blossom, called also the ninth circle or Flower of Indapatta, is the Imperial palace. Ri-Dul's Teleport location is a discreet nook between two fine brick buildings in the sixth circle of Indapatta, the north-northeast petal of that ring of the lotus. In the sixth circle of the city there are, if not the fabled palaces and menageries, at least fine gardens and streets of gleaming white stone. Here you would find successful adventurers, expensive inns open to foreigners, homes for the higher tier of merchants short of the princes of merchant houses, shops that trade some of the more expensive things that can be bought with ordinary money.
Within sight of the nook, a robed monk sits chanting verses, beneath a well-tended tree growing up from a deliberate gap in the stone streets. There is no begging-hat set out before her; the nearby places of business are paying her to chant those verses, as another land might hire a skilled singer to play a harp. The monk's presence shows that this is a wealthy and Lawful place, where a refined traveler might safely seek to do business or find rest in a nearby inn.
Huh.
Cool.
(If you'd seen the world, Keltham, maybe then you would know that on every corner of it there is a fully sufficient reason you shouldn't destroy it.... but of course, that's not how Keltham works, and not, if she's scrupulously careful with her own internal muddles, precisely what she thinks, either; she would take some chance of destroying this city, to fix Hell. You do actually have to be able to trade things against one another, if you want to have anything at all.)
Carissa will cast the last of her scrolls so that she can have more spells about her as she enters the nearest inn. She's told her Sleeves of Many Garments to imitate Keltham's clothes, except tailored to her; dath ilan may be horrible but they sure can do textiles. She's not concealing the crown.
All conversation halts, naturally. She's a foreigner, she's wearing an obvious crown, she's the prettiest person anybody there has ever seen; any of these qualities alone would halt all conversation.
One man, possibly dressed as a monk - it's hard to tell, as a foreigner entering this land for the first time, who's dressed as a 'Vudrani monk' and who's just dressed as a Vudrani - is staring at her crown, and then leans over and whispers something to the man sitting next to him, whose eyes widen.
Oh good. That's the reaction she was hoping for, but she didn't want to count on it.
Who appears to be in charge here.
...Possibly the overmuscled man - folding sheets of food? into more complicated structures of food? - in a tiny kitchenette visible to the bottom floor of the inn. At least, he's the only person who looks like he works here, and he does not, by jewelry about himself, look poorly paid.
She wants to eat all of the foods of the world, and learn all of the customs, and ask so many questions and meet so many people -
Not the time.
She'll walk over to the man who seemed to recognize her. Not terribly close, both because that might seem threatening and because she doesn't mind if this conversation is heard, but close enough she's unambiguously speaking to him. "Forgive me," she says, "but I am new to this city, and know only in the vaguest of terms who I seek within it; may I ask you to help me find it? I cannot say that I am not dangerous, but no one of any land or any faith will be weaker for coming to my attention, in the long run."
"Meaning no offense to the great lady, we have our own business to be about," says, cautiously, the man sitting next to the one who stared at her crown, the one to whom the starer whispered. "You look like great wealth, but also like great complications to one's ordinary daily life."
"I am that." Does the one who maybe recognized her have a different opinion.
His eyes are flickering about the other magic items that Sevar wears, looking impressed.
Possibly this is somebody who can see magic? Anybody like that would rather notice her crown of mithril, a lesser artifact shining with magic as though a full moon reflected from every part of it.
She'll speak to him, then. "I am looking for My faithful, those Lawful Evil followers of Carissa Sevar, who think that Hell could be something more. If they have exercised enough initiative to have a temple of their own, I want to find it; if they do not, I want to rent a public space, a courtyard or an amphitheater or a stadium, where I may spend the day, and they may come and find Me if they dare."
The language spoken in Indapatta does not distinguish god-pronouns, as Sevar may realize as she speaks the words.
"I don't know much about the Sevarian faith, except that it's very new," says the man she addressed. "Maybe the seventh ring would have an ashram of her followers, if there's one in Indapatta?"
The other man, who can't see magic, ahems and speaks in a lower voice. "The city authorities are unsettled about the Sevarites, as a Lawful Evil faith claiming to be subject to Hell. I believe it was announced recently that they are permitted to gather, but only under the supervision of priests of other recognized faiths. Particularly Irori, as it's said that Sevar was herself a priest of Irori before renouncing him as Irorians do. I would ask of a temple of Irori in the seventh ring, did I seek them."
"Thank you. But my ignorance is even greater than you imagine. Which way would I go, to find myself in the seventh ring?"
"Were you that new to this place, I'd seek a guide," says the one who can see magic. "I don't know where a guide might be found, in this ring, they keep these streets free of urchins. The owner may know." He indicates the man running the kitchenette of folding food-squares.
Sure. "Do you know, sir, where I could find a guide in this city?"
To her Sense Motive he seems nervous, but perhaps that's only natural in her presence.
Most guides, even upper-class ones, would usually be hired in the city's outermost ring, the Orison, about one of the entrances. By the time you come to his inn, it's assumed that you know where you are. Leaving his inn, a block to the right there'd be a merchant's bank; a block to the left, a hiring-office for miscellany including of adventurers. Either of those might know where to find a guide.
He could also try his own hand at giving directions, if the place she seeks is not far, and she could ask of any monks she sees, if she becomes lost. Relatively few people dressed as monks are fakes who will try to guide travelers into traps. Even fewer would dare try it on herself and her dire-looking escort.
She is looking for a temple of Irori in the seventh ring, if he thinks he could give directions there.
There's nine turns in the directions he gives; not something difficult to Intelligence 18+6 (as her headband boosts Intelligence), assuming this guy got all the turns correct.
Yep, no problem. Probably, unless it's an assassination plot or something, in which case she should still be fine; there are beings who could assassinate her before Ri-Dul and she can Teleport out, but not many, and anyway if she gets assassinated she prevents the destruction of the universe so while she can't work towards it she can't actually make herself fear it.
Nine turns, if they're where they're supposed to be.
The guard posted about this entrance to the seventh circle of Indapatta does respectfully inquire of this wealthy-looking, magical-looking, incredibly beautiful foreigner, what she seeks there.
"I am told that the following of Carissa Sevar is directed, in this place, to gather under supervision, and that I should seek them, or more about them, at a temple of Irori. I therefore seek one."