Visuals appear clarified and with greater detail under the might of the Patent Scrutinizer Deluxe!.

There seem to be particles of corruption that are spreading and intermixing with the more normal terrain materials (stone, dirt and sand), with varying concentrations. It could be interpreted to represent a tug of war between the laws of this world, and the laws of the corruption. Parts of the corruption have visible connections to other corruption and to other points not visible on the pool.

Interlaid, the tool also reveals details about the magic being used to see. There is a kind of connection that goes through the spell and seems to focus onto the coin on the other side of the vision. The visible area seems to expand from the coin outwards, losing detail over distance and then cutting out at around 10 feet of distance. A connection to the spells caster can also be noticed; it seems to be upkeeping the magic. The spells structure also seems to have some minimal change over the observation period. It's hard to be certain but some connections and structures of the magic seem to degrade or lose integrity over time.

The great problem with the Patent Scrutinizer Deluxe!, at least so far as its average user is concerned, is that it grants sight, but not insight. The design for the wondrous device came of a collaboration between Mr Mirrors and Mr Stones, and one unlikely to be repeated following Mirrors' imprisonment. The Masters involved did not deign to leave instructions on the use of their creation for those who might be interested in buying one; as a result, many who take up such a lens often find themselves selling it later, or relegating it to some dusty shelf once they find an easier-to-use tool. But skill is a matter of practice, and Mr Cards had plenty of that even before they gained that position. They no longer needed to consult their notes to determine that glimmering embellished burgundy speckles limning an object indicated a notable connection. Instead, they simply noted those connections, increased embellishment to permit additional detail regarding those links, traced those connections to their pairings amidst the rather more cluttered view obtained, and confirmed that the indications made logical sense.

So, a connection between caster and magical effect, between magical effect and coin... and yes, between caster and coin? A temporary connection, at that... but the link is sufficient to serve for the purposes of the effect, which was set to seek out just such a connection. An interesting technique, though one which would take considerable effort to replicate using their own arts. One well worth investigating closer, but it does seem obvious that much of what they're seeing is the effects of the local science of Topological Complexity, which they will have plenty of other opportunities to examine.

More relevant to the target of the spell, of course, is the spreading corruption. Closer examination of that proves... disturbing. An alternate form of law, standing in direct, visible opposition to the light of the local Judgment... and not only enduring, but thriving? A slow, creeping process, to be sure... but definitely one which continues to spread. Considering the effects of the spreading corruption as a law... hmm... it takes them a couple of puzzling minutes of investigation before they conclude that the principle in question is not especially law-like, nor can they easily describe it with the Correspondence. Frowning thoughtfully under the hood of their Robe, Mr Cards carefully puts away their Patent Scrutinizer Deluxe! Is it quite wise to try any other approaches to solving this problem, in the presence of potential threats? Well... perhaps not, but this seems important. It won't take any time at all, and it won't hurt... much.

With a sigh, they carefully decide not to consider the question any further. After all, they don't have access to any other descriptive frameworks, not that any such things could possibly be useful, and so they won't be able to come to a correct conclusion on the topic. They don't have enough information to make an accurate guess at what might be involved here, so they aren't even speculating about the possibility. Clearly, no law was responsible for this effect, nor will it be possible to describe the results such a law could not have. Since they are not foolish enough to even think that they might arrive at a correct answer to a question they haven't even asked, they couldn't at all be confident in any conclusion... especially not:

< no thing which is forbidden shall be forbidden >

No, that isn't quite correct. That conclusion isn't even a good approximation of the situation, since there aren't multiple effects responsible for what they've observed. Really, this isn't much at all like anything they have never seen before, especially not like anything they didn't see when they wandered out into the frozen wasteland to no place in particular to do nothing of any importance. At best, it doesn't rhyme with any words they haven't read nor heard spoken.

