Whereas Steel. . . has pretty much allied himself against all the remaining Elders of the Order, so he might have been asking for it in more than one way.
Seems like you placed Steel in a fairly difficult situation. If Steel had said to Velax, "Yeah, we'd love your help, but don't bring Sorraine. We don't like their religion," Velax would have had to think long and hard about whether he still wanted to provide aid. Worst case scenario, Steel following the directives of the Order of the Elders elders (hee) meant Zonasa fighting Cathay and Kindara alone.
