(Areelu Vorlesh and Deskari had not been planning to launch the attack right now, but when their disguised warriors started attacking on their own accord, Deskari decided it was best to just push the schedule forwards.)

Into the tavern!

He stumbles over a broken wagon-wheel someone left outside, just as a demon swoops down on the driver of a cart coming down the street towards them.

Shit! Fuck!

The inquisition guard grabs for Lac.

But the mule pulling the cart is scared by the demon, and is bolting straight at them --

He tries to dodge, and stumbles again, falling-

The inquisition guard tries to pull him out of the way again, but there's not enough time -

And this demon has totally forgotten the orders not to hurt this particular person.  If they were even bothering to look at someone currently sprawled in the street.  Any consequences will be a problem for Future Them.

Crash.

The mule kicks him in the head. Then a cart runs him over.

And then... many other things will be happening, but prophecy spells have long been broken on Golarion.

The next thing Lac sees is a garden.

It's the sort of well-kept garden that might be in a nobleman's country estate, with flowerbeds and vines and flower bushes (especially rosebushes) bordered by well-kept cobblestone paths.  There're several empty archways over the paths, as if for show.  Overhead - it's open to the sky - the sky is the golden rainbow of either dawn or sunset.

The moon is high in the sky... though if you look carefully, you'll see two other moons near the horizon.  (And also, if you stare too closely at the cobblestones, they might seem to be twisted in patterns that might not totally fit on a flat surface.)

Lac is lying on a wickerwork sofa, on cobblestones in the middle of the garden.  

A youngish winged woman, clad in a flowing white dress, steps out from one of the empty archways as if it was a Gate.

"Welcome!" she exclaims, raising her hand.

Is he dead? The panic is gone like it'd never been, but the last thing he remembers is being ran over in the middle of a demon attack. Now there's a pretty outsider waving at him.

He waves back, cautiously. She doesn't look like an Agathion, and she's not androgynous, so probably not an angel.

Even if it's not Nirvana, he still made it to Paradise, and now everything will be okay. He should feel worse about failing, but something deep inside him has relaxed, and he realizes just how scared he's been of the evil afterlives, ever since he was a little kid who learned what Hell meant.

This is a Good afterlife, and not Nirvana. Maybe he'll even see his mom again.

"I'm glad to meet you!  Would you like something to drink, or some time to look over the gardens, before we talk about what might come next?"

She waves her hand, and a warm steaming mug of something that looks like tea nestles in a cupholder of his couch that wasn't there a moment ago.

(If he looks closely, some of the wickerwork might look a bit reminiscent of the topology of magical spells?)

That's so cool and he wants to spend more time looking at the sofa. Is it Outsider magic, the kind that takes thousands of years to learn? Can you replace the somatic component of a spell with specialized wickerwork, the way that one Tian school makes spellbooks out of knotted string?

There's no rush. There's this feeling of years, centuries, millennia opening before him, full of love and spellwork and the slow cultivation of enlightenment. The gifts of eternity have never felt so immediate. This is really happening.

"Thank you." He takes a sip of the tea to conceal how his eyes are tearing up a bit. Deep breaths, Lac. "Can you tell me where I am?"

She sits down slowly on the chair next to him, furling her wings.

"This place has many names from many people seeing it through many stories, and I'm happy to accept any of them.  Whatever it is, it's... a place between the stories, between the worlds, a place to watch and think of what might best come next.  And, for some," (she gives Lac an expectant look) "a place for more."

What?? That really doesn't sound like Heaven or Nirvana! The thing about "many names" sounds Chaotic, did he end up in Elysium? Or fuck up all the way to the Maelstrom somehow??

"...Elysium?" Please don't be Maelstrom please don't be Maelstrom

Ah, Elysium, the fabled land choosing the blessed and heroic; the fabled ideal of happiness!  (Yes, the Will of the Multiverse chooses others too, but.)

Of course nobody has a specific place in mind when saying that; they're talking merely about a vague image which something might come close to matching up to... and this has come closer than anything she might've imagined when she was first brought here.

"Elysium," she almost laughs, smiling in agreement.

She smiles, opens her wings wide, and waves her hand.  Something like a dragon appears in the sky above, diving and then vanishing as if to go through a distant Gate.

Elysium! He really didn't see that coming, but it's still a paradise! Is that a real life havoc dragon??! He strains his eyes to look, but it's already gone.

He grins back. "Well, it's not what I was expecting, but Elysium is wonderful! Are you here to help me get oriented?"

"Thank you - though you've hardly seen most of it, just my one garden here!"  Not that he will be seeing the rest of it.  Which he might be happy about if he knew - she herself frankly doesn't like the offices of the Worldbuilding or Diplomacy Departments at all.  They usually aren't bad to work with, but she prefers to do it by messages.

"And yes, I'm here to get you oriented!  To here, and..." She pauses half a moment; it's probably best to not just spring all the surprises about reincarnation on him... "... about what might come next.  Don't worry; I've seen so many people who're at least as surprised as you are, I'm sure."

Most people aren't theology nerds, so that isn't surprising. What is surprising is that Lac is Chaotic??

"It's not urgent, but I'd be interested in seeing my Trial transcripts, if they're available." And even if they aren't. Maybe he can find a ragtag band of Chaotic Good lunatics to loot Pharasma's offices for him?

"Trial transcripts?" she asks, pursing her lips in a bit of confusion.  Was there some trial in his life that she hadn't heard about?  Or is he talking about the way the Will of the Multiverse selected him?  But either way - "I certainly haven't seen them - I don't think anyone ever gave them to me -"

(Not that she read all of what she was given.  Of course she read about Lac's home planet's level of magic and technology, and at least the quick summary of his personal life.  But there're always other things various Departments insist on including which are basically never useful...)

She pulls a small book out of her dress, flips it open, and glances at the Table of Contents.  "... No, no 'trial transcripts'.  I could make a special request for you if you're really interested, but I'm not sure it'd work.  And really, is there any reason to care about that now that you're here?"