Mr Cards shivers, finding that the air around them has become noticeably colder, and there is a slight crackling as they shake their head firmly, dislodging tiny bits of ice that had started to form. Whatever the results produced, they quite often find themselves regretting it whenever they try not to understand something. At least they haven't done anything but stare silently for a few long moments of thought, and so no one should have any idea what just happened. With another practised motion, they produce a bottle of F. F. Gebrant's Tincture of Vigour and drain the bottle in one long pull.

That magnifying glass is looking interesting. The lenses look powerful, but not in a Golarion-familiar magical way.

"Find out anything interesting? Are you perhaps interested in details about the spell, or are you managing to inspect the terrain itself through the spell?"

"The scrying itself will last just a minute more."

Mr Cards' hat discreetly nibbles on their head a little, to remind them of the ongoing social interaction.

"Ahh, yes," replies Mr Cards, smoothly slipping back into a conversational mode with their hat's prompting, "I observed the interaction between the principle driving the expansion of the terrain and the light of your local Judgment. Given the nature of the effect, it seems quite able to overcome the rather permissive Laws enforced by local sunlight. I suppose that the possibility of this sort of threat may be among the reasons why my own world's Judgment is more restrictive in what is and is not permissible within their sight."

They return their gaze to the displayed image, considering whether to elaborate on this point, then decides that it seems likely to come up sooner or later. Their own world's Hell has distinct Revolutionary leanings, which does not seem to be the case with the local Devils. But which is more concerning? No, that's the wrong framing. Yes, they seek a balance between Black and White, and in general, it would suit their purposes quite well for both sides to come into conflict. It would not, however, serve their interests for the more radical Neathy factions to start experimenting with this sort of thing, leading to the development of similarly nasty spreading corruptive hazards anywhere near London. If such a thing were to happen... they might expect the other Masters to dither uselessly about the threat for weeks, until they were forced to personally intervene and deal with the problem. Given that information control and containment is currently possible... yes, better to keep that problem in mind going into things, to minimize the risk of having to deal with yet another apocalyptic event. As the image dissipates, they turn back to Mordessa.

"Thank you for showing me this," says Mr Cards, quite sincerely, "I will note that an anti-Law effect of this scope and durability is likely to attract the interest of certain Chaotic and Revolutionary groups that have formed within London. I expect that there are those among their number who would be all too eager to cooperate with the Demons of the Worldwound, considering madness and mutation a fair trade for what they conceive of as freedom. Most of those are merely mortal troublemakers, unworthy of great concern... but I do not wish to see what the minds who conceived of the Liberation of Night* come up with, if given access to the Worldwound. I expect that we share a mutual interest in this?"

*: "The Liberation of Night" simultaneously conveys the sense of "the end of all Law", "the death of all Gods", and "the extinguishing of all light".

Mordessas responses are promptly delivered.

"The other afterlife planes would put up a more direct fight with the corruption. The Material plane is a very permissible one, in a sense."

"You do guess right. Hell and Cheliax are generally opposed to spreading Chaos. Revolutionaries looking for freedom in madness and mutation sound quite dangerous."

One infraction of Chelish law mentally noted down. Of course for diplomats those are often not punished directly but sometimes they can provide leverage.

"This End of all Law you speak of. Is it some sort of concrete action, a power, or some sort of plan?"

"Yes," replies Mr Cards quite insistently, but without further elaboration. This is a matter they feel quite strongly about, and they openly display the grave degree of their concern.

"Due to, hmm..." they trail off, glancing significantly around the still-occupied room before continuing, "...certain secret information I managed to acquire, which would be utterly foolish to discuss without extensive secrecy precautions, I do not consider Liberationist* claims to be mere boasts. I have gone to very significant lengths to curtail their influence and thwart their plans, and still consider them the greatest threat I know of. Arranging appropriately secure conditions for disclosure of that information will be another item to discuss with the contract devil, when they arrive, perhaps as a separate arrangement between myself and Hell. Beyond that, I will need to carefully consider how best to arrange profitable trade between our worlds without undue risk... strict information controls, at a minimum."

*: The Revolutionary faction associated with the Liberation of Night.

(Of course, their competition for the position of 'greatest threat' is the Judgments themselves... but even after London, there ought to be at least two more cities of time before that reckoning comes due. Plenty of time to discover other countermeasures before then... or perhaps even to simply seize and repurpose the 'Great Work', and thereby come armed to some future negotiating table.)

Calculated, careful concern can also be seen on Mordessas face, as this topic comes up.

"Right. That shall be considered. It is worthwhile to be careful with such matters."

"In any case, we should move to the negotiation room and welcome our main negotiator, they should be arriving promptly."

Mordessa starts leaving towards the door, expecting Cards to follow.

"Excellent," Mr Cards says with a polite nod. They do indeed follow, without any particular shenanigans this time.

As for Mordessa's reactions, well... emotional observations are unreliable in interactions with Devils, as sincere emotion on their part is neither to be expected nor trusted. Although it is demonstrably inaccurate to say that there is no such thing as love among Devils, any sympathetic emotional demonstrations ought to be considered as more likely to be a posture or deliberate lure rather than the genuine article. This is no barrier to negotiations, of course, but it ought to be kept in mind. Although Mr Cards has no intention to engage a Devil in either friendship or romance (ever again), it remains reasonable to do business with their kind, so long as the relative alignment of interests remains clear. A matter which concerns Mr Cards and their world is not necessarily truly of concern to a foreign Devil lacking context. Perhaps they will think differently once they know more... or perhaps not, for that matter. It is at least worth remembering that the first leaders of the Devils were the ones who slew the Judgment that the Devils served before ever coming to Earth, and that the leader who built Hell was not the one who ruled it before the revolution that put Hell's current government in place. It's hard to say exactly how much weight the local concept of 'Lawfulness' will bear... but even if their counterparty were to be entirely untrustworthy, Mr Cards nonetheless remains confident in their ability to handle the matter with suitably firm contract terms.

A high clearance meeting has been ongoing for a while. Various powers of Hell hold stake on Golarion.

There are hopes humble expectations that the new quota for lower slaves to have punishably better ideas than their superiors periodically will lead to improved decisions and punishment rates over the longer term. As is usual for highest clearance meetings the participants are cloaked and their voices altered.

"What are the estimated lower and upper bounds here?"

"The worst outcome would be this Cards and their own allies from the new world allying succesfully with the Lawful Good forces against Hell and our Lords interests. The best outcome is access to a new world and enough resources to win over Golarion and many other worlds. The bounds are so far from each other that you could fit almost any previous disruptive event within those, excepting matters concernings Gods. And to be clear, it is likely that Cards holds more cards in their hand than many minor deities. They might even have the capability to instantly ascend if they so much as hear a rumour of the Starstone. Besides their powers, the current estimate, based on how they are treating their wares, is that their inventory is worth between a million and a hundred million Golarion gold."

"We really should stop this farce and bring them to Hell."

"No. We must make them slowly and carefully submit. Can we curse them over time to reduce their negotiation power? Or wish them worse? We need to consider that our action space will be significantly constrained once the negotiations have advanced enough that they demand their own form of negotiation safety guarantees. We must also take into account that they may demand a list of taken actions towards them as part of the negotiations."

"No. We should magic their possessions away from them, keep them busy, and send a separate expedition into the realm that they came from."

"We need to take into account that other Gods are also plausibly observing the situation and waiting to make their move. Should we arrange a gamble for a non-intervention zone?"

"No. We cannot risk a squish." 

"We should frame an attack by Iomedaens to capture Cards, where if the attack succeeds we have them captured and if it doesn't we get more loyalty out of them."

"No, we cannot risk them seeing through it."

"We need to start reading their thoughts."

"How many failed attempts can we risk?"

"Stop being useless. What paths of action can we take. Present options we can activate now or if the situation escalates. Optimize for expected value, not bad or median outcomes."

"Let's send in the strongest negotiator we can spare for the material. Update the emergency wish instructions and the Hell hit squad. Order Cheliax to up their hit squad commitment as well. Make them seriously consider hiring Razmir or purchasing expensive scrolls from him, they should trade anyway to prepare more goods for the negotiations."

