The court of Pharasma’s judgement is laid out in a circle with the bench at the center; it must, in many cases, accomodate eight sets of counsel, though in this one there are only two. The court is surrounded by marble columns but has no walls nor roof; beyond it lies a vast field of asphodel and leafless trees under a permanent night sky. The court itself is well-lit without any apparent source.

“The court will come to order in the matter of Hell v. Heaven et alia,” says the judge. “The counsel for the plaintiff may make his opening statement.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” says the devil. “I will keep it simple. The defendant—” he points at Cansellarion— “has unlawfully invaded the territory of Hell and is waging an illegal and undeclared war against us. We do not ask that the Court compel him to stop; that has never been within its remit. We do, however, ask that Hell be permitted to defend itself.”

They declared war on Cheliax according to Golarion’s law of nations. Hell obviously knows that, so they must be playing at something else. He has no idea what, but he’d be dreading finding out if he were capable of that.

“Objection,” says one of Heaven’s lawyers. “Ser Cansellarion has waged war against a state on the Material Plane, made up of and ruled by mortals, whatever its relationship with Hell; this is simply not the business of this Court even were that war unlawful by the law of the nations of Golarion, which is it not. Hell is not at this time being invaded, though we do not in any way cede the right to do so.”

“The counsel for Heaven has a point,” says the judge.

“Ah,” says the devil. “I was expecting we’d get to this.” He produces a lengthy scroll and unrolls it on the table in front of him. “In fact, according to the contract between Hell and the reigning monarch of Cheliax, which you see before you and may examine as you wish, the nation of Cheliax is the property of Hell, and Hell considers it an integral part of its territory. Abrogail Thrune is not only the Queen of Cheliax—a mortal title—but the Lady Regent of the Infernal Empire on Golarion—a title granted direct of Hell, which supersedes her mortal crown. Abrogail Thrune rules Cheliax in Hell’s name and at Hell’s pleasure, but Cheliax is Hell’s, and Ser Cansellarion has invaded Hell as surely as if he had marched on Avernus.”

Surely that can’t be allowed—he’s not actually sure that it isn’t allowed. It’s not really the sort of thing Heaven would do even if it were.

“This has been adjudicated before,” says the archon. “In re Halfling Slave #157701, last year. The court found against Hell.”

“The court rejected Hell’s interpretation of Pharasma v. Abaddon, -15763 as a tacit endorsement by the court of the theory that the souls of mortals who die in one of the Outer Planes are the property of that plane, bypassing sorting. The court failed to rule at all on whether Cheliax is part of Hell, which might itself constitute a tacit endorsement of Hell’s claims in that matter.” This is pushing it but if the judge buys it they're done.

“Your theory of ‘tacit endorsement’ didn’t work then and won’t work now,” says the judge. “Just because the court deliberately declines to create precedent on an issue doesn’t mean we believe you about it. If you would like to convince the court that Cheliax is your territory you will have to actually do so.”

“Heaven would like to point out that if Hell does in fact rule Cheliax as part of its own territory, it would surely be in gross violation of a number of treaties on intervention on the Material.”

“We don’t rule Cheliax,” says the devil, a smile spreading across his face. “We own it. We own its soul.”

“Bullshit. Just because Abrogail says that doesn't mean it’s true.” Or even, for that matter, the sort of thing that could be.

“Objection: out of order.”

“Sustained,” says the judge. “On the other hand, I'm not sure he’s wrong.”

“As the defendant alluded to, this fact is not secret. It is known to every citizen of Cheliax and many people beyond. It is written in the contact between Her Infernal Majestrix and Hell. It’s unconventional, we admit, but it was legal and proper according to all existing rules and precedents for the sale of souls.”

“Those rules state that a commensurate price must be paid by the buyer,” says the judge. She's going to indulge the whole ‘selling the soul of a country’ thing for a minute and see where they go with it. “What price did Hell pay for the soul of an entire nation?”

“Investments in the infrastructure and education system of Cheliax, a number of senior devils to serve as advisors to Her Majestrix, and certain other considerations which Hell would prefer to remain secret from the other parties here but will describe to the court if required.”

So they paid for one massive intervention on the Material with another massive intervention on the Material. “I see,” she says.

“Your Honor,” says the advocate for Heaven, “countries don't have souls.”

“‘A decedent need not possess a conventional soul in order to validly sell his soul to Hell. In such a case the word “soul” shall be understood to mean self, essence, or sine qua non: that without which an individual is not himself.’ I quote the judgement of the court, Hell v. Constantine, 325. The sine qua non of a nation is its territory and people, as numerous precedents in the law of nations of Golarion and elsewhere attest; ergo, these are what Abrogail Thrune sold to Hell when she sold the soul of Cheliax.”

“This is ridiculous. That case was about a decedent, a sapient being of a world without immortal souls, and granted Hell the right to create de novo a soul with his personality and memories. It dealt with an individual clearly of a class with the ensouled mortals of Golarion, merely lacking a soul himself. Cheliax is not a sapient being. There is no instance of its class that has a soul.”

“That's actually not true.”

Wait, what the fuck?...of course there are countries with souls, this is Golarion.

“The counsel for Hell is” unfortunately “correct. The genius loci is a rare but known phenomenon in Creation. All examples of which I am aware originated as mortal souls, but if there were a place where they were naturally occurring, this court would not hesitate to judge the dead ones.”

“I will, therefore, ask Hell: does Cheliax presently have a genius loci?”