Elias Abarco has brought up additional points that Sevar didn't bring up in advance, which complicates this already-painful decision.  And Sevar brought up the critical point of only telling Keltham the sad little facts that are true in other countries, not just in Cheliax, which means he wouldn't have done well leaving it to Abarco.

Ferrer Maillol would, if he were alone, massage his forehead.

In the end, what decides him is simply that Abarco called Keltham 'insane'.  It's not a judgment conducive to making the kind of detailed predictions necessary for the actual moment-to-moment decisions.

"Asmodeus help you and me, Sevar, I'm making it your call.  Your goal directives are as follows: prioritize the amount of time we get before this falls down and Keltham breaks with us.  Secondary priority, if possible, try to make Keltham think that he should take you or some other loyal woman with you if he leaves us.  Do not bother worrying about Keltham's opinion of Cheliax after the whole thing blows up.  He won't be happy, ship sailed.  Just make sure we get as much as we can from him before then."

"Abarco.  Advise Sevar well on this and all related matters, and report to me if you think she's fucking it up.  If this project dies early and it looks like it was even slightly your fault for sabotaging her, I will make damned sure you die before I do."

"Balaguerre.  Sevar gets transcripts of Keltham's words and his thoughts on remaining occasions where we read his thoughts.  Sevar gets reports on any other decisions that get made without her about what to tell him and why."

"And give Sevar her fucking intelligence headband if we have a spare on hand.  If we don't, give her a Fox's Cunning so she has something to work with for a few minutes while trying to make the call on Keltham.  Then message at the next regular report that I want an intelligence headband delivered soonest, and if it's not here inside twenty-four hours then I will go looking for it and nobody wants to be there when I come looking."  Maillol wishes he could just grab an intelligence headband from any of these dozen fucking wizards who'll make less important use of it, but that is escalating way beyond just setting somebody on fire for a few hours, or at least wizards act that way.

Elias Abarco has brought up additional points that Sevar didn't bring up, which complicates this already-painful decision.  And Sevar brought up the critical point of only telling Keltham the sad little facts that are true in other countries, not just in Cheliax, which means he wouldn't have done well leaving the whole decision to Abarco.

Ferrer Maillol would, if he were alone, massage his forehead.

In the end, what decides him is simply that Abarco called Keltham 'insane'.  It's not a judgment conducive to making the kind of detailed predictions necessary for the actual moment-to-moment decisions.

"Asmodeus help you and me, Sevar, I'm making it your call.  Your goal directives are as follows: prioritize the amount of time we get before this falls down and Keltham breaks with us.  Secondary priority, if possible, try to make Keltham think that he should take you or some other loyal woman with you if he leaves us.  Do not bother worrying about Keltham's opinion of Cheliax after the whole thing blows up.  He won't be happy, ship sailed.  Just make sure we get as much as we can from him before then."

"Abarco.  Advise Sevar well on this and all related matters, and report to me if you think she's fucking it up.  If this project dies early and it looks like it was even slightly your fault for sabotaging her, I will make damned sure you die before I do."

"Balaguerre.  Sevar gets transcripts of Keltham's words and his thoughts on remaining occasions where we read his thoughts.  Sevar gets reports on any other decisions that get made without her about what to tell him and why."

"And give Sevar her fucking intelligence headband if we have a spare on hand.  If we don't, give her a Fox's Cunning so she has something to work with for a few minutes while trying to make the call on Keltham.  Then message at the next regular report that I want an intelligence headband delivered soonest, and if it's not here inside twenty-four hours then I will go looking for it and nobody wants to be there when I come looking."  Maillol wishes he could just grab an intelligence headband from any of these dozen fucking wizards who'll make less important use of it, but that is escalating way beyond just setting somebody on fire for a few hours, or at least wizards act that way.

Elias Abarco has brought up additional points that Sevar didn't bring up, which complicates this already-painful decision.  And Abarco didn't bring up the critical point about only telling Keltham the sad little facts that are true in other countries, not just in Cheliax, which means he wouldn't have done well leaving the whole decision to Abarco.