"Also ensure that Cheliax is committing appropriately for both the upside and downside consequences. While taking care about secrecy."

"Commit to that. The meeting is over."

In the room, a contract devil can be noticed. It's appearance reads as clearly humanoid but with rust-colored skin and large horns curving from their back, pointing upward and visible above their shoulders. The horns and skin also protrude with seemingly attached pieces of paper.

The room's table and chairs look like before, but a long scroll of seemingly paper has been brought over.

The devil bows slightly, and speaks: "My respectful greetings, Mr Cards. I am Jacques, here to represent all interests of His highness, the one who Conquers, the First God-Fiend, Lord of Darkness, Prince of Law, and the Supreme Master of the Nine Hells, Asmodeus."

"I have received a report on the beforehand discussed, and the already assented agreements. I would propose we start by discussing what, if any, vows of secrecy bind the content of these negotiations, and discuss security guarantees, before moving to trade goods, formal allianceships or any complementaries. Do you have counterproposed orderings?"

Ah, a competent counterparty. Perhaps the sentiment is an unfairness; Mordessa is a soldier of Hell, not a diplomat or negotiator, but this definitely feels like more familiar ground. It is interesting to note which of Asmodeus' titles Jacques sees fit to emphasize (and is the French-style name a coincidence, or a translation artifact?). Conquest, law, and mastery over Hell are understandable... but the various connotations of 'fiend' are rather less promising, and a title related to darkness is outright disturbing, under the circumstances; almost enough in and of itself to get them to reconsider the details of what they are and are not willing to share. Still, they've negotiated with worse. Mr Cards returns the bow, before sitting to get down to business.

"Well met, Jacques. Given the sensitivity of some of the potential discussion topics," begins Mr Cards, "It seems prudent to first ensure that this meeting is as secure as possible against any potential eavesdroppers, with no observers permitted who will not be bound by the terms of the secrecy agreement that will be negotiated. There are chambers within the Bazaar which I believe are suitable for this purpose, but we are not in London, and I am unfamiliar with those local techniques used to ensure security. Do you currently believe this room to already be as secure as is it is reasonably possible to arrange against every method of espionage you consider worth guarding against? If not, are there additional precautions which could be taken within the next hour without unreasonable expense, given the potentially large damaging impact any informational leaks may have upon both parties?"

Jacques responds: "That is most prudent. Now that we are all here, I shall apply Mage's Private Sanctum to this room, which makes outside observance through sound, vision or Divination* magic not possible. It might seem a bit unexpected to an outsider but this is pretty close to the local optimal on meeting privacy. There does also exist magic to make areas untravelable with teleporting**, but it would usually be noticable if somebody arrived through those means. And agreed with the rule regarding observers. We will have two people present, one representing His Lordship and one representing Cheliax. For now Mordessa will be acting as that liaison."

At this point Mordessa closes the door and takes a seat.

"This application of magic will take approximately 10 minutes. I would usually apply it beforehand but I just arrived on the compound, and also interpreted from the briefing you might be interested in seeing the spell itself. I will get to it so we can advance the discussion."

Jacques begins gesturing around the room and murmuring barely audibly. A cube of dark fog appears to cover the rooms walls and doorway bit by bit.

*translates as far-seeing with both time and space related associations

**instantenous far-travel

"I shall assume that you are correct about the appropriate level of local precautions needed," replies Mr Cards dryly, "Although I certainly won't turn down an opportunity to observe those methods."

Indeed, out comes the Patent Scrutinizer Deluxe! once again, and a few quick adjustments of its bejewelled knobs begins to show the connections between the Devil and the nascent fog effect. The strange shapes involved would probably provide them with somewhat more insight if they had more background knowledge regarding Topological Complexity, but the way the fog-like effect spreads in a strangely cubic fashion and begins to shroud its contents from outside view is at least interesting to watch, especially once the effect spreads enough for them to examine it from the inside without being uncommonly disrespectful of the personal space of a pair of Devils.

