"I suppose it makes sense that it would be. Hmm. I suppose another jumping off point would be- if you were summarizing Rhya to a person, or describing what a society constructed along the lines of Her ideals would look like, what would you say?"

"I would say that a society built along Rhya's ideals is... Well-cultivated, but with space for many things to bloom, especially love and companionship. Wealthy but not dominated by greed, beautiful but not consumed by the need for perfection. Rhya believes in the beauty of imperfect things."

"That sounds like a society I would approve of. The beauty of imperfect things- I like that. Beauty can be- undervalued sometimes, I think. A building that is functional but ugly can be argued for quite easily, and I wouldn't actually say one doing so was wrong in their arguments, but- there's a cost to such a thing, to living in a city where beauty has not been considered something to spend effort on, and that cost is easy to miss, even if one is very well-intentioned. Especially if one is very well-intentioned, occasionally. And wealth is likewise a thing I think can be- ignored in favour of virtue in a way that fails to take into consideration the ways in which wealth enables virtue."

"Indeed. To Rhya, wealth is like... seeds, or a well-stocked granary. It's an investment against hardship and privation."

"That makes sense. I think there's- well, there's wealth within a particular context, wealth for your particular context, and also a sort of absolute society-wide wealth? And the first is valuable in that way, and the second is- even peasant farmers having an ox to plow their fields, or most people having steel tools instead of tools of iron. And that's- well, still usable as an investment against hardship in that way, but also quite valuable simply for making things better even during times of plenty. And I would thus naively guess Rhya is in favour of that sort of plenty simply because- the more people are free from hardship the more space they have to spend effort on beauty. Is that guess right?"

This is- sort of a question about how much the gods know. Because- it is a simple brute fact that societal prosperity leaves more room for beauty, all else equal, but- does Rhya know that, and if she does does her church know that? Are the gods just- essentially very powerful mortals, cognitively speaking, or are they- different in a way that lets them automatically see things like that? Rhya not knowing about that general way-society-functions would be strong evidence for the basically-powerful-mortals version of things. But of course it could simply not be something Her church knows, even if She knows it, so this wouldn't be conclusive even if it did come up that way, and of course she herself is proof that you can know things like that while just being an objectively-not-incredibly-impressive squishy mortal. But it's some information. And beyond that, it's information about how well she'll get along with Rhya's church when she encounters it in the future.

"I think you would be correct in your assessment. Beauty is the higher calling; wealth is a step towards it. Rhya cares that people do not starve for failed crops, that they have leisure to spend on what they love, that they have... space to breathe, in a sense. Comfort. Security."

"I think I like Rhya quite a bit, from what you've told me of Her. Hmm. How does her vision of a correctly ordered society differ from other gods in Her pantheon?"

"To be honest I'm less clear on that. I've never been a very diligent student of theology; I'm much more focused on good works."

"You know, that's entirely reasonable and I endorse your priorities. Hmm. What's your sense of how Rhya feels about what you're doing here in Sylvania with Lady Illemvich?"

She expects that the answer is that either Rhya straightforwardly approves or else that She's somewhere north of neutral but not quite all the way there. But she isn't sure.

"Rhya approves, particularly of my work to restore the fields and help the communities grow. I can sense her looking over my shoulder whenever I purify warpstone-tainred soil. Each field is a victory for her against the Ruinous Powers."

"Rhya really is sounding lovely. I see why you follow Her. Actually, that touches on something else. Crin mentioned to me that you don't have the innate ability to wield Hysh, but instead received it after beseeching Rhya through your people's guardian. How did that, well, work? And how common a thing is it, for things like that to happen?""

"I had to have an audience with the Naaru. It was a very big deal to gain access, even as a draenei. I had to go through a whole process of petitioning. O'ros - that's the name of the Draenei's protector - is somewhere between a deity and a physical being, so it is able to petition the gods much more easily than we can. I had a long discussion with them about my goals, convictions, ideals, and intent, and at the end I was blessed."

Well, regrettably that means she will not be able to simply eyeball the Naaru from a distance and thereby gain cosmic power.

"Ah. So- it was a direct miracle of Rhya, just petitioned-for by O'ros, and not something O'ros can simply- do?"

"It's somewhat unclear, to be honest."

Well, now she wants to ask how Ishaza knows that it's Rhya she's feeling looking over her shoulder and not O'ros, but since it's possible that she's taking it on faith or hasn't considered the possibility it's really not the kind of question she should ask someone who's, well, as devout as she is. Then again, this is a different world, she shouldn't assume that means the same thing about a person here as it does back home.

Still, it has too high a chance to be incredibly awkward, she shall not ask.

"Would that that were the answer to slightly fewer questions. Hmm. You know- I asked Crin a question yesterday, about what things outsiders would consider- surprising about Sylvania. She told me that she'd grown up here and so couldn't tell me much, but you once occupied a similar position to my own. So, what surprised you when you were new to Sylvania?"

"The people, first. There's more mutation here, and the people are... I wouldn't say surly, but they're close-mouthed and distrustful. There's little worship of any gods, officially at least - the vampires have displaced the wholesome faiths. The blood tax, of course. I couldn't imagine such a practice... Well, it's done better by Crin than by most." 

She sighs. "Mostly I noticed that the people were poor, poorly-educated, afflicted with many diseases, and not very thankful for my help. It has gotten better over the last five years, but..."

She half-winces at the description.

"Not thankful to the point they refused help, or just- a lack of displayed gratitude?"

The first's quite a bit more troublesome. She hopes it was just the second.

Well, she supposes she can in fact purify people's fields without their consent. She doesn't enjoy doing things like that, but- honestly if she ever gets the ability to Just Solve the warpstone in the soil problem she'd probably just do it rather than putting it to a vote.

"They did refuse help at first. The work of agents of the Ruinous Powers. Crin and I rooted out a small cult of the diseased one. Then things started to get better. People are more open to my help now. Sometimes they even thank me."

"Ah. Sensible of them to refuse, then, in all honestly. If that was what they had seen of- strangers offering help. I'm glad you dealt with them. And that things are getting better. They seem- quite positively disposed towards Crin. Do you know how typical that is? I get the sense it's- well, more than a little abnormal."

"The vampires have an aura about them in this part of the world. People love to be ruled by them. Crin uses that for good, so she is seen as ruling lightly, and the people are becoming attached to her. She treasures them as if they are the wealth of her land, and they can understand that."

She really is just hearing more and more good things, here. The way Ishaza talks about Crin, the way Crin talks about Ishaza, the way both of them talk about goodness.

Of course, it's possible there are things sort of- waiting in the wings. Things that would cause pretty firm incompatibility.

She's starting to doubt that, though.

"I believe I have heard that- usually vampires collect much lower tax, aside from the blood tax. I'd guess that that alone would be enough for many people."

"Yes. They have less need of the accoutrements of an army and so on, as they instead resort to necromancy when needed. And they care less for public works. So they tax lower, aside from blood. Crin has largely followed this model."

"It's a shame that there isn't something simple to do like necromancy but which doesn't cause similar problems. Something like, I don't know, animated earth. Necromancy has many short-term structural benefits but in the longer term it poisons the land itself and the mind of the one who wields it. And, well, it's necromancy. The system in Sylvania is something of an existence proof that if one can raise armies and produce labour for necessary fortifications independent of the populace one can give said populace much more freedom from taxation. If not for the longer term effects I expect Sylvania would be more prosperous than the Empire, rather than less. As it is, if one is reliant on tax to secure oneself against one's neighbours, or the ruinous powers, there is an incentive to increase it as high as can be borne without starvation or revolt."