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nau!razmir makes a strategic alliance with lastwall
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Lastwall...does not hate the 'Church' of Razmir. Razmirism is mostly the kind of Evil that the other Evil churches would pretend to be if they thought they could get away with it, and there might even be variations on it with a place in the world they mean to build once they've won. They hope it won't have many adherents, in that world, but people are always going to end up with different values, and the world of Good's final victory will be—big enough, and safe enough, that it won't be a problem if some people only care about themselves, as long as they don't directly value the suffering of others, which it doesn't seem that Razmir actually does.

But, in the meantime, worship of Evil gods is generally considered an Evil act, and they're genuinely unsure whether this still applies when the Evil god in question is, in fact, not really a god at all. They knew that Razmir was going to expect to have his cult be the only public religion in his new territory, and to maintain his monopoly on 'divine' magic, and given the current state of religious affairs in Ustalav they're willing to concede that much—but giving Razmir resources to do anything that results in more people going to Evil afterlives is a line they absolutely will not cross. If Razmir were actually a god and could provide his Evil followers with a better afterlife than the defaults, there would be difficult tradeoffs to make, but as things stand, Hell gets most of his followers, and there is almost nothing in Golarion worth increasing their number if that continues to be the case. Accordingly, they demand:

  • that public worship of Razmir not include any Evil acts, and that services be open to non-worshippers, including Lastwall's representatives, who can verify this;
  • that Razmiran not, in general, take any actions aimed at making its citizens Evil;
  • that the private worship of other gods (which, they will remind them, even Infernal Cheliax largely failed to ban) be permitted;
  • that mind-reading not be used on anyone not suspected of a crime (which should not include 'not worshipping Razmir') or voluntarily seeking a position of trust in the Razmiran state or church;

and in general that all the tactics used by Cheliax to damn its population, as well as several Cheliax hasn't thought of yet, but they have, not be used. Permitting Lawful clerics who recognize Razmir's divinity is kind of an empty concession, seeing as there are approximately none of those—

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Message: No, you in fact want that clause in there.

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Why? I mean, Iomedae might possibly tell people to admit he was a god, if it would help, but they'd be, uh, lying, and I'm pretty sure they'd lose Law about it, which would violate the condition anyway.

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Please just put it in and refrain from asking questions you're obviously not supposed to know the answers to.

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—anyway, they're going to want the methods Razmir has in mind for ensuring people's loyalty to be a little better specified before they agree to permit them, but they'll at least allow him to make his case to captured Evil casters, alongside Lastwall's usual offers of Atonement or statuing until they fix everything, as long as he's not misleading about what the process actually entails.

They have no objection to any of the rest, although they aren't particularly expecting Razmir to still be alive at the time the expiration dates arrive.

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- Razmir does not care about his subjects' alignment, is the thing here. Public worship of Razmir includes no Evil acts, except to the extent that priests of Razmir will say prayers before, say, executions (because prayers usually occur during important things), and this could theoretically be considered "evil" "acts" "during" "worship" "of" "Razmir". Razmiran already does not try to affect its subjects' alignments, and it is happy to agree to not try to drive them to Evil, since in a practical sense Razmir would prefer Lawful Neutral subjects to Lawful Evil ones anyway. As far as Razmir is concerned, "worshipping gods who deny his divinity" is basically a subtype of "swearing fealty to foreign powers," i.e., a subtype of treason. They can agree that failing to worship Razmir will not result in any punishments from the government of Razmiran; what they object to is cults of gods who are Razmir's enemies doing things Razmir disapproves of (like, though they won't put it exactly this way, "competing with him for worshippers") and while they may be prepared to adopt some kind of 'primary worship' compromise, they are not prepared to ditch their laws against illegal cults entirely, even inside Ustalav.

And they're going to engage in a brief fight about not using mind-reading on anyone not suspected of a crime but concede that in order to get more of other things they want, since there's lots of crimes on the books and usually you can suspect someone of some of them.

Nope, the methods Razmir has for ensuring people's loyalty are secret, and also Evil. If Lastwall wants to limit Razmir to humane methods of making evil necromancers assets in the war to secure the Ustalav road, they're cooperating with the wrong self-proclaimed god.