"If I intended to render a meeting properly secure outside of an appropriately-defended place of power, there are defences of my own that I might put in place," they suggest, "London is easily the most spied-upon city in my world, and even a brief discussion of the various espionage tricks I might be preventing would doubtless be informative. Still, I would expect many of those precautions to overlap with your existing techniques, with 'hold the meeting in an especially secure room within a conventionally secured fortress' generally at least discouraging the simpler attempts. Many of the more exotic techniques are intended to counter specific local threats which I do not anticipate encountering on a different world... still, since I have time to look in any event, perhaps something of note shall come to my attention."

Jacques seems to be focusing their ability to speak on their spellcasting, but Mordessa responds:

"That seems sensible. Our usual solutions are so general that for meeting rooms we rarely apply specific solutions, it's just one of the few general good ones. If there is a need for privacy when moving around the world more specific magic is necessary."

The spell slowly spreads, from Jacques' motioning hand to the corners and sides of the magical cube. Scrutinizing reveals how the spell sets up multiple kinds of blocks. Several overlapping barriers, different in color and texture start to cover the magical cube. They seem to be blocking vision and sound quite directly and effectively. There is also a harder-to-interpret layer, which seems to be working in an extra dimension, plausibly to block observation of the area through magic. As the cube finalizes Jacques also stops motioning and murmuring, and speaks:

"If you think committing something extra seems useful, or you have tips for privacy now would be the time."

"Otherwise we could move to the secrecy agreement. Did you have specifications for what sort of contract agreements or general shapes you commit to agreeing to, or if some are ruled out? Do you have specifications for the written down language, contract magic or lack thereof, or other details?"

Mr Cards finishes their inspection of the room and the magic, and takes a seat at the table.

"An interesting technique," they say, in a quite complimentary fashion, "Not easily peered through or pried into, and I could hear how the echoes changed as it spread. It should be quite satisfactory, especially if it also blocks more exotic means of information gathering. If I had any concerns over the security of the neighbouring rooms, I might have applied a series of sigils to the walls, floor, and ceiling... but your magic seems to have performed better than anything I could quickly improvise. As for more specific recommendations I might have..."

"London is by far the most spied-upon city on my world, and anyone of any importance learns something of how to thwart their arts. From those things worth checking which might be able to subtly observe a meeting past these defences..." here they begin to gesture at various features of the room to suggest places they inspected, "I see there are no mirrors in the room. It is only occasionally possible for the most sophisticated of agents to exploit subtler reflections, but since I also note that there has not been an error like polishing the floor to a mirrored finish, that ought to suffice, especially in combination with a technique to prevent observation. It would usually be worth checking for small spying animals that might report on a meeting's contents, though your own technique limits the effectiveness of such methods, and I presume the local soldiers are at least competent enough to prevent ordinary animals from entering a high-security area during a time of heightened alert? It would require somewhat more elaborate detection methods to notice subtler threats such as small intelligent animals smuggling themselves inside in a suitably disguised container, or some similarly cunning listening device using mechanical methods to record any conversation within earshot. I have neither seen nor heard evidence of such here, but conclusively ruling those methods out is rather time-consuming... though if you had a rat problem bad enough to warrant such methods, I expect you would have learned appropriate techniques to deal with it, and I have yet to see any cats here. Some of the same avenues of attack would also be available to a suitably transformed agent, perhaps one able to send their ear ahead to sneak through the smallest of gaps and listen in. Being in a fortress does make this somewhat more difficult, provided your guards are reliably able to notice a camouflaged infiltrator climbing your walls to huddle near a ventilation slit. There are, of course, many other techniques relevant to espionage, but none that would work well remotely past such protections. Provided that we are not disturbed by intruders, even those thought to be loyal to your side, we ought to be able to speak freely."

Given the free chance to examine the "Mage's Private Sanctum" effect, Mr Cards does not have any problem revealing intelligence-gathering techniques used by Silverers, more common spies, the LBs, the Khaganians, and the Starved Men; here in this world, they seem unlikely to be of special use to the locals, and they'd likely learn many of them quickly enough, given any access to London.

