Link with portal powers shows up
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Evil god and creatures that go around trying to kill people: Doesn't even sound that strange, just unpleasant.

"I find that most societies have nice people except for all the evil ones. I don't know their stories, but Lisara strikes me as the kind of person who would get along well with more of her."

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"Yeah, I'm just worried about... dangling the version of her who lives in my state in front of her, I don't know, it seems like it could end up feeling like some kind of power thing to her."

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"I don't know the story here, I met you five minutes ago, what exactly are you picturing going wrong?"

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"Nothing really, I just... I think I spooked her a little, my world has a lot of magic that can be used to coerce people and I think she's touchy about that. And I don't know if she'll expect it to be some kind of trick to get her to let her guard down or... I don't know."

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"Yes, command mages. They are terrifying. We have devils to worry about back home, she's afraid of them too. Saying 'I thought I would introduce you to the other you' and explaining how you know her and then letting the other Lisara speak for herself should be fine? I can introduce the idea if you'd prefer... Incidentally, I would like a command ward for her and I, and do you think you could attempt a devil ward? Would a failure there do nothing, or potentially do something dangerous?"

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"I can do those wards for both of you. I expect I can do a devil ward, and it's not likely to have any risks over and above warding you against command magic. It should probably fail gracefully. I don't know how sure you want to be before you try it, though."

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"I think that is an experiment to be tried on me and not her. I am older and less valuable. I don't see any scenarios where I am exposed to a hostile devil - or a cooperative one - soon, but it seems worth having done in case it comes up, and if it doesn't make me fall over dead I can get you to do it on some of our warriors, they'll be able to tell soon enough."

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"Sounds like a good plan. I'm curious enough about whether my wards work against devils to do the first few for free if you'll tell me what happens when they get tested."

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He smiles sardonically. "I don't expect money to be the most significant problem for her or my goals for the next... While. I'm already thinking about how to set up her toll-portal idea. But thank you. And - I'm not sure keeping people from Har out of our world for fear of what they could do with power is an ideal course in the long term. That seems like it would end up with everyone's movement restricted more than necessary, but I can't think of any good ways to keep us from ending up with a force mage pirate king or a structure mage poisoner."

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"We avoid that by all being so powerful that people considering it know they'll get killed really horribly if they try, and so rich they can just work a job to buy whatever they'd want to steal with their force magic. I can make certain places or things immune to force magic and of course if you hire a knowledge mage to check whether your food is safe a poisoner might bribe them but might not and you can hire a couple different ones if you want. You can choose which mages to bring in first - a mage can't undo another mage's spell, usually, so you can get everything hidden and warded before you invite lots of people in. You might also want to have some really powerful weapons and keep them hidden but let people know they exist."

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"A trustworthy information mage plus portals plus a reasonably strong weapon of some kind should suffice as a credible threat to powerful people breaking the rules. Unless they're a god. But we're used to being afraid of gods. I don't know where to get a trustworthy information mage, though."

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"I guess you probably don't want to trust my recommendations and I don't know any who are the kind of trustworthy you probably want. I'd consider hiring two and keeping them from talking to each other to get their stories straight."

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"Well, there is time for that later. We can improve things without importing mages too. I think I should introduce Lisara to the other her and then get reading, for now."

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"Okay. Will you be okay with all my friends from my world coming in?"

If he doesn't object to that then Valanda will open the door.

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...The priest from another world goes and meets the security officer for a minute, but doesn't object.

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Valanda opens the door, sits down in the doorway, and sends someone to discreetly invite Liane, Katherine and Nikolas.

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Katherine Cromwell is there the quickest.

"Hello, Governor. As I expected, Milliways is back again. I should probably think about what to do if the imperial government gains access to it after all..."

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"Good idea. There's an alternate universe version of Liane here, from a world with some problems."

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"Liane? ...Ah, the scout. And now test pilot. Perhaps I should get to know both versions more since apparently the world thinks they're interesting. What sort of problems?"

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"People with something similar to command magic who their governments can't keep in check and who don't seem to have much interest in morality."

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"I assume someone has already suggested attempting a defense magic ward for it. Depending on how it works we could try to give them something to lose if they keep slaves - offer technology or other magic services contingent on good behavior, or similar. Or try to submit them all command magic not to use it on an unwilling person. Dangerous if you miss a loophole in that and I'm not sure I fully understand the nuances of command magic, though."

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"A binding against using magic is pretty simple, those have been tested over and over and over, but you'd have to get to everyone. Same problem with defense magic, we have to get to enough of the possible victims, and we don't know for sure that it'll work against their magic until it's been tested."

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"We can choose the best available solution instead of holding out for a perfect one. Justice is not all-seeing and all-powerful, in my experience. You merely do the best you can. Should I refrain from talking to her and her... Companion?"

Unspoken question: Mentor, father, other relative? They know each other and are from the same place. She can't tell more without more observation.

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Shrug. "Might want to talk to him first, if you're going to talk to them. She seems overwhelmed."

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"Having spent a few months certain we were all going to freeze to death soon, I recognize that body language. Yes. I also have a wish list for my engineer friends, so I'll just pop over and have a chat with Bar and him for now, unless there's anything else I need to know? And some tea. Keeps things civilized."

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