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Prayers before executions are fine, in general, the Church of Sarenrae does that in lots of countries and it obviously doesn't make Sarenrae Evil, but, like, the Church of Asmodeus would tell you that they're doing the same thing, whereas it's in fact obvious, if one actually sees their version of the thing, that torturous public executions are an important part of Asmodean religious services. They're not accusing Razmir of the latter, they're just going to check.

They recognize Razmir's interest in banning 'foreign' gods, and they don't in fact complain when Rahadoum does it, but—it's incredibly hard to consistently stop, say, farmers from privately praying to Erastil, or similarly for the patron gods of other professions, and if Razmir were to make sweeping laws about that and then enforce them inconsistently—such as by, say, arresting bankers for worshiping Abadar and confiscating all their money, while not bothering to prosecute worship of Erastil because peasants don't have very much money, even though if anything Abadar is probably less opposed to Razmir—that would be the sort of un-Lawful behavior which would lead them to seriously question the feasibility of working with him.

(They do not accuse Razmir of having already done this, but they are aware that something happened to all Razmiran's bankers a few years ago.)

And ugh. Fine. Razmir can mind-control captured Evil casters who prefer that (given the little information they have on it) to being statues. In their experience people usually object to being made statues for bad reasons, such as that they don't think Iomedae is going to win, or are too attached to being Evil to expect that they could be happy in a world where She had, but they're at all willing to explore alternatives, if any are available.

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(It occurs to him that he should probably, in fact, check if the leader of Rahadoum is planning to ascend to godhood. It's definitely rumored that he's a far more powerful wizard than he openly admits to being, and banning all the gods from your country is the sort of thing that makes a lot of sense in that situation and not a lot otherwise.)

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And they can check, as long as they are in fact just checking, and not spreading foreign propaganda (like "Razmir isn't a god") while they do it.

Razmiran has in fact tried to stop farmers from privately praying to Erastil! It... hasn't worked... at all... but they aren't so much deliberately not enforcing laws evenly when it comes to praying to other gods as they are being very, very bad at things.

(And those bankers were actually engaging in embezzlement and contract fraud. Razmiran has very severe laws on embezzlement and contract fraud, if inconsistently applied.)

Great! Razmir is happy to take Evil arcane casters who prefer swearing fealty to him to death. Pleased they can work on that one.

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They swear not to publicly deny Razmir's divinity or otherwise spread 'propaganda' within the (new, extended) borders of Razmiran.

Lastwall feels that a law which the tyranny of Hell itself failed to consistently enforce is just a law that can't be consistently enforced, and that having laws you can't consistently enforce is contrary to the spirit of Law. (Cheliax agrees with them on that, and where Lastwall and Cheliax agree on a statement about the spirit of Law, they're probably right.) They're...very concerned...about how Razmir would go about stamping out the worship of Erastil if he had the resources to do so, but given that he certainly doesn't, they're not going to make it a sticking point of negotiations.

(If he pulls the banker shit with anyone even slightly affiliated with Lastwall, however, that will pretty conclusively answer the question of whether Razmir is Lawful enough to work with.)

Does that conclude things?

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Yeah, probably. Everything else is tactical implementation details, not diplomacy.

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For the first three hours of Razmir’s coup, practically nothing went wrong.

Some of the groundwork had, of course, been laid in advance; Count Ristomaur Tiriac, lord of Varno, had been a quiet ally of Razmir’s for some time; the vampire count cared little for his domain compared to the magical secrets Razmir could sell him, and his signature was fairly won with the twin promises of autonomy and continuing to receive his share of the tax income. Countess Solismina Venacdahlia of rich Ardeal, aging star of court and stage, was told by Razmir’s masked servant under a scroll-cast Abadar’s Truthtelling that eternal youth would be hers if she acknowledged the Living God as her master, and the oath and the spell (and her desperate hunger to outlive her four daughters) sufficed to bind her to Razmir’s cause; she, too, was bought and paid for.

