He ignores the obvious cultist's attempt to influence him. "Are there further assurances you require concerning their activities? One of the men with me now was present for the arrest."

"Were they tried?"

"...No, because Voyager Ramien broke them out of custody."

"So there is not a trial verdict which involved a truth spell or anything like that."

"We could hardly have put them under truth spell in absentia."

"Perhaps our dear Prelate is simply on a quest to become the most beautiful man in all Kenabres, and sees Ramien as a threat to his mission."

He is not going to dignify that with a response.

Blai really appreciates that the Inquisitor is mature enough to simply ignore that! "Regardless of why no such verdict exists, it does not, so I cannot rely on it to draw conclusions. Regardless of why you do not have them in custody, you do not, and stand to gain assistance in a dangerous mission by promising that it will not constitute a trap. You will remain free to pursue them in other contexts, as I understand it." Which he's not doing, but Blai can't think of any advantage to pointing that out.

"Select, I expect that the 'assistance' of people who attempted to sabotage the Wardstone on a mission to recapture the building that currently contains the Wardstone to be actively detrimental."

"You could... ask them not to? They're Desnans, not Nethysians."

"Taking such risks seems unwarranted when one could avoid all risk of them tampering with the Wardstone by simply not inviting them in the first place."

"Never having met any of these people I do not expect to be able to vouch for their character usefully, as you certainly already know that Desna has, but I would ask you to reconsider in light of Ser Tirabade's opinion on the matter."

"Ser Tirabade is often reluctant to take the measures necessary to protect the city."

Tail-twitch.

Scribble scribble. "Have you experimented with each of your proposals for administration, in order to determine whose methods are more effective at protecting the city?"

Before Irabeth started playing a role in the city's politics, Deskari had never personally come to Kenabres and laid waste to the city, but admittedly it's hard to say that that wouldn't have happened regardless; his methods are more effective at keeping out cultists than at keeping out demon lords.

"Is there some other priority besides the Grey Garrison you'd consider the more important measure to take to protect Kenabres, Inquisitor?"

"The mission at the Gray Garrison may well be an important priority. For precisely that reason, I think it is ill-advised to ask for assistance from those who were caught in the act of attempting to sabotage the Wardstone, merely because they have not formally been convicted. Even if I were uncertain as to their guilt, I still would not seek their aid, any more than I would hand a suspected cultist a weapon and turn my back on them."

"I don't know, that kind of makes sense? I wouldn't bring someone on a hunting trip if I thought they were the kind of person who'd mess around during a fight."

"Nonsense, horn boy. If we excluded everyone that he deems suspicious, our party's force would be reduced by roughly two-thirds, leaving it wholly unprepared to combat demons of even middling strength."

"Is there anything you could learn which would satisfy you either that this was not their intent or that they mean to make up for their error?"

"I suppose that if we determined that they had been acting under the influence of a Dominate or similar influence, it would clear their name. Voyager Ramien would still have committed a serious crime, in that situation, but I would be willing to give my oath not to take advantage of his participation in operations in the Gray Garrison provided that he gave assurances about his own intentions under truth spell. Is there anything you could learn which would convince you not to invite them along for your operations?"

"If Desna renounced them, or if I witnessed them committing further acts of sabotage."

Goddess save him from naive fools. "Understood. —We believe that only one of the three we apprehended was directly empowered by Desna, though all of them claimed to have her blessing." He glances back at the hole. "Regardless, I am willing to provide you with a list of targets to whom I have attempted a Sending."

"Thank you, Inquisitor."