• Open • Council Meeting: Ashan 720

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

Timestamp: 8th of Ashan, 720
Location:Almund Council Hall

Kura's gaze was calm and collected as she watched the Council Hall fill up. Kura had guessed, given her preference for Scalvoris Town over Almund in the past, that many had expected her to hold Council meetings in Scalvoris Town. However, Almund was the capital, and as such was the proper place for scheduled meetings. The current meeting was, of course, a seasonal fixture, when every member of the Scalvoris government got together to work out new laws and plan out the future of the island. Mostly, these meeting should be a fairly routine affair, but her time as a member of the Scalvoris government had taught Kura that there was no such thing as "routine" on Scalvoris. Even by those standards, however, there were going to be a lot of eyes on this meeting. There were four new members of the Scalvoris Council, and two members, including Kura herself, had changed position in the last meeting. Kura was the new Albarech, replacing the highly popular Brandel as head of the Scalvoris government. She had proven a capable head of Foreign Affairs, but she still had to prove herself in her new roles.

Now, as the group filled up, Kura looked for Brandel in the audience, as the old man was still technically her advisor. She gave him a smile and nod when she found him, hoping he still had confidence in choosing her as his successor. Then she looked down at the list in front of her, the agenda for the meeting. It was definitely going to be a busy meeting, especially when she made her play with the information that Brandel had given her after the last meeting. She had already brought Shania into her confidence regarding such information, given Shania was taking over Fraear's role as Accountant. Plus Shania was a very stable sort and had been one of the better regional councilors, if not the best, before her move to Accountant.

As the Council started to file in, Kura looked up at them and smiled. Once everyone was seated, she stood up. "Hello, everyone. I hope you all had an enjoyable Cylus, and for our new members, I hope you've all settled into the day-to-day affairs of Council business." she said, her tone calm and measured. Kura was, by nature, very calm and level-headed, and she figured that might be needed before the night was over. However, before they got to her own matters, she looked at the newest members of the Council. "All four of our newest members have put forward at least proposal they wish to discuss. Given their status as our newest members, I feel it is best to let them come forward first. Devout Tio," she said, picking Tio first since he had sent in his item for the agenda first, "you have the floor." she said, sitting back down.

[Tio Silver]

Who would have guessed that being a religious leader would be so much work?

Tio frowned at the thought, disguising the expression by stretching out like a cat as he took his seat in the council hall. In the past season he'd had an endless stream of people from all across the island, priests and peasants alike, coming to him for consultation about how to appease certain Immortals, or warning him of terrible omens they were sure was a sign of imminent divine wrath. Truth be told the vast majority of it was utter bollocks. People seemed to be under the impression that the Immortals they offered prayer to were paying specific attention to them; were instantly alert of any infractions they committed against their moral conduct. It was a bit silly really. The amount of times he'd had to repeat than no, Mrs Miggins, Xiur isn't going to personally descend from the sky to slap you around the face for getting a bit depressed about your son not coming round to visit often enough, was frankly ridiculous.

Other religious leaders probably didn't have it this hard. When you only worshipped a handful of Immortals then the actions you should take to keep them happy were usually pretty clear. Scalvoris, however, had to uphold that annoying Pilgrim's Promise, stating that every Immortal would be equally represented and legally allowed to worship; even the genocidal ones. This meant that if you put a bit of thought into it you could find a reason why any action might incur the wrath of the gods. Throw the guy who threw up on the Glass Tree in jail? Ashan would be angry. Don't throw the guy who threw up on the Glass Tree in jail? Belaera would be angry! There was no winning! It was like standing on top of a ball: try and take on step forward and you risk throwing the whole balance off.

Things would be so much easier if everyone just worshipped me.

Alas, that was unlikely to be happening anytime soon. Who'd worship an Immortal who hadn't even figured out what his own domains were yet? For now he'd just have to grit his teeth and hope that one day all this experience dealing with whiny cultists came in handy.

His attention turned to Kura as she began the council meeting by inviting him to come forward with his proposal first, and a wolfish grin flashed across his face. Now this was going to be good at least. If he was to do politics he was going to do it his way: big, flashy and slightly illegally, and this proposal was the embodiment of that. It was a way to keep the public happy and entertained for generations to come; to create jobs and tourism to boost the economy; and to create a platform from which to capture the public's attention all in one go! It would be his masterpiece, even if the link it had to religion was tenuous at best.