Ferrer Maillol would, if he were alone, massage his forehead.

In the end, what decides him is simply that Abarco called Keltham 'insane'.  It's not a judgment conducive to making the kind of detailed predictions necessary for the actual moment-to-moment decisions.

"Asmodeus help you and me, Sevar, I'm making it your call.  Your goal directives are as follows: prioritize the amount of time we get before this falls down and Keltham breaks with us.  Secondary priority, if possible, try to make Keltham think that he should take you or some other loyal woman with you if he leaves us.  Do not bother worrying about Keltham's opinion of Cheliax after the whole thing blows up.  He won't be happy, ship sailed.  Just make sure we get as much as we can from him before then."

"Abarco.  Advise Sevar well on this and all related matters, and report to me if you think she's fucking it up.  If this project dies early and it looks like it was even slightly your fault for sabotaging her, I will make damned sure you die before I do."

"Balaguerre.  Sevar gets transcripts of Keltham's words and his thoughts on remaining occasions where we read his thoughts.  Sevar gets reports on any other decisions that get made without her about what to tell him and why."

"And give Sevar her fucking intelligence headband if we have a spare on hand.  If we don't, give her a Fox's Cunning so she has something to work with for a few minutes while trying to make the call on Keltham.  Then message at the next regular report that I want an intelligence headband delivered soonest, and if it's not here inside twenty-four hours then I will go looking for it and nobody wants to be there when I come looking."  Maillol wishes he could just grab an intelligence headband from any of these dozen fucking wizards who'll make less important use of it, but that is escalating way beyond just setting somebody on fire for a few hours, or at least wizards act that way.

Elias Abarco has brought up additional points that Sevar didn't bring up, which complicates this already-painful decision.  And Abarco didn't bring up the critical point about only telling Keltham the sad little facts that are true in other countries, not just in Cheliax, which means he wouldn't have done well leaving the whole decision to Abarco.

Ferrer Maillol would, if he were alone, massage his forehead.

In the end, what decides him is simply that Abarco called Keltham 'insane'.  It's not a judgment conducive to making the kind of detailed predictions necessary for the actual moment-to-moment decisions.

"Asmodeus help you and me, Sevar, I'm making it your call.  Your goal directives are as follows: prioritize the amount of time we get before this falls down and Keltham breaks with us.  Secondary priority, if possible, try to make Keltham think that he should take you or some other loyal woman with you if he leaves us.  Do not bother worrying about Keltham's opinion of Cheliax after the whole thing blows up.  He won't be happy, ship sailed.  Just make sure we get as much as we can from him before then."

"Abarco.  Advise Sevar well on this and all related matters, and report to me if you think she's fucking it up.  If this project dies early and it looks like it was even slightly your fault for sabotaging her, I will make damned sure you die before I do."

"Balaguerre.  Sevar gets transcripts of Keltham's words and his thoughts on remaining occasions where we read his thoughts.  Sevar gets consulted on Keltham analysis and policy if there's time.  Sevar takes initiative on answering him if she's inside the room.  Sevar gets reports on any other decisions that get made without her about what to tell him and why."

"And give Sevar her fucking intelligence headband if we have a spare on hand.  If we don't, give her a Fox's Cunning so she has something to work with for a few minutes while trying to make the call on Keltham.  Then message at the next regular report that I want an intelligence headband delivered soonest, and if it's not here inside twenty-four hours then I will go looking for it and nobody wants to be there when I come looking."  Maillol wishes he could just grab an intelligence headband from any of these dozen fucking wizards who'll make less important use of it, but that is escalating way beyond just setting somebody on fire for a few hours, or at least wizards act that way.

Elias Abarco has brought up additional points that Sevar didn't bring up, which complicates this already-painful decision.  And Abarco didn't bring up the critical point about only telling Keltham the sad little facts that are true in other countries, not just in Cheliax, which means he wouldn't have done well leaving the whole decision to Abarco.

