"Heralds can be renounced for - being unsure - and they usually die of it?"

Yep. Exactly. That is indeed what Stef just said. 

"Does your world not have that? ...I mean, it happening for being unsure only came up the once, and I don't think it's - being unsure about ethics in general, because Vanyel was always like that - I think the problem was Van considering whether maybe Leareth was right to - want to fight the gods, even if his methods are unacceptable." 

Judging by his expression, though he's trying to hide it, Stef is rather sympathetic to Leareth's position on fighting gods. 

"If Aroden renounces me I may experience great emotional distress but - the same way people are distressed if their parents disown them or their village exiles them, which isn't - what you're describing, I don't think -"

"No, it really isn't. It's - people don't get over it, ever, even if they survive." 

He stares at the ground again.

"...Does your world have lifebonds? It's - the same sort of thing, except between people, makes you fall in love, and there's definitely no choosing allowed. It's...

...Van's the only person who ever survived a broken lifebond, and - he wasn't okay. For decades. He's sort of relatedly the only person who's ever been lifebonded twice, once he met me." Or, technically, years later, but that's more complication than Iomedae needs to know right now, and the exact relationship between Stef and Tylendel is way more unnecessary complication and also private. "Figure you should know, it's - strategically relevant - Van is ten times as powerful as he has any right to be because the gods wanted to line him up to kill Leareth, he's the only chance we have at winning a war." 

" - what's even the point of killing Leareth, if he has been killed many times and comes back -"

Shrug. "Don't ask me what the gods are thinking. Buy another twenty years and then kill him again next time, maybe? They've delayed him for this long. ...And, I don't know, maybe They do have a plan to kill him and make it stick this time." 

"Well. We don't have - life-bonds, and the relationship between a paladin and their god is just the relationship between any person and an entity they trust and respect enough to have decided to cooperate towards shared aims."

She will edit the paragraph that read 

Vanyel has explained your grievances with the local gods and some, to me, seem legitimate. In the interests of honesty I must disclose that I am, like the Heralds, a selected follower of the god Aroden in my own world, part of an institution by which the gods select specific people who are then highly trusted and highly reliable, and given positions of authority accordingly. The grievances Vanyel explained to me would not be applicable to Aroden. 

to instead read

Vanyel has explained your grievances with the local gods and some, to me, seem legitimate. In the interests of honesty I must disclose that I am a selected follower of the god Aroden in my own world, part of an institution by which the gods select specific people who are then highly trusted and highly reliable, and given positions of authority accordingly. This system is like the heralds in some respects, but were Aroden to renounce me I would be only an ordinary amount of grieved by this, I can renounce Him if I cease to believe that serving Him is the best path for me to achieve the goals I believe I share with Him, and I can fight the gods if it seems like a good idea (which it does, for some gods and some fights). The grievances about the conduct of the gods that were explained to me do not seem to be to be applicable to Aroden.

"Mmmhmm. I think that's good to specify. ...I don't know if you should explain more about the fundamental cosmic forces of Good being a thing in your world or if it's just going to make Leareth more suspicious about the rest because it sounds fake." 

"It can probably wait for a second letter; I think it's less likely to be obviously decisive for him, and if you throw too much into diplomatic communications it's harder to make sure the things you most wanted to say got said."

The wings expire. She switches back to telepathy. :Is there anything else I should know?:

:...Almost certainly but I can't think of what, right now. Er, we should probably arrange to have a way to exchange messages with you. That ideally doesn't involve Vanyel having to Gate personally to retrieve them and put himself at risk. - what's the range on your Mindspeech, Van has a few hundred miles but I'm not sure he could reach you from Haven if we stick you way north.: 

:- wow. Mine has only a hundred feet of range.:

:Huh. Then I guess either we'll have to pick someone to be a relay, or Van'll have to Gate to fifty miles from you or something– oh, here he comes.: 

Vanyel is indeed on his feet again, striding back toward them as he tucks the map away again under his cloak. 

:Iomedae, I think I can get you to the next Waystation past Westmark, it's twenty miles from the nearest town. Probably not twenty miles from the nearest farm but we don't have very good census-data, I - shouldn't stay long but I can maybe have the nearest Herald on circuit try to warn evacuate people. Er, the Waystation will have bedding and firewood and some basic nonperishable foodstuffs that need cooking. Doesn't have much else in the way of amenities, but if it's only for a few days...: 

:I don't require food. It should be fine. It seems reasonably likely that Leareth will attempt to kidnap me; if that succeeds, I'll try to talk to him, and I ask only that if my own people come looking for me you tell them whatever you know.:

:Of course. ...Er, do you think it's likely your people will be able to find you, and coming looking? And if so, who they're most likely to send? We're - pretty on edge - I don't want us to end up overreacting because we assume something might be hostile action.: 

:I would've expected them to be here already if it was straightforward. If it is nonstraightforward it will probably be our own most powerful mage, Alfirin, and I don't know if she'd contact you openly or not.:

Nod. :We'll keep an eye out. Is your letter ready?: He holds out his hand for it. :And, er, sorry, we'll have to walk back a bit closer to the town, I need a doorway to raise a Gate on.: 

She hands him the letter. 

:I don't mind walking.: She's surprisingly quick at it, given the plate mail.

Well, she did say she was unusually fast and strong. 

(The healing spell Iomedae cast helped with Vanyel's exhaustion, but he's not actually that accustomed to long walks on foot, and he's not delighted about it. He misses Yfandes. 

...Yfandes must be so worried...)  

Stef is notably not very strong or fit - he has the frail build of someone who was chronically malnourished as a child - and he's slightly struggling to keep up, and is not in a thousand years going to admit to this. Vanyel is clearly impatient and in a hurry, and understandably so. He doesn't want to linger in the possible blast radius any longer than necessary either. 

They reach a barn before they come to within sight of the town itself. Vanyel lifts his hand and casts a Gate on its doorway. The other end opens into a tiny, square, one-room hut with no internal lighting and only a few days of dim wintry sunlight filtering through the cracks of the window shutters. 

:Here you are. I'll pass word to the Heralds that I dropped you off here and they're to avoid it.: 

:Thank you. Let me know if there's a reply to the letter, please, or if you need the miraculous healing.:

:Of course. I - thank you. I...hope it goes well.: 

And the Gate comes down, leaving her in darkness. 

What a complicated and confusing situation. She mostly does expect the local evil archmage to try to kidnap her, and being on edge about that makes doing anything else a little difficult, but she'll start mentally reviewing everything and considering - which heuristics it suggests she should shift, where she would've been less surprised by the newest twist if she'd been using a different internal policy....

Aaaaaand now for the part that Vanyel is spectacularly not looking forward to. 

The healing helped a lot, but after a second Gate back to Haven, he’s still feeling it, and even less than usual in the mood for a Senior Circle meeting.

Randi is worse off, though. If he can drag himself out - well, be carried - for an emergency meeting, Vanyel can cope. 

He lets Yfandes fully into his mind as soon as the Gate is down.