She spends most of the night before the convention writing up a list of committees. You want some radical ones, of course, separate from the ones that weigh in on issues it is important to get right. You want people to self-sort; the people who are knowledgeable making decisions that require knowledge, the people who don't - well, making decisions that don't. Ultimately she comes up with:

A Committee On Excising The Influence Of Diabolism And Asmodeanism From Our Country - probably going to be a disaster, but you've got to have it. Presumably one of the Iomedaeans will end up chairing it.

A Committee On Promulgating The Teachings Of Good Churches To The Misled Chelish People - hopefully will attract all of the people who want to work on the above but can identify at a glance that that committee's going to be tearing around being a disaster.

A Committee On The Rights Of Free Chelish Citizens And The Obligations Of Those Who Rule Them - happy, Archmage Cotonnet? Chaired by the Archduchess, obviously. 

A Committee On Alternative Political Arrangements To Monarchy And Ways They May Be Further Studied - you'd better be happy by now, Archmage Cotonnet, even if the committee ends up just recommending sending a lot of people to study in Lastwall -

A Committee On Relations With Those People Kin To The Chelish People - Where nearly all of the important decisions that seem actually yet unmade are, not that she expects the committee to make them. Who better to chair it than Joan-Pau?

A Committee For Safe Roads And Safe Villages - bandits and monsters, the whole of the reason why the nobility exist and can't be replaced. She intends to chair this one herself.

A Committee On Repairing, Replacing, Financing, etc Infrastructure Damaged or Destroyed In Hell's Sack Of Our Country - actually important, hopefully too boring for the mob, she intends to try to get the Queen's Abadaran friend to chair it. He's count of Egorian, after all, and while technically Egorian wasn't destroyed in Hell's sack of the country except indirectly it's got to have an interest in Her Majesty's support for repairs.

A Committee On Any Necessary Alterations To the Forms of the Chelish Monarchy Given Its Long Interruption - this one will get to do the only thing they have any business doing here at all, which is voting to acknowledge the restoration of all of the circa-4600 privileges of the monarchy. She's asked all the archdukes to send a representative to it - it's not worth their coming themselves but someone on their staff who can take notes and give them a summary if any amendments end up being credibly worthwhile. Her intent is to have this one chaired by the single more boring, legalistic, nose-down representative to the convention she can find, someone who'll happily just read through the entire old code and propose more amendments for copy-editing than content.

In the morning, promptly after the Queen and Archmage's speeches, she has her secretary set up sign-ups on one side of the hall. Then she makes a brief announcement. 

"By the grace of the Good gods, by the grace of Her Majesty, we are gathered here in optimism with this noble purpose. I imagine that the important work of this convention will be better done in smaller groups, and have proposed some to get us started." She reads out the groups. "It seems premature - eager though we all are to return to our duties at home - for these committees to write any document to which we would hope to be bound; rather I propose that each committee produce a report for Her Majesty and for the convention at large on their subject area, with a subsequent discussion on whether their recommendations are to be adopted." She's lost more than half the crowd by using words with five syllables but she'd really rather drop those as soon as possible. "I have asked some of our noble delegates to shoulder the responsibility of chairing these committees, and should anyone propose additional committees I recommend that their proposal incorporate a recommendation for a chair as well. It is not my intent that anyone be obliged in participation in the committees, but I hope that they will employ you to good effect if you choose to join one. Eternally are we grateful to Her Majesty, to her allies, and to the Good gods for peace and for our freedom."

He'd expected something like this – though not so soon, and not from the duchess, who in her previous life had never demonstrated any interest in parliamentary procedure. 

It's clever, he'll give her that. The duchess, of course, is perfectly right that the work of the convention requires the formation of commmittees. But these are her committees: no doubt she's already arranged for her allies among the resurrected nobility to staff the important ones (public safety, monarchical privilege, religion, and the Molthuni question at a guess). Some sop to keep the radicals busy without giving them any real influence, and no place at all for the rabble. She's betting that none of the delegates will have both the wit or the courage to object. More to the point, she's betting that he won't be able to stop her without looking like he's trying to suppress the voice of the people before the convention's even started. 

Three or four years ago, she'd have been right. Let's see if he's learned anything. 

"Thank you, delegate." he says crisply. At some point he'd been presented with a gavel, but he's never used it. When he talks, the room listens. "The formation committees is one of the more important decisions this convention will undertake. The Duchess of Chelam's proposal is an excellent place to begin our discussion of what those committees should be and how their membership should be decided. I'm sure we all understand how important it is that these things are done fairly." 

"Does the senior delegate from Galt propose any additions to this list? I'm sure I've missed some topics on which there's a great deal of interest, but I worry that if we take on too much we'll end up achieving nothing at all."

"It's hardly my place to suggest changes of any sort. I am opening the subject to the floor for a period of discussion. The other delegates should have at least two days to make their own proposals – given the importance of the subject." 

"With all due respect to the senior delegate from Galt, half of the men who report to me seem fairly convinced that the best way to avoid trouble is to do absolutely nothing that hasn't been explicitly authorized, which means that when I am unavoidably called away to Westcrown nothing gets done. There are bandits in the Ordesa and the day before I was called here they sacked a train of carriages with twenty men. When I last left my home, it was to beg priests in Absalom and Almas to consider resettling, because there's no one to do water and my people are dying of cholera. I was gone three weeks and half my possessions were stolen when I returned.

And I am lucky. I have no children who will go hungry, if this convention is drawn out, because I have no children. I have no elderly mother to look after, as she is dead. You, with the most noble of purposes in mind, dragged people here who have work to do elsewhere. If we spend the opening three days of this event on waiting for people to submit proposals to form committees to make nonbinding recommendations for the Constitution, we will never be done. 

Let's entertain proposals for additional committees for the next hour, and plan to have the committees meet after lunch."

"Forgive me, duchess, but this is a procedural matter, in which I may exercise my own judgement. Of course, since I don't wish to be arbitrary, or keep any of us away from our homes longer than we must, I would prefer to yield to the wishes of the body. Are there proposals?"

"Is there any reason that this must be permanently decided now, when few people in this room have any experience with a gathering like this and a quarter of the delegates are still terrified out of their minds? I propose that, barring substantive objections made now, we form the committees which the Duchess of Chelam has put forward. Forming some committees now will not prevent us from forming more later, if there are neglected topics which need a committee, or dissolving them if there is some cause to do that."

The strix Itarii delegate raises her hand. "Should have committee for kill slaveowners," she says seriously. 

"The wishes of the body," muses the Duchess, "are a complicated thing. I believe that Her Majesty understands Galt to have erred somewhat in their own convention in the killing direction, though I don't know if the senior Galtan delegate agrees, and I believe it it our duty to our nation to learn from Galt's errors and avoid them. But a committee on the status of enslaved peoples in Cheliax seems appropriate."

"As a procedural matter I do not think we will get very far if it is considered licit for delegates to propose murdering one another."

“Either everyone I talk to is wrong or is not called murder when government does it.”

A voice pipes up. "It is not clear to me that the two Committees proposed for government and governance are suitable in their current form. It's certainly not clear to me to which body my proposal should go- that seems substantive enough!"

"Neither conscripting nor inviting a person on the premise that they will then be part of a convention to determine the nature of Cheliax can then Lawfully or reasonably be followed with instead putting them on trial for retroactively capital crimes. It would be perfidious and undermine the ostensible spirit of the entire venture so absolutely that I would expect it to instantly dissolve the credibility of the regime where it is already tentative."

"If they haven't guessed it would soon be a crime in sixteen full months, the more fool them. Very well, have a committee for Slavery and Slaveowners, all the sensible heads have already divested themselves anyway. More importantly, I propose a Committee on Matters of Trade, Imports, Exports, and Internal Travel. That's the blood of the state."

Finally someone talking sense.

"Agreed!"

What the fuck. This is going in unreasonable and unanticipated directions.

This is the most complicated test of her loyalties she has ever experienced in her life. 

"Does Her Majesty perhaps have any questions she has posed this convention which the committees could be selected with the purpose of answering?"

"This body is not empowered to impose retroactive sentences for crimes. Any member who threatens the life or safety of another delegate will be removed. This is a final warning. If you find yourself confused by this distinction, please consult my office at your earliest possible convenience." 

She gives that policy a nod of wholehearted approval. "Young Condesa, what inquiry left you uncertain which committee was appropriate to it?"

(Valia leans over to get clarification from Blai about what 'retroactive' means. Then she's upset. She thought the Archmage was good. Why is he protecting the diabolists?)

This body is not empowered to impose retroactive sentences for crimes, meaning we don't care how badly they hurt people like you. Of course.

"To be clear, are we allowed to decide what the sentences will be for crimes that are happening in the present, or might happen in the future? Even if those sentences could 'threaten the life or safety of another delegate?' I hardly see how we can achieve anything at all, if not."

The King-In-Irons came here expecting blood. The attempted coup by the new nobility, while appropriate and ironic, is not what he came for.

The strix totally is, though, and he'll clap when she makes her proposal. Good for her! He should check if she wants any spells cast. His are burning a hole in his pocket, after all.

Wow! The noblewoman knows a lot. She should see if she can get on some of the committees, assuming they happen.

Good to hear that this youngster has some sense. Never doubted it. That archmage is a man who knows how to handle uppity strix. Bit soft, but, well, that's all to the Good, isn't it?

Oh thank Pharasma they aren't all about to be put to death just for having servants -

As a procedural matter, Jaume Agramont is completely correct.

Permira is absolutely vibrating in her chair with sheer furious energy at the thought that they're going to get away with it -

Aspexia del Mar is listening to Elie. Do people who wield true power usually sound like this?

The opening move by the noblewoman is brilliant and aggressive.  It seizes the initiative on organizing 600 people, puts the issues she cares for in front, frames the issues how she wishes, and puts the people she wants in charge of the discussion.  Anyone that pushes back against it might look non-Good.  And anyone that pushes back will be resisting an opportunity to organize the 600 people.  The noblewoman's framing barely includes the issue Thea cares about, so she would be forced to decide between arguing against the framing or accepting her own goals put on the back foot.

It is an immense relief when the Archmage himself pushes back.  Thea will have an acceptable opportunity to present a committee topic or two that better reflects her concerns.  It does indicate he won't allow a noble to smooth over everything, but that is for the best, Thea doesn't think she would trust any nobles with doing that, even Lucia.

And now they are arguing about slavery.  Thea has an obvious personal interest against retroactive punishment (even if no one has evidence or witness of her retroactive crime).  Can she retroactively loose her lawfulness?  The Archmage's reminder and support of previous decrees about retroactive punishment are a further relief.  It is more evidence against the more disastrous intents the Queen and Archmagic might have had for the convention (i.e. induced civil war). 

More urgently, that halfling looks like she is having to actively suppress her assassination instincts.  Thea is impressed by the halfling's discipline in keeping her instincts held back, Dia didn't think that was possible in their discussions of halfling biology.

Thea will wait for the moment the slavery committee name argument reaches a lull then jump in with her own committee names.  She think all of the followers of Neutral Gods will see a least slight insult once she points it out, so she should have them on her side.

He was thinking about which committee would be the best chance to show loyalty when the Archmage makes the obvious clarification.  Of course!  He should be thinking of a novel committee name and topic by which to show his loyalty.  'Does Her Majesty perhaps have any questions -' The other noblewoman is an idiot, asking for the answer to the loyalty test to be given away.  He ignores the argument about slavery that follows to work on his own committee name.  How about 'A Committee On Preserving the Essential Form of Chelish Monarchy From It's Form Under The Line Of Aspex'.

He waits on his chance to share his loyal and brilliant idea.

Druids aspire to understand people in their natural state; to understand what is natural for them, and promote that.

Humans (and some other humanoids) are some of the very hardest people to understand in this way. Their natural state is highly disputed, not least by themselves, and now apparently some of them are claiming that their natural state is to actively decide their natural state!

This convention is probably something only the wisest arch-druids could make proper sense of. Feather has no stake in most of their debates, and no real wisdom to offer, not until they get to the committee on People Kin To The Chelish, where she will probably need to argue that - all Good and/or Lawful people are metaphorically kin because they have shared interests and shared views and, uh, if they need to be more literally kin than that it can probably be arranged -

Anyway, for now she's fascinated by the way these people are trying to make decisions about making decisions (about making decisions, and several more removes after that), and acutely aware she has no real understanding of what's going on. Right now they seem to be arguing over the decision already made in calling them all here instead of writing lots of letters to each other?

(Poor people. Not knowing their own natural way of life must be so hard on them. No wonder so many of them couldn't explain themselves to her; they didn't really understand themselves!)

Levrolurment is enthusiastically taking notes. The formation of an entire constitution--! Deliberation about the proper role of the state--! Evidence for his paper about whether governance is inherently founded on the state monopoly of violence!

Tetula is pretty overwhelmed by everything that's happening. She thinks she's probably supposed to be in favor of killing slaveowners-- that's what the Placards implied, anyway-- but she doesn't want to kill people who didn't know they were doing anything wrong and she doesn't want to be rejected by her god this clearly. She wishes that Cayden Cailean had ever provided any clear guidance on the formation of constitutional committees. 

On the bright side: at least he's got people talking. 

"Delegate Ferrer. The primary purpose of this convention is to determine the structure of the new Chelish government. I am sure the body will wish to discuss the abolition of slavery and the status of forced labor more broadly" – let's get that on the table, to begin with – "but our business is to look forward, not back. Delegates – and indeed every other citizen – will be expected to comply with that laws you make here once they are established."

The Condesa makes her way over to the Archduchess, and curtsies, and speaks in a low tone "Archduchess- I would be happy to support your committees unreservedly, if I could be sure that I might be part of the the one which might usefully discuss my recent proposal for a Senate to advise the Queen."

A Senate is the sort of thing where she'd like it to be discussed by serious people only, so "I would propose it in the committee for examining necessary alterations to the forms of the Chelish monarchy, when that committee reaches Section IIX.V, on processes for the high nobility to vote on taxes for the crown."

"- I propose that all who own, take, or whip slaves from this moment forwards be put to death!" They won't have time to stop before justice catches up to them!

The sortition was a terrible idea. It scooped up crazy people. And a strix??? Although it seems to be sitting with the elected delegates for some reason.

"Can we put that proposal to the committee on slavery?" He's going to have to be on the committee on slavery, isn't he.

"I'll add the delegate's suggestion to the list of proposals up for debate while we conclude our discussion of committees." 

Are they off slavery?  Now's her chance.  She could wait, but she has no idea when next she will have a window to speak.

"I would propose amending the name and topic of one of the suggested committees, or else adding a new committee, to account for the chosen of Gods that are neither Good nor Evil!  A Committee On The Teachings Of non Evil Churches To The Chelish People.  Or perhaps A Committee On The Many Teachings Of Neutral Churches To The Chelish People"

She looks across the religious delegate section of the seating at the many Pharasamins and Calistrans to illustrate her point.  Hopefully some of them will add support to this point.

"My phrasing was deliberate. While I have of course sought counsel from many priests of the Neutral gods, and lived for a time in Axis witnessing their wisdom, Cheliax's most urgent problem is that diabolists attempted to make its people Evil, and this must be countered by making its people do Good, even if the hope is ultimately simply that they'll make a Neutral afterlife. I hope that some Neutral churches see Cheliax as an environment where it's to their benefit to operate, but I think they are owed no special concessions for this, motivated as it is not by beneficence."

“So? You’re just another delegate. Maybe the committee should focus more on Good than Neutral gods, but that doesn’t mean Neutral gods shouldn’t be included.”

"As a cleric of a Good god, I think we should revise it to 'non-Evil Churches' and the Committee itself can decide whether and how to handle Good and Neutral churches differently."

"I approve of the Duchess's goal, but in my experience it is easier to sway those with Evil habits to Neutrality than to Good, and a Neutral church has significant advantages in this respect. The Lawful Neutral churches have much to recommend them; at the very least Abadar and Irori. You might call the committee For Improving the Moral Teachings of the Misled Chelish People Via The Virtuous Churches, and let the committee decide which churches are virtuous enough."

"Fine words from one in thrall to the Queen of Dis!"

"I second the motion of the priest of Erecura. Aroden, on whose faith this empire was once founded, was neither Good nor Evil, but the same may also be said of other gods whose influences I would rather not promote." Such as, probably, Erecura. "Which gods ought have a role in the governance of the new Cheliax is a complicated matter and not one that can be settled without more careful deliberation than we seem to be capable of here."

"Neutrality? Are we neutral between Hell and Heaven? Abadar's coins will not save us from the flames. The Good gods alone have the power to bring our souls away from the horrors of Hell, not those indifferent to whether or not we burn."

There's a servant of Hell here? Openly? What is even the point of getting a new Queen???

"I believe I have done Good work, when Erecura was legal and other churches were not, and I expect the larger Lawful churches to do the same. But I need and want no support beyond keeping Erecura legal to worship for as long as she remains non-Evil; it's my duty to succeed on my own merits in any case."

"Mr. Drevnic, Aroden was not indifferent between Heaven and Hell. Neither, for that matter, is Abadar. There are many people whom the Judge calls Neutral that nonetheless hate Hell, and many gods too."

"'Virtuous Churches' is acceptable to me, and may the committee through wise deliberation establish which those are." She alters it on the page with a spell, even though this is an objectively silly use of a spell, because it's an obscure spell and it's worth impressing the wizards. "We have added a committee on slavery and altered the committee on influencing the virtue of the Chelish people; are there other proposals?"

"My proposal for trade and travel. I must believe this is as vital as any of that."

“No, seriously, why is the presumably-senior delegate from I’m-not-actually-educated-enough-to-know-where acting like she’s in charge and the Convention president is just some delegate, instead of the other way around?”

Alonso is familiar with the principle that if you act like you’re in charge and nobody objects other people will act like you’re in charge, and he doesn’t want human nobles to be any more in charge than they already are. And he’s a good person to stand up to them since he plans to flee the country when the convention is over.

"Hear, hear!" He has a deep, rich voice well-suited to projecting across the entire hall. "The Duchess de Chelam is not a true citizen of Cheliax born and bred, but a new-raised axiomite fresh come to the mortal world, and so has no greater right to speak than any among us who survived the horrors of infernal rule!" Dramatic sweeping arm motion!

"I recommend Axis over the Hell to which you are quite observably damned."

"A person cannot justly be accounted less Chelish for having been murdered by the agents of Hell!"

It's not that the halfling doesn't have a point; it's just that the Duchess of Chelam is his vassal and a far more desirable ally than an ex-slave or whoever this random adventurer type is.

"I propose," he says instead, "that the delegates be prohibited from slandering the citizenship of any other delegate. Her Majesty chose us for this convention, and addressed us all as citizens of Cheliax; let none of us doubt her."

“Agreed. The duchess is neither a less a delegate than the rest of us than any more.”

"The contributions of every person in this room are to be judged by their objective merit and not by the standing of they who proposed it, that being one of the animating principles of republicanism as we've been invited to practice it: were any of your contributions of merit they would be as worthwhile as an Archduke's. Do you have any?"

You know, she'd really expected that the six hundred people dragged here at archmage point would do less begging the archmage to be allowed to do fucked up social gladiatorial combat, and more, you know, trying not to be killed in fucked up social gladiatorial combat? Especially the people who should know that they'll lose any gladiator games where the weapon of choice is how prettily you speak. Then again, the first call was from a literal monster, who it'll be important to avoid if this comes down to actual gladiatorial combat, not that that's very likely with the archmage sitting there.

....really, given her knowledge of the Thanelands, middle schools, and preschoolers, she's suddenly not sure why she expected the government to do most of the calling for violence here. At some point she'll get it through her head that the desire to be given license to commit murder is a human universal.

"I will ask the delegates to please refrain from personal insults. Everyone in this room is a Chelish citizen – with the exception of myself – and, more to the point, an adult." 

Well, that's terribly vague, who knows what nobles count as a personal insult.

Well, not counting the onlookers in the visitors' gallery.

He'll wait until it's clear that everyone has stopped shouting insults at each other, and then—

"It seems to me that the matter of succession and inheritance among the nobility is of sufficient importance to merit its own committee, and not rightly grouped with any of the committees so far established. Our laws of succession, while certainly adequate for many centuries, have suffered many abuses under the Thrunes, and it seems imprudent to risk power falling into the hands of diabolists or the lawless merely because some such men have not been rooted out and disinherited. Likewise, I'm sure that those among the nobility recently returned to life would not wish to risk the disruption of a succession dispute should they die irrecoverably in the course of their duties before producing an heir. I propose the creation of a committee to examine the laws and customs of succession and inheritance in our many regions, and propose such alterations and clarifications as are necessary to safeguard order and virtue."

(This isn't how he normally talks; he stole some of the wording from Carlota's proposals, and is trying more than usual to present this as just the objectively reasonable course of action.)

These people's ways of doing things are so complicated. They should just do things like the Itarii and not fuss so much. 

"Seconded," says Berenguer-Aspex. "I also propose that another committee be established to carry out legislation to oversee the armed forces, and root out both the diabolic taint and rot of incompetence that has infected them during the Asmodean interregnum." And hopefully secure power over them for themselves, instead of for the Queen.

Blai always thought they compared pretty well to the other forts apart from the quality of adventurers they could attract. Though maybe it's an important military doctrine to attract high quality adventurers, in which case they were admittedly dreadfully below par.

Whispered:

"This is humiliating."

"Do you want Brastlewark free or not?"

"I want you to pick someone else as your pawn."

"Well, perhaps you shouldn't have spent the past week wandering around Westcrown acting like the worst gnome stereotype."

"I did not! I didn't once make anything out of clockwork!"

Speaking entirely out of turn, Levrolurment says very loudly, "I think we should have a different committee! About nonhumans! Because nonhumans are different from humans and we have different needs! And also I want to get to meet the strix and the kobold and everyone else who's here and talk to them about what kinds of governments they have and understand how they all work differently and it would be SO COOL."

"I second that motion." Hopefully he can persuade the various nonhumans to accept a reasonable arrangement whereby they govern themselves and don't govern humans, and also persuade the Queen to honor the ancient law that neither the dead nor the devils of Hell nor any creature of the Underdark be a peer of the realm. (Glancing around the room he sees at least one of each.)

... and make sure the definition of 'undead' is phrased in such a way that it includes the vampire-spawn without the Queen perceiving it as a threat, because most people here are going to have no idea that's necessary.

Isn't there already a committee on slavery? Why do they need another one?

Aspexia-Isona continues to be blissfully unaware she is under discussion.

There should be a committee on nonhumans, but it's one of those that will both be very tedious and get out of hand swiftly. Ah well. She adds it. "I propose a special rule that the committee on nonhumans should be majority human, to reflect the composition of the convention, but contain a representative of every non-monstrous race if they're interested."

"Disagree majority human. Why humans decide fate non-humans? Not have good track record." Liushna WILL use correct protocol to make this complaint because it is VERY IMPORTANT that the humans not have more reasons than absolutely necessary to dismiss her concern. 

"This proposal is because Cheliax is overwhelmingly human, and this convention is, and so a committee made up mostly of nonhumans will be wildly unrepresentative and likely to make recommendations the broader body shoots down immediately; better to persuade some humans first, as you'll need to eventually."

"I request clarification on the good Duchess's definition of a 'monster'."

"Does the delegate from the strix propose also that the committee on slavery have a majority who are currently slaves? Perhaps the committee on rooting out Asmodean influence should be majority Asmodeans? And any committee on the privileges of the nobility be majority nobles?"

Feather raises her placard... and waits to be called on as other people - who admittedly also raised theirs - rapidly turn the conversation away from what she intended to address. How can anything get done like this?

Still, this is as good a point as any. She's not expecting to really convince them - not the people who are speaking and have strong opinions already - but she might learn to understand them better, from their reactions, and those of the so-far-silent majority of the delegates.

"Most of the people living in the lands of Cheliax are not human," she says firmly. "The delegates in this convention are already not - proportional to the population. So I, too, am afraid that whatever the committee says, the delegates will probably not vote for nonhuman rights. Because they are humans, and they are used to humans ruling over others and making war on them, and it is asking people to be very Good or maybe very Lawful to vote unselfishly."

"I know some of you disagree with me about who should be called people. I think that if you try to make a law about it, you may end up disagreeing who is 'human' too. And yes, I would love for you to define - or clarify - who is a 'monster' because when I asked people earlier, some of the delegates here, they could not give a clear answer!"

"Some people here also said they want to be Good. I came to this convention to appeal to the Good in you. It is Good to treat everyone equally, and to treat everyone well. Humans don't rule everyone else in Nirvana. I don't know about Heaven but if there are delegates here from Heaven or Axis they should tell us."

"If everyone only argues and votes for their own race's interests, then obviously humans have the most votes and will win. There is no point even in debating it then. But if you are trying to be Good, and if -" for reasons she doesn't pretend to understand - "you are trying to make new laws by asking the people who would live under those laws, then you should for your own values care about all people."

"So without waiting for the committee, I ask you right now: who are you here for? What do you really want? To be Good? To have a law for everyone, or a law for humans only? You say you don't follow Asmodeus any longer. The teaching of Asmodeus, as I heard it, was to rule others, in a - pyramid. With humans on top, or maybe devils. What is the new teaching for Cheliax, if it still wants to rule everyone with humans on top? Please think about that, while you wait for the committee."

"Sorry, what do you mean that most people in Cheliax are not human? Strix aren't monsters, they aided Pezzack in rebelling and in any society that rebels at Asmodeanism we see the Chelish spirit, whatever the face. But there aren't many strix. Halflings, too, have the capacity to choose Good and reject Evil, and many of them did, and they should all be freed. There are halflings, but there are more humans. And - the delegates chosen by lot, they're nearly all humans and halflings, like you'd expect if that's what most people are."

Raimon waves his placard a bit. "Based on one such prior conversation with Delegate Feather I am pretty sure she is referring to stuff like birds and squirrels when she says 'most people', I advised then and advise now that the word 'creatures' be used instead when one's meaning is so expansive. If most individuals who can use language without magic in Cheliax aren't human that would admittedly be pretty interesting."

"Birds and squirrels are - just important to be Good to," she doesn't know how to translate any of the terms Oak taught her into Chelish, "but I know most of you disagree and so that's not what I meant."

"Inside of Cheliax there are big forests. I am the only person here today from one of them and I only speak for Ravounel Forest. Am I not 'people' to you? How many people live in all the forests? I don't know numbers, I don't know how many humans there are in numbers either, but the forests are full of people who speak in language. Not just humans, or druids! Two of my best friends are a treant who speaks Sylvan and an owl who is telepathic and also understands spoken Sylvan. There are dozens of races who live in forests and can speak nonmagically."

"There is one kobold here today," she gives a nod to Kicharchu, "that means you admit kobolds are people. How many kobolds live in Cheliax? Do you really think there are so few that just one delegate should represent them, by population size? I'm not familiar with the kobolds outside the forests but I expect where there is one, there are many.

"There are probably other races, because there is life everywhere, even outside the forests." At least she desperately hopes so! "You have not looked, you have not counted, because - you think only humans matter. That's fine if you're not doing anything about nonhumans, if you don't kill them or trade with them. But if you make a law about their rights, you are treating them as - 'citizens'. And it is not Good to give them fewer rights just because they are not humans."

All right, Eulàlia wants on the nonhumans committee, this is going to be hilarious. "I don't really care if the monsters eating my people are people themselves or not. They're not Chelish people. They don't acknowledge the Queen, they don't acknowledge our laws. They're the enemy, if they're people, and we should declare war and burn the forests."

She's right but she shouldn't say it. 

It's hardly a constitutional matter, anyways. The constitution will empower the queen to declare war and she will do so when it is wise to do so.

"They can't acknowledge your laws because your laws say only humans have rights! You have to start by passing better laws, maybe then some of them will want to live by those laws! Otherwise you're - declaring forever war as a matter of law!"

It's not a surprise that some humans are just in favor of war but Feather really hopes some people here will disagree, if she suggests a good reason to do so.

He thinks there's a diplomatic solution that everyone is too busy shouting at for him to try implementing at all.

"The law doesn't say that only humans have rights, you idiot child."

It’s the same idiot noblewoman as earlier who wanted the answers to this loyalty test given to her.  And she apparently missed the fact that Goodness (and Lawfulness) is a part of loyalty under the new regime.  (Fernando is pretty sure killing a bunch of people, even monster people counts as Evil).  Come to think of it, the non-Human committee might be a good fit for Fernando to show his loyalty.  He has met several Gnomes before, talked with one recently, and read a Gnomish treatise on lawful good that discussed the subject abstractly enough it might even apply to monsters! 

"I don't know what your law says. I know how you treat nonhumans. Most halflings are slaves. Someone just said they only know the strix are people because they fought the Asmodeans, would they not be people but 'monsters' if they stayed neutral? You're debating what rights to give nonhumans in the new law, that means you are - you, the humans, have more rights than they do right now, that you can decide it for them. And that is true because you are stronger but it is not Good."

... The elf wearing leaf armor wayyyyy in the back of the nobility section with ten people between him and Feather would like to hold up his placard?

(Eulàlia is completely confident that killing monsters is Good. Recently she had to ride out to a village where a mandragora swarm had decided to settle. Was it intelligent? Intelligent enough to have made sure it took a long time for word to get out, to have attacked passing travellers only if it could consume them all. Was it good to kill it? Absolutely yes.)

"The Whisperwood is full of devils," says Tuimfane Ascathel, Representative of the Whisperwood, holding up his 'Tuimfane Ascathel, Representative of the Whisperwood' placard and waving it at everyone, "there's a catfolk necromancer who's enslaved multiple local villages, the werewolf plague is spreading throughout the entire border and we can't do anything about it because the devils keep attacking everyone and we don't have time, I hear our dragon sent a minion to enslave the entire convention and I've come to your city to tell the archmages that there's a portal to Hell in the Whisperwood so they can fix it and you appear to be arguing about squirrels? Squirrels are even less interesting than humans."

Then he'll sit down again.

"Mr. President, is this convention empowered to move that the honored delegate Cansellarion and yourself and your other allies go fix portals to Hell?"

Wait, was that - Feather didn't quite catch what was written on the elf's placard, but she thinks it said 'Whisperwood'? It must be some human community next to it and named for it, just like they named Ravounel after the forest.

And it totally makes sense that they'd be worried about a portal to Hell in the forest and all that other stuff! Ravounel Forest has Rovagug-worshipping hags in it! Forests have had to tolerate a lot of horrible stuff to be able to fight off the humans! If only they didn't have to fight all the time, maybe the druids could have dealt with the portal!

...wait, did he say 'our dragon'? Do dragons have legal rights - she's not sure even humans could be so stupid as to badly treat a dragon but, uh, they do keep surprising her!

"We are aware of the portal to Hell and have plans to address it" after a long and expensive consultation with their axiomite lawyers. 

“Druid say not talking about squirrels. Delegate from Whisperwood listen better.”

"On the archduke's earlier, thoughtful question - the custom in Axis is that people of a thousand forms and guises live in harmony together, all of them equals before the Law. But it is important that, in fact, all of those thousand forms of people obey the law. Any people or group of people who are subjects of Her Majesty, who obey Cheliax's laws, are not monsters, whatever their face, and obviously also any people who are subjects of some foreign government, whatever the status of our relationship with that foreign government, or any people who have requested some more esoteric arbitration process by which their disputes with the Chelish shall be settled. 

 But the creatures which stalk my people from the forests in my territory - the ettercaps, the boggarts, the aurumvorax, the deinotherium, the hags, the werebears - neither acknowledge any law or process of ours, nor the authority of any other organization I could appeal to for redress or arbitration, and so the proper and only - if tragic - resort of the Chelish government is to put them to death when they are found in our lands, and to do otherwise is to condemn our own people to destruction. 

I think by this line of argument some bandits are also technically monsters, which I don't particularly mind as an implication, and which will perhaps assuage the worries of the delegate from the Ravounel Forest that it is animus towards nonhumans, rather than animus towards everyone who kills my people, that motivates the descriptor."

Is that the Iomedaen way to say 'fuck you, we'll keep burning the forests'?

Feather isn't very strong on Law so she's very glad someone who knows about Axis agrees with her! When you care about Law, everyone is equal - equally people. And when you care about Good, then you care about all people. 

"Defending yourself and others is of course Lawful and Good! And when humans come into the forest and kill treants, the forest people defend them. So it would be more Good, and I think from what you said more Lawful too, to try to stop it on both sides, like the foreign governments. That Cheliax is not at war with. Realistically not everyone in all the forests will or can agree but if some parts can do it that is probably better than not."

"I think that, if what you just said is agreed, there is no need to debate the rights of nonhumans. Because all people who choose to live by the law would have equal rights. I guess you would keep debating who counts as people, but if you agree anyone who can talk should count, that is already much better than just humans. Not everyone is or can be Lawful by your laws, but people who want to should have the opportunity."

"Indeed. I propose the Committee On Nonhumans should design a procedure for consideration for the committee to permit nonhumans capable of communication presently believed to be monsters to appeal to the state for recognition as full citizens under the law." Which they won't use because they are mostly actually monsters, but it'll placate the druid and so get them more Plant Growth spells.

