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."

"It is possible and indeed ideal to conduct a discussion about the ideal path forward for an entire country without dwelling on what personal histories have led participants to be present in a committee on slavery. Furthermore, as the only Religious delegate in the room, if we continue this childish bickering, I will leave, and the committee will dissolve and re-form after my report to the President of the Convention."

"I vote are," she says coldly, ignoring him. 

"Against. This committee may draft laws on slavery but it cannot enact them. It hardly matters whether a law is drafted by a former slave or a slaveowner, if it is a just law and the convention as a whole accepts it. Every person here can be inferred to have an interest in the question by their presence. Shall we spend the days shouting insults and slurs at each other, or doing our damn jobs in drafting a policy to recommend to the rest of the convention?"

"Thank you, Delegate Ramirez."

"I appreciate your good sense," Amadeu says, with visible restraint, to the other fully-human members of the committee, "but voting against is not, actually, necessary, since the vote was proposed by--someone--who has no business being here, and thus is not valid and holds no binding over this committee." 

"The smallfolk were nominated to this committee by the same process as you, Delegate."

DEEP SIGH. "The process and the product can exist separately, and these products have no business being separated from their proper owners, let alone then ushered into the halls of government. Frankly, the first motion I was going to place before the committee was going to be to repeal whatever error the new Queen made in making free slips legal, but it seems I might have to move to remove the slips from the committee first. Tsk." 

"Down that road lies an empty committee and a proposal that will be rejected by the greater part of the convention."

"This room has nearly as many slips as there are in the whole convention."

He raises an eyebrow skeptically at the orc. 

"Provided the focus remains firmly on policy proposals and no extraneous details I expect every committee member to be capable of supplying potentially valuable insights. Were I the President of this convention I would make time to investigate any committee which altered its composition in such a way."

"To my understanding nearly all halflings in Cheliax are slaves, so frankly this result does not surprise me. It is not in the spirit of the convention to remove people representing themselves. If I proposed removing you all for being slaveowners — which I find abhorrent — it would be an equally valid proposal in my opinion. I don't think we should go down this road if we want anyone to take us seriously."

"Do you think, Delegate Moles, that the Queen or her archmages, will allow you to undo what they clearly thought was one of their highest priorities in reforming the country? Do you think, knowing that, that all the new nobility they brought in from Heaven itself will go against them on that matter? Or maybe you're counting on the priests, which gods are invited again? Iomedae? Erastil? Cayden Fucking Cailean? You don't have the votes."

He throws up his hands. "The purpose of this convention, as best I understand it, is to restore proper Law and Order in a nation wracked by, yes, Asmodeanism, and also Galtan and Rahadi troops, and the bloody Tarrasque. How do you imagine we are supposed to make any progress at that if we allow ourselves to be hamstrung by what the Queen's," he searches the air for an appropriate term, "excessively Galtan advisor actually wants and not simply what we can get by him?"

You're not supposed to just say that out loud. Idiot.

He laughs. "I see the halflings couldn't have done better if they'd named every member of this committee themselves. Very well, make your motions. I won't stand in your way."

"What does that mean?"

"Do you seriously think the Queen and the archmages will simply let you continue with the existing policy on slavery — which, I might add, is an Asmodean institution — when you transparently move to silence the voices of delegates who oppose you?"

"What is Asmodean about slavery?"

...Seriously, did the halflings manage to pick him somehow???

Dare he hope that they could simply conduct this entire committee by correspondence? No, the strix can barely talk and almost certainly can't read. "Absolutely nothing. It is practiced in diverse countries around the world."

"I observe no vote was held to select a Chair."

Well, he'd nominate Ramirez but if he does that instantly then he alienates the once and possibly future chair.

"Asmodeus is literally a god of slavery. Perhaps the god of slavery. He has various other domains, but to deny that slavery is a major concern of his — something the previous Infernal rulership was only too happy to make clear — is to deny one his the core tenants of Asmodeanism. That other countries practice slavery does not make it not Asmodean, and I would wager many foreign slaverowners and slavetraders find themselves facing Hell upon death."

"Do you also think contracts are Asmodean?"

