"Oh, you pick some things up here and there."

Everything you think turns into tells on your face one way or another. If you get emotional, it shows. If you know something, other people can infer you know it by how you react or fail to react. It's dizzyingly complicated, that stupid kind of intrigue. He only avoided the misery of politics because he learned this quite young and started tracking what to do to change what other people expected of him. (-a view of the ocean, betrayal and anger- and then it's gone-)

Everyone around him seemed to want- Cancel that. Kireh is strange, he can't predict her at all. It's fascinating and a bit refreshing. A shelter run by her would probably have some interesting problems when the misunderstandings run into each other, or base greed and group fear runs into her way of doing things. Or maybe she has a way around that. Maybe he could give advice.

That sounds so incredibly exhausting. He hates having responsibility for things, because then if he makes a mistake, it's his fault. Doing nothing is also a choice he is making, but it doesn't threaten to drive him insane. It was difficult to cultivate the image of a somewhat competent but mostly useless and irrelevant old uncle in the first place. The problem is, he's done that too well, and the hangers-on won't leave him be unless he makes a clean break.

"I could probably have become someone important, done something in politics, but the simple truth is... Don't wanna."

Oh, and his name is Marcus Cromwell.

He's self taught? Impressive. "Can you teach others to control their thoughts?" She's not sure whether to admire his efforts or distain his lack of ambition - it depends on if he was aiming elsewhere or just lazy. "What do you like about yourself?" Because that's what Marra wants people to strive for: vanity, of any sort; as a leader, a warrior, an artist, a fun masochist, a beautiful loner, an organized clerk...

"What advice do you have for my shelter? Or do you need to see how it's going before you have opinions? I am confident that I can handle it, but that includes appointing deputies. My way is that all duties are clear and limited. You can be sure when you have fulfilled your responsibilities, with no fear of being blamed unfairly. If my vassal makes a mistake, I fix them so they don't do it again, with a punishment appropriate to the mistake, not an overblown emotional reaction. If you join my shelter without belonging to me, we can negotiate rules that you accept."

He pulls his hand away and chides lightly, "I'm here to hire you, not be interrogated. And I do think I'd need to see some progress before I have useful opinions."

His loss. "Okay. I'll contact you at the address you gave me earlier."

She writes up a few copies of her advertisement, with the additions that she's seeking a maid, a butler, a guide to local politics, a house, a musician, an engineer, and a blacksmith; and she's offering entertainment, romantic matchmaking, employment matchmaking, and is building her own shelter. Does the inn post advertisements?

The inn does not post advertisements, and if she's going to get up to strange business the innkeeper may rethink his deal with Chief McAllen regarding her.

"How much notice must you give before cancelling the arrangement?" She wants to argue that she's not doing anything objectionable, but suspects that he can reject her tenancy whenever he likes, and that he mostly objects to bring visibly associated with her at all. Which is pathetic but there's nothing she can do about it.

"I'm not cancelling the arrangement, I'm saying not to push it. If I do decide to cancel it, I'll give you a last night to find alternate arrangements, unless you're being egregiously disruptive. Coin is pretty convincing otherwise, of course."

Kireh is repulsed. She sets the feeling aside. What would lecturing the innkeeper accomplish? Make him dislike her more, probably, but she doesn't care about that. To her, trying to make him like her is morally equivalent to using Charm Person on him, which is disgusting - Charm Person is only for combat and for new scared petitioners who belong to her. And it's illegal under English law, too; she thinks it's assault.

Will it get her thrown out? Maybe, but she can find other lodging. Even if Police Chief McAllen stops paying, she'll be alright. Will it change his mind, or the mind of observers?

"You're making four mistakes here. First, you're trying to change my behavior with social pressure. I'm Evil, I don't care what you think of me and I find the idea abhorrent. But that's just me, maybe your strategy works fine with Good people. So maybe I shouldn't call it a mistake.

Your second and third mistakes are much more serious and will hurt you in more of your dealings, not just with me. You're not clearly setting rules, and you're not clearly setting prices. Because I don't know what I can do in my room without angering you, and I don't know how much you'll charge to let me do it anyway, I might hold back, which means that I find staying here less valuable and leave sooner, depriving you of the money you would have made if I had stayed longer. Or maybe I do something I think is fine and you consider it egregious and throw me out, but if I had known ahead of time I wouldn't have done it. Again, you lose out.

Finally, and this is just a guess based on what I know of how people think, but I suspect you won't charge enough. If I make noise during the night and now all the other lodgers are fatigued or an hour late for their work, that's a blow to your reputation. You shouldn't just overlook it for a shilling, you should think of the total cost to your business.

Anyway, I'm planning to do some smithing and engineering during the day, and might produce bad smells but I'll try to vent them up the chimney. Is that acceptable?"

"This is an inn. A place for travelers to sleep and relax at. For them to get a room without much fuss as they're passing through. Not a house or a workshop. I don't want you doing any smithing or chemistry, that sounds like a fire risk, an inn is a place to relax and sleep. Feel free to quit the deal and find somewhere else."

