:Van, this probably doesn't need to be said, but - don't answer any Web-alarms and definitely don't go near the Web-focus room while we're here: 

"- Right." 

Vanyel leads them to the guest wing and tracks down someone who can assign the three of them to some rooms. He also warns the servants that a diplomatic delegation from Osirion is expected and they should maybe air out rooms for them too. The servants seem pretty awed about this and scramble to do so. 

Vanyel suggests they all hang out in his room, which has an outdoor porch and sitting area to enjoy the nice weather, and call for lunch while they wait. 

He will sit there tensely and eye his watch to see how much longer before he needs to re-cast Resist Energy and otherwise try to be good company.

Vanyel himself is kind of terrible company; he's very stressed and tense and can't stay focused on a conversation, but he appreciates the attempts at distraction. 

Nayoki does her best to help out with distractions. 

:Hey: Yfandes sends about an hour later. :I'm going to take Sondra on a nice long walk and - discuss some things. Van, can I send Randi to cry on your shoulder? He's pretty upset about his Companion's sudden and mysterious inability to listen to him vent about things:  

:Oh no, that's so awkward. Um, sure: 

He casts Resist Energy again when its timer runs out and sits there. Tells stories about claiming stuff from temples of Asmodeus in Cheliax.

Randi arrives with Shavri a few minutes later, looking fairly distressed. "Van, gods... You warned me, too, I just - I guess we were distracted and forgot, and then this happened and I didn't - I didn't even think about it..." 

Hug. "I'm really sorry. It's...going to be all right, though, it should be easier for Sondra with Yfandes here." 

(And Randi, unlike him, has his lifebonded right there holding his hand - no, don't think about that and be jealous, it's terrible of him.) 

Metaphorical fire. Metaphorical fire is fine. 

Vanyel sits down on the settee to hug Randi and reassure him that it's all very unfair and unreasonable and he's doing great and they're going to manage this horrible situation somehow. 

Shavri perches herself on one of the stools. 

:Fazil?: she sends privately after a while. :Can we, um, talk a little: 

Aaah.

:Yes, for sure.:

:I'm just - gods, I don't even know how to put it. I'm confused about this entire situation, and especially about how Savil and the Heralds are reacting to it. I know it's...hard to believe they'd do something like that, when they've been there for us so many times before, just - they did, they aren't even denying it, right. I'm confused why Savil thought they would just stay put voluntarily for us to investigate, and - what her plan was if they didn't - and, it feels like everyone, but Savil in particular, is grasping for ways this might not've been their fault? But, just... If they're not culpable because their Goddess forced them to do it, then it's Her fault, right? That follows? And - that's really, really concerning? I'm incredibly scared of what She'll decide to do next. But it feels like no one else was fully making that connection, until Van shoved it right in Randi's face, and - every time I tried to bring it up, I would just end up feeling like I was the crazy hysterical one: 

:I, uh, think there's some amount of mind control or at least really really careful Foresight manipulation going on? From the Star-Eyed? I've never seen anything like it but our gods don't have that kind of power anymore.:

Shavri turns away from Randi and Vanyel so that they can't see her face, and her expression crumples. :I'm scared. I don't know what to do: 

Then she takes a deep breath and tries to compose herself. :Er, from your outside perspective, presumably you're hard to mind-control about this - what do you think the situation calls for? What would be the sane way to respond to it?: 

:Um. I'm not - a diplomat or anything. I can - think about an analogy to countries that are all in Golarion and all sort of - running off the same base assumptions? But I want to be clear that I'm not saying - Osirion expects you guys to be behaving that way or anything - presumably they know that in a different world there'll be all kinds of cultural gulfs -

- Uh. If the Tayledras were a state, then what I would expect is that setting off a demon summoning superweapon in the palace of the pharaoh would be treated as an act of war, and Osirion would ally with Cheliax to respond by invading and conquering the country and removing from power every person, and plausibly the entire church, responsible. And I'd expect the hypothetical country that had two of its agents do this to immediately respond by trying to avoid that by formally renouncing their actions, apologizing, paying for reparations, handing over the actors so they could be brought to whatever justice Osirion and Cheliax saw fit, and permitting a full investigation under Truth Spells of their entire hierarchy to prove that none of them had anything to do with it. 

The Tayledras aren't a country. They're more like a druidic order, kind of? So what I'd expect there would be - uh, for Osirion and Cheliax to demand that the rest of the order denounce the assassins and make strong commitments to the effect no one else of their order would participate in similar actions, ever. And if they all refused to do that, I'd expect Osirion and Cheliax to coordinate in stamping out or crippling the druidic order to the extent it might act on similar instructions in the future. Because people who set off superweapons in your palace and then go 'eh, yeah, we'll do that if it serves our interests' are - gods, war is awful, but you're not avoiding a war if you ignore them, you're just announcing that they get to announce the start and end of all the war's battles. 