Ferrer Maillol would, if he were alone, massage his forehead.

In the end, what decides him is simply that Abarco called Keltham 'insane'.  It's not a judgment conducive to making the kind of detailed predictions necessary for the actual moment-to-moment decisions.

"Asmodeus help you and me, Sevar, I'm making it your call.  Your goal directives are as follows: prioritize the amount of time we get before this falls down and Keltham breaks with us.  Secondary priority, if possible, try to make Keltham think that he should take you or some other loyal woman with him if he leaves us.  Do not bother worrying about Keltham's opinion of Cheliax after the whole thing blows up.  He won't be happy, ship sailed.  Just make sure we get as much as we can from him before then."

"Abarco.  Advise Sevar well on this and all related matters, and report to me if you think she's fucking it up.  If this project dies early and it looks like it was even slightly your fault for sabotaging her, I will make damned sure you die before I do."

"Balaguerre.  Sevar gets transcripts of Keltham's words and his thoughts on remaining occasions where we read his thoughts.  Sevar gets consulted on Keltham analysis and policy if there's time.  Sevar takes initiative on answering him if she's inside the room.  Sevar gets reports on any other decisions that get made without her about what to tell him and why."

"And give Sevar her fucking intelligence headband if we have a spare on hand.  If we don't, give her a Fox's Cunning so she has something to work with for a few minutes while trying to make the call on Keltham.  Then message at the next regular report that I want an intelligence headband delivered soonest, and if it's not here inside twenty-four hours then I will go looking for it and nobody wants to be there when I come looking."  Maillol wishes he could just grab an intelligence headband from any of these dozen fucking wizards who'll make less important use of it, but that is escalating way beyond just setting somebody on fire for a few hours, or at least wizards act that way.

Elias Abarco has brought up additional points that Sevar didn't bring up, which complicates this already-painful decision.  And Abarco didn't bring up the critical point about only telling Keltham the sad little facts that are true in other countries, not just in Cheliax, which means he wouldn't have done well leaving the whole decision to Abarco.

Ferrer Maillol would, if he were alone, massage his forehead.

It's Abarco, Sevar, or Maillol himself, and any of those three people screwing up gets Maillol equally blamed for it, which leaves the pure and simple question of which of the three is least likely to fuck up.  Maillol is pretty sure that's not him, which leaves the other two.

In the end, what decides him is simply that Abarco called Keltham 'insane'.  It's not a judgment conducive to making the kind of detailed predictions necessary for the actual moment-to-moment decisions.

"Asmodeus help you and me, Sevar, I'm making it your call.  Your goal directives are as follows: prioritize the amount of time we get before this falls down and Keltham breaks with us.  Secondary priority, if possible, try to make Keltham think that he should take you or some other loyal woman with him if he leaves us.  Do not bother worrying about Keltham's opinion of Cheliax after the whole thing blows up.  He won't be happy, ship sailed.  Just make sure we get as much as we can from him before then."

"Abarco.  Advise Sevar well on this and all related matters, and report to me if you think she's fucking it up.  If this project dies early and it looks like it was even slightly your fault for sabotaging her, I will make damned sure you die before I do."

"Balaguerre.  Sevar gets transcripts of Keltham's words and his thoughts on remaining occasions where we read his thoughts.  Sevar gets consulted on Keltham analysis and policy if there's time.  Sevar takes initiative on answering him if she's inside the room.  Sevar gets reports on any other decisions that get made without her about what to tell him and why."

"And give Sevar her fucking intelligence headband if we have a spare on hand.  If we don't, give her a Fox's Cunning so she has something to work with for a few minutes while trying to make the call on Keltham.  Then message at the next regular report that I want an intelligence headband delivered soonest, and if it's not here inside twenty-four hours then I will go looking for it and nobody wants to be there when I come looking."  Maillol wishes he could just grab an intelligence headband from any of these dozen fucking wizards who'll make less important use of it, but that is escalating way beyond just setting somebody on fire for a few hours, or at least wizards act that way.

