"Why's history important for clerics?" asks one of the other female wizards.

"If they set a policy that seemed like a good idea, but it had been tried a hundred years past and turned out terribly and they should have known that?  I suppose village priests don't often set policy, but wizards you scarcely hear about involving themselves in politics before archmage level-"

...oh no.

The comment about archmages gets a bit of a nervous laugh all around. "Maybe that's more of a thing in Osirion, where you've got your cleric king?" offers Txell.

Okay they don't hate her forever.  Or are hiding it very well, which is totally possible because again, Chelish, like she apparently forgot for a minute there.  Breathe.

"Maybe, yes, Taldor has... dukes?  I think?"  She should probably say something less stupid than that but it's a coherent grammatical sentence and that's as good as she's getting right now.

"We have those too! Dukes and archdukes, counts and barons, petty lords."

"I fear I know little about how countries govern when they aren't theocracies- or, rather, aren't Osirion especially."  Okay, focus, small talk, she can do small talk.

"You've got some assholes and some bigger assholes that tell them what to do," says Txell.

Is this banter?  Godsdammit she can't tell.  Banter is harder to pull off than flirting but plausibly a better sign.

She chuckles and briefly ducks her head again.  "Well, it seems that much is the same everywhere."

"Does Osirion even have nobles or just priests? Are they all like Boian - I guess you've probably never met Boian, he's not even Osirian -"

"You know we don't all know each other."  She flashes Txell a quick bright smile.  "But I don't recognize the name, I fear.  Is that the insurance adjuster?  First Arcane Grec mentioned one."

"Yeah, that's him. Whole fort has to kiss his ass."

"Oof, that sounds terribly wearing."  Sympathetic grimace.  "It was he who decreed cards shall only be played for favors and not money?  Are there other similar decrees?"

"He's also anal about getting everybody paid on time, so I guess that's nice."

She chuckles.  "Now that sounds like the Abadarans I'm familiar with- supposedly one priest at the dockyard temple gives rather pointed sermons on the virtue of meeting one's obligations each time a captain is laggard in paying on arriving in port, my father used to speculate about which it was."

"There's nothing much to spend it on around here, but yeah."

"Especially when one doesn't lose it at cards, but I suppose it gets one in the habit of saving.  And you'll have a good starting capital for that drinks cart once you leave."

"If I don't blow it all on theater and books, sure."

"And yet this too is pleasing to Abadar, for you preferred the book and the bookseller preferred your money,"  she intones mock-solemnly, then giggles.  "Nearly any desire can be pious if purchased fairly, it's really terribly convenient."

"I really would've thought the commander'd be an Abadaran if anything, he's so friendly with Boian. But no, apparently Iomedae's got him. He walked into the mess hall and cast Light off his table knife to announce it."

"That must have been something to see... could it be She has some purpose in mind for him?"  She's so curious and this is maybe not prying?  "Mysterious are the ways of the gods, of course, but-"  heck she does not have an end to that sentence and now the pause will be too long to find one... just pretend it was on purpose and smile invitingly.

"Mysterious as fuck. Like, he was always a little..." Handwave. "But Iomedaean, that caught everybody off guard."

"I can only imagine- is it true She's completely banned in Cheliax?  Or was, rather?"

"No, no, not completely banned, the Hellknights like Her, the Menadorians like Her, the rule was no primary worship of anybody but Asmodeus but you could always say a word for whoever else came up, even Iomedae. But the commander didn't, as far as I ever knew, he was Asmodean all through with the weird chumminess with Boian on top."

"Huh."  Khalida glances around to see if the commander is still hanging around the mess hall (the card game is down a few more shirts).  "I suppose he may simply have preferred the person rather than the god?"

He seems to have cleared out with his meal.

"I guess! I'm not chummy with him, myself."