Permira turns to her fellow halflings and says, in Halfling, "Three of us and Liushna against three votes and the orc-lord aside."

Liushna leans over. "Sorry, not sure, was supposed to understand? Didn't," she says quietly. 

"It would be convenient if we shared a language with you that the humans didn't, but we don't," Alonso murmurs apologetically.

"How sure? Liushna speak--" 

Livi had planned to just sit on the infrastructure repair committee. Unfortunately, then some creature had to go and suggest murdering all slaveowners. Which is ridiculous, and frankly goes to show the absurdity of treating monsters like they're normal people, but since the archmage insists on pretending as much he'd better get himself on that committee.

"I move that proceedings be conducted in Chelish Taldane, to allow all members to participate."

Daniel doesn't speak Halfling. Or Strix.

"I agree, I don't think having secret conversations in other languages is going to be particularly productive."

"Agreed," Amadeu says immediately. "All conversation should be done in comprehensible Chelish." Not that he expects the slips and the strix to have anything to say worth hearing, but it's the principle of the thing. 

The annoying thing about eyes that appear to be a solid color is that nobody can tell when you're rolling your eyes at them. 

They're already taking over.

"I was just asking my friends," she lies flatly and with practice, "if they thought the chair owned slaves himself."

"Of course I do," he says, annoyed, "how else could I possibly be qualified to chair this committee?"

"A very successful slaveowner, then," Permira's going to try to use use this one, "One with lots of experience. Since that makes you so qualified."

Oh good, at least the chair is likely to be reasonable.

"UGH. Bad human." 

"Irrelevant personal attacks are not germane to this discussion."

"How imagine is irrelevant? Slavery bad, all human who hold slaves bad for do it." 

Liushna, please let her do this. "I was just hoping the chair could lay out his extensive experience as a slaver, since he no doubt has a great deal of experience managing and training and handling slaves to qualify him for leadership of this committee."

"The committee is about what is to be done and not opinions about any individual. I move that further inquiries into the personal business of any member be grounds for expulsion."

Well, he had hoped the chair would be abolitionist, or at least moderate, but it seems that was too much of a stretch.

"I'm a merchant. Of slaves, primarily. And, frankly, I am not interested in being questioned by any uppity slips that the archmages may have misguidedly allowed to be present." 

An orc lord has little business and no excuse learning Halfling. An orc slave, working alongside halfling slaves, (if usually in different jobs) might pick up a phrase or two. An orc slave who's objectively much better at most things than the typical orc slave might pick up a lot, to the point where you might almost call him fluent.

He makes no comment, for now, just watches and listens as the battle lines neatly array themselves to position him as potential peacemaker.

The cleric can go join his master in Hell. "I request a vote on whether the experiences and qualification of members of the committee are a legitimate matter of discussion for this committee, as Delegate Agramunt proposed. I vote that they are." 

"I vote that they are." 

"I think the personal business of the members of this committee is very likely to be relevant to our discussions. I, myself, own no slaves. It seems many others on this committee do. To declare this 'irrelevant' to a committee on the future of slavery in Cheliax is ridiculous. I vote that they are."

HA! The foreign elf got the message.

He thinks it's clearly relevant, but if the slips and the half-breed are all voting one way then he's against it. "I vote that they aren't."