"Understood, I won't do any smithing or chemistry."

She goes outside and holds up her advertisement. "Looking to rent a house within the next day! Hiring! Looking to rent a house within the next day! ..."

Hiring? That will get her lots of low-paid laborer types eager to reassure her about their strength and diligence! Does she need stuff moved around? Construction work? Intimidation? Cleaning?

Fewer people who offer houses to rent, at least in this neighborhood. One who owns a narrow rowhouse which sounds too small, one who'd rather sell their place outright than rent it.

Roughly half of everyone pointedly avoids her, most of the rest seem to be treating her a bit cautiously or a bit like an interesting show.

"Yeah, are you willing to be mind-read about your diligence?"

"I'm looking for a full-time maid, is that a kind of cleaning you can do? Can you cook?"

"I'll need to move stuff sometime in the next day. I'm willing to evaluate you now if you want, but I won't pay a retainer until then."

"I'll need construction work later. How can I contact you then?"

"I might be interested in buying a house, but I can't promise that at the moment. What's your house like? Can I look at it today, eleven to one, or sometime in the evening?"

She clarifies for the illiterate what she's looking for, and the services she's offering.

The mind-reading scares some people off. The not-hiring-right-this-minute shoos some more, except some of these leave her with names or addresses. But there's still a half dozen men willing to do construction and teamster work, their minds mostly indicating that they have families to feed and will work hard if it gives them the money to do that. And two women interested in the maid job, one a young widow whose husband was lost at sea and the other unmarried and wanting to ease the burden on her family housing and feeding her, who wouldn't necessarily be opposed to looking for a husband but doesn't really trust Kireh's matchmaker credentials.

The house-seller is happy to arrange a tour at any time of the day, and can be found inside said house. There aren't actually many total illiterates - only small children and some of the poorest laborers, maybe one in ten.

She spies Waltana's distinctive hair as she watches Kireh from down the street, after a while of this. She's not approaching, though.

She nods at Waltana with a wave.

"I'll come look at the house at noon, then." The other option is to do it after Waltana goes to sleep, but she's actually interested in what Waltana thinks of the house, both as a general way to learn more about how her mind works, and because this might possibly be where her shelter goes. And if her evening is free, she can try the fighting ring.

Oh is the widow open to a marriage-for-appearances with a man who's not interested in the usual interactions of a married couple?

(...She'd have to meet the man in question, she says doubtfully. Also that discussing it openly will kind of ruin the point.)

Waltana waits for a moment when most of the excitement seems to have died down - though there's still several gawkers - and walks past Kireh while handing her a piece of paper.

J. Theresa North Orphanage - meet me here and tell them you're hiring me for engineering, please. We might be able to claim the pressure cooker I made a while ago. I think it's at least a little 'sparky'.

With an address.

She takes the paper. Doesn't otherwise respond.

Obviously she shouldn't immediately head over there, so now she has even more time to fill... She recruits for a few more minutes, puts the advertisement in her bag, and ambles in the direction of the orphanage, keeping an eye out for stores with advertisements posted and people lurking in alleys.

Several stores have ads! She passes through a richer-seeming area where the stores are more fancy boutiques and safe shops and clothiers and a watchmaker and a spectacles-maker and furniture stores and an industrial equipment supplier with large banners of steam cores and automata that's shuttered with a sign saying 'closed for business - inquire with the I.E.C.' and cafes with music playing in the background, and an aggressively brightly lit-up 'electronic appliance emporium'. Then back towards a poorer-seeming area, out of the densest part of the city where the buildings are one or two stories and have poorly-kept gardens. The orphanage is next to an obviously recognizable church, the cross that is the local holy symbol prominently on display on a tower.

She places ads with as many stores as she has copies written out, split evenly between the richer and poorer areas. She tries to spread them evenly between different social groups, as much as she can guess at that: only a single clothier, a single boutique, not both the watchmaker and spectacles-maker, only a single pawnshop and bakery and tavern.

If she's back this way she might visit the church, but not now. There's plenty of churches elsewhere.

She knocks at the orphanage. "Is Waltana Hampson in?"

The nun who answers the door sighs, then answers, "Yes, she is. I see she wasn't fibbing after all? Why don't you come in for a discussion, hm?"

Waltana is sitting in the small room she's shown to, looking smug.

"I've been informed that you appreciate direct and clear statements, and to act in close accord with the law, yes?"

There's going to be a discussion? She thought they'd be happy to have one fewer mouth to feed, and away at a respectable job too.

"I have already contracted with Miss Hampson for the first week of work - room and half the profits or at least six shillings - but of course I have no complaint with you advising her on further negotiations.

Yes, I prefer explicit, honest communication, with later issues resolved by imagining how we would have agreed if the issue had been considered. To be precise, I follow laws which are intended to be widely enforced and which are widely followed by others, not all laws, and I also hold to my own principles, such as not breaking my word or not using emotional manipulation."