"Besides, Asmodeus is the god of tyranny. Would you call it tyranny to have livestock?"

"The sun rose every morning over Infernal Cheliax; this did not make it Sarenrite nor see one person to Nirvana. Hellish influence is not required to institute slavery, nor need it necessarily go when Asmodeanism goes."

"I nominate Daniel Vivas as Chair of this committee, due to his specialist knowledge of both theology and of countries not ruled by Asmodeus." And because he combines "is tall" with "might support a death sentence for slaveowners."

Liushna thinks Permira would be more appropriate but if Permira is nominating some not-Permira person then probably Liushna should not immediately nominate her? Liushna will attempt to catch Permira's eye and non-verbally ascertain whether Liushna should follow her lead or not. 

"I nominate Fiducia Agramunt, due to his knowledge of commerce and non-Asmodean religions. And the previously mentioned fact that he can just shut down the committee by himself if he decides to."

"I do not think all contracts are Asmodean. I've heard that Abadar holds them in great respect. But I have seen what slavery looks like, both here and in Molthune. I do not think slavery as I have seen it can be anything other than Evil. I don't think any of you would deny it to be Lawful either, and Asmodeus is certainly the primary deity of Law and Evil. His concern of tyranny aligns remarkably well with the existing systems of slavery, even in places not ruled by Hell."

"I myself would be inclined to nominate Delegate Ramirez were we inclined to replace the chair, but will serve in this capacity if so asked."

"I vote for Daniel Vivas for committee chair." 

Permira thinks that the four slaveowners will probably not vote for her at all but they might vote for the elf so probably Liushna should also vote for the elf. :(

"I would be honored to chair this committee, if you'll have me. If not, I think Delegate Ramirez would make a fine choice."

"Vote for Daniel Vivas." Even if he doesn't have the personal experience the halflings do he seems like he has a reasonable head on his shoulders. 

She would like to poke Aina to suggest that Aina should join them in voting for the elf, who is more likely to support the death penalty for slavery than the orc.

"- uh, aye, Daniel Vivas."

"I would be honored to take the chair, or equally happy to cede it to Delegate Vivas if he is preferred by the rest of you."

Amadeu grinds his teeth. 

"If this committee is determined to remove me, I will consent to Fiducia Agramunt taking the chair." 

If you didn't want to be removed you should've tried not being incompetent. Thanks to you we're going to have a half-breed who thinks slavery is somehow inherently Asmodean chairing the thing.

You try dealing with this kind of provocation without any unwise outbursts!!!

"Vivas it is then." Since apparently Moles cannot count, and needs it done for him.

Well this is even more of a nightmare than he was expecting. 

Jaume has been taking minutes even though nobody asked him to and writes this down.

Liushna starts taking her own notes, partly because she genuinely expects to care about different things than "slavery isn't bad" idiot, and partly as a power move. She still isn't great at writing Chelish script so hers are in Draconic. She can translate them later. 

Well, good. The room seems to be against Delegate Moles and his slaver flunkies. Now the real work begins.

"Thank you all for nominating me. Let us move onto the substance of the matter now; that is, what to do about slavery and its various forms. I do not think we can continue with anything resembling the current situation, but it is not as simple as saying 'no more slavery' and being done with it. If we free the slaves, what will their legal status become? What will we do about existing slave owners—should there be any compensation for their expected losses? If anyone has specific proposals for new policies, I would be interested in hearing them."

"All slaves should be freed regardless of species and made citizens of Cheliax, and compensated for their slavery by having their master's land divided among them, so they can earn a living. All masters who refuse to obey the law should be executed."

"If the committee will forgive an introduction to the concept of reinsurance, I could more completely justify my opinion, but suffice it to say that I believe it would be a grave offense against Abadar and a terrific blow to an already fragile economy to seize any class of property so popular and widespread without even an attempt at compensation."

"Can move not allowed to call people property?"

"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?"

