"We've been over this before! The tradeoff is just not worth it, if someone's drinking too much on duty we can still drum them up on charges for that, it's almost always harmless, and we haven't had a case of a sentry drunk on duty in twenty years!"

"And yet. Alfirin, tell me about artillery guns."

She blinks. "Ma'am? Er - sure, artillery. They fire heavier missiles than handheld guns, they can tear through fortifications and armor pretty effectively, the shells can be filled with explosives to do that even better -"

"What happens when one is improperly loaded?"

Aha. "Well, I wouldn't make the kind where the artilleryman sets a charge rather than just putting in a shell... but if it's aimed sloppily maybe the projectile doesn't go far enough, lands among our own men. Or it overshoots the enemy.  Worst case it explodes if it's not maintained or if the breech isn't closed properly..."

"What if someone's drunk in the factory? What's the worst that could happen then?"

"Machine shops, chemical plants - they or someone else could lose a limb easily. Or their head. Munitions plants - we've tried quite hard to idiotproof them, so maybe nothing. But we've tried that hard because a bad enough mistake there and the whole plant would go up."

"And what if someone's working in the munitions plant and they're perfectly sober but sad about it, what's the worst case there?"

"...Sad enough to try to kill themselves and all their coworkers in a giant explosion?"

"Let's say no."

"...Then, nothing, I think."

"I think that maybe the discipline-morale tradeoff has changed substantially, this year."

Iomedae complains to Alfirin only later about how popular buy-in solves morale problems but isn't the kind of solution to them you think of if you're an authoritarian theocracy. "You were brilliant, of course."

Alfirin kisses her. She hasn't deliberately cultivated a habit of doing that every time Iomedae says she's brilliant, it happened by accident. "I am sure it did not occur to them, but I think maybe I'll save the 'Hey, you know what's great for morale? When you don't kidnap people from their homes and force them to fight for you!' for later. Lastwall isn't even a very big country, they might not have enough volunteers for a proper army and we can't deny that they need a proper army - or, Cansellarion needs a proper army and Lastwall's decided they're allowed to give it to him?"

"Yes, I think 'end conscription' is a point to argue with them later. …and I think I was right to shut up, even though it was very difficult and I thought of dozens of clever things to say. It's their country, and they thought of different clever things, ones that matter to them…and didn't feel like they had to close ranks because the bizarre outworlders were proposing terrible ideas in a fraught fashion… probably eventually I'll get the hang of this diplomacy thing. 

I'm not clear on how allowed Lastwall is to give him an army? It doesn't really meet most definitions of neutrality I've heard of, to give someone an army. Giving the guns is obviously allowed, America did lend-lease and so on…"

"Giving the guns is obviously allowed under Earth international law. I have no idea what the standards are for Golarion international law. If they even have the concept of defined standards of international law instead of just - what one country promised to do and everyone's best guess of how those promises apply."

"We should - ask about that. It's fine if they're making a principled decision to play hardball with the letter of their treaty because that's what Cheliax is doing, trying to kidnap Cansellarion with a Wish, but - I hope they're doing something principled and not just forgetting inconvenient promises once they have overwhelming force, that'd bode ill for the next situation."

"Mhm. If they're doing that - well, maybe we still can't just leave, not without Cheliax being able to get to us - but it makes me a lot less sure of their other promises."

"I'll ask Cansellarion tomorrow. Unlike the vague self-doubt about whether I'm relating to my allies as I think I ought to, this is my and his business and he ought to be able and willing to tell me."

"Mhm. It'd be good to know. I wish we - had more options, for places we could go that don't have Cheliax looming over them."

"I can't leave unless Cansellarion agrees," Iomedae reminds her. "But - yes. It's kind of a lousy map. Maybe we should learn more about the Keleshites."

"Right. Not for at least a year and it might all be over by then… I know almost nothing about the Keleshites besides that they showed up in children's stories and lived even farther from Sarkoris than Taldor. I never got the impression their empire was a particularly nice place to live, if you weren't as rich as a king…which I guess we are, but I don't think that's exactly the thing."

"I have also heard nothing good about them but Taldor was forever at war with them and if they were actually a lovely place I wouldn't have heard it. There's -I guess I'd expect there's somewhere that can protect us from Cheliax and where freedom is either generally available or purchaseable. …though if we assume the god Iomedae allied, then we might assume She would've told the best available people to get us." She frowns. "I wonder if She ever got good at international diplomacy. Currently it feels very forbidding, as a thing to have to get good at."

"I bet she did. She had it easy though, she had her own country and lacked your noble impulse to tell everyone they should be a democracy…I assume. I think the fact that she sent us to her people is a little bit of a reason to think that she's not exactly allied, or not exactly unbiased, and I guess also a bit of a reason to think maybe her people really are the best. Or maybe she knew Andoran would have been just as good and assumed you'd be more comfortable in a military dictatorship because she was when she was mortal."

"I don't feel very comfortable but for all I know Andoran would be worse! They do apparently have just floods of beggar children everywhere, that'd be a bit dispiriting."