For the rest -

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There are two great castles in Caliphas, greatest city in all Ustalav and the nominal capital. One is Castle Stryithe, the fortress of Aduard Ordranti, hereditary Prince of Ustalav and monarch-in-name of the kingdom; it stands at the very center of the city, imposing, spire-crowned, a fortress of crimson stone and black basalt and buttresses mounting to cast its shadow over the city, while inside Aduard obsessively trains his faithful soldiers, seeking to one day restore his power; the other is the gentle, pleasant Lethean Manor, in which Carmilla Caliphvaso, countess of Caliphas and true ruler of the city, enjoys her suspiciously unchanging life’s pleasures.

Both of them are taken, simultaneously, in the midst of the night. Razmir does not appear in person, for that is not his part in the night's festivities. That is for his two mightiest priests, the Twins of the Sixteenth Step, so called for their identical masks and dress - though Eike is male and Erna female, there is little difference between their words or their actions, for both are loyal conduits of their master’s will. They appear simultaneously, and with each goes a mighty, masked Inevitable, a Priest of Razmir of lesser degree, and a gray-eyed shackleborn champion, hugely muscled frames covered with black-forged armor with gilded spikes. A moment after follows Koldunya Ognya, Witch of Flame in a thousand languages, and four of her sorcerer-slaves; two wear armor, Agate whose helmet is carved in a snarling leopard’s face to match his vicious grin, Emerald with a ruby on his forehead and a shining rapier in his hand; two more wear Mage Armor. Of the thirteen, all are in midair, all are invisible, and all have already had spells of empowerment cast.

There are a few moments of spellcasting, and then they turn to their destinations.

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Castle Strythe is easiest to capture; Countess Caliphvaso did not intend, when she invited the Prince to come to her domain, that he would be able to defend himself against her machinations, and so it is not warded with a Teleport Trap, nor with Mage’s Private Sanctum, and only with defenses against mundane matters. When Erna appears in his bedchamber, Inevitable and Priest and warrior with her, the Kolaryut suggests he let the spells take effect normally, the priest lays a curse on him to weaken his will, and Erna Dominates him to enslave his will to her own, and then Prince Aduard Ordranti, ruler of Ulstulav, dismisses his soldiers and agrees to hand his nation over to Razmir.

Lethean Manor is trickier. Carmilla’s home is not warded with Forbiddance, for she would hardly wish for the Church of Pharasma to ward it against her own alignment and there are no clerics of sufficient power who are aligned with her own interests, but the witch who has served her since her true youth has warded it against intruders with skillful arcane magic. This is why when it falls, it falls to Greater Dispel Magic wielded by both Eike and Koldunya Ognya simultaneously as their followers hurl their own spells against it, shattering the wards against intrusion. A round later the scryings that had been begun in Razmiran completes and the round after that the Sending, timed with inhuman precision, confirms that Countess Carmilla is in her bedchamber, along with three of her bodyguards; both mages are chanting as soon as the spell lands, and Carmilla is now wielding an enchanted rapier and benefitting from Mage Armor, while the bodyguards are still desperately looking around and grabbing their weapons -

EvileyeHoldmonsterquickenedsuggestionsuggestionholdpersonquickenedsuggestionholdpersonbestowcursedominateperson -

Carmilla is a good deal more formidable (and Agate is bleeding from three wounds that his armor did not, quite, deflect), but, ultimately, two rounds’ warning was not actually enough.

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The rest of the Counts fall in short order, Eike and Ognya (and Razmir’s other chief mercenaries and greater priests) striking each one after another, enslaving counts and leaving behind ‘vicars’; Ognya takes pleasure in targeting the aged Count of Barstoi, infamous witch-hunter (whose domain had given her three sorcerer-children whose parents had sold them into her slavery to protect them from his inquisitors), and the Sons of Flame get his signature on a contract and have him dismiss his hellknights and swear his soldiers to the services of Razmir’s vicar and quiet a little more internal opposition, and then send him to Lastwall, there to rest as a statue until that impossible day when Hell falls.