"Thank you boss." He announced, shooting up to his feet and drawing every ounce of persuasive skill he had into a charming smile as he as he took the floor. "Good morning fellow council members. I'd like kick things off this morning by discussing a proposal of mine. In recent arcs Scalvoris Town has grown into a veritable cultural melting pot: a hotbed of travellers from across the world. Thanks to the Viden Academy we've been enjoying quite a bit of interest from foreign nations, and the trade of wares created in the outer villages seems to have greatly benefited from this tourism. I believe there is an opportunity here to do three things: strengthen the economy, increase Scalvoris' reputation, and provide the populace with a much welcomed sense of security after all the dangers that have been hitting our island these past few arcs. With the council's permission, and funding, I would like to construct a great arena in Scalvoris Town!..."

And so Tio began to explain his plan to build a great arena outside of Scalvoris Town: an stadium that would play host to a series of games during Cylus and a range of other events across the rest of the year. When he was done debate broke out among the council, discussing how it would be funded, where it would be located, what measures had to be put in place to protect gladiators and beasts, and all sorts of other issues. It took quite a bit of discussion, but eventually the council seemed to satisfied that everything had been discussed to their liking.

"So, to summarise," Tio began.

"The arena will be built halfway along the road between Scalvoris Town and Havardr.
Singers and entertainers from across the island will be offered opportunities to perform at this venue in order to help them build recognition.
The crowning purpose will be a series of games spanning the entirety of Cylus every year, however the arena will be open for other events all around the year.
All villages can sell their wares in or around the arena.
The materials and funding will be taken from the Logging Consortium. Egilrun will be offered the majority of contracts for building the arena. Havardr and Beacon will be offered contracts to supply food.
Using animals for combat can only be done with the councillor for natural affair's permission.
Games will be created that each village and city, and the elements, can field a team for, in order to promote unity and healthy competition."

"If that's everything then I would like to call a vote on this matter. Could every member of the council please call 'yay', 'nay' or 'abstain'.

[Devin]

Devin was not calm and collected; on the contrary, he was nearly brimming with excitement and he walked into the council hall with a spring in his step and a huge smile on his face because he was looking forward to holding the little speech that he had prepared. Initially, he had only applied for a seat on the council because his rival, the Avriel bard Kalortah, had and not because he was passionate about politics, but he’d actually begun to enjoy it. Politics were like a big show, and he loved being in a show and being the center of attention!

Due to the fact that he loved being the center of attention and being admired by everybody, he had dressed in his newest, most fashionable outfit. He was wearing a black tunic made of some sort of floaty fabric that would likely remind the people that had been there vaguely of the style of Melrath, black pants and ankle boots, and there was a hat on his head of course, because hats were all the rage in Scalvoris at the moment.

There was a feather that might or might not have been an Avriel feather on his hat; and what more, he wore a midnight black cloak that had three rainbow colored poodles embroidered on it, because rainbow-colored poodles were in fashion as well at the moment. They were quite well done. In fact, they nearly appeared to be alive and ready to jump off his cloak. He doubted that anybody on the island had such an awesome garment!

Since he didn’t only want to look fashionable, but also competent (he wanted to prove that he was a better councilor than Kalortah, after all), he had also tucked a folder that contained his notes as well as several interesting essays on the education system of Scalvoris and education in general under his arm. He put it on the table in front of him, provided that he had a table, and didn’t just have to put everything on his knees, before he took a seat and watched his new colleagues enter the council hall and finally pulled his cigar case out of a pocket.

“Want one?” he asked the Albarech as he had heard that she was quite fond of having a little smoke herself every once in a while, before he leaned back in order to listen to the first proposal that was made by Tio. The new Devout didn’t walk, he was floating which he found fairly strange. At least he thought that he was floating. None of the other councilors even batted an eyelid when Tio came forward which made him wonder if he was actually imagining things and if he had drunk too much the evening before. Tio had been floating the first time he had been at the council hall as well though.

Could you have the same hallucination twice?

Either way, once he had recovered from the surprise of seeing Tio float, he was actually a bit envious because he couldn’t float, and he couldn’t fly like Kalortah either – and he actually listened to what the Devout said. He had thought that most councilors were boring and old-fashioned and conservative; Tio seemed like a fun person though, and what more his proposal sounded as if it might be slightly illegal. He loved illegal things!

“That sounds great!” he remarked once the floating guy had finished speaking. “If you need a bit of help when it comes to the singers and entertainers, let me know. I’m quite a skilled entertainer myself!” he said, smiling brightly. He wasn’t lying. Devin was a skilled entertainer. In fact, he was an exceptionally skilled bard and much better than feather-face. It seemed as if people were waiting for something though. He looked at them for a moment, furrowing his brow slightly before he brightly exclaimed, “Yay!”

Having done that, he stepped forward. “I’m next, am I not?” he asked before he started to speak anyway. “I’d like to propose a school reform!” he announced. “I’ve been told that, starting from age five, children learn the value of sitting in rows and keeping quiet. Let someone who has only left school a few arcs ago tell you that – there is no value in sitting in rows and keeping quiet. Sitting in rows and keeping quiet doesn’t make you excited about your education. It just makes you hate school!”

Devin was speaking from experience. He had hated school with a passion, and he had considered it to be absolutely useless. School hadn’t prepared him for success, and the teachers hadn’t taught him anything interesting; he had just gotten so frustrated that he had wanted to punch people – and eventually he had stopped showing up on a regular basis and started to rob people instead. There wouldn’t have been a point in going to school anyway. His family had been too poor to pay for university.

He didn’t want any other children to suffer the way that he had!

So, without further ado, he continued, “School needs to be fun! Children don’t want to sit still for breaks, they want to play and move – they need to play and move and explore the outside world every once in a while! So, I propose that we add sports, and musical education to the curriculum, among other things. I also propose that we make teachers actually interact with the students rather than standing in front of the blackboard and holding monologues. I know that you are probably wondering how we are going to finance all that! Well, have you ever taken a look at the island? We have all those weird sands and stones and plants!”

“It’s about time we start marketing them as alchemical resources!” he proclaimed, mentally congratulating himself on his great money-making idea, when feather-face suddenly raised his voice. He decided to ignore his stupid comment, but chose to address Shania’s comment instead. She talked about how the purpose of education was to prepare children for work which was something that he strongly disagreed with. He would even have disagreed with it if he hadn’t hated work, but actually been a productive member of society!

“Well, yes. That’s pretty much what the education system seems to be about right now”, he spoke. “But it’s doing an incredibly bad job at it. Learning math formulas by heart and being forced to read books that you normally wouldn’t even take a look at doesn’t prepare you for having a job; it just turns you into a mindless, braindead zombie. And anyway, the ultimate purpose of education shouldn’t be to prepare children to join the workforce, it should be to open their minds and make them curious about the world and life and everything it has to offer.”

“Five-arc-olds shouldn’t have to think about work and jobs and taxes and other things either way. As for the Albarech’s comment regarding encouraging a student’s mind” he continued, nodding at Kura. “Wouldn’t games do that? The children could reenact important historical events and pretend to be different historical figures, for example. They might actually have fun! Councilor Shania asked if I am suggesting a single curriculum for Scalvoris”, he said and gestured towards her. “I think that would be a good idea. Different parts of our island having different education systems doesn’t make any sense.”

Of course, that statement caused another debate. Kalortah actually said something about how those that couldn’t or didn’t want to confirm were obviously mentally defective and should be trained for manual labor which caused Devin to mutter something under his breath before he informed him in no uncertain terms, “In my opinion, people who can’t think for themselves, don’t have a personality and never raise their voice are mentally defective and not the other way round. Why on Idalos do you want to use people that can’t conform for manual labor anyway? That doesn’t make any sense. They’d just rebel and refuse to work for you! You should use the people that enjoy sitting in rows and carrying out menial tasks for that!”

“They’d probably love that!”

Having said that, he turned to address the Albarech’s next concern. She advised against limiting the education system to one single method of teaching being universally used which he actually agreed with. In his opinion it would be a good idea to make certain concessions to the children’s preferences and personalities as well as to their cultural background.

Finally, it was time to vote.

And they voted yes!

He hadn’t … actually, he had expected that outcome because he was an awesome councilor.

So, the Mortalborn who thought that he was just the victim of a magical accident beamed at his colleagues and bowed deeply as if he had just delivered a great performance. When he returned to his seat, he walked past Kalortah who was probably in a really bad mood right now because people had actually liked his proposal, smiled at him innocently and held his cigar case out to him, mostly because he didn’t seem to approve of smoking. “Want one?” he asked.

[Kalortah]

"Are we running this as a cigar club?" Kalortah coughs at the scent of smoke as Devin offered him the vile stick of rolled leaf... The nerve of that bard? Had he no notion of propriety? And didn't he know smoking was bad for one's voice?! "You all may be content to sound like old men who drink sand, but some of us make a living on the sound of our voice? Smoke is bad for your voice. It'll make the throat all raw, and yes..." Kalortah squirms uncomfortably as Devin continues to smoke.

Nevertheless, he had a job to do, and was determined to do it well and to the best of his ability. He was to bring up an issue of relevance to the council about the Desnind Delegation.

"Anyway, I'd like to bring the next issue up to the table." Kalortah began, clearing his throat as best he could while the smoke wafted his way. "The emmisaries from Desnind will be arriving anyday. As Foreign Relations Councilor, it falls to me to welcome these folk. I hear they will be bringing an exchange of scholars in terms of people and material goods in exchange for whatever we have to offer... As you are aware, Desninders do not deal in nel. Are there any issues the council wishes me to bring before these emmisaries?"

"None from me." Said the Devout.

Then, not unexpectedly, the one Sev'ryn on council began to speak. The Natural Affairs Councilor, "I have some matters I'd like to hear their opinions on... and I wouldn't mind approaching them to discuss a potential arrangement. An offering of an exchange."

"First, for those unaware, there are rumours running around of... well, we're not entirely sure what they are, but sightings suggest animals imbued with powers of the elements. As someone that has faced creatures such as these in Rharne, there known as Flameborn, this is no laughing matter; I hold nothing but sincerity when I say that approaching these things unprepared could lead to the destruction of Scalvoris." His face was especially grave. "Investigations will begin shortly, I've made arrangements beforehand. But seeing as these creatures have some connections to plantlife and forests, I would like to hear the opinions of the Nafaka and Tsabar."

"Secondly, Desnind currently holds a monopoly over the population of Flutterbuses... but barring them, lack any other flying creatures at their disposal. To hold control over a couple more Flutterbuses and arrange further routes within the islands, and of course to other nations, could quarter the time otherwise needed for travellers. If it is alright with our emissaries, and our own Menagerie, an exchange of single-mount flyers for their twenty-mount beasts of burden would be a massive boost for our economy... and I don't need to tell you how vital establishing a breeding pair would be in that endeavour."

"Hmmm... I could try and persuade them. I feel we'll need a substantial gift in order to gain a breeding pair." Kalortah tapped his chin, "Perhaps there's something they already want."

Tio simply suggested, "Alcohol."

The Councilor of Natural Affairs ignored Tio's suggestion, but went on to speak to Kalortah, "That, I leave entirely in your capable hands. I wholeheartedly believe that given a pair and a little more manpower, we could make something of even a single Flutterbus offspring. Their value is not to be underestimated."

"Yes, they are very fast on the wing." Kalortah said, "I spent my hunting arcs in Desnind and I have seen them in flight myself. I couldn't hope to out pace them, as strong as my wings are..."

"Come to think of it I don't recall there being a library or similar such building in Desnid. Perhaps they'd appreciate books or other technologies they could put to use?"

Tio spoke next, "The Sev'ryn have a strong oral tradition for the transmission of knowledge from what I know. But perhaps books would be appreciated. Certainly they'll enjoy the many resources we have to offer." Tio said, actually making a decent offer.

Devin was the next to chime in, and it grated Kalortah that he actually made a decent suggestion that he couldn't disagree with, "Medicine. Send a few doctors to Desnind. I worked as a specialist for Northern Medicine in Desnind for a while, and they were really curious about how we do things!" smokes some more and offers Kalortah a cigar,mostly because he doesn't approve of smoking

"... Medicine? Northern medicine has its charms, to be certain, but you'd be better off trying to sell alcohol to Rharne." The Natural Affairs Councilor said "... or racism to Rynmere."

Kalortah smirked, and then chimed in, perhaps unwisely, "Or slaves to Athart."

Tio was next, "Or pirated good here."

Shania spoke her own concerns "Actually, I'd like to learn from them. Maybe their medics can work with ours to help with the more natural healing techniques?

Unsurprisingly, Devin attempted to twist Kalortah's jibe as a sincere suggestion. The nerve of that slippery bard! "Slavery is illegal! Are you proposing that we take back the esteemed Faith Augustin's law, councilor Kalortah?" Devin narrowed his eyes while probably secretly wishing he could buy a slave or two.

"It was a jest?" Kalortah softly said to Devin, and then went on with business, "What I'm really looking for, is what we can do for these Desninders?"

The Natural Affair's Councilor went on to respond, to Shania"That's an excellent idea, Councillor, only, we're currently trying to come up for suggestions for things we can offer them."

Shania responded, "Resources. The sands, the strange flora and fauna - and the ability to teach - the place to teach - if they want it."

Kalortah touched his chin thoughtfully, looking up at the ceiling for a moment in pensive posture, "Hmm... yes a way to transmit their traditions might entice them. As well as resources. Whatever they want."

Devin blurted out, "That's a great idea! If you remember, I already proposed that we finance the education reform with sand. Let's give them sand!"

The Natural Affairs Councilor spoke to Tio, "Devout Tio, as long as you agree to relent and let the tree-priests in... I believe I can arrange suitable resources."

But Devin wasn't don't speaking his mind, and chimed in again, "In fact, let's market sand as a valuable resource!"

Kalortah turned to face Devin, smiling unctuously and suppressing the urge to throttle his rival, "I think our sand is best left to the glassmakers of Egilrun, no? "Finished products fetch better prices. Perhaps incentivize glassmaker industry."

After a few moments passed, TIo responded to the Natural Affairs Councilor, "What? Oh yeah sure, go ahead. It's not like it's a crime to worship Moseke around here or anything." But he wasn't done, "You know just for the sake of being devil's advocate, have we considered that maybe, during their visit, two of the flutterbuses could end up being... shall we say..." coughs "misplaced?"

Kalortah coughed pointedly. "It would cause an international incident."

Devin mimicked Kalortah, coughing as well

"We must protect their moths at all costs." Kalortah insisted.

"Oh they worship Ymiden over there. I'm sure they could find it in their hearts to forgive an honest mistake." Tio jibed. Kalortah was slightly outraged. "Or we're liable not to get anything. we'd need more than the actual flutterbuses

Despite Kalortah's objections, or perhaps because of them, Devin actually seemed to be considering the proposal of Tio! "Assuming that two flutterbuses went missing, where might they be found?"

"We'd need their expertise in breeding them." Kalortah nearly groaned at the scheming going on in the open in the council chamber. No wonder Scalv was a sesspit of crime and debauchery! "So doing it without their consent is a bad idea."

Tio kept going, "Oh you know, maybe they get found after having just enough time to breed in a secure hidden facility. Naturally we'd give the original flutterbusses straight back, but as for the kids..."

Kalortah palmed his face, but said nothing further.

Still, Devin and Tio kept discussing the issue of pirating the Flutterbuses, "How many kids does a flutterbus have on average, and how long does it take to breed flutterbuses? Just for curiosity's sake, of course ..."

Tio insisted as the coucil, with the noted possible exception of Devin, expressed grave misgivings toward his proposal, "I'm just saying we should, as responsible council members, be willing to discuss more creative options." Tio turned to answer Devin's question, "I have no idea. Councillor Nir?"

The Natural Affairs Councilor appeared most displeased, "... Councillor Mareth, your insight please. I am refusing to even educate the thought right now, for obvious reasons."

Tio made the slipper suggestion that he was only speaking in hypotheticals. "I'm not sure what you mean councillor. We're just discussing what hypothetically might happen if such an unfortunate sring of events was to occur. I'm not suggesting we do anything." He winked at them.

"It must be avoided at all costs." Kalortah insisted, "Mobilize the elements to guard these Flutterbuses."

Finally the Natural Affairs councilor, after a moment of silence from Mareth, spoke on his own behalf, "I must admit up until this moment I did not think it necessary, but I am now going to remind the Council, very politely, that I am in fact Sev'ryn, born and raised in Desnind, and while I refuse to let that impact my duties to this Council, I will not be held accountable for my actions should you continue to discuss this blatant, disrespectful, and frankly disgusting insinuation of discourtesy, no, hostility against esteemed guests and representatives, of my own home nation."

Kalortah asserted himself for a moment, "As Foreign Relations Councillor, I have half a mind to call for a censure Councillor Tio. If he persists in this suggestion."

Tio seemed to throw up his arms in surrender, "Ugh, fine. You guys are such buzzkills."

Kalortah went on, "The Sev'ryn will be more valuable as allies than adversaries. There is much we can offer each other. But only as long as we deal honestly with them."

Finally, Councilor Mareth weighed in, "I would also remind Councilor Tio that our island is not, in the grand scheme of the world, particularly strong. Several of our already existing alliea are on good terms with Desnind. While Desnind is no great power either, we can't afford to risk alienating our allies for the sake of cheaper transportation.

Speaking the Flutterbus, however, before we start looking into getting any, we should be certain they can survive extended periods in our climates, especially in the winter."

Shania spoke up, "We are used to breeding and caring for animals which live in a very varied climate. Let us offer to work with Desnind. By doing that with Viden, our University is now as well-considered as any on Idalos."

Devin again spoke, further grinding on Kalortah's nerves, "Yes, let's do that. That's an excellent idea, Shania! We should definitely stop talking about misplaced Flutterbuses!" As if he hadn't just now been pondering Tio's suggestion!

Mareth spoke to the avriel, "Councilor Kalortah, is there anything else related to foreign treaties you wished to bring to the table?"

Kalortah paused, opened his mouth to speak, but then went silent. After a long pause, he finally said, "No nothing else." So he yielded the floor, for the moment.

OOC

The snippets of dialogue were taken from ic chat. The narrative is from Kalortah's point of view, and entirely subjective.

[Nir'wei]

Nir'wei was certain that his appearance would earn a few strange looks. The man that entered the room and sat within the seat reserved for the Councillor of Natural Affairs looked nothing at all like the man that had been voted into that position just a scant season ago. Thankfully, he'd managed to prevent it from turning any stranger than that. Splash had been adamant that she deserved to meet the other Councillors personally, and had almost burst into tears at his stoic refusal; he'd had to make it up to her with a promise that she'd get to play with Kura and her wolf-spirit the next time they met in private. Grey had suggested that he'd look more intimidating with four wolves at his feet, and of course the three others had immediately joined in with their own forms of encouragement and support; he'd had to gently but firmly push each one back down individually, citing the confusion and the danger of exposing them all at once in such a public and high-security environment, regardless of how well-behaved they acted. He could only hope that his fellow Councillors were not as problematic as his own spirits as he took his seat and the meeting began. How foolish he'd been. How naiive.

Tio's idea was at least a sensible and encouraging one. He found himself nodding the whole way through, with an "Aye," not moments before he'd opened it to a vote. Of course, the use of animals for combat purposes put his hackles on edge, as well as that of Cold, but he'd cross that bridge when he got to it - and as long as his input was valued, there was no reason to outright refuse such a request. At the very least, a case-by-case analysis would give his office a bit more of a reason to exist.

Devin's suggestion for a full education reform... well, to be honest, lacking any 'formal' education of his own left him rather... uneducated in this matter, but he soon found himself nodding along with it. Why cluster all children into one box? Why force a child with a love of art to take up the sciences? "Aye," he agreed again, when it came to voting. "I would be more than happy to offer a share of resources for the Councillor for any classes relating to natural studies," he added afterwards. "I believe educating the next generation on the importance of respecting the land and caring for our impact on it is a very noble one... and, of course, an apprenticeship scheme capable of recruiting eager young animal trainers and wilderness experts pays for itself. The Menagerie is always looking for new talent, I believe." Not to mention, this had many implications for his own future plans.

Next, a delegation meeting, and... well, a less-than-amicable scuffle. The Nafaka and Tsabar would be important factors, not only facing this new threat, but a host of other issues facing his newly-found office and the matters under its purview. Flutterbuses, in the grand scheme of things, would again help to cement a reason for his existence, and who knew - perhaps a successful breeding program would allow them all to open themselves up to the world a little bit more, as long as it came with the right information.

Finally, it seemed the floor was empty once more. "I promise, the Councillors will not suffer my voice for much longer," he smiled quietly, astutely aware that he'd weighed in on every topic discussed so far to a quite significant degree, "but there is a brief matter I would like to put before the Council today. The Menagerie is currently the sole providers of Enormowls, Scal Sohr Khal, Scalvwing Steeds, Horses, Hafreins, Irrawaddies, Merquestrians... every mount used by all branches of the Elements, they breed, they raise from birth, they train, they house, they feed and they groom. All of this, an entire military... done by one woman and her small team of stablehands. I shouldn't need to tell you that one person overseeing the entirety of the cavalry of all three branches of our military is completely baffling. It's something that I have never, ever seen before, not in Rynmere, not in Desnind, not in Rharne, and there is a very good reason for it." He focused his ire on the Militant in particular as he scorched the air with fiery words. "The first of many changes I'd like to enact is an immediate boost of funding to the Menagerie, suitable to hire considerable additional senior staff to support Elise Flarsdotter, and to begin a restructuring of the system currently handling all land, air and sea mounts of the Elements, of course in collaboration with the Militant and his deputies to best provide for their needs... but most important of all, to split the labour between different sites and different specialties."

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

Kura had said her part during the proposals put forward by the new councilors, and to her contained delight, all four of them had put forward well thought out and reasoned proposals. It was a good sign, and she was glad to see that they were excited about the job. However, as Nir'wei's proposal was settled, it was time to discuss what was most likely the trickiest bit of business for the day. Kura looked up at Brandel again and smiled slightly, then turned back to face the rest of the Council. "Very well. I have deflected the matter of financing these new developments, so it's time to discuss why. We should begin with some background as to what put us in our current financial state. Unfortunately, Accountant Shania's predecessor was making financial deals with as much an eye to his own pockets as to the wellbeing of Scalvoris.

What this means is that Sidhe'nn Fraear, with knowing intent, made deals with the Slags Deep prison and the Darbyton Logging Consortium to put the government of Scalvoris in debt, while making a profit off of each transaction. This information," she said, passing out the information Brandel had gathered, "was coalesced by my predecessor, and given to me on the day I was chosen as the new Albarech.

While the legality of Fraear's actions are currently under investigation, since the laws that were in place when he made these deals were rather more vague than what came later, I would propose a new law to prevent further such abuses of power. I propose that we make it illegal for any member of the council to gain profit, directly or indirectly, from any transaction that adds to the national debt of Scalvoris.

Once discussion of this proposed law, and the matters I have laid before you all, is finished, we will move onto a broader discussion on finances." Kura said, before watching as her council digested the news and discussed what to do. Kalortah was concerned about clarity of law, but Kura and Shania managed to settle his fears well enough. Tio was more focused on dealing with Slags Deep and The Logging Consortium, since they were the most prominent ones attempting to prey on the Council. There was some discussion about fining Slags Deep and the Consortium, and so Kura decided to propose her most radical potential problem to the solution of Slags Deep, after having Kalortah confirm that Slags Deep was not a part of Scalvoris. "Now, due to this status, we could consider Slags Deep a hostile territory that's been engaging in financial sabotage with the aim to undermine our government. An accusation we could use to declare war on Slags Deep." she said, her tone calm.

This was, in truth, a risky gamble, and she was not solely motivated by Slags Deeps financial chicanery. Truth be told, Slags Deep being its own sovereign territory rankled her deeply and she had been looking for a way to rescind that status ever since. This was, in part, Kura's aim to reclaim what she saw as stolen territory. She did not, however, feel inclined to share that bit of information with anyone, and the financial sabotage was a good enough motivation. Fortunately, the idea seemed to be going down decently well with the Council, and Tio and Shania gave evidence that could be used against the Logging Consortium if they could secure it. Kura managed to not to smile, but she did allow herself a small feeling of satisfaction. Slags Deep and the Logging Consortium were not only criminal groups, they also represented the two most dangerous threat to the Councils hold on Scalvoris. Kura was good at politics, sure, but she enjoyed it best when there weren't other groups trying to take control of the government.

Finally the discussion wound down and Kura nodded at Tio's summary. ""Okay, so to summarize again, the plan is:
A. Declare war on Slag's Deep and retake it for ourselves. Make changes to spread the prisoners out a bit and do a wider variety of forced labour.
B. I'll take a team of Fire Troops to see if we can find evidence of The Consortium's dirty dealings in their old storehouse/tunnel system. Using that we'll tear the Logging Consortium apart and use it's funds to replenish our finances.
C. Make changes to national laws to discourage the formation of monopolies and oligopolies.
Anything else I've missed?"

"No, Devout Tio, that is more or less what we're plannin' on doin'." she said, her tone still calm and professional. "Let's take a vote on the matter, and on using the funds secured to finance the new public works we're planning on from the rest of tonights proposals." she said, before letting Tio take a moment to put out a notice for the Fire Troops. As he was gone, and as the voting happened, Kura's eyes raked the crowd for notable reactions, including from Brandel and from any representatives of Slags Deep or the Logging Consortium that were present.

[Tio Silver]

It was good that so much progress was being made. All the new members of the council were coming forward with proposals for how to make new changes, and for the most part these were happily accepted. Tio found himself voting yes on all the proposals so far. He'd promised himself he wouldn't be afraid to question each and every decision no matter how popular it seemed, or even play the devil's advocate if needed, but the ones presented so far were all well thought out. More importantly his own plans for the colosseum were approved, on the condition that the moves against The Logging Consortium Kura wanted were made. That wouldn't be a problem. Even if the tunnels yielded no results Tio would find the evidence needed, one way or another, before the turn of the next season.

"Oh right, I should also mention that I have offered a sizeable reward for whoever uncovers the mystery behind those children who went missing during Cylus. Not to jump at shadows, but I fear this is a problem that will only get worst the longer it's left alone. Can I make a suggestion that, unless the culprit is uncovered before the end of the season, we consider temporarily granting The Elements additional powers? I'm aware that trust in The Elements took a hit recently, but it will only get worse if they fail to catch this kidnapper. More powers would help them to solve the case, and would allow for quicker action against The Consortium. I'm not saying we vote on it now, merely consider it before next season's meeting. As for the plan of action I vote yes. Go team!"

[Pegasus]

All Involved

Overview

A different kind of review here, but one that I think will be useful (I hope so!) - please feel free to give any feedback on this, but fundamentally, I'm going to use this review (and the reviews of the seasonal council threads) as a means of showing what happened. Thus, feeding into the calendar. Therefore, these reviews will be less focused on the individual PCs, more on the actions involved:

Points

Each PC gets:
XP: 15 (not for magic)

Renown: 15

Knowledge

You may have 10 knowledges. These must be from the following list, with no more than 5 in any one skill. Other than that, they may be distributed how you see fit. Please record this carefully so

• Politics
• Leadership
• Rhetoric
• Negotiation
• Persuasion

Consequences of Council Actions

A. Declare war on Slag's Deep and retake it for ourselves. Make changes to spread the prisoners out a bit and do a wider variety of forced labour. - This was decided but has not been actioned as of this season. That will be a focus for me and all council members this season as the "how" is important.

B. I'll take a team of Fire Troops to see if we can find evidence of The Consortium's dirty dealings in their old storehouse/tunnel system. Using that we'll tear the Logging Consortium apart and use it's funds to replenish our finances. - Done. The Logging Consortium is now under the control of the village.

C. Make changes to national laws to discourage the formation of monopolies and oligopolies. - Done.

!	Message from: Peg
	This thread has led to a focus for the Council in the Rebirth Cycle 721. Prepare to go to war on Slag's Deep!