"I don't know what you're picking up on, but this world has an evil god and a pantheon of incompetent ones and we'd be delighted to have your assistance."

"That's not it, I can't see your gods per se from here, I'm looking at the underlying fabric of the world, and this one is like the equivalent of going out in a sleet storm because you think being miserable is really poetic only it's a world."

"Oh. That'd be Eru, and fate, and the symphony of creation and so forth. You can see that kind of thing?"

"Yes. At least this one isn't trying to make me puke. And I don't think it'll do Jane any harm." Something materializes in her hands and she twists it into two parts and one vanishes; the other's a lovely blue faceted gem. "Here, have a Jane and then if you stop holding the door you don't go careening off into your own time pace and have to wait for a million years until we get Shell Bell in two seconds."

"That'd be bad, yes. The war's going on four hundred years but I'm not sure we could hold out for a million. Pen's okay?"

"Yeah, I don't see any magic stuck to her or anything, although just to be really sure maybe Keziah should check."

Keziah is another angel, early adolescence! She takes a turn holding Pen, handed off from their mother. "Pen's okay," she reports, and then she double-takes at Celegorm. "Ack!" Angela has to grab her by the collar to keep her from lunging at him. "Mom!"

"You explain and you ask first," Angela says firmly.

"Something wrong?"

"Keziah's ingot power thinks there is something about or on you of the sort that she can remove. She has never met a thing in that category that she likes, but it's possible you were using it for something and do not want her to take it off. Previous examples include residue of some emotion-affecting powers and effects of contact with hostile magical beings."

"Ah. Well. Might be the Doom that the gods laid on us because they were angry with us for rebelling against them, or might be oaths, in which case I guess I will just re-swear them. That's a bit of a terrifying power, if she can rub oaths off people."

"There's two things," Keziah confirms, "Glass can you see them -"

"Maybe? I'm not Lazarus, kiddo, I see all kinds of stuff but I have to pick up what it is the long way."

"So get Lazarus!"

"Pen explained who a lot of people are, but not everyone, is there a guide somewhere? Also, Pen didn't like looking at my brother, is everyone going to feel that way, because if not he should be here."

"Why didn't you like looking at his brother, treasure?"

"He hurting look at, all over scars. Fix it."

"If he wants me to. You can go sit at the bar and not look, or go home, if you like."

"Okay." And Pen scurries over to hop up on a barstool and orders cake.

Found them. We're on the second floor. Pen's safe, they can remove oaths, they can remove the Doom - 

On my way.

"He's coming."

"So's Lazarus, he'll be able to get a better and more interpreted look at whatever Keziah and maybe Glass are seeing."

Lazarus arrives! He is tall for a human. He peers worriedly at Celegorm.

"Keziah doesn't like two things on or about him. Can you figure them out?"

"There are at least three things I don't like going on here," says Lazarus. "Um. The horrible curse and the unbreakable oaths are what Keziah is picking up on, but there's an underlying phenomenon, it's... why would you do that... there's sort of a Fate thing? I do not like the Fate thing. It's not quite ooky by Keziah's power's standards but I do not like it."

"None of my oaths were coerced. Elves don't have free will, maybe that's what you're seeing?"