"I think it would not be to your advantage to set a precedent of requiring very specific uses of language, Delegate Windwhip."

That's hilarious. She snickers. "You say, but Windwhip is tribe, Liushna is me, not correct or specific call me Windwhip."

"I recommend amending your placard to accommodate your preferred address."

Shrug. "Is still bad look, say only speak Chelish, criticize how I say Chelish. Can speak Draconic, Sylvan, Auran? Much better at those." 

"I think we must end 'calling people property' as you put it, but we must figure out what that means, in a practical sense. Cheliax has many practices I believe would fall under that classification, and it is my understanding that they are somewhat legally distinct. Perhaps Fiducia Agramunt could explain some of this, if he is more familiar with the technicalities than I am?"

"I believe the only case in which anyone is held as specifically property, rather than an indenture or conscript or minor child or convict or other less commonplace case, is the chattel ownership of nonhumans, principally halflings by the numbers but including some quantity of orcs and less common creatures."

"Liushna, if we are going to get anywhere we have to speak a language we all understand—in this case Chelish. I am fluent in Elven and Ignan, but I highly doubt anyone else here is."

"I not say, I not speak Chelish. I say, if want I speak Chelish, not criticize Chelish not best language." 

"I would be pleased to act as translator if you want to speak Draconic instead. Or perhaps at the end of the day we can ask one of the administrators for a magical solution, I know they exist.

...With regards to the word 'property', it is as a matter of legal fact true that many are both people and property. To avoid the word does nothing to change their status."

Nod to Ramirez. What a sensible person. Was he an orc to begin with or did he get reincarnated?

"Understand that, matter of Chelish law, halflings held property. Also understand, easy pretend 'property' not person with own soul and will and extremely justified grudge."

"Many forms of property differ in many important ways. The ability of some property to think for itself is one of them."

How is this man Wise enough to cast cleric spells???

"I'm willing to agree to a stipulation not to refer to any— any people as property, if you're willing to support fairly compensating anyone who currently owns such— people— for the loss of their people, and to agree that anyone so freed will retain all the obligations of Chelish citizens to abide by the laws of our country.."

"Perhaps instead of arguing over whether it is appropriate to call slaves property - Actually, pardon me a moment, gentlemen."

In Draconic, "You are not helping anybody's cause by belaboring this point. The words are not what matters, here."

And then back to Chelish, " - We could discuss the actual issues of slavery? Whether to reform the institution or abolish it, whether to compensate former owners or not, whether to compensate former slaves or not - we have a lot to determine that's a great deal more important than whether the word 'property' may every describe a thinking being."

She nods to Ramirez. Actually the horrible little man had made that point perfectly well, but she can't blame the orc for not knowing she had realized that. 

"I agree, the precise wording matters less than the actual issues. To the point: I am in favor of abolishing slavery. I think we should make them citizens. I am unsure of what to do about compensation. If Fiducia Agramunt is still willing, I would like his opinion on the potential economic effects of compensating—or not compensating former owners or former slaves."

Liushna is SKEPTICAL that the very stupid cleric will have anything to say worth hearing, but she will hold her peace about it. 

"If a person invests in any form of property - a farm, a building, a ship, a horse, a tool, a slave - then he expects to receive from its use more than he paid, but over a more extended period of time. All such investments carry some risk. Blight, fire, wreckage, disease, rust, escape. This is normal and a savvy investor expects it. I would have much more muted objections if there were some particular slave of some elevated importance it would be politically expedient to seize. You would ruin only one man's fortunes, if that.

"If every farm in Cheliax fails at the same time - every building collapse, every ship go under, the horses all fall to a novel horse pox, rust monsters hatch out of every nook and cranny and devour all the steel? Then that is a catastrophe. We are seeing something like it in the wake of the failure of the Asmodean priests; little missed they may be, but people are falling to cholera and thirst in every area that does not enjoy the regular visit of another sort of cleric. One priest disappears? One village fails, or imports a new priest. All of them? You see the problem.

"If you must destroy all industries and households which at present rely on slavery, as I acknowledge there are many sympathetic reasons to do, you must do it in a way which insulates the economy from the strain. You must pay for that which you take. Else it will be like turning locusts loose over the fields. It will be impossible to hire the simplest of labor for less than what we are making here at this very convention. Trash will not be collected and rats will breed in the cities. Mines will close and our ore industry crater. Crops will rot in the farms and people will go hungry - ordinary people who could never have afforded their own slaves to begin with."

"Why? There will be much more labor who can now work for whatever wages they wish." She doesn't believe him and this sounds made up.

"They are presently working for nothing, at the cost of their amortized prices over their lifetimes. It is possible that most would remain at their present employment for not much more than the price of their food and reliant business could limp on - but I do not think it likely."

And why fucking should they. 

She's not going to say it but she is going to think it at the top of her lungs. 

"That doesn't say why we won't work for silver not gold, just why we won't work for nothing but food and beatings. If farmers want the crops harvested they can pay what it's worth for it."

"Does the chair desire that I elaborate further in response to these remarks," says Jaume.

"I do not think that will be necessary. I hope to avoid some sort of total economic collapse—I do not personally care about the fortunes of slaveowners, but if the dependence is as severe as you say then many more citizens who do not own slaves may suffer. I also suspect many former slaves will not want to remain in the employ of their former masters, so I don't want to plan around that. Perhaps we could figure out some sort of... minimum economic reimbursement to keep the economy afloat? Delegate Ramirez also mentioned potentially giving compensation to former slaves, which appeals to me more than paying slaveowners—could that help the economy?"