Distinctive clothing, religious symbols, right next to a church... "I see that this orphanage is a religious organization? I am not planning to cause religious issues for Miss Hampson, and wish to collaborate with your gods and your church as much as possible despite our ultimate differences."

"I do not, actually, have the legal authority to prevent miss Hampson from leaving, if that is what she wishes to do. Nor would I exercise it if I had such a right. I can send her off with my well-wishes and support, or I can throw up as many petty obstacles as I can think of. For example, her current meager belongings were provided by us and remain our property.

I don't want to do that. It's petty, cruel, and against the ideals I am meant to uphold. I am merely trying to do what is best for my charges, in accordance with the last wishes of her parents as I know them, and with the will of God. Just as I would resist to send off one of my charges with a man known as a drunk or molester or destitute and unable to care for them, I hesitate here. I think that moving out of a place of faith, to work for a being that describes herself as Evil, is a terrible decision that will only bring woe, and it's my duty to attempt to prevent it. Please, why are you evil? What is evil to you? I pray that it is merely some terrible misunderstanding."

"Miss Hampson, have I not tried my best to get you an education, such as it is? I only want what's best for you."

"I know. You paid for Ms. Stenner to come teach, when you could. You were trying. It wasn't really good enough, and that's not your fault, but- Yeah. If talking to Kireh can reassure you, I hope it does. But I'm leaving either way."

The argument that grabbed Kireh, when she was a Lawful Good angel, was basically just an offer of power, aimed at her frustration at helplessly watching people make mistakes. When she recruited other angels, some wanted control like her, some were tired of tearing themselves away from interesting tasks as soon as they were no longer the highest priority, and some wanted to be emotionally resilient outside the hothouse of the Good planes. Or they were recklessly fervent, ready to destroy themselves and become whatever Marra needed, in order to oppose Asmodeus.

When mortal Marrans deal with Lawful Good, they usually focus on Law and avoid each other. Recruiting from Lawful Good is rare - there are enough desperate already-Evil people to choose from.

If only this follower of a Lawful-ish Good god had a better understanding of Law... but this universe doesn't have systemic alignment.

She could say 'followers of Marra are allowed to be nice, if it's clearly marked as a whim, or as part of a duty or personal goal', which is true. It's not deliberately misleading, but it's too emotionally manipulative.

"It's possible that moral alignment in this world is so different from my own that I'm not Evil here. I tried praying to Saint Peter for guidance, and I plan to visit a church and read your holy book in the next few days. Can someone here instruct me? Does Saint Peter have disciples?

In my world, the fundamental forces of Good and Evil, and Law and Chaos, were defined by the creator, who then set up a system where lawyers argue to convince a judge what afterlife each mortal soul is sent to. The results of those trials don't always line up with the mechanism of naturally-accrued alignment, which must be periodically updated to better match the opinions of the judges.

The original intent, as best I know, was that making people happy is Good and them sad is Evil. But faced with the overflowing creativity of the mortals and the lawyers arguing for them, the judges - and sometimes the creator Herself - added more and more complications.

Good came to mean healing the poor, putting up with abuse, diligently teaching your children your trade, injuring your children so they behave in the social role expected of them, fighting monsters, fighting Evil, making people do things against their will if they're things 'everyone' approves of and in particular things that strengthen the forces of Good, using certain psychoactive substances and rituals, giving people hope even if it hurts them, and some kinds of suicide.

Evil came to mean torture, social self-sufficiency, murder for any reason other than self-defence, diligently teaching your children your trade if it's a trade She doesn't like, making people do things against their will if they're controversial or strengthen the forces if Evil, any sort of business deal involving souls, giving people incentives if you like doing that too much, liking some people more than others, creating or employing or being some kinds of creatures, breaking people's will even if they're happier afterwards, and all the other kinds of suicide.

My god cares that people like themselves, without relying on others' opinions, even seriously spending resources to make themselves more awesome; that people follow comprehensive rules so that they never worry about whether someone likes them or not, because being liked wouldn't change the outcome; that people's lives are shaped by experts, rather than letting them blunder where their feelings take them; and that people are organized into hierarchies with clear, limited duties.

If you're worried about woe for Miss Hampson, I am confident that she will be more successful with this course of action than with any others I know of. I don't know her well enough to say whether she would be happier. Normally, I want my vassals to be happy, but Miss Hampson is not mine and probably never will be, so I can imagine her suffering emotionally in my shelter, surrounded by my people, with me unable to fix her.

If you're worried about woe more broadly, I think it's likely that her help building my shelter will cause more people to survive the cold, and with lives that they consider better than death. If you're worried about me gaining power and converting others to my Evil ways, yes that's exactly what I intend to do and it's quite understandable that you might object to that.

On the topic of Miss Hampson leaving this 'place of faith', it is important to me to encourage her relationship with her god, whether that's 'God', Jesus Christ, Saint Peter, or one of the other gods or lesser entities in this world."

(She rolls her eyes at the last line.)