Elias Abarco has brought up additional points that Sevar didn't bring up, which complicates this already-painful decision.  And Abarco didn't bring up the critical point about only telling Keltham the sad little facts that are true in other countries, not just in Cheliax, which means he wouldn't have done well leaving the whole decision to Abarco.

Ferrer Maillol would, if he were alone, massage his forehead.

It's Abarco, Sevar, or Maillol himself, and any of those three people screwing up gets Maillol equally blamed for it, which leaves the pure and simple question of which of the three is least likely to fuck up.  Maillol is pretty sure that's not him, which brings it down to two.

In the end, what decides him is simply that Abarco called Keltham 'insane'.  It's not a judgment conducive to making the kind of detailed predictions necessary for the actual moment-to-moment decisions.

"Asmodeus help you and me, Sevar, I'm making it your call.  Your goal directives are as follows: prioritize the amount of time we get before this falls down and Keltham breaks with us.  Secondary priority, if possible, try to make Keltham think that he should take you or some other loyal woman with him if he leaves us.  Do not bother worrying about Keltham's opinion of Cheliax after the whole thing blows up.  He won't be happy, ship sailed.  Just make sure we get as much as we can from him before then."

"Abarco.  Advise Sevar well on this and all related matters, and report to me if you think she's fucking it up.  If this project dies early and it looks like it was even slightly your fault for sabotaging her, I will make damned sure you die before I do."

"Balaguerre.  Sevar gets transcripts of Keltham's words and his thoughts on remaining occasions where we read his thoughts.  Sevar gets consulted on Keltham analysis and policy if there's time.  Sevar takes initiative on answering him if she's inside the room.  Sevar gets reports on any other decisions that get made without her about what to tell him and why."

"And give Sevar her fucking intelligence headband if we have a spare on hand.  If we don't, give her a Fox's Cunning so she has something to work with for a few minutes while trying to make the call on Keltham.  Then message at the next regular report that I want an intelligence headband delivered soonest, and if it's not here inside twenty-four hours then I will go looking for it and nobody wants to be there when I come looking."  Maillol wishes he could just grab an intelligence headband from any of these dozen fucking wizards who'll make less important use of it, but that is escalating way beyond just setting somebody on fire for a few hours, or at least wizards act that way.

Elias Abarco has brought up additional points that Sevar didn't bring up, which complicates this already-painful decision.  And Abarco didn't bring up the critical point about only telling Keltham the sad little facts that are true in other countries, not just in Cheliax, which means he wouldn't have done well leaving the whole decision to Abarco.

Ferrer Maillol would, if he were alone, massage his forehead.

It's Abarco, Sevar, or Maillol himself, and any of those three people screwing up gets Maillol equally blamed for it, which leaves the pure and simple question of which of the three is least likely to fuck up.  Maillol is pretty sure that's not him, which brings it down to two.

In the end, what decides him is simply that Abarco called Keltham 'insane'.  It's not a judgment conducive to making the kind of detailed predictions necessary for the actual moment-to-moment decisions.

"Asmodeus help you and me, Sevar, I'm making it your call.  Your goal directives are as follows: prioritize the amount of time we get before this falls down and Keltham breaks with us.  Secondary priority, if possible, try to make Keltham think that he should take you or some other loyal woman with him if he leaves us.  Do not bother worrying about Keltham's opinion of Cheliax after the whole thing blows up.  He won't be happy, ship sailed.  Just make sure we get as much as we can from him before then."

"Abarco.  Advise Sevar well on this and all related matters, and report to me if you think she's fucking it up.  If this project dies early and it looks like it was even slightly your fault for sabotaging her, I will make damned sure you die before I do."

"Balaguerre.  Sevar gets transcripts of Keltham's words, and his thoughts on remaining occasions where we read his thoughts.  Sevar gets consulted on Keltham analysis and policy if there's time.  Sevar takes initiative on answering him if she's inside the room.  Sevar gets reports on any other decisions that get made without her about what to tell him and why."

"And give Sevar her fucking intelligence headband if we have a spare on hand.  If we don't, give her a Fox's Cunning so she has something to work with for a few minutes while trying to make the call on Keltham.  Then message at the next regular report that I want an intelligence headband delivered soonest, and if it's not here inside twenty-four hours then I will go looking for it and nobody wants to be there when I come looking."  Maillol wishes he could just grab an intelligence headband from any of these dozen fucking wizards who'll make less important use of it, but that is escalating way beyond just setting somebody on fire for a few hours, or at least wizards act that way.

Elias Abarco has brought up additional points that Sevar didn't bring up, which complicates this already-painful decision.  And Abarco didn't bring up the critical point about only telling Keltham the sad little facts that are true in other countries, not just in Cheliax, which means he wouldn't have done well leaving the whole decision to Abarco.

Ferrer Maillol would, if he were alone, massage his forehead.

The Asmodean style of tyranny is not about being unable to make decisions.  Those are weak tyrants.  There has to a single decision-maker on point, as is both efficient and Asmodean.  That designated person must be Abarco, Sevar, or Maillol himself, and any of those three people screwing up gets Maillol equally blamed for it, which leaves the pure and simple question of which of the three is least likely to fuck up.  Maillol is pretty sure that's not him, which brings it down to two.

In the end, what decides him is simply that Abarco called Keltham 'insane'.  It's not a judgment conducive to making the kind of detailed predictions necessary for the actual moment-to-moment decisions.

"Asmodeus help you and me, Sevar, I'm making it your call.  Your goal directives are as follows: prioritize the amount of time we get before this falls down and Keltham breaks with us.  Secondary priority, if possible, try to make Keltham think that he should take you or some other loyal woman with him if he leaves us.  Do not bother worrying about Keltham's opinion of Cheliax after the whole thing blows up.  He won't be happy, ship sailed.  Just make sure we get as much as we can from him before then."

"Abarco.  Advise Sevar well on this and all related matters, and report to me if you think she's fucking it up.  If this project dies early and it looks like it was even slightly your fault for sabotaging her, I will make damned sure you die before I do."

"Balaguerre.  Sevar gets transcripts of Keltham's words, and his thoughts on remaining occasions where we read his thoughts.  Sevar gets consulted on Keltham analysis and policy if there's time.  Sevar takes initiative on answering him if she's inside the room.  Sevar gets reports on any other decisions that get made without her about what to tell him and why."

"And give Sevar her fucking intelligence headband if we have a spare on hand.  If we don't, give her a Fox's Cunning so she has something to work with for a few minutes while trying to make the call on Keltham.  Then message at the next regular report that I want an intelligence headband delivered soonest, and if it's not here inside twenty-four hours then I will go looking for it and nobody wants to be there when I come looking."  Maillol wishes he could just grab an intelligence headband from any of these dozen fucking wizards who'll make less important use of it, but that is escalating way beyond just setting somebody on fire for a few hours, or at least wizards act that way.

Elias Abarco has brought up additional points that Sevar didn't bring up, which complicates this already-painful decision.  And Abarco didn't bring up the critical point about only telling Keltham the sad little facts that are true in other countries, not just in Cheliax, which means he wouldn't have done well leaving the whole decision to Abarco.

Ferrer Maillol would, if he were alone, massage his forehead.

The Asmodean style of tyranny is not about spreading around responsibility so nobody seems to be at fault for making bad decisions.  Those are weak tyrannies.  There must be a single decision-maker on point, as is both efficient and Asmodean.  That designated person must be Abarco, Sevar, or Maillol himself, and any of those three people screwing up gets Maillol equally blamed for it, which leaves the pure and simple question of which of the three is least likely to fuck up.  Maillol is pretty sure that's not him, which brings it down to two.

In the end, what decides him is simply that Abarco called Keltham 'insane'.  It's not a judgment conducive to making the kind of detailed predictions necessary for the actual moment-to-moment decisions.

"Asmodeus help you and me, Sevar, I'm making it your call.  Your goal directives are as follows: prioritize the amount of time we get before this falls down and Keltham breaks with us.  Secondary priority, if possible, try to make Keltham think that he should take you or some other loyal woman with him if he leaves us.  Do not bother worrying about Keltham's opinion of Cheliax after the whole thing blows up.  He won't be happy, ship sailed.  Just make sure we get as much as we can from him before then."

"Abarco.  Advise Sevar well on this and all related matters, and report to me if you think she's fucking it up.  If this project dies early and it looks like it was even slightly your fault for sabotaging her, I will make damned sure you die before I do."

"Balaguerre.  Sevar gets transcripts of Keltham's words, and his thoughts on remaining occasions where we read his thoughts.  Sevar gets consulted on Keltham analysis and policy if there's time.  Sevar takes initiative on answering him if she's inside the room.  Sevar gets reports on any other decisions that get made without her about what to tell him and why."

"And give Sevar her fucking intelligence headband if we have a spare on hand.  If we don't, give her a Fox's Cunning so she has something to work with for a few minutes while trying to make the call on Keltham.  Then message at the next regular report that I want an intelligence headband delivered soonest, and if it's not here inside twenty-four hours then I will go looking for it and nobody wants to be there when I come looking."  Maillol wishes he could just grab an intelligence headband from any of these dozen fucking wizards who'll make less important use of it, but that is escalating way beyond just setting somebody on fire for a few hours, or at least wizards act that way.

Elias Abarco has brought up additional points that Sevar didn't bring up, which complicates this already-painful decision.  And Abarco didn't bring up the critical point about only telling Keltham the sad little facts that are true in other countries, not just in Cheliax, which means he wouldn't have done well leaving the whole decision to Abarco.

Ferrer Maillol would, if he were alone, massage his forehead.

The Asmodean style of tyranny is not about spreading around responsibility so nobody seems to be at fault for making bad decisions.  Those are weak tyrannies.  There must be a single decision-maker on point, as is both efficient and Asmodean.  That designated person must be Abarco, Sevar, or Maillol himself, and any of those three people screwing up gets Maillol equally blamed for it, which leaves the pure and simple question of which of the three is least likely to fuck up.  Maillol is pretty sure that's not him, which brings it down to two.

In the end, what decides him is simply that Abarco called Keltham 'insane'.  It's not a judgment conducive to making the kind of detailed predictions necessary for the actual moment-to-moment decisions.

"Asmodeus help you and me, Sevar, I'm making it your call.  Your goal directives are as follows: prioritize the amount of time we get before this falls down and Keltham breaks with us.  Secondary priority, if possible, try to make Keltham think that he should take you or some other loyal woman with him if he leaves us.  Do not bother worrying about Keltham's opinion of Cheliax after the whole thing blows up.  He won't be happy, ship sailed.  Just make sure we get as much as we can from him before then."

"Abarco.  Advise Sevar well on this and all related matters, and report to me if you think she's fucking it up.  If this project fails early and it looks like it was even slightly your fault for sabotaging her, I will make damned sure you die before I do."

"Balaguerre.  Sevar gets transcripts of Keltham's words, and his thoughts on remaining occasions where we read his thoughts.  Sevar gets consulted on Keltham analysis and policy if there's time.  Sevar takes initiative on answering him if she's inside the room.  Sevar gets reports on any other decisions that get made without her about what to tell him and why."

