"- Valdemar doesn't invade other countries. ...Er, I mean, if we were ever going to break that precedent it would be for this, but I don't think we realistically can, we have no idea where his people are and - I don't think it's meaningfully even a country he has up north, more a - secret underground mercenary organization?" Vanyel ducks his head. "Anyway. I don't think it costs Valdemar anything that you wouldn't in theory be willing to help us invade his territory?" 

"If he doesn't have an army how is he planning to conquer Valdemar?"

"We're pretty sure he has an army! We have some information about it, even - I don't really know how he has an army north of the Ice Wall Mountains, I don't think you can grow food there without magic - I don't know. He seems confident he has the people and resources to conquer us if he decides that's the best plan and I'm - inclined to think he's not being an idiot about that." 

- vast array of demiplanes, probably. Great. She's - very not thrilled about this person gaining access to Golarion, though it doesn't sound like his own world can handle him any better. 

"Understood. I - do you have paladins here, the other people I spoke with weren't familiar with the word."

"I don't recognize it either. Can you, er, describe some things about what makes someone a paladin and what paladins do?" 

"Paladins make oaths of service to our order that include commitments to behave - honorably, to protect the innocent, to give our wealth where it's needed most. The specific commitments vary by order, but all paladins are honorable and good - the gods renounce any who behave otherwise, and don't select in the first place anyone who is likely to. Paladins are empowered by the gods to be very good at fighting, especially at fighting Evil."

...Vanyel tries to keep his (pointless, stupid) flinch internal, but it's probably still going to be noticeable to Iomedae. 

"That - almost sounds like Heralds? Er, the people who are chosen by Companions, in Valdemar." For some reason Vanyel is failing to bring up that he's one. Yfandes would have something to say about this if she were here instead of safely 300 miles away, probably. "....Except the 'empowered by the gods' part, we - our gods don't work as directly as yours, I think. But the - commitment to behave honorably and protect the innocent - there's a standard oath, I can tell you the exact wording if that's useful...?" 

"Very much so."

"It's...." 

This is weirdly terrible and Vanyel - should probably think about that feeling, at some point, though having to reflect on his feelings about anything ALSO sounds terrible and he's actually just not going to look at all the reasons why, right now, because he'll look like an idiot if he starts crying in the middle of this incredibly high stakes conversation. 

" 'I pledge to you this day my sword. I pledge you my heart, that we may build and preserve our land and people together. I vow to obey our Laws and seek the Truth in every thought and deed, to heal the wrongs and bring aid to those who suffer, and by the strength of my hand to restore and keep the peace. The deeds of those who lived before, the legends of our past, have shown me the way, and my Companion has opened a door in my heart. It is upon love that we build this foundation, and for love that I will serve Valdemar as long as there is breath in me. This is our sacred trust. My path stands clear before me, and where you lead, I cannot be afraid. Upon my soul I vow this to you, that the light that is our people may never fade.' "  

Wow that seems insufficiently specific! Iomedae is going to not be wildly culturally insensitive. She'll nod. "I - think that's an institution similar to what we have in important ways, if not exactly the same. Does that mean - that your enemy will trust your Law - that we can invite him to speak with us face to face and he'll know he can trust it -"

"...I, er, I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean by 'Law' there."

It feels like it's - something deeper than just 'will follow Valdemar's laws' which obviously wouldn't be sufficient to convince Leareth to come to Valdemar for face-to-face talks??? 

"I - do think his trust in our, er, integrity, has generally not been the limiting factor here? I don't trust him enough to want to meet him face to face," where he could cast compulsions on everyone, assuming of course that he can't trivially do that at a distance or by showing up under illusions but Vanyel is, mostly, assuming he can't do that or at least that it would be very costly for him not to be detected. 

"- If I'm trying to imagine his objections, I - think they would be that it doesn't matter what we say, we're a country that follows the gods - and our Companions are direct godmiracles," influenced by it in ways Vanyel knows better than anyone else and also incredibly does not want to talk about right now, "and he doesn't trust Them." 

" - huh. 

What - does he expect would go wrong as a consequence of the gods opposing him, if Valdemar were hosting peace talks?"

"I mean, apparently the gods assassinate him a lot? ...He comes back but I assume it's still inconvenient."

(And Vanyel is pretty sure that Leareth's immortality method involves killing people - he doesn't exactly seem to come back as a baby - and separately that this bothers Leareth.) 

" - sorry, directly? Just - manifesting in person to smite him themselves???"

Great, now Vanyel feels like an idiot for not having interrogated Leareth harder on the exact methods by which the gods supposedly repeatedly killed him. 

"I, er, think usually less directly than that? ...We do sometimes get direct miracles, uh, devout followers of gods can be directly possessed by them and sometimes get Gifts from it that they don't usually have? But usually the gods work by - nudging things to happen a certain way," such as, for example, Vanyel's ENTIRE LIFE nope not thinking about that any further in this conversation, "and it's...feasible to nudge things so that someone ends up dying." Vanyel should know. Though Leareth has presumably learned to be a lot more careful than....that. 

"- and your gods might nudge for Leareth to die during peace talks, so he can't reasonably show up to them?"

"I mean, there's an argument it'd be reasonable for Them to try it! If he keeps invading countries!" ....Vanyel separately has deeply mixed feelings but he is not, currently, in the mood to be charitable to Leareth. 

" - to kill him in general, certainly, but if they'll predictably try to kill him during peace talks then, as seems to have in fact occurred, no one will be able to have any peace talks! Which I would expect to lead to many unnecessary deaths."

"....I mean, I'm not sure the gods would consider that Their problem?" 

- Vanyel is not sure how much he endorses having just said that, but - well, he's not about to correct it, is he. 

"You...think the gods don't care if people die unnecessarily? ....if that's the case, what's even their grievance with the evil immortal warlord?"

(Oh, this is going to be juicy. Stef is being very quiet and forgettable and listening so intently.) 

(Stef has not been forgotten in the slightest but she can direct her questions to the person who has orders to speak to her and not the person who has orders to hang around silently.)

"....I don't know." Helpless shrug. "I'm - confused about a lot of things."

Including to what extent he agrees with Leareth's - well, the hypothetical Leareth who has been telling the truth all along - that Leareth's claim that the gods are, if not opposed, at least indifferent to whether mortal people have good lives. And - he really can't argue with Leareth's claim that the gods wield mortals as pawns in Their games. 

He's so tired.

"I - think They clearly have some kind of grievance with him. And...They did show up to King Valdemar's prayer, and Valdemar is built on - the result of that prayer." For better or worse. "...I don't know." 

Probably Iomedae was hoping for a less stupid answer. Vanyel apparently can't offer anything better than this, right now. 

Stef, to be clear, does not have ORDERS to do anything specific at all here and wouldn't obey them if he did