I guess what I would have expected Valdemar to do is conduct your investigation and burn out their Gifts or something and then, uh, ask for help securing your western border. Not because you'd be expected to participate in the war but as a way of communicating that you do understand that those are the stakes they just laid on the table. Maybe volunteer to send an envoy to the Tayledras in case you can get an apology and formal guarantee nothing like it will ever happen again. Maybe - uh, maybe you could talk Osirion down if you offered to annex the Pelagirs and be formally responsible for them but you shouldn't do that if you don't in fact have the resources to, and it looks like you don't?

The thing that feels like it's missing is, uh, it feels like people think it's over? And Osirion hasn't corrected that misapprehension, probably because there's no point in sharing details on what they're planning - no one's told me anything, I'm guessing from first principles here - but 'there is a large powerful group of people with superweapons and interworld Gates who committed an act of war, aren't sorry, and aren't giving us any angles from which to negotiate the cessation of hostilities' is not a situation that's over. And so it feels like there's a missing realization that your aim here should be somehow pulling out a miracle that stops a war, or else ensuring your country is safe during it.:

Shavri nods, seriously. 

:That makes sense. I - think what I keep expecting, and not getting, is the response you're suggesting. Especially the part about securing our border, and finding out where we stand with the rest of the Tayledras. It's...complicated, I think, because the Tayledras don't have a formal chain of command, the Vales are all independent and make internal decisions by consensus, but Starwind is Speaker for k'Treva, closest they have to an official leader. It's unclear who if anyone has the authority to issue an apology for their actions, and...I don't think Randi feels he has much standing to ask them for one. Because, you're right, we don't have the resources to annex them. The Tayledras are normally extremely hostile to outsiders and kill strangers who enter the Pelagirs: 

She looks down. :I think maybe Randi doesn't want to admit that we've lost them as a resource. They're the only reason Van survived his Gifts awakening: Glance over. :Van is taking it better than I expected, honestly: 

:It makes sense that you'd be reluctant to - take any steps that burn that bridge. But - it's burnt. Again without speaking with any knowledge whatsoever of anything specific going on in Golarion, Osirion and Cheliax can't possibly let the current state of affairs stand. It's not impossible to kill people in a way that doesn't leave them resurrectable with our magic, I assume she'll try that next.

I hadn't realized Starwind is the Speaker for k'Treva but, uh, needless to say that makes it worse. Damn it.:

Shavri winces. 

:The other part that makes me feel like I'm losing my mind every time I talk to Randi about it is - well, it's true that one of our most serious punishments is exile, but I'm not delighted about just sending them back to k'Treva? When we don't yet have any further plan for what to do about sharing a border with people in a pact bound to Her?: 

:If some mages from an allied country came here and unleashed demons in your palace to kill, uh, the Queen of Karse, you would exile them back home about it?:

:Gods. That would be a horrible situation. It would depend on our relations with the country. When we were at war with Karse, we...generally didn't even try to take mages alive, because it's so hard to hold onto them safely, and once we've taken prisoners we feel bound by our own customs around not mistreating them, even though Karse, er, really didn't follow the same standards:

Frown. :If it were, say, an assassin from Rethwellan, I think that'd call for Randi negotiating directly with Rethwellan's government. If they were sent on the Rethwellani King's orders it'd be grounds for war, although we might try to settle it diplomatically because Rethwellan has ten times as many mages as us and we would lose. If it were someone operating independently, I - would expect the King over there to be comfortable condemning them for treason, we're formally allied with Rethwellan, and - if we did hand them back, they'd probably be executed, Rethwellan's courts tend harsher than ours. If it were Hardorn, gods, I don't know, their central government is a mess right now, but probably Randi would send a delegation with a proposal and their King would just sign off on it to get it out of his hair: 

Nod. :If there were anyone among the Tayledras who could condemn this as treason and declare they'd be executed if they were sent back then - I bet we'd leave it there? Wars are wrong, you should avoid them as far as you possibly can. But, uh, our current impression is that their attitude is 'yep, we did this, we will do similar things again, what are you going to do about it.':

:We have no idea what k'Treva's attitude will be. Savil could Gate there, but - well, no one's brought it up explicitly but I think we're scared k'Treva would instead respond by blaming us for the part where they got killed by your pharaoh, and it'd make things even worse. Er, do you have more information on their attitudes, then, or - on the Star-Eyed's attitude? Did Abadar talk to Her?: