it would be better for her if she had never been born - Epilogue: Lilia, Alex
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"I think if a member of my family had joined the Chelish government and started murdering my people… I would have very complicated feelings about that. I imagine I would still love them, in a way. But I meant the example to point out how many people avoid the impulse toward cruelty to strangers in their power, not enemies. Far more people want to hurt their enemies, I'll concede. When they have them."

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"But not Iomedaens. It's very impressive."

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"That's not universal. But we try."

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The truth spell expires. Over their head, glittering gondolae and skytrams carry people across Aktun. The part they are allowed to see is more technologically advanced than it was before Freedom brought guns and radio to Golarion, Lilia notices distantly. "Right," she says. "Was there anything else?"

 

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"Not particularly. I'm glad you're working with us, now." And not against them.

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"I always was. …I am admittedly looking forward to doing it in a way that involves less killing your people."

 

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The truthspell is expired. He… thinks she isn't lying, but killing fewer of his people is probably not one of the parts she's looking forward to, particularly. She's still, as far as he knows, Evil. He calls over the Iomedan cleric to plane-shift them back home.

 


 

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"I've joined the Reclamation government as head of domestic intelligence," Lilia tells the Duchess Catherine de Litran over tea.

 

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That wins her a smile, but smiles from the Duchess de Litran are not particularly rare. "Under your own name and face? How in the world did you convince dear Alex to allow that?"

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"Publicly it'll be a new name, but that's to distract other old enemies, Alex knows. He seemed surprisingly amenable to assurances of my good intentions. I was really expecting it to be more difficult."

 

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"Well, he doesn't know how easily you can beat a truth spell…not that you'd have very much you need to lie about."

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She smiles slightly. "I told him I could beat a truth spell. He fussed for a while and then got one in Aktun, which I probably can't beat and in any event did not have the nerve to try."

 

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"Huh. Well, I suppose we never had to worry about Terthule trying that. Very well done."

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Lilia was expecting to need to explain her reasoning for telling him she could beat a truth spell, but perhaps it's obvious if you've known her her whole life. A Lawful Good Lilia would’ve confessed to Alex, and one should diverge from what a Lawful Good Lilia would do only very carefully, if one hopes to convince Alex that’s who one is. "Cheliax would've had plenty of options if it'd ever occurred to them that I was getting around all their standard ones. I'm not very surprised it never did….Abrogail might've genuinely suspected, towards the end. Tragically I'll never get to ask her."

 

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"You could ask Alex for the chance…it would be an indulgence but with some constraints on how you treat her I'm not sure that he wouldn't grant it eventually, once you've been of service to him."

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"I don't think the face I'm showing him would care about that. It doesn't seem like a very Iomedaen thing to care about."

 

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"As you say. You know the situation better than I." Another smile.

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"I like Alex. I have decided my stretch goal here is to seduce him."

 

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That catches her by surprise. "Really. I didn't realize he was your type."

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"What would you have said was my type?" Lilia has had sex with people exclusively for work, for practice, or when it's the least annoying way to pay someone to pretend to care about her.

 

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"I wouldn't have made confident predictions but given your life so far - I suppose it could have been either Chelish people or the least Chelish people imaginable. So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised." Catherine smiles again, thin-lipped, more like Myrabelle than the last one. "I expect he'll make that difficult for you. Iomedans have rules about sleeping with people who work for them, now."

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Lilia hasn't the faintest idea what to make of that 'now', but she doesn't miss it. "Well I should hope he doesn't make it easy. Seducing most men isn't a challenge and that's in hindsight probably why it's never been the slightest bit appealing."

 

 

 

 


 

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"Why haven't you hired the girl who figured out how to enchant guns?" Lilia asks Cansellarion at their next meeting. She has quite a few items on the agenda and saved this one for last because it's the one they're most likely to actually have a fight over. Paladin hiring practices are a bit opaque to her and they seem to consider Chelish ones to be slavery.

 

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"I am not in the business of gun manufacture… are you suggesting I hire her and send her to Vigil or Almas?"

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"Cheliax is too big and too wealthy to stay out of the business of gun manufacture. You can decide whether you personally have any control over it or not. Hire a dozen people, send them to Vigil, bring them back in a year to start something here. But certainly hire her."

 

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