"As for the specific terms of secrecy, I can think of three separate areas in which secrecy is desirable," continues Mr Cards, in a serious but businesslike way, "Firstly, I want limitations on the flow of information from your world to mine, to limit the chances that it falls into the hands of my enemies. Secondly, you want limitations on who I may reveal the possibility of diamond trade with, to prevent your enemies from gaining access to critical resources. Thirdly, I have access to particularly secret information regarding the Liberation of Night, which I want to be extremely certain do not become known to any who would further that cause. The first two areas of secrecy seem like subjects that we might reasonably come to some arrangement on, likely as the prelude to a more formal trade arrangement. I expect that the third area would be better handled by a more specific contract that details under what exact circumstances that information may be shared and used."

At this, they focus on Jacques, "Are you empowered to make such an agreement on behalf of your Lord and His Hells, or is this meeting merely an opportunity to convey the broad outline of such an agreement Hellward, to await a formal response?"

Mordessa attentively takes in the input about London-side secuirty, and responds:

"It is not unheard of for spies to utilize animals or summoned creatures through various means, and as such the guards have been drilled to be on guard against such intruders. Spying animals could often be rats or cats, but various birds and small reptilians are not unheard of either. Most means known to us for transforming and plausibly sending ones ear ahead of themself are magical and thus would be detected, but we are not yet certain if your or your adversaries means for such transformations would be completely detected."

As the contract specifics come out, Jacques promptly responds:

"The first two specific terms seem agreeable to us as well."

"I do happen to be practiced at understanding the portfolio of my Lords' interests, and can negotiate the agreement, but before signing in all of Hell's name will need to consult magically."

"Do you have a comprehensive idea for what circumstances those would be, for the third contract? We can agree to not use this initial information to figure out things about the pattern behind it, if needed."

"Spying animals are certainly abundant in London, with rats certainly being the most troublesome of those," agrees Mr Cards, "But if you're already familiar with that sort of threat, there's no need to linger on the topic. Given that you've described the sorts of transformations you are aware of as 'magical', it seems likely that you are unfamiliar with the uses of amber. I could explain these uses in reasonable detail, perhaps in exchange for similar information regarding the uses of diamonds?"

Jacques' suggestion as to an agreement not to use the information regarding the circumstances of their request to reason about the patterns behind it is an interesting proposal. It's not the sort of thing that the Devils they are familiar with would ordinarily agree to, though it seems equally clear that it's something they could meaningfully commit to doing. It's an clever negotiating gambit, and one that they find raises their opinion of Jacques.

"I do have such an idea," they confirm, "And yes, a well-worded agreement regarding and information leaked as part of the negotiating process could be useful in streamlining that process. Is there a standard wording you use for this purpose?"

Something resemebling curiosity is piqued; "Information regarding amber does interest us, and we would like an informational exchange. Both diamonds of various sizes and diamond dust are utilized as magic spell components. Diamond dust works to fuel various utility effects such as Impart Mind to make magical items intelligent, Nondetection to make persons undetectable, Permanency to make magical effects permanent and Restoration to remove curses and diseases and health. With a large amount of diamond dust one can also call forth a God's power to enact an intervention on the material plane. Diamonds of various sizes fuel resurrection magic: the ability to bring the dead back to life. But the larger diamonds provide one with the ability to cast Wish, a dangerous all purpose spell that can try to turn arbitrary wordings into magical effects, but under proper conduct and training can be narrowly safely utilized to do: more versatile than normal magic casting, undo various permanent spells, permanently improve ones abilities, cure effectively any ailment, travel and transport with extreme efficiency."

"We do quite enjoy standard forms."

Jacques takes a standard-seeming note of paper from their scrolls and starts writing on it on the table as they speak:

"For this case one such would be: '

The agents signatory to this forecommitment preceding negotiation and discussion commit to not utilize the new information received, regarding the agreed upon topic [Liberation of Night, secrecy agreements about Liberation of Night], from the time after the forecommitment to the time of signing a future secrecy commitment, at which point the future commitment can take precedence, depending on its exact terms, in circumstances outside of this negotiation.

