"I think that maybe the discipline-morale tradeoff has changed substantially, this year."

Iomedae complains to Alfirin only later about how popular buy-in solves morale problems but isn't the kind of solution to them you think of if you're an authoritarian theocracy. "You were brilliant, of course."

Alfirin kisses her. She hasn't deliberately cultivated a habit of doing that every time Iomedae says she's brilliant, it happened by accident. "I am sure it did not occur to them, but I think maybe I'll save the 'Hey, you know what's great for morale? When you don't kidnap people from their homes and force them to fight for you!' for later. Lastwall isn't even a very big country, they might not have enough volunteers for a proper army and we can't deny that they need a proper army - or, Cansellarion needs a proper army and Lastwall's decided they're allowed to give it to him?"

"Yes, I think 'end conscription' is a point to argue with them later. …and I think I was right to shut up, even though it was very difficult and I thought of dozens of clever things to say. It's their country, and they thought of different clever things, ones that matter to them…and didn't feel like they had to close ranks because the bizarre outworlders were proposing terrible ideas in a fraught fashion… probably eventually I'll get the hang of this diplomacy thing. 

I'm not clear on how allowed Lastwall is to give him an army? It doesn't really meet most definitions of neutrality I've heard of, to give someone an army. Giving the guns is obviously allowed, America did lend-lease and so on…"

"Giving the guns is obviously allowed under Earth international law. I have no idea what the standards are for Golarion international law. If they even have the concept of defined standards of international law instead of just - what one country promised to do and everyone's best guess of how those promises apply."

"We should - ask about that. It's fine if they're making a principled decision to play hardball with the letter of their treaty because that's what Cheliax is doing, trying to kidnap Cansellarion with a Wish, but - I hope they're doing something principled and not just forgetting inconvenient promises once they have overwhelming force, that'd bode ill for the next situation."

"Mhm. If they're doing that - well, maybe we still can't just leave, not without Cheliax being able to get to us - but it makes me a lot less sure of their other promises."

"I'll ask Cansellarion tomorrow. Unlike the vague self-doubt about whether I'm relating to my allies as I think I ought to, this is my and his business and he ought to be able and willing to tell me."

"Mhm. It'd be good to know. I wish we - had more options, for places we could go that don't have Cheliax looming over them."

"I can't leave unless Cansellarion agrees," Iomedae reminds her. "But - yes. It's kind of a lousy map. Maybe we should learn more about the Keleshites."

"Right. Not for at least a year and it might all be over by then… I know almost nothing about the Keleshites besides that they showed up in children's stories and lived even farther from Sarkoris than Taldor. I never got the impression their empire was a particularly nice place to live, if you weren't as rich as a king…which I guess we are, but I don't think that's exactly the thing."

"I have also heard nothing good about them but Taldor was forever at war with them and if they were actually a lovely place I wouldn't have heard it. There's -I guess I'd expect there's somewhere that can protect us from Cheliax and where freedom is either generally available or purchaseable. …though if we assume the god Iomedae allied, then we might assume She would've told the best available people to get us." She frowns. "I wonder if She ever got good at international diplomacy. Currently it feels very forbidding, as a thing to have to get good at."

"I bet she did. She had it easy though, she had her own country and lacked your noble impulse to tell everyone they should be a democracy…I assume. I think the fact that she sent us to her people is a little bit of a reason to think that she's not exactly allied, or not exactly unbiased, and I guess also a bit of a reason to think maybe her people really are the best. Or maybe she knew Andoran would have been just as good and assumed you'd be more comfortable in a military dictatorship because she was when she was mortal."

"I don't feel very comfortable but for all I know Andoran would be worse! They do apparently have just floods of beggar children everywhere, that'd be a bit dispiriting."

"It could be! I'm just saying - even if she is on our side and choosing what's best for us, she might not know, very well, what's best for us, or might not have known when our souls first arrived and she didn't know anything about us."

"Maybe I will also ask Cansellarion what exactly She said, when She told him to raise us."

She asks about Cheliax first, though. "What promises has Lastwall made about nonintervention in Cheliax?"

"Lastwall pledged to remain neutral in the Chelish civil war and to detain and exile any refugees from the civil war who were found to be planning to continue their part in the war from within Lastwall's borders. In theory, the obligation expired when the war ended and house Thrune took the crown. In practice - when the war was over Lastwall was still unable to renounce her primary duties guarding Gallowspire, nor was she able to simultaneously guard Gallowspire and prosecute a war with infernal Cheliax.  So she remained neutral."

"So if we're continuing our part in the civil war from within Lastwall's borders, that's not allowed, and they plan to argue that we're really not doing that, we're just invading? ...how is the rest of the international community going to evaluate that. It seems a little like splitting hairs."

"Cheliax will claim it's a violation of Lastwall's neutrality, though not out of some principled belief, it just benefits them to claim that. They're not exactly respecting it themselves. The hellknights at the worldwound will pitch a fit - not about Lastwall neutrality, though, just about two countries involved in the defense of the Worldwound spending any of their time and energy opposing each other. But, no, I don't think…Taldor, or Andoran, or Osirion are going to feel misled. It's possible that before the war starts Jan will make a declaration that Lastwall's leadership considers the Chelish civil war to be over, but I think everything they've done so far pretty unambiguously doesn't violate their pledged neutrality. I'm not Chelish; you've never set foot in the country of Cheliax, when the war starts nobody in my army will be serving Lastwall, and we'll start in Nirmathas, whose independence from Cheliax at least is recognized almost everywhere."

"Is there any external body that can be consulted about things like that?"

"The Church of Abadar agrees with this analysis to the extent that they believe Lastwall to be presently committed to neutrality at all."

"Okay.  Unrelated question - mostly unrelated question - what did Iomedae say, when She directed you to raise us?"

"She didn't direct it, exactly. Just told me that I could resurrect the mortal Iomedae. I could check the incident report for the exact wording if you have a question that turns on that."

Incident report?? "- I don't think so, I was just trying to get a sense of how much I could assume that our being here and doing this was Her intent - is it normal for Her to say that little -"