The year is 4706.

100 years ago, Aroden died, and humanity's hopes died with Him. Since then things have gotten slowly worse, on average.
66 years ago, the forces of Hell took Cheliax, and Andoran with it, replacing decades of terrible civil war with an even worse peace.
37 years ago, the Andoren people revolted against the Thrunes, for a hope of freedom and a better tomorrow for their children. Most who fought did not live to see it.

It turned out that the better tomorrow mostly involves a lot of backbreaking manual labour, to stave off mass starvation, while the forces of Hell on the other side of the border patiently wait for a province that has lowered its guard and forgotten its hatred.

Everyone in Andoran over 40, loves freedom because they know its price.
Everyone in Andoran under 40, loves freedom because their parents told them to.

The latter outnumber the former by a significant margin nowadays, even if you're only counting adults who can vote.
The former expect it all to come crashing down the moment their ignorant children forget what Hell wishes it could do to them.

Andoran isn't expecting a future at all like its past, it's learnt its lesson by now.

But at least they are still free tonight, and if you can remember Cheliax, being free tonight is a victory.

Robaldo is 16 years old, had 16 intelligence even before you add his +2 from being human, is 6 months into study at Almas University and already technically a first circle wizard, and is 24 moves into what he thought would be tricking another student 2 years his senior into paying for their drinks, until the other student cast Fox's Cunning and now it seems like he's behind.

He'd been raised a Caydenite, and had always dreamed of adventure. He'd never had the strength of body to be a fighter or a rogue, the law to be a paladin, or the gold to be a knight. There's nowhere to study for an aspiring Caydenite cleric, and he was never very popular at parties, and he'd always been told Cayden would love to choose everyone but isn't a strong enough god, and that you shouldn't feel excluded on account of that kind of thing, so when one of his friends got picked instead he figured Cayden would be lucky to afford one first circle per village and gave up.

So he'd come from his village to Almas, on a scholarship that only covers tuition, hoping to make it at Almas University and become a wizard, and then adventure off of his spellcraft. It turned out that the city is more expensive if you want food and shelter than a farm, and most jobs need time and skills and more than 8 strength.

And after his rather rigorous study schedule he does not really have a lot of coin left, nor time in which to earn it.

It would be really convenient if he didn't end up paying for drinks.

My name is Tet.

The whole world is a Game.

Bf6.

What.

There's no possible way he's important enough for that kind of divine intervention, and he's very sure it was divine intervention. He's even more sure his chess game isn't important enough, the stakes just aren't that high. And he's never heard of a god named "Tet".

The most immediate concern is #3? If something that can put visions directly into his head wants him to win or to lose, it's probably going to succeed. Making him lose is an even more ridiculous intervention than making him win, and it's not a move he's noticed. Let's play it.

Obviously he won't tell his friend opponent that he got help, if he wins. That's just bad strategy. He might refuse to pay up.

This may possibly be why Cayden never picked him.

The enemy is twenty seconds into staring at the board with a progressively grimmer face before Robaldo realises why it was even a good move. He's probably not going to end up paying for drinks, that's nice.

Also it's obviously not the point, it's a message.
That "Tet" is trustworthy? Is helpful? He's not going to get tricked out of his soul by some demon lord that easily, this does not demonstrate friendliness in any way.
That Tet is good at chess? Clearly true but minimally useful, lots of entities could beat him at chess.
That Tet cares about chess? That He's the kind of entity where communicating chess moves also communicates something more useful? That He's some kind of chess-god?

Once the Game is won for proper he'll try to figure out whatever he's supposed to figure out, right now he still has moves to make and his advantage isn't that strong yet.

He wins the chess game. He can move on to thinking about the vision now.

"The whole world is a Game."

Robaldo tries to remember what passed for theological education in rural Andoran.

Gods have domains, and view the world through the lens of their domain, so this literally means that Tet really is some kind of chess-god?
Gods can only work through those who share their nature, who see the world the same way they do.
Gods can only speak to and understand those who are viewing the world in the same abstract philosophical sense that the god views the world.
Robaldo, in the middle of his chess game, was occupying the kind of mental state that lets Tet cheaply comunicate. The kind of mental state that is natural and simple from Tet's divine perspective.

But the only thing Robaldo was really thinking, the instant before the vision, was "Which move will make me win the game?". All higher context was forgotten.

Almost none of the message is the message.
Almost all of the message is the timing.

The timing of the message says "I am a god who thinks in 'Which move will make me Win the Game?', as its own primitive concept, unlike other gods that think in other terms of Love or Tyranny or Friendship or Whatever, that they must expensively translate into information about winning moves if they ever want to achieve anything."

To Tet, "The whole world is a Game" is self-evident to the point of meaninglessness.

To Robaldo, it's the Call to Adventure he's been waiting for.

This still isn't a reason to trust Him.

What passes for theological education in Andoran?

