No weapons. He's carrying a small sketch of the city after Deskari's attack, though all the landmarks are labelled with pictures rather than writing.

"While the select boy searches you, would you be willing to participate in my survey of theological knowledge? I am very curious whether your responses would be more typical of a cultist or a crusader!"

He stares at her in utter bafflement.

"Pro tip, most people don't want to take a theology test when they're probably about to die."

"Arguably it is one of the best times but it would have to be oriented more in the interest of their afterlife categorization than their encylopedia categorization." Once he's confirmed unarmed he can be marched on.

"We have already established that he is Evil, and powerful enough for magical alignment detection to be effective! It would be far easier to identify his future afterlife via magical means than to predict it by testing him on theology, particularly considering the dismal state of theological education among Mendevian paladins."

"Perhaps, if the reading doesn't lag the likely trial outcome."

"What was I supposed to do?"

"Not serve the demons?"

"...If someone gives you a choice between helping the demons kill everyone in the city and dying, and you know you can't beat them in a fight, it's still better not to help them kill everyone in the city."

Nod. "And you would have met your wife again in Heaven."

Well, if she's Lawful Good. But paladins get touchy about that sort of thing.

That doesn't SEEM guaranteed but maybe Seelah knows something he doesn't.

"I, I, I thought they'd win no matter what I did, I'm sorry — I'm good with a sword, you can send me to the Condemned, I'll never doubt Iomedae again—"

"Ah, yes, clearly that is your most serious crime, doubting your precious goddess."

"A demon encountering your Condemned unit might guess by sheer luck that some of its men might have a wife."

"They, they could station me outside Kenabres, then I'd know they couldn't hunt her down — some of the cultists knew me, they could have found her—"

"I'm afraid that you've found yourself among Iomedaean company, and the one sin they consider truly irredeemable is rejecting their goddess to consort with fiends. Theft?" (His eyes linger on Seelah for a moment, before he glances deliberately at Woljif.) "Murder?" (He looks at Thall.) "Why, those are trivial matters, compared to your blasphemy. In the eyes of the Goddess, even the betrayal of Drezen is less severe than what you did, for it was done with Torag's name on the lips!"

"That's not true! Anyone can redeem themselves, even if they served the demons."

"Ah, yes, of course, they can beg your goddess for forgiveness, and perhaps they will even be granted the mercy of a few moments of prayer before their death."

Why is Arendae even defending this guy? 

He isn't defending him, he's getting amusing reactions out of the paladin. It's completely different.

For twenty years I was a nope not happening. "Blasphemy is not at issue here, perfidy is."

"Ah, of course. If a stranger came from a foreign land, never denying that they were a servant of the Abyss, swearing no oaths, making no commitments to you, I'm sure you would simply release them."

"In that case the issue would be that they're an enemy combatant, not that they're perfidious."