"And give Sevar her fucking intelligence headband if we have a spare on hand.  If we don't, give her a Fox's Cunning so she has something to work with for a few minutes while trying to make the call on Keltham.  Then message at the next regular report that I want an intelligence headband delivered soonest, and if it's not here inside twenty-four hours then I will go looking for it and nobody wants to be there when I come looking."  Maillol wishes he could just grab an intelligence headband from any of these dozen fucking wizards who'll make less important use of it, but that is escalating way beyond just setting somebody on fire for a few hours, or at least wizards act that way.

Elias Abarco has brought up additional points that Sevar didn't bring up, which complicates this already-painful decision.  And Abarco didn't bring up the critical point about only telling Keltham the sad little facts that are true in other countries, not just in Cheliax, which means he wouldn't have done well leaving the whole decision to Abarco.

Ferrer Maillol would, if he were alone, massage his forehead.

The Asmodean style of tyranny is not about spreading around responsibility so nobody seems to be at fault for making bad decisions.  Those are weak tyrannies.  There must be a single decision-maker on point, as is both efficient and Asmodean.  That designated person must be Abarco, Sevar, or Maillol himself, and any of those three people screwing up gets Maillol equally blamed for it, which leaves the pure and simple question of which of the three is least likely to fuck up.  Maillol is pretty sure that's not him, which brings it down to two.

In the end, what decides him is simply that Abarco called Keltham 'insane'.  It's not a judgment conducive to making the kind of detailed predictions necessary for the actual moment-to-moment decisions.

"Asmodeus help you and me, Sevar, I'm making it your call.  Your goal directives are as follows: prioritize the amount of time we get before this falls down and Keltham breaks with us.  Secondary priority, if possible, try to make Keltham think that he should take you or some other loyal woman with him if he leaves us.  Do not bother worrying about Keltham's opinion of Cheliax after the whole thing blows up.  He won't be happy, ship sailed.  Just make sure we get as much as we can from him before then."

"Abarco.  Advise Sevar well on this and all related matters, and report to me if you think she's fucking it up.  If this project fails early and it looks like it was even slightly your fault for sabotaging her, I will make damned sure you die before I do."

"Balaguerre.  Sevar gets transcripts of Keltham's words, and his thoughts on remaining occasions where we read his thoughts.  Sevar gets consulted on Keltham analysis and policy if there's time.  Sevar takes initiative on answering him if she's inside the room.  Sevar gets reports on any other decisions that get made without her about what to tell him and why."

"And give Sevar her fucking intelligence headband if we have a spare on hand.  If we don't, give her a Fox's Cunning so she has something to work with for a few minutes while trying to make the call on Keltham.  Then message at the next regular report that I want an intelligence headband delivered soonest, and if it's not here inside twenty-four hours then I will go looking for it and nobody wants to be there when I come looking."  Maillol wishes he could just grab an intelligence headband from any of these dozen fucking wizards who'll make less important use of it, but that is escalating way beyond just setting somebody on fire for a few hours, or at least wizards act that way.

Elias Abarco has brought up additional points that Sevar didn't bring up, which complicates this already-painful decision.  And Abarco didn't bring up the critical point about only telling Keltham the sad little facts that are true in other countries, not just in Cheliax, which means he wouldn't have done well leaving the whole decision to Abarco.

Ferrer Maillol would, if he were alone, massage his forehead.

The Asmodean style of tyranny is not about spreading around responsibility so nobody seems to be at fault for making bad decisions.  Those are weak tyrannies.  There must be a single decision-maker on point, as is both efficient and Asmodean.  That designated person must be Abarco, Sevar, or Maillol himself, and any of those three people screwing up gets Maillol equally blamed for it, which leaves the pure and simple question of which of the three is least likely to fuck up.  Maillol is pretty sure that's not himself, which brings it down to two.

In the end, what decides him is simply that Abarco called Keltham 'insane'.  It's not a judgment conducive to making the kind of detailed predictions necessary for the actual moment-to-moment decisions.

