In that case, Count Arendae will lead him back to Lord Kaske's residence! It's a slower journey this late at night, and the air has grown a bit chilly.

"I must congratulate you on your appointment, Select." He pronounces Blai's title with even more contempt than usual. "May I offer you a glass of wine to celebrate the occasion, or are you afraid it would inspire you to experience enjoyment twice in a single month?"

"As it happens I don't enjoy wine. You've seen me having my fun; we played chess."

"How typical." He gestures at a servant to pour him a glass. "Did my dear cousin happen to discuss my role in your brave and heroic crusade with you?"

"She did not."

"I have been granted the tremendous honor of serving as your advisor on diplomatic matters, and instructed to make my spells available for Crusade use during my service. I am sure you must be overjoyed to have such an illustrious advisor at your service."

Diplomatic matters - Blai catches himself before saying that out loud. Maybe in practice that means the Count knows people who know people, or something, and not that at any point he has to be polite to anyone he doesn't feel like making nice with. "I see. Do they have the saying, 'the reward for a job well done', around here -"

"We express the sentiment slightly differently, but I believe I catch your meaning."

"If it matters to you I did not ask her to do this. Your help is and will be valuable but I do not have specific information to the effect that I must have you in particular."

"Oh, I trust that my dear cousin is perfectly willing to sacrifice what remains of Mendev's aristocracy to the crusade on her own initiative." He sighs. "How much do you already know about Mendev's internal affairs and its relationships with other countries?"

"Mostly-hostile rumors and what little I've picked up in the last week or so only."

He raises an eyebrow. "I see. What sort of information would be most valuable to your endeavors?"

"I'm going to need to do something in the way of fundraising and recruitment, neither of which I have any experience with; the funding stream from Mendev proper will support the army it already has, but not with much slack. So I will need to know how operating under the Mendevian umbrella will affect how such overtures are received."

"What you must understand, Select, is that Mendev has been at war with the Abyss for a hundred years. Anyone within the country who might have been motivated by conscience to fund your crusade has long since been bled dry; anyone beyond its borders has seen the dismal result of the Fourth Crusade, and will need assurances that yours has any chance of success. Nevertheless, this is not an insurmountable issue..."

Additional funding within Mendev will likely be limited, although the Count is aware of information of a sensitive nature that some of his political opponents in the capital might prefer not to come to light, and the prospect of it doing so might be sufficient to inspire them to contribute more greatly to the Crusade.

Outside of Mendev's borders, they're likely to face the issue that many people interested in supporting the defense of the Worldwound will default to simply donating to the Church of Iomedae, "which of course endeavors with peerless dedication not to give Mendev a cent more than she needs." It will likely be easier to raise funds and recruit once they've secured a few victories — would it be helpful if he went through the countries that he might be interested in targeting?

"I've written already to Lastwall about a distinct but related matter, we'll see if they answer me..." Yes he would like the list.

He starts with the other countries holding stretches of the border. Lastwall to the south ("You had the chance to converse with my dear cousin, yes? Imagine if she were far more obsessed with meticulous procedure, and you'll have the right impression"), Cheliax to the north ("One might expect them to be enjoying themselves, given how thoroughly they reject the demands of the Good gods, but instead they seem to have invented new ways to make themselves miserable), Irrisen to the west ("Though they might as well be in Tian Xia for all they communicate with us"). He expects them to be more focused on maintaining their own parts of the line than on supporting the Crusade, though they will need to maintain good relationships with all of them, and they will likely need to cooperate with the Hellknight order holding this fort near the corner when they move the line.

Mendev's neighbors and near-neighbors are next. Numeria, ruled by a madman, which after extensive negotiation eventually agreed to allow crusaders coming through the Worldwound to pass through their territory, unlikely to allow more than that. Brevoy, across the lake, formerly a substantial source of adventurers for the Worldwound, but unlikely to be a major one now considering its ongoing civil war. (Digression about which of its houses are most likely to repay Blai well for it if he supports their faction in the war.) Iobaria, further across the lake, said to be cursed, useful if he wants to recruit adventurers who command the spirits of nature but useless for fundraising.

