Ileosa is wowed! "Amazing," she says, fanning herself as the fight concludes. 

Of course, Weiss wouldn't want to get anyone into trouble, would she? Perhaps there's an angle there, if she forms a bond with some criminal who can be spared the queen's justice so long as Weiss remains in good standing to vouch for their innocence or redemption.

"When I first arrived to Korvosa it had seemed a refuge. In Westcrown, my hometown, packs of shadowy hounds have stalked the night from before my birth, and none can safely walk the streets after dark. It had all seemed a game to me as a child, everyone hurrying home in the evenings to lock and bar the doors before night fell.

"Even after my marriage to Eodred, looking back it's clear that he was shielding me from so many of the stresses of rule, the monsters in the Shingles, tirelessly building good relations with the noble houses, quietly funding new orphanages - and now he's gone, and I have to pick up the pieces alone -"

She cuts herself off. There, how did that go over?

Hehe, dramatic fight illusions continue around the other decisive engagements. It's all a flurry of motion in some ways. But...

Okay, sounds like mini-queen here might be in over her head? That badass knight type seemed pretty steady. She doesn't know the relationship, though. Nor with everyone else that even a countess-queen must have badgering her at all hours. 

Can she do something about that, quickly and without sticking her foot into the politics blender? Because that second thing sounds like an intractable nightmare. 

"...Yeah. Things like that are why I, frankly, do not want political power. Everyone else scrabbling for advantage, lies and schemes and fake smiles, budgets and crises breathing down your neck, the weight of many fates turning on mysterious consequences to mundane decisions..."

Not that pure magical and heroic power is much different. She is political terrain even when she's not part of the game, at 'can slay Cryptids sometimes'. And she must always, always remember that the politicians WILL throw people under a bus, no matter how nice they seem. They don't even have to be evil to do it. It's almost involuntary.

"I don't think there's any easy answers. I'm not qualified to advise on anything like this. But you have advisors, guards, perhaps others, yes? Even if they all have agendas of their own."

"Just having someone I can talk openly with is a balm. You are correct, there are even a rare few in my court that I can trust. Sabina Merrin has more than proved herself. If Togomor were the sort of wizard to want a crown, he is powerful enough to have claimed one for himself by now. 

"And, I admit, part of the purpose of your party is to see whether my trust can be safely invested in some or all of your own number. With a few more competent confidantes to share the burdens of politics between, we would have the attention to spare for governing after resolving the latest crises. Your own hesitance there is understandable and something to be respected, which is why I can share this with you. Please do not tell the others until my decision has been made."

She splays her hands, and almost makes a chair to sit contemplatively on, but this room feels Too Official for that. Politics, ehhhhh. At least this one appears to be Trying, tm. Advisory only on an irregular basis might be tolerable.

"I could perhaps share my perspective on some issues, but it's experience from a different people who worship different gods. From one who never was at the heart of the bureaucracy, merely looking at its facade. But I surely don't want to commit to some schedule... If this makes sense, you are a queen," 

Solemn nod, good, she remembered not to say 'countess' instead as the shorthand in her head wants,

"But you are not - right now - my queen. And very well, I'll not mention this... I'm not sure if there are any important details of the crypt dive that I've not mentioned... I suddenly want to leave you a little decoration, if you would like. For however much it helps, and I'm not being entirely selfless- I enjoy the art of it. If you have any ideas- Or should I just go with whatever comes to mind?"

"Yes, of course, given my responsibilities it would hardly be possible for me to keep every Wealday afternoon clear for tea and pastries. No doubt your own adventures will be no less unpredictable."

"A decoration? You are an artist as well as an adventurer? How fascinating!"

And unexpected for the marsh-girl theory. Will it be some sort of magical trap, or a self-portrait for use with Enter Image? Togomor won't say anything, but he will look ever so pained if she picks up another cursed item without having it checked.

"Please do, that would be delightful. It will be a long time before I can be a patron of the arts as my husband was, such a gift would be most welcome. As for its nature, how about something representative of Tirra? Then it might be unique in all of Golarion."

And it would be another clue to her background, she can think of at least three artists who could comment on its provenance and tradition.

"Oh, there's one obvious thing there, but it really loses the effect if you can't see the artifact itself... How about instead - oh, just to clarify, this would be an illusion and it'll expire eventually unless you can find someone to feed it magic... Or maybe hmm... Well, there might be ways now that I think about it, I haven't really needed to make them permanent before... Oh, I know!"

She takes out one of her favorite illusion rocks, nothing more than a well-rounded river stone, and sets it on the floor. Then, building off of it, a 1/8 scale model of the Five Arts Proving Ground, or as it was more commonly called, the Mud Pits.

"One of the wealthiest monasteries in Atsos- Not a religious or academic one, a sorcerer one, so you know, all fighty-"

It is taking shape now, the pool of water around the edge and the strategically placed braziers and metal bits and piles of sand and rocks. She assembles several configurations one after another, before each one condenses down to a little cube and moves to the side.

"-They did exhibition matches, it was a huge show and there was a lot of time and effort on it, very popular. They'd change up the arena between matches. Junior leagues just got flat ground, but others would fight in a fake marsh, or through low scrubland, or 'old ruins'-"

That's probably enough environments for now. She lines them up in the 'stands', little miniature pictures of themselves and a mechanism for touching one to superimpose it over the battlefield. Then come the fighters. These are more tricky; She's taking creative liberties with them, going off memories of people who looked especially cool or strong and filling out the generic person-shaped-actor-template with instructions on what to do (fight the 'enemy') and how to do it (thus and such magic for this one, this type of martial art for that one)...

"...Thuna the lightning knight, Rae and Sen the frostfire lovers, Vee the red frenzy, Chobi the earth-sorcerer, Coops the shadowmancer, Funra the wind-cutter, Glor Dino, and let's add some gribblies also to serve as opponents... If I do it like this..."

She starts having the illusory figures - mostly humanoids, but also a bird-person, some sort of dragonborn, a werefox (not her, someone else), and a few varieties of monsters - fight each other, mostly with pointy bits and bursts of evocation-sorcery, fire and frost and lightning and water cutters and wind gusts, tapping the cube-icons in the stands to swap them out, frequently stopping them and adjusting some aspect of their behavior and then allowing them to go again. She'll be at this, distracted, for a good long while if not interrupted, actually...? It's the kind of creative project you just get caught up in.

Ileosa is not having to fake her interest. She had no idea a Programmed Image could get this complex. 

"Both Togomor and Sabina would be captivated by this, for the spellcraft and fighting respectively. He should be able to make it permanent, or feed it magic, too."

Without an objection from Weiss she'll send for them while the artistic illusion-work continues.

"Could add Sabina in there if I watch her fight... Should add a hippogriff, they're a little scary but cool... I'm sorry, I got kind of nerd-sniped into this, I should probably finish somewhere else and come back later..."

Nerd-sniped? Another odd turn of phrase to tuck away.

"If it would be the work of hours rather than days to complete, why don't you go to the stage hall or up to the games room? The stage is nearer, the games room more comfortable. In either case you could work undisturbed and be joined by Togomor if he is available."

"Oh, this has all the shape of something I could work on for days. Weeks. I really should have stretched the illusions in this direction long ago! I'd appreciate the use of the games room, thank you."

No, you are not allowed to noclip through that barrel, Kiron Lightblade.

A quiet servant in the castle livery comes to escort her there. The route is somewhat circuitous, taking her through an antechamber (with crossed jousting lances and an Arabasti standard on the walls), the stage room (set up for small theater performances), up a spiral staircase, over a balcony (with a grand view of the city and a light catapult positioned to guard the south-east face of the castle), a library (full of the records of the Sable Company, from their emblem on the shelves), and then into the games room.

This chamber is illuminated by three windows set in 
deep, tall niches. Each niche is flanked by two white marble statues on high pedestals, of women holding different objects above their heads. (Key, book, shield, star, hammer, crown). In the middle of the room is a round table of dark wood with six comfortable velvet-upholstered chairs arrayed around it, and a small wooden case sits at the center of the table.

The air here is cool and still, the noise of city and castle muffled by thick walls and thick carpet, a little place apart from the rest of the world. 

This is a nice little room. She'll set the arena-llusion on the table and bring it low and keep working on it. Maybe pause to pull out a cheese snack from her Tail of Holding and ask for a glass of water, please.

The servant returns with water, a glass of it and a carafe if she wants more, then departs.

The wind shifts, a low hum over the battlements. 

Time passes.

The vague sensation of being observed will slowly reach Weiss' awareness.