"Asmodeus help you and me, Sevar, I'm making it your call.  Your goal directives are as follows: prioritize the amount of time we get before this falls down and Keltham breaks with us.  Secondary priority, if possible, try to make Keltham think that he should take you or some other loyal woman with him if he leaves us.  Do not bother worrying about Keltham's opinion of Cheliax after the whole thing blows up.  He won't be happy, ship sailed.  Just make sure we get as much as we can from him before then."

"Abarco.  Advise Sevar well on this and all related matters, and report to me if you think she's fucking it up.  If this project fails early and it looks like it was even slightly your fault for sabotaging her, I will make damned sure you die before I do."

"Balaguerre.  Sevar gets transcripts of Keltham's words, and his thoughts on remaining occasions where we make the call to risk reading his thoughts.  Sevar gets consulted on Keltham analysis and policy if there's time.  Sevar takes initiative on answering him if she's inside the room.  Sevar gets reports on any other decisions that get made without her about what to tell him and why."

"And give Sevar her fucking intelligence headband if we have a spare on hand.  If we don't, give her a Fox's Cunning so she has something to work with for a few minutes while trying to make the call on Keltham.  Then message at the next regular report that I want an intelligence headband delivered soonest, and if it's not here inside twenty-four hours then I will go looking for it and nobody wants to be there when I come looking."  Maillol wishes he could just grab an intelligence headband from any of these dozen fucking wizards who'll make less important use of it, but that is escalating way beyond just setting somebody on fire for a few hours, or at least wizards act that way.

Elias Abarco has brought up additional points that Sevar didn't bring up, which complicates this already-painful decision.  And Abarco didn't bring up the critical point about only telling Keltham the sad little facts that are true in other countries, not just in Cheliax, which means he wouldn't have done well leaving the whole decision to Abarco.

Ferrer Maillol would, if he were alone, massage his forehead.

The Asmodean style of tyranny is not about spreading around responsibility so nobody seems to be at fault for making bad decisions.  Those are weak tyrannies.  There must be a single decision-maker on point, as is both efficient and Asmodean.  That designated person must be Abarco, Sevar, or Maillol himself, and any of those three people screwing up gets Maillol equally blamed for it, which leaves the pure and simple question of which of the three is least likely to fuck up.  Maillol is pretty sure that's not himself, which brings it down to two.

In the end, what decides him is simply that Abarco called Keltham 'insane'.  It's not a judgment conducive to making the kind of detailed predictions necessary for the actual moment-to-moment decisions.

"Asmodeus help you and me, Sevar, I'm making it your call.  Your goal directives are as follows: prioritize the amount of time we get before this falls down and Keltham breaks with us.  Secondary priority, if possible, try to make Keltham think that he should take you or some other loyal woman with him if he leaves us.  Do not bother worrying about Keltham's opinion of Cheliax after the whole thing blows up.  He won't be happy, ship sailed.  Just make sure we get as much as we can from him before then."

"Abarco.  Advise Sevar well on this and all related matters, and report to me if you think she's fucking it up.  If this project fails early and it looks like it was even slightly your fault for sabotaging her, I will make damned sure you die before I do."

"Balaguerre.  Sevar gets transcripts of Keltham's words, and his thoughts on remaining occasions where we make the call to risk reading his thoughts.  Sevar gets consulted on Keltham analysis and policy if there's time.  Sevar takes initiative on answering him if she's inside the room.  Sevar gets reports on any other decisions that get made without her about what to tell him and why."

"And give Sevar her fucking intelligence headband if we have a spare on hand.  If we don't, give her a Fox's Cunning so she has something to work with for a few minutes while trying to make the call on Keltham.  Then message at the next regular report that I want an intelligence headband delivered soonest, and if it's not here inside twenty-four hours then I will go looking for it and nobody wants to be there when I come looking."  Maillol wishes he could just grab an intelligence headband from any of these fucking wizards who'll make less important use of it, but that is escalating way beyond just setting somebody on fire for a few hours, or at least wizards act that way.