The longest delay comes when the Vision sent to Amaans discovers that Count Galdana is “in the woods hunting somewhere” and it takes forty-three minutes to locate him for a Dominate Person, but every other Count is dealt with before a Sending can be cast. As each one falls, Razmir, watching through the masks of His priests, sends His faithful soldiers and bound servitors to maintain order, Teleporting them to wherever the need is greatest. In this moment He is vulnerable, on the material plane as He never is save in the moments of greatest need, but the Living God is needed here, for there are not, actually, enough fifth-circle spells in Razmiran without Him.

The contract that the counts and prince are to sign was drawn up in advance, by Razmir’s delegates in consultation with Lastwall and Count Tiriac; it is plain and formal and invites Razmir to return to restore order, mend the Furrows, subdue witches, necromancers, anarchists and forbidden cults when they pose a threat to the stability of the nation, maintain supply lines to the Worldwound, and deal with the nation's crises; all agree to submit themselves to the will of the Living God and grants His priests full rights to exercise power as deputies of the government of Ustalav east of the Palatinates, and when dawn comes copies of the proclamation are being read in every city in Ustalav, now, functionally, seven provinces of Greater Razmiran.

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(There was, in fact, a moment where Razmir wondered why, if it was so easy for half-a-dozen fifth- and sixth-circle casters and perhaps a hundred elite troops of less skill, with only a little support summoning outsiders from a more powerful caster to seize control of Ustalav, nobody had done it before, but - alas - he failed to notice his confusion and dismissed it with the thought that everyone in this barbarian land was a fool, for Intelligence is not, actually, the same thing as Wisdom.)

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To say that no one in Ustalav with a brain believes Razmir's official story would be prejudicial against Ustalav's unusually high proportion of immaterial residents, who also don't believe that anyone surrendered without the aid of Dominate Person. This is not to say that all are unhappy with the change of leadership; there are many, many places in Ustalav where, if Razmir were to stamp out all cults which did not pay him obeisance, this would be a sometimes-considerable improvement on the previous state of things.

(If.)

The most powerful public institution in Ustalav of which Razmir did not seize control is the Church of Pharasma in Kavapesta, which immediately issues a long and scathing condemnation of the invasion, calling Razmir a false god and imploring him to remember that death will come for him in the end, and judgement thereafter. Privately, however, the Archbishop wonders if he's serious about doing something about the country's undead problem. If there's one thing her goddess hates more than false gods—

The Church of "Pharasma" in Ulcazar is silent. Razmir was wise enough to leave them well enough alone.

A dozen or so powerful but less public organizations set secret plans into motion.

The people of Ustalav mostly watch and wait to see how things will shake out once the news reaches the wider world. Immediate resistance to Razmir's rule is scattered and easily dealt with.

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The wider world mostly...doesn't care? If the evil wizards are busy conquering each other it means they're not conquering them. The great powers of the Inner Sea grow watchful, but even if Razmir fully integrates Ustalav (lol), it won't give him the strength to challenge any of them.

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Carnaneth, Red Mother of the Winter Council of Kyonin, cares.

This should not, perhaps, surprise anyone who has met her daughter, who cares deeply about many things, including starving children and souls damned to Hell and small bunnies her pet tiger eats, and it is perhaps unusual for a druid to care about the fate of a distant civilization, or for an elf of Kyonin to care about anything outside the world. This Carnaneth knows is a precious luxury, bought for them with the blood and fear and watchfulness of those who watch the forest's borders, their tranquil joy a precious luxury that so few others can afford. Carnaneth once had a home; it burned. She once had a world; it was broken. Every year a tree she has known for a thousand years burns, every year a friend she has watched grow from a youth is slain, and it is Carnaneth's duty to do what must be done to preserve all that remains of Kyonin. One day she will fail, and the humans will sweep over it, and the last and most sacred refuge of the elves will be destroyed. Until that day the Red Mother stalks the forests of Kyonin, and Razmir's encroachment into Kyonin's forests is met with lightning from the skies and Treerazer's marauding demons are torn to shreds by bestial claws and Galt's 'liberators' are wrenched limb from limb by the trees themselves, and those who can keep their hands clean are lucky, for they are not the Red Mother.