In order for a god to hear your prayer, it's not enough to know the god's name, although that certainly helps.
You have to be praying in the right direction, towards the true nature of that god, at least as much as a mortal ever can.
To pray to Cayden, think of adventure, think of the journey whose destination is besides the point, think of the friends you make along the way, the fun to be had in a wide world to explore, the freedom to choose your own path, restrained by nothing, not even your own fears. Even foreigners who can't pronounce His name right will reach Cayden, if they do that.

This fact is a great disadvantage to Evil divinity: Many a demon lord would love to impersonate a force of Elysium, but worshippers sown under such a deception won't be praying in the right direction, and they wouldn't hear their prayers. An evil god, in want of worship, must on some level admit It's evil nature to It's followers, admit that It is a god of Torture or Tyranny or Hatred or something, and a sane person would notice it is unwise to worship such a force.

Robaldo is pretty sure he's Chaotic Neutral, and though the god of winning at chess might be Chaotic Good it does seem unlikely.

If he prays to "winning, no matter the method", that sounds like it could be a demon lord.
If he prays to "strategy for it's own sake, consequences be forsaken" that sounds like it could be a demon lord.

If this is some Demon Lord in a bid to damn his soul, he'd much rather it fail.
He doesn't want to pray to something like that and go to the abyss for it.

Instead, Robaldo tries specifically to pray to the Chaotic Good god of Chess, of playing for the fun of it, because mortals like to play games. Of wanting to Win for it's own sake, because winning is fun, and having fun is Good. Of wanting to be the kind of thing that Wins, implement the strategy that Wins, Choose the move that Wins, because this is what playing is, this is what players enjoy doing. That is what the Game is even for.

Of not wanting your opponent to lose, but wanting them to Win too, for their own sake, even though this is obviously impossible.

Of wanting at the end of the game, not that you revel in your victory for eternity, not that you oppress the weak opponent who lost to you, not that the loser be saddened, not that the world be destroyed, not that the game ends.

Of wanting to set the pieces back up so you can play again, because that is fun, and fun is Good, and that is what people who play games in the first place want to do.

Probably, the god of something like that lives in Elysium, and not the Abyss, and Robaldo need not feel terrified of praying to Him.

Robaldo feels terrified anyway.

Robaldo prays for the world to be saved, for it's wounds to be healed, for slaves to be freed, for good rain and a good harvest, for eternal good fortune, for more divine visions about winning chess moves.

Nothing happens, and no visions are sent to him.

Pretty close little guy, for so little information.

If it was going to take you 2 visions to figure this out, I would not even have sent the first one.

Robaldo prays to be Tet's cleric, that he might adventure and help others and accomplish Good by imagining the world as a great game, in which everything he does is a move that he ought carefully calculate in order to achieve Victory, because careful strategic decision-making is fun, and the world exists for fun, strictly only if Tet is Good and not from the Abyss please don't cleric me if You're a demon Your Godship.

Much has been felt, and much has been written, in Golarion, of the difficulty of the task, for a mortal to have faith in his god.
Much less has been written, although just as much has been felt, of the difficulty of the task, for a god to have faith in His mortal.

Have a cleric level little guy.

You're not getting another one without earning it.

I'm gonna be real distracted by other stuff for a while so please try to make yourself as low-maintanence as possible.

That sure felt like a divine ordainment.

If he really want's to be sure Tet isn't Evil, there's an obvious next move.

Evil clerics can't channel positive energy.

Just heal one guy, and then he can stop feeling terrified.

It's a Caydenite tavern. It takes approximately 10 minutes before some brave man drunkenly trips down the stairs and breaks his nose.

The innkeeper is already grabbing a cloth to clean up the blood.

You only get there first if you move right now.

Robaldo walks up to the downed man and tries to execute the "channel positive energy" action.

Denied.

You need a physical instance of your gods holy symbol to do that.

Whats His holy symbol?

Not gonna spend two visions on you little guy, figure it out.

Robaldo tries to channel using his beer mug. It works if you're a Caydenite.
Robaldo tries to channel using the coin in his pocket. People say silver is better for holy symbols.
Robaldo tries to channel using the empty cube of air directly in front of him. It'd be really convenient if that works.

Actually wait that's hilarious can I do that?

Holy symbols must represent the god, as well as meeting certain artistic requirements.

No you cannot have empty space be your holy symbol.

Fine, he'll get it soon anyway.

Robaldo tries to channel using his shirt, his shoe, a button.

Robaldo is about to write the word "Tet" on the back of his hand in hopes that the god's name is a holy symbol.

Robaldo remembers the vision. Robaldo realises he is an idiot.

Robaldo grabs the white bishop from his chess set, the physical embodiment of the move that won the game, his connection to his god, artistically carved to be played with, to represent a concept close to Tet's own nature.

Tet already told him it was the correct choice.