"So that letter's like those two put together? It doesn't really sound like either of them..."

Shrug. "I'm not the one who came up with them. You know, in Taldane they didn't even bother to make a new letter, they just write the two of them next to each other..."

Blai gets breakfast that Isn't Worldwound Stew and sits among them. "Ember, do you know how to read?"

"I do! My father taught me when I was very young, when we still lived in the forest."

"Oh, good." Delicious Not Worldwound Stew and then he should probably start finding the people he's supposed to talk to, like the Shelynite and Inquisitor Hawkblade.

Inquisitor Hawkblade rode out ahead of the army this morning, and can be located. (The Shelynite was delayed by spell preparation and hasn't arrived yet.) He's a middle-aged man, a few years older than Blai by the look of him, with a holy symbol of Iomedae around his neck and another one on his shield. He's perfectly willing to speak with Blai; is there a specific location he would prefer?

"My party's still prevailing on the hospitality of the tavern and we've a room upstairs, which by this hour even our night owl wizard should have vacated..." Is Nenio accounted for.

She is sitting in on the literacy lesson and making occasional comments about how Hallit writing compares to the writing system used in Tian Xia.

Good. Then Inquisitor Hawkblade can come up to room four.

He takes a minute to sweep the room for unexpected magic and unexpected alignment auras, but eventually determines it satisfactory.

"What did you wish to discuss?"

"I consider myself undercatechized both in terms of what I have read and what I have copies of on hand - I don't know how I got to Kenabres but when I arrived I was missing most of my possessions including the Acts and the Lastwall disciplinary handbook and I would like to have both available to consult even though I've been through each in the past. I have also just hit fourth circle, expect to lead an exciting life for the foreseeable future, and would dearly like to have Commune training before I'm faced with the possibility of needing it, if that is possible to convey in written form and you know where to get it. I'd love any other commentaries or supplementary writings you'd recommend as well."

"I have a copy of the Lastwall disciplinary handbook and the Acts, which I would be willing to loan to you — the handbook is written in Taldane, the Acts is one of the approved translations into Hallit. Commune training is conducted in-person at the seminaries in Vigil and Vellumis, and typically takes between one and two years depending on the trainee's previous education; the majority of fifth-circle Iomedaean clerics are not certified. Was there any particular focus you were hoping for in the commentaries?"

"Things relevant to conducting ambitious Worldwound operations. ...paper is somewhat difficult to come by as of the last time I wanted to post letters, if that continues how long may I hold your copies? They don't have... any way to allow outside parties to learn to perform efficient Communes?"

"Iomedaean clerics from outside Lastwall are permitted to enroll in Commune training — there is an application process, to screen out the ones who won't have the aptitude for it, but not an onerous one — though in practice they rarely do. In principle members of other allied churches are also permitted to apply, and I know of one case of a Qadiran Sarenrite cleric completing the training, but in practice they rarely make it a priority. As long as you're willing to allow me to consult my books when necessary, I am willing to permit you to borrow them indefinitely, or until you can arrange to acquire your own copy." 

He pauses for a few moments to consider the question about commentaries. "Arnisant Kabakes's The Battles of Iomedae is focused on analyzing the Acts through the lens of military strategy. In addition to excerpts from the Acts themselves, it incorporates excerpts from contemporary accounts of her battles, and discusses strategic and tactical errors that she is now believed to have made, as well as what an army would do differently with access to modern armor, weapons, and spells, or conversely that it wouldn't be able to do at all without prophecy. It's about thirty years out of date, but should be workable if you aren't trying to copy Cyprian's model. I don't own a copy, but if you speak Taldane it should be possible to purchase one eventually. Unfortunately there isn't an equivalent for tactics on the level of an adventuring party, if that's closer to what you had in mind; too much has changed since the Goddess's day for a commentary on the Acts to be the best way to learn.

In terms of more theologically-focused commentaries, Karlenia Osther's commentary — that one is unfortunately just named A Commentary on the Acts of Iomedae — includes extensive discussion of Evils common in warfare, the extent to which they may be possible to mitigate, and the tendency of societies at war to decide that those Evils are unavoidable. The Inquisition in Kenabres owns a copy, and if it wasn't destroyed in the recent crisis I would be willing to lend it to you."

"I speak Taldane - I don't speak Hallit but also have a languages item. I would very much appreciate the loans until I'm able to have copies Scrivened off. What I mean is - they don't have a way to set up the training anywhere else - does the training require casting spells or could they be certifying people who'll never hang an orison and sending them out for remote lessons -"

"—Huh. In principle I think it would be possible to learn the theory even without being empowered at all, though I expect the people in charge of admissions would want to do much more verification of their trustworthiness. But there might be something I haven't thought of; I haven't been Commune-trained myself."

"It's just, uh, the Queen has decided to give me command of a Fifth Crusade, and I don't know if she has anyone Commune-trained already or if I will be able to borrow them."

The Queen did what??? Did she consult with anyone in the Church of Iomedae at any point? 

"I see. I don't know of anyone in Mendev currently Commune-authorized. I expect it is worth reaching out to Lastwall to see if they can spare anyone who is. —Do you happen to know who else is going to be involved with the Crusade?"

"She has assigned me some advisors -" He can list most of them, he forgets a couple of names and has to resort to descriptions since he hasn't met them yet - "and my existing adventuring party that formed over this recent crisis will be staying on."

He nods. "If you intend to work closely with Daeran Arendae there is information you, or someone working with you who can be trusted to maintain confidentiality, ought to have. It is — possible you will be endangered by knowing it, but also possible you will be endangered by not knowing it."

".......I got my training in how to manage confidentiality appropriately days ago from Ser Tirabade but may yet be the best candidate in the party for such information."

He sweeps the room again, taking more care this time to ensure there aren't any hidden creatures beneath the beds.

"How much do you know about his background, and particularly about the disaster at Heaven's Edge?"

"...I know that he is the count and have never heard of Heaven's Edge."

"Ten years ago, there was a demonic attack on his family's estate at Heaven's Edge, which killed his parents, their bodyguards and servants, and several other members of the Mendevian nobility who were present as guests. The widely-believed account is that a group of demons attacked the estate and spread a terrible disease, which killed everyone there but the Count, who was saved from the disease by the manifestation of his healing powers and concealed himself in the cellar. The investigation at the time was rather haphazard — this was shortly after Fort Godwin fell — and many questions were left unsettled."

He sweeps the room again with Detect Magic.

"There are reasons to believe that account to be... incomplete, and in places outright false. The demons were found dead, having been beheaded, with no clear explanation for why. The observations that were made at the time suggested that this had taken place over several hours, but we found no sign of any attempt at sending help to Kenabres, not even a failed attempt thwarted by the demons. Multiple of the guests present were paladins of sufficient power to be immune to disease, none of whom survived. Select Nestrin, who had tutored the Count, was present and is believed to have fallen victim to the disease, casting doubt on the possibility that the Count's survival was simply a miracle. 

The primary reason I am warning you is the fact that multiple people who voiced suspicion were subsequently found dead in their sleep, having been beheaded, in one case while sleeping inside a locked room warded against teleportation. In every case I know about, they had expressed suspicion in the Count's presence; I have privately expressed suspicion to other inquisitors, and have not suffered similar consequences. I don't believe him to have personally murdered them — in one case he subsequently testified under an Abadar's Truthtelling that he was asleep at the time and did not kill the victim — but I nevertheless consider this to be a concerning pattern."

"Ah, fuck, I believe I may have unjustly accused someone of slightly more murders than she committed."