"Doesn't really sound convenient, no. I'll think about what you had to say, though rather little of it was about how concretely to do a project like this one."

"If you could somehow lay your hands upon the energies that sustain Creation, the mathematics of them have been the study of an ancient silver dragon who dwells in Kenabres.  I'd help you more if I could, but while I yet dwell within Creation I am constrained by far too many oaths and pacts and treaties and considerations."

He nods, because all the things he can think of to say are sarcastic and that's just bad incentives when she's actually being mildly helpful.

Outward sarcasm would mean nothing to her; only the underlying realities of his attitude matter.  But that he cares at all what she thinks, and restrains his pride in any way, is progress.

"I say also - in case it should matter to you - that I have not truly been here in person, though this form does resemble me and I have been speaking through it quite directly.  Approaching you in my true person without asking your permission about it would not have been courteous."

He figured. Gods tend to be notable to be around. "I thank you for the courtesy, to whatever degree courtesy is how your decision was motivated."

She smiles slightly, and folds her hands into her lap.  Though the metal blindfold is still on her, there is an air about her as if she'd closed her eyes.

Cheliax, at a point in time later than it was before the text earlier said 'Earlier:':

The developing situation in Cheliax is complicated, and of course fraught, and it could hardly be otherwise.

First Abrogail Thrune was assassinated along with Aspexia Rugatonn inside her own palace, which is the sort of thing that happens from time to time.  Then Abrogail Thrune was Wishnapped out of Hell, which happens less.  Worst of all, the Crown of Infernal Majesty was lost.

...and then two days later that Crown was ransomed back from Keltham, now styling himself Keltham of Elsewhere.

Foremost, the Crown was exchanged for Cheliax locating every last woman it could find from its secret ilani breeding-program: and giving those women a choice.  On the one hand, a Polymorph-abortion before their children could be ensouled.  Or alternatively, going to Osirion to be made statues, possibly for quite a while, until Keltham or his chosen delegate declared that Creation had become a fitting place for dath ilani children; or else decided that the children must be aborted after all.  In either case those women would afterward be made very rich and free to go where they wished.

And secondmost in exchange of the Crown's return, the Chelish state and Asmodeus's Church, were to make no further effort in person or by proxy to locate or retrieve Abrogail Thrune.

So now, Cheliax can infer:  Given that Keltham seemed to know about the breeding program in the first place, Keltham almost certainly knows he has remaining children in Cheliax.

Keltham knows he couldn't get them all.

Keltham, evidently, cares about his prospective children a great deal.

If you had higher Intelligence and Splendour than Wisdom, you might conclude - after a deadline of probable ensoulment had passed, and Keltham had not destroyed Cheliax already - that this meant it was okay to invade Osirion now.

You would not have wanted to look at any earlier point like you were about to invade Osirion.  Keltham might not have liked that, and you wouldn't have had those definitely-not-hostages yet.

So you would not be ready to invade immediately after the deadline passed, because you couldn't visibly prepare before that.

But once that deadline had passed, you would start carrying out Cheliax's previous plan, to then begin readying its forces to invade Osirion.

So the first complication of the present situation, then, is that Cheliax is now visibly gathering its forces for war.

Obviously Cheliax hasn't officially made any announcement that Osirion is the target.  That part is not spoken outside of the most tightly secured chambers, lest any spy should hear it and make official report.

But that's only so spying empires can potentially pretend not to know, and choose not to take official notice.  Everyone knows that if Cheliax is invading anyone, it's almost certainly the home of the Scientific Revolution.

The next element of complication is who now sits upon the throne of Cheliax.  Imaginably, one could try to hold the throne open against Abrogail Thrune's return; but then far too many people would try to seize it.  Cheliax must have a single clear ruler, at all times, but especially if war is about to begin.

When Abrogail guessed that Calantra Thrune would most likely be next to rule the Chelish Imperium, she made that guess based on mistaken premises having to do with time-travel.

Calantra Thrune is sensible, cautious; older than Abrogail was when Abrogail assumed the throne.  Given the apparent circumstances, Calantra has opted to back the throne-bid of a cousin instead.  Abrogail is not abandoned by the Church to Hell, she is ransomed away from Cheliax's rescue.  For all anyone knows, Keltham could decide to send Abrogail Thrune back the next day.  If Abrogail II is really gone for good, Calantra suspects her cousin's reign may not last all that long anyways; most Chelish reigns don't.

There are things you ought not to do if you are determined to keep your head attached to your shoulders for very long, and one of those things is seating yourself upon the Throne of Cheliax, in the throne room that was Abrogail's, while Abrogail Thrune still exists in any form that might take offense.

Then the new Infernal Majestrix, now styling herself Terthule II though that wasn't her birth-name, is no coward whatever else you might say of her.

Her new position is, of course, fragile; all the more so because Terthule II must avoid letting her reign appear fragile at almost any cost, including that she must avoid the appearance of being concerned about the appearance of fragility.

