:…There is the complication that we aren’t certain he will consent to resurrection. I - have no idea if it’s been conveyed to anyone that we have concerns about that? Yfandes, is there any chance you remember what it felt like?:

:…Not really, sorry. It - I wouldn’t have been confused if it felt something like becoming a Companion in the first place. Which I don’t remember either, do you?:

:I didn’t even remember my name! - from before, I mean. For some reason bits came back when we talked to the Shadow-Lover later. I was Herald Seldasen, apparently. Any idea who you were?:

There is a very abrupt pause.

:You’re serious, aren’t you?: Yfandes says after a long moment.

:…Ye-es? Why? Oh, have you read my work, that would be - I assumed no one would still—: It would be so flattering though! Herald Vanyel’s Companion!

:- Did no one tell you?:

Suspicion!! 

:Did no one tell me what:

:They didn’t! I can’t believe it, there’s no way I’m the only person who realized! Your work is more widely read than - probably anything ever written by a Herald - maybe more than anything written by King Valdemar himself, I don’t think I consulted the founding texts again after school -:

Surprise, pleasure, a wave of enormous smugness.

:Well. That’s certainly a flattering thing to learn about one’s legacy.: Why didn’t anyone tell him???? He could really have used one single thing to feel good about over the last many many days!!!

That really does seem like kind of a glaring omission but maybe there lots of Valdemaran names that sound kind of like that?? Anyway the Shadow-Lover seemed to think She was done with their consultation on getting Leareth to consent to resurrection with is sort of LIKE being confident he will, probably.

Seldan doesn’t remember feeling incredibly reassured of it but it’s - probably not actually all that decision-relevant, he’s PRETTY sure he thought to pass everything along to Leareth’s people at the time and if they want to just try and hope it works, they certainly have the diamonds to spare and there’s no shortage of clerics who can cast it. 

:Any other questions?: he asks Yfandes.

So many!!! She’s having trouble putting them in order to ask one at a time.

:Do we know - why? Why any of that happened? Especially Iftel, I - don’t - understand, what Vkandis could possibly have been aiming for that was worth. That.:

:We think He was aiming at killing Leareth permanently:

Okay sure but was it worth THAT??? A country that’s stood since the Cataclysm? A peaceful, prosperous, by all accounts lovely country, notwithstanding their shockingly vicious military “games” and the unexpectedly alarming army that resulted from it.

:…Is anything…left…?: she manages faintly. :Of Iftel, I mean.:

:- Oh, yes, sorry if that was unclear. It was the barrier that exploded, not literally all of it. I think thousands of people died immediately, almost certainly, and - it’ll be tens of thousands by spring unless the clerics can do a really shockingly good job of turning it around. But it’s not a majority of the country that was lost, I don’t think.:

That’s…marginally less bad than what Yfandes’ mind had leapt to? Not, really, all that much less bad. It’s still boggling.

:…Why did Brightstar turn around and help?: She does remember now, wasn’t there that confusing prophecy on Leareth, it shouldn’t have come as a complete surprise. But it’s baffling that after all that, Brightstar went and got them a Gate and delivered a team of clerics who are apparently all on board with Raising Leareth.

:Blai gave him some good advice.: Because he has the BEST HERALD. Who is ALIVE and NOT DEAD, Seldan is perhaps going to be feeling bursts of relief and gratitude about that every few minutes for a few days until he gets over it.

:I would credit it to his goddess changing her mind!:

:That was a fairly important prerequisite: Seldan admits. :He got a whole apology vision, it was actually quite sweet. Oh, and Jisa told him Leareth would pay to Raise his parents.: 

Which they don't actually know is true!! :I should ask someone at some point, but - that’s going to be a lot harder, isn’t it? Because we don’t have bodies at all and probably none of the clerics here can do it. How much more expensive is it?: That part is directed at Blai. :And, hm, what was it - the thing She claimed to Brightstar that you wanted to check if She was lying, if - oh you were wondering if She sent them to Nirvana, is that something that's checkable now that we have higher circle clerics?: 

:A True Reurrection is ninth circle. Nefreti Clepati can do it, if she wants to, with a bigger diamond. I don't actually know who else has a ninth-circle priest active right now. Most ancient gods probably do - the visiting clerics probably know at least for their own churches. Scrying is fifth circle..... for clerics; they brought a wizard who might know it and it would trade off less dearly for the present situation:

Seldan will make a mental note to at some point ask someone about non-insane ninth-circle clerics of non-insane gods, but it sounds very tiring right now. Though come to think of it maybe Yfandes can take over some of the Mindspeech-coordination, she's only slightly weaker and worse at things and Seldan is...a lot more than slightly worse at things right now. 

Yfandes is having trouble following again. :Sorry, what's Nirvana, did that come up before?: 

:It's an afterlife. One of the nice ones. Blai at some point suggested to...I assume the Shadow-Lover? That it would be a nice place to send dead souls, I can't actually remember when it came up, it might've just been when we learned he had Leareth.:

He wonders vaguely if Leareth's mages, if they had a chance to watch a Golarion-style scry on a specific afterlife, would be able to figure out how to copy it? It might take weeks more math and still leave someone unconscious, though, which isn't at this point that much less costly than a fifth-circle spell slot. ...Can you send, like, letters, to people in afterlives? Joshel's report included that the High Priest of Nethys was confident the archmages would be able to send Joshel a message if they so wished and if archmages can send letters to Velgarth, which they only just heard of, maybe they can also...

...Yfandes feels like she might have several more questions about the "Shadow-Lover has Leareth" conversation being referenced but they're not quite coming together yet. 

You can send Sendings (this may also be what Clepati meant about the archmages being able to contact Joshel), and sometimes can land a Message through a scry (another candidate, though she could have meant some third, insane thing). :I believe I referred the Shadow-Lover to Nirvana the first time we spoke, when I'd drowned: