Wow, Toff, you know, that's incredibly reassuring.

If for fear of death, you flee from life, what have you gained?

Help me figure out who our allies are among the gods, so we can make Them glad to have such friends as us, and identify our enemies among Them, so we can ruin Their days.

This is what legitimizes the soft magocracy. This is what makes life more than just breathing. 

We simply have a difference in philosophy. 

Look.

If Kroft finds out that you skipped town after talking to me, she's going to think I'm the source of her problems rather than that she's the source of mine.

I'm on my knees. Don't do this to me.

...? Is this what keeps you up at night...?

As an accomplished adventurer, a decorated war-wizard, and your better in the mysteries of the arcane, occult, and divine, I'm telling you that this is a survivable situation and that the risk is no greater than the reward.

Argument by authority doesn't work after you've already said there's nothing more to reaching eighth than trying to kill yourself and cocking it up.

I'm not a sixteenth level Fighter. I turned myself into a genius. Also, I've read a lot of books. Which if neither nearly sufficient nor entirely necessary, certainly helped.

Fair.

Y'know, I think most of why wizardry advances apace while druids are still living in trees and banging rocks together is just that wizards are forced to leave some notes for posterity. I really should write more.

I've long admired your dedication to accessibility, and your contributions to the literature.

If you wanted to butter me up by pretending to have read my work, it might have helped to know the first thing about it. Because, see, I remember writing a textbook for 1st-circles, and some articles here and there, but I wouldn't have thought you'd find any of it interesting. 

Most of what you write, Delmore, you publish under a pen name.

WOW you have a lot of trust in me. Just up and admitting to it! You know I could report you to the fuzz for reading that samizdat shit, right??

The 'samizdat shit' you wrote?? 

You'll never prove mens rea.

I think Law versus Chaos is about whether you're part of mainstream society, or whether you're opposed to it like pirates, monsters, mobsters, punks, vikings, republicans, and Shoanti.

This is a misconception you share with the inventors of alignment as a concept - insofar as alignment is a coherent concept - but none of vikings, republicans, or (I presume) Shoanti are opposed to mainstream society.

They're just traditionalists in a different tradition. 

(As are many mobsters and monsters! Not that I'd know.)

Why do Shoanti get the qualifier "presumably," and vikings don't? 

Because I know anything about vikings, but Shoanti don't exist IRL. 

How long have you lived in Varisia such that you "know at least a little" about Ulfen raiders, but have only heard in passing about Shoanti??

What in heck is an Ulfen?

You'd make a good trial lawyer for Nirvana, but burning and pillaging is definitely both Chaotic and Evil. 

Also, I think you're just... obviously wrong about republicans, who are self-consciously opposed to traditional forms of government?