The agents commit to making this additional secrecy agreement stay secret outside the three signatories, and in the case that its existence leaks it will be referred to as "Standard secrecy forecommitment". 

The agents can be freed from this secrecy commitment by a consensus decision of the signatories.'"

They look at Cards and the agreement for a second, and then state:

"Oh. For reading the agreement we can provide a Comprehend Languages, if you do not mind an extra magic effect on your person. We would offer to write a copy in your language but the ability to speak any language we are using does not actually provide the ability to write arbitrary languages. Of course if you do not mind being unable to read the contract terms, we could just sign it." The last part delivered with a jesting smile and a wink.

Mr Cards nods consideringly at the brief description of the uses of diamonds. So, diamond is a consumable material at the heart of magical infrastructure, then; the catalyst used to make magic permanent. Its uses include such valuable feats as bringing back the dead (absent the Neath's convenient properties), or even to perform arbitrary and permanent changes to reality! Yes, that would neatly explain its value, They reciprocate with a description of Amber, falling into a lecturing tone more or less automatically.

"Amber, primarily useful in the Shapeling Arts, can be used to induce changes. The Shapeling Arts are indeed an art, and not a science; the same procedure, carried out by the same artist in the same place with the same materials a dozen times will produce a dozen different results, much as each of the offspring produced by a given pairing will be somewhat different, even from birth. The art is easiest to use upon that which is or was alive, but it can be used otherwise, with significantly greater resource expenditure. Much like with diamond, it is also a catalyst to make the changes induced by this art permanent, though it also can simply enhance the power and scope of the art."

Here they produce a several bone curiosities, leaving them on the table; an arm bone tied into a figure-eight knot, a leg bone twisted helically through 860 degrees of rotation, a skull with a face on both front and back, a rib cage fashioned with hinges and wires into something rather like a breastplate, with each external surface forming a slightly serrated and dangerously sharp surface.

"It is safest to use the Shapeling Arts upon dead flesh and bone, as in a shaping cauldron, and this is one of the most sensible ways to learn the art. Fill a cauldron with a mix of amber, ground meat, bone meal, and vital fluids; heat slowly over the course of many hours, stirring constantly with long bones, until the amber has fully melted; then enforce a change upon the contents of the cauldron, drawing forth altered flesh and bone... or more potent and useful varieties of amber. That more potent amber might be used when crafting with bone, to transform common skeletons into useful, valuable, or decorative forms."

Here they take out four roughly eye-sized irregular chunks of amber, in a soft and slightly sticky yellow, a dark and rather warm red, a glowing and slightly trembling blue, and a bright and visibly pulsing red.

"The Shapeling Arts can used upon amber more directly, imbuing it with some degree of memory and life force. The least potent of common yellow amber might easily be made to sip ever so lightly upon the life of each hand that touches it, slowly recording the faintest shadow of everything it has experienced, a building charge which makes it more suitable to higher refinements. In the Neath, it is far more difficult to find untouched raw Amber than to find that which has been so treated! Amber that has been melted and reformed in a shaping cauldron becomes red and warm to the touch; this concentrated potency makes it far more responsive of an ingredient, and the most abundantly suitable medium for more complex work. Some portion of the amber which has been repeatedly melted and concentrated through that same process may begin to beat like a heart, and can be used to bring certain unliving constructions to a semblance of life. With a greater expenditure of one's personal life force, amber might instead be refined to a trembling blue, becoming akin to the journal of its creator, to one able to read what is encoded within. True experts might occasionally employ similar techniques to cause amber to bear even more useful lessons, imbuing the holder with a shadow of the creator's skills. Amber of the greatest potency might be infused with exotic light, thereby gaining some of the properties of that sort of light... but such samples are extremely rare and quite difficult to acquire."

