Chelish diplomats, unlike virtually anybody else in Cheliax, have training in how to not lie unless there's an actual reason for it.  Is there a reason for it here?  He needs a snap decision and Antonio's snap decision is that they don't want her obsessing about a problem that doesn't exist at the expense of all the other technology she might helpfully try to teach them.

"When people die, their 'soul', which - I think contains their directed-continuity-of-experience though I'm not sure I quite understand the word, it maps onto 'soul' if it maps onto anything in my language - goes to one of the nine major places-people-go-when-they-are-dead, possibly to the realm of some particular 'god' if they -"  No word for 'worshipped'.  "- were associated with that 'god' during their lifetimes."

Chelish diplomats, unlike virtually anybody else in Cheliax, have training in how to not lie unless there's an actual reason for it.  Is there a reason for it here?  He needs a snap decision and Antonio's snap decision is that they don't want her obsessing about a problem that doesn't exist at the expense of all the other technology she might helpfully try to teach them.  If they want Merrin altruistically motivated to sign rushed agreements, later, Cheliax can exhibit or produce any number of people in conditions she will find terribly distressing.

"When people die, their 'soul', which - I think contains their directed-continuity-of-experience though I'm not sure I quite understand the word, it maps onto 'soul' if it maps onto anything in my language - goes to one of the nine major places-people-go-when-they-are-dead, possibly to the realm of some particular 'god' if they -"  No word for 'worshipped'.  "- were associated with that 'god' during their lifetimes."

Chelish diplomats, unlike virtually anybody else in Cheliax, have training in how to not lie unless there's an actual reason for it.  Is there a reason for it here?  He needs a snap decision and Antonio's snap decision is that they don't want her obsessing about a problem that doesn't exist at the expense of all the other technology she might helpfully try to teach them.  If they want Merrin altruistically motivated to sign rushed agreements, later, Cheliax can exhibit or produce any number of people in conditions she will find terribly distressing.

"When people die, their 'soul', which - I think contains their directed-continuity-of-experience though I'm not sure I quite understand the word, it maps onto 'soul' if it maps onto anything in my language - goes to one of the nine major places-people-go-when-they-are-dead, possibly to the realm of some particular 'god' if they -"  No word for 'worshipped', no remotely neighboring concept.  "- were associated with that 'god' during their lifetimes."