Other polities likely to be of particular relevance: Absalom, the government of which is unlikely to involve itself but the residents of which include both wealthy people swayable with tales of heroism and adventurers with all sorts of unusual talents. (The Count understands that Iomedaeans aren't supposed to lie, but he recommends that Blai delegate recruitment from Absalom to someone who believes him to have been miraculously chosen by Iomedae.) Taldor, most populous country in Avistan, beset by half-impenetrable factional politics, best approached by appealing to individual noblemen and noblewomen (he briefly summarizes the ones he knows anything about), though their Grand Prince is, ah, overcome by the spirit of charity every couple years, so it's probably worth some effort to make the crusade seem like a good recipient. (He presumes Iomedaeans aren't allowed to deliberately introduce him to appealing so-called vices, in an attempt to make him be overcome by the spirit of charity more frequently.) Andoran and Galt, which are training fewer wizards than when they were under Chelish control, but which had plenty of them when they seceded. (Andoran is experimenting with having its commoners choose its government; reputedly it's essential to appeal to their sense of morality (the Count sounds a little disgusted), though their sensibilities are rather different from those of Mendevians. Their 'president' is a paladin of Iomedae, but his dear cousin doesn't seem to like him. Galt is unlikely to do anything that would make it more difficult for their 'first citizen' to conquer his way through the River Kingdoms. Both will most likely be concerned about the risk of inadvertantly empowering Cheliax's armies.)

—Before he continues, where is the Select from? It may be worth particularly ensuring that his achievements are well-reported in his homeland. (In principle this would likewise be true for his foreign companions, but in practice the Count really doesn't expect anything good to come of proclaiming Ser Seelah's achievements in Geb.)

"I seem to be from some kind of alternate timeline," says Blai. "But the Cheliax of that timeline."

"...I suppose that would be a rather nasty shock. I do hope I was not the one to break the news to you of what has become of your homeland in this world."

"They were actually mostly the same up until fairly recently and my timeline was slightly ahead of this one."

The Count gives him a look of utter bafflement, pointedly dipping his eyes to Blai's holy symbol for a moment.

"Your cousin would like me to lead the Crusade because I can state that I am absolutely confident that it is possible to close the Worldwound.

"But I don't know how the relevant archmages did that - and I also do not know how they made the conquest of Cheliax happen in the space of four days - and I also do not know how they, for it seems it must have been they, provoked Asmodeus into dropping all of His clerics.

"At some point someone is going to notice the man with my name commanding #11 up north. He'd look exactly like me but for the pentagram."

He could come up with all sorts of brilliant cutting remarks, and for quite possibly the first time since his eleventh birthday he isn't actually tempted to.

"I presume you will want to host him as a Chelish representative to the Crusade, if that can be arranged?"

"It would have some advantages. I would want his superiors to state in front of him and an appropriate Abadaran arbitrator that until and unless they withdraw him altogether from that position I will be entitled to copies of all updates to his orders he receives. - also I'm not sure if the fellow I promoted before departing #11 in my own timeline is quite ready this early, but it can be someone else, if need be."

"You would know better than I, but I must admit that, from what one hears about Cheliax, I would not normally expect them to agree to that, even for a representative of less interest to them than that. Will you be leading the Crusade under a name Cheliax will recognize as belonging to him?"

"I couldn't think of an alternative one and also don't know if there is an acceptable protocol for introducing oneself under a false name. The trouble is it would be so easy for him to impersonate me, you see, so I would want to be absolutely confident that he would not attempt it."

He nods. "Time is of the essence, in that case, if you are to have any hope of requesting his services before your homeland learns that a Select with his name is leading the Fifth Mendevian Crusade."