Terthule II has conducted no systematic sweep of Abrogail II's loyalists, because a number of former Abrogail loyalists are too valuable to be easily disposed-of; Abrogail II's visible fondness for somebody tends to have been unfortunately correlated with their competence.  For that matter, an evenhanded tally of the pro-Abrogail faction would have to include, for example, Aspexia Rugatonn, who while on constantly fractious terms with Abrogail II did dislike her less than previous monarchs.  If you sweep the Abrogail loyalists, but leave visible holes in the sweep corresponding to people you don't dare kill, that makes you look weak.

Terthule II, then, has not conducted a sweep of only the weaker Abrogail loyalists, given that she cannot sweep them all.  The appearance of indifference to them can also serve.

But there are many unimportant personnel responsible for maintaining the Majestrix's personal quarters (mostly repaired after the attack by some greater ilani weapon); and it was easy enough for Terthule to make their palace-service more difficult and demanding.  After which it is only natural that Terthule sent off to torture, or took a few moments to personally punish, those personal servants of the Queen who failed in their work.  Among those already excruciated to death are several souls whom Abrogail II was said to favor, among her personal household.  It serves to perform that Abrogail II is never coming back.

This does have the effect of making a lot of other competent people, whom Abrogail II might have arguably visibly favored in some way, a little nervous about Terthule II.  Really the fact that Terthule II isn't purging tons of competent people is something to be said in her favor as a Chelish monarch, even if she's refraining from it during an incredibly tense situation on the verge of war.  But it's the sort of internal peace that could change on less than a round's notice.

Another, stranger source of complications in Cheliax, is that somebody has been casting permanent symbols of healing within Asmodean temples - starting with those at the Worldwound, and then in the primary temples serving major Chelish cities.  This mysterious benefactor of Cheliax has left no calling card, set off no alarms that anyone remembers, and demanded no payment.

This is a rather significant act, one that in some ways shifts balances of power -

Really?  In that case, one wishes to know why it wasn't done earlier.

All right, then, some background:

The inability of Evil clerics to channel positive energy for wide-radius healing is one of the key disadvantages of Evil; especially when it comes to large military operations, or the economic productivity of whole countries; especially Evil countries that don't conduct themselves in a way where they could just hire clerics of Abadar or Pharasma to channel healing.

If you look in an academic magical textbook for beginning practitioners, it will tell you that symbol of healing is a 3rd-circle divine spell, and that like most symbols it is among the rare spells with a doubly-stabilizable topology that can be made Permanent.  If you look up a standard list of known spells that Permanency can perpetuate, you'll see the entry for symbol of healing lists the caster-strength of Permanency required as late-5th-circle, and a weight of diamond dust that in current markets costs around 10,000gp.  (The actual weight is greater than the weight of a Wish-diamond; but a Wish-diamond requires a single large diamond, and that's much harder to find than an equivalent weight of diamond-matter-of-any-size for a Permanency.)

So - given that this trick works at all - why don't large Evil cities already have their own Permanencied symbols of healing, then?

That is a good question!  First, of course, one checks the basic economiclogic to make sure the businessplan would consistencycheck.  How much could a symbol of healing earn, in an Evil city - how long would it take to earn back the 10,000gp price?

The sticker price on a 1st-circle priest casting Cure Light Wounds is 10gp, or so you'll usually be told.  Naively, you might think that a symbol of healing bestows an effect at least that powerful; so by using it on 3 subjects per day, you could earn back the Permanency price within a year: 3 people/day * 10gp * 365 days = 10,950gp.

The first issue with this business plan is that 10gp is only the price if you are a foreign merchant, or an adventurer, or you look visibly rich.  If you're an ordinary townsman of the faith, Cure Light Wounds runs more like 1gp.

The second issue is that channeled healing, in towns that aren't too purely Evil to offer it, doesn't sell at the same price as Cure.  It's not that channeled healing is significantly weaker, but that it's used by more than one person at a time, which means that it runs on a schedule, which makes it less convenient and particularly less medically convenient.  The price of Cure Light Wounds is driven by the value of having a cure cast on you right now.  The product-market fit of channeled healing is for injuries that aren't urgently life-threatening:  Burns, deep cuts, broken bones.  It's the want of that cheap lesser healing that has the citizens of Ostenso going about with visible scars or poorly healed bone-breaks, but mostly still alive.

In most cities with channeled healing, it ends up costing somewhere around one silver piece.

Then for any Evil population center large enough that there's 300 people per day who need minor healing, a symbol would pay for itself in one year.

Does Ostenso qualify?

Yes.

So why doesn't Ostenso already have a healing symbol?

...Hm.  If one's priors are already updated on light contact with Golarion, one would consider such non-economically-driven answers as:  "Because Evil religions don't much prize innovation or economic sensibility" or "Because Evil rulers don't consider it on-theme for Evil cities to offer cheap healing, and they're not the ones living with the consequences".  Or the general loan-interest rate in Evil countries could be over 100%.  ?

Dath ilan is learning!  For many temples to Evil gods, that would be a sufficient answer.  But Asmodeanism does laud cleverness, and souls pledged to Asmodeus must fear Hell's own vengeance if they violate a compact made in Hell's name; His temples can borrow at some of the lowest interest rates in Golarion.  And if the Church didn't think of it, the Crown would.

All right, why are there so many people in Ostenso with visible scars from not-healed injuries?