"I strongly support classifying bandits and also pirates as monsters- I have heard it said they were once known as the common enemy of mankind, and this has certainly proven to be the case! But I have seen a strange beast off a ship, who was fully law abiding, and paid their taxes. If we could now tax Dragons and the wealthy beasts of the caves below? Why that would be a benefit to the nation!"

She is glad that some people here are focused on the very simple 'appease druids, get plant growth' diplomacy that Cheliax has been neglecting for the last seventy years. "I would be delighted to see such a procedure explored, and relations with the druids improved."

"I have always been of the belief that those peoples that either cannot or do not wish to integrate into human society ought to be entitled to reasonable self-government. But if the civilized peoples of Cheliax were to account the forest as a foreign power, it would be as one that commits acts and provocations of war against us on a nearly constant basis. I know that the delegate from Ravounel Forest is not responsible for these provocations—that in all likelihood she deplores them—but I ask her to take this message back to her people: you must set your own house in order before you may hope for peace."

“Make war against Asmodeus good.”

Well, all this is getting entirely out of hand and none of King Drum's plants are remotely useful!

King Drum rapidly revises his plan from "boring committee that gives Brastlewark its ancient privileges" to "extremely interesting committee concerned with forest diplomacy that incidentally sneaks in some language about Brastlewark when everyone is too tired to object."

"The provocations did not cease when Asmodean rule did, though it is possible there is a misunderstanding and we would of course be honored to meet with the druids of the forests and determine if there are assurances we can offer them for renewed diplomatic relations." Honestly Carlota has half a mind to go dig up some obscure god that offers Plant Growth and institute a major church of it in Chelam. Erastil's nice to have but he doesn't have enough coverage. With two gods she could tell the druids she doesn't need them.

"I also support Count Ardiaca's proposal. We are entirely capable of treating with and allying with the druids of the forests and their less-humanoid allies when we have interests in common, as I believe my order has done with the delegate for the Whisperwood. It is" mostly  "when no lawful negotiation is possible to deal with conflicting interests that we have fought."

There is a lot of chaos going on but everyone seems to agree that the committee on nonhumans should exist, which is good, because it means he's not going to have to filibuster.* It would have been really humiliating to have to filibuster.

*Traditional Brastlewark legal tactic when the town meeting isn't going your way, in which you recite your favorite book until your opponents get bored and wander off.

"I concur with the Duchess. Nor were they absent when the Infernal Empire was only a glint in Asmodeus' eye."

"Brastlewark has a long and ancient tradition of"-- complete independence-- "peacefully being ruled by Cheliax while a majority-nonhuman polity that continues to practice its traditional ways. I believe with the help of the Brastlewark gnomes we could create similar traditions of peaceful coexistence with other nonhuman polities. Potentially even those dwelling in the forests."

There. See? Brastlewark is nice and functional and everything should stay exactly as it is except maybe with lower taxes. 

"The humans of Cheliax often attack Ravounel forest. They try to cut it down and kill anyone who tries to stop them. Or they go in as if hunting and then start killing animals and leaving their bodies unused, or sometimes - I think adventurers just go in looking for someone to kill. We work hard to stop them - the druids, and many other people of many races who all work together. Even if we wanted to also stop other, uh, 'creatures' from the forest from going outside and killing humans, we can't do both, and also they help frighten some of the outside humans away, or they kill them on their way in."

"We've been fighting Asmodeus all our lives, but it wasn't because we are Good and wanted to help you, it was because Asmodeus - or the Chelish humans under Asmodeus - kept attacking us. And under Aroden before that too, as far as I've heard. But that doesn't mean we can't do better today."

"Because - it's not that we, most of us, want to attack you. But there's a war and you can't fix that by asking just one side to - stop."

“If war exists, can make peace. If say, ‘only acceptable if other stop fighting first, let us do whatever want,’ sound like Asmodeus in fancy hat.”

Placard placard. "Can we divert this conversation to a committee on the forests, or is it covered already by another proposed committee? Rather than having it out on the floor with everyone."

"Should the committee on the forests be different from the non-human committee?"

"I think it should perhaps be separate, both as it threatens to overwhelm the other conversations about nonhumans and as I think the important constraints are quite different." She starts writing a signup for a forests committee.

The problem with Feather's position is that, in fact, trees aren't people, and farmers who need to expand their farms so their second sons don't starve are, and the needs of people outweigh the needs of things that aren't. If a tiny minority of druids would like everyone else to go hungry to satisfy their weird and obscure moral opinion, they can pay the loggers rather than attack them.

He doesn't say this. It wouldn't help, at this point.

"I concur with the Fiducia. We are indeed digressing into matters better discussed in the committee itself."

Fantastic. Forest discourse off somewhere where it won't affect his boring, boring nonhumans committee.

She posts the signups for both of the new committees. Joins the one for forests; it is relevant to her job.