- And, in the ancient castle that was founded before Earthfall, Carnaneth (who can tolerate civilization so long as it knows its proper place) speaks with her friends of the Winter Council, of how they can save the last remnant of elven civilization from the enemies who surround it. To most it is an obsolete advisory council, of no relevance in the modern day, but its members know that what they are in truth is the thin red line that separates the joy of Kyonin's elves from the savages of the world beyond. They are the protectors of Kyonin; not Telandia Edasseril, "a tragic choice for the nation," who tolerates the manstained and the frivolous gnomes and even Greengold, where the slaughterers parade their slaves in front of the free people of Kyonin and barter their pathetic trinkets for the relics of a finer age. It is they who understand the nature of the enemy, and they who must destroy it.

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What is the reaction of Kyonin? The reaction of Queen Telandia Edasseril is to mourn the horrible tragedy that is violence, open Greengold to refugees, and hope that the people of Ustalav can free themselves from the tyrant and false god Razmir, who knows neither Good nor common humanity. (That is, she does nothing.)

The reaction of the Red Mother is to send out her daughters to burn the twelve Razmirani nearest towns to the border and summon the Winter Council. If Razmir, sworn enemy of the elves of Kyonin, believes that they will take this expansion of his power lying down, he is even more of a fool than she thinks he is.

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Lastwall issues a statement condemning wars of conquest in their generality, qualified by the admission that the prior state of Ustalav was not exactly acceptable, and appealing to Razmir to at least do better than that.

A week later they announce that they've reached an agreement with Razmir: he'll build a road through his new territory, for Lastwall's use supplying their forces at the Worldwound, in exchange for humanitarian aid, help clearing Ustalav of undead, and other unnamed considerations.

(This is scripted, but none of it is, in fact, false.)

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It was a week that the armies of Razmir spent very productively! For instance, three hours after the Church of Pharasma in Kavapesta issues this denouncement, a Sending from one of the Twins reaches Archbishop Bavhulameta Ulametria, head of the Penitence and highest-level cleric of Pharasma in Ustalav and requesting a private meeting to discuss relations between the new ruler of Ustalav and the hierarchy of its largest faith.

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The Church of Pharasma considers itself above petty questions of politics, and does not actually care who rules Ustalav. They would be happy, in particular, if Razmir were to do something about all the undead.

However, they are not above concern for proper divine honor, and demand that Razmir cease his blasphemy at once. They who were chosen to serve the mother of all the gods will not bow to a mortal fraud.

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Mmm. Right.

As the 'negotiator' (wearing the golden mask of a Vision of the faith, but with suspiciously few visible magic items for one) will explain, they have three options, here.

The first option is that they can acknowledge Razmir as their overlord and stop denying his divinity. They don't have to say he's a god, just stop saying he isn't. In that case, everything can go perfectly well and Razmir will take care of all the undead for them.

The second option is that they can leave Ustalav and stop causing trouble. If they want to deny Razmir's divinity in Absalom, they can do that. Absalom isn't in his domain. Razmir would be happy to provide them the Teleports. And then he can deal with the undead who are causing trouble, but only the ones that cause problems.

(They may or may not notice, at this point, that the cathedral is surrounded by outsiders and Razmirani soldiers, all invisible and outside True Seeing range and most under cover.)

The third option is that they keep quarreling with the ruler of Ustalav and see how that goes for them.

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They recognize Razmir as their overlord on the Material Plane, but he's not a god, and he, too, shall come to judgement in time. Just in case the negotiator has been deceived about that. They are absolutely not going to let him work his fraud on their faithful. He should see how trying to rule Ustalav against the opposition of its largest church goes for him.

(The Archbishop is aware that Razmir is probably going to kill her. A high priestess of the goddess of death is hardly going to be afraid of that, though.)

(Also, there's a reason they're speaking across the border of the Cathedral Forbiddance. Whatever army Razmir presumably has waiting outside can obviously take the half-dozen or so clerics inside, but first they're going to have to walk through a wall of death that can slay an only-slightly-unlucky Lawful Evil seventh-circle wizard on the spot.)

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