Here Mr Cards grimaces and stretches the fingers of their left hand, until their long fingernails more closely resemble predatory talons, quite suitable for gripping or slashing.

"It is easiest to use the Shapeling Arts to change one's self, but perilous to the untrained. The slightest of mishaps can be agonizingly painful, and any distraction caused by that pain may lead to far worse failures. It is not impossible that a mistake may leave one permanently marred by an irrevocable error. Still, one might use such techniques to shift one's own anatomy to better withstand a deadly attack, to protect oneself from various unpleasant environmental conditions, or perhaps even to sneak though a paper-thin gap. At still greater risk, one might use the art to change the way they think, to better focus upon certain difficult problems. This can be astonishingly effective, especially in tasks requiring creativity, focus, or a point of view alien to one's own natural inclinations. Still, such changes are often negative sum on the whole; leaving a less generally capable mind which is more optimized for the specific task at hand. As such, I find it terribly unwise to make such changes except in a temporary and easily reversible fashion, lest one lose capabilities one might prefer to have kept... though there are those who disagree with me."

With their other hand, Mr Cards pulls out a strange, six-chambered heart, displaying it to the devils in an outstretched hand. It yet beats in their grip, as though still alive.

"In much the same way, the art can also be used to change another. The risk here is greater still than with personal changes, as one never has quite as much information about the health and nature of another as one does of one's own self. Given a cooperative student with some training in the subject, a master might gradually ease a willing student through any of the same changes they can make to themselves. Alternatively, stranger transformations might occasionally be performed... given sufficient resources and the enthusiastic cooperation of a subject who also has some familiarity with the art. Absent that, this is more likely to amount to paying a vast sum to torture and cripple ones subject."

So saying, they tuck the heart away and revert the earlier change to their hand, with a slight grimace being the only sign of discomfort.

"At a larger scale, the art passes beyond the understanding of all but its most dedicated practitioners. The Rubbery Men, in their deep caverns, use it to create and maintain vast and incomprehensible infrastructure, which seems to sustain their masters and produce more of their kind. The Starved Men, in their hanging stalactite fortresses, make fearsome living weapons; when they brought that hoarded strength to bear upon my city in a recent invasion, buildings and whole city blocks were reshaped much as flesh can be, with shocking speed and deadly results. In the aftermath of the failure of that invasion, certain diplomatic concessions were made; I personally was awarded a throne of amber, shaped with properties which usefully focus the mind, aid in averting madness, and grant increased abilities with the Shapeling Arts."

Their lecture finished, they consider Jacques' terms, and allow themselves a brief chuckle at the devil's jest.

"Those are sensible sounding terms... though it would of course be incredibly foolish to sign any document which I am unable to read! I have no objections to personally receiving a Comprehend Languages effect... but given that balance of abilities, I would instead suggest that I write the contract myself, in plain English, which language you both ought to be able to read, if not write. Indeed, that is my general policy in such negotiations; writing the contract myself, using my own paper and ink, makes several categories of trickery quite impossible."

The implications of this so-called Shapeling Art is certainly a significant question. Since it clearly sounds like thinking can be changed, could mental enhancements be replicated, surpassed, or even augmented with new types of enhancing? Could its mental downsides be surpassed by Golarion means? Can its effects be replicated with transmutation?

As plausibly expected, no sort of shock is noticed on the Devils' faces when Cards presents their extended fingernails. The heart does get a curious, focused look of observation.

"It would be interesting to research if our local procedures of restoring mental health after impairments would interact positively with the mentioned loss of capability associated with amber-induced mental modifications."

"The requirement for a subject of transformation to themselves be a student to this art does certainly restrict scaling of its use. Here on Golarion I have no doubt that if this art became public knowledge various cults would sprung to go for the most significant transformations that it could achieve, with no heed for warnings. On capable and well-aimed hands it could certainly prove to be an interesting tool."

"An attacker on your city having their base in stalactites does certainly paint a new kind of picture for a conflict. Receiving a throne is certainly a type of postwar reward. Did or does that throne represent something on top of being a powerful tool?"