"I would tend to recommend against it, but for other reasons. The situation of the Chelish dollar has left coinage, per se, rarer and dearer than it should be. I do not know how far the pockets of the party which liberated Cheliax extend, but they are already sorely pressed with other matters, and the coffers of the state itself are suffering from no longer receiving the backing of Hell. While it is not necessarily blasphemous unto Abadar to distribute gifts, the fragile state of the monetary system and business landscape makes it more urgent than usual to preferentially grant money in exchange for activities which build up wealth, so as to encourage those activities over others. A compensated slave would spend, and that is good for the economy compared to its absence, but a compensated owner may be able to use the funds to keep operational an enterprise which brings returns year after year."

“Not think blasphemous against Abadar relevant anyway?”

"What might anger Abadar is relevant. Kingdoms which anger their gods rarely fare well."

"Pretty sure Abadar not god of Cheliax? Itarii no have gods mostly, lots gods exist, probably do something would be blasphemous to someone, are fine?"

That's...debatable. He's not going to debate it. "Maybe so, but large kingdoms which act so as to anger a god at scale may provoke more of a response than small tribes... We are being lured away from the path. Let us return to the purposes for which this committee was gathered."

"The last time I'm aware of something similar happened, Abadar Himself made no appearance, but the Abadarans left en masse, leaving an entire country without banking service. I have no doubt your tribes manage without this amenity. Cheliax cannot." Which really calls into question why she's here as a convention delegate instead of some sort of ambassador to an already stabilized government, but that wasn't down to him.

She shrugs. 

"If Abadar think bad not reward people for keeping other people captive, better off without." 

Does the chair desire that - no, he'll just wait for the chair to comment, this time. Presumably the chair has ever thought about money before in his entire life.

"Liushna, I don't know how many people live in the strix tribes, but some twenty million people live in Cheliax. Managing an economy at this scale is difficult—if there is a organization with such capabilities other than the Church of Abadar, I am unaware of it. I do not think Cheliax can afford a mass exodus of Abadarans."

"...If function God is necessary, why only have one Evil not one Good?"

"Abadar is Lawful Neutral."

"If Abadar were Evil his priests would not be here."

"If not evil, why want reward slavers???" Liushna is SO CONFUSED. Like, by human "civilization" in general, but especially right now. 

"Does the chair consider this point of theology germane."

Ramirez suspects this point is too nuanced for the strix and will not argue it.

"What Abadar wants, in this instance, is not to 'reward slavers'. My understanding is that he wishes for the economy to run smoothly, and the Fiducia believes the best way to achieve this is to compensate the slaveowners for their losses. I do not think further discussion of Abadaran theology is particularly relevant."

His standards for the monsters were already low but he'd kind of assumed they knew that stealing was wrong, at least enough to be able to pretend.

"I think that when a rich person claims that every book and all the gods say we should give him more money or everyone will starve, we should ignore him. If it isn't acceptable to ask about everyone's backgrounds, it's not acceptable to ask if he's a cleric of Abadar or if I'm not, so we shouldn't care if he is or about what big words he uses; if he is, I want to ask him a lot of questions about how he survived before the war or if he was rich then or how many slaves he owns, because those matter to the question of if he's giving everyone good advice, or looking after his friends."

"Abadarans do not use self-interest as a compass when advising on the economy at large."

Does literally anyone who grew up in Cheliax believe this.

"I think he speaks the truth. I've been told the same by a priest of Iomedae."

Permira is from Cheliax and she'll believe Iomedae if she ever learns how to cast Commune herself and ask her, she certainly won't believe it filtered through her clerics and a baron.

"We are skirting around the actual issue here: who should be compensated when the slaves are freed, and by how much? The Fiducia has given his perspective—we must pay the slaveowners an amount that will keep their businesses running. I have suggested we pay former slaves, in hopes that it will help economic stability without enriching slaveowners. The committee is obviously divided on this issue, but we must decide on something."

"Compensating the slaveowners will not enrich them. If on the whole a slaveowner expected to be richer by selling his slaves for what the market will bear - a figure I cannot imagine this committee agreeing to exceed - then he would have done it already. It will somewhat ameliorate the damage done by the appropriation."

"Everyone who isn't betting their fortune on slavery already got compensated by selling the slaves. Everyone who is betting their fortune should lose it, because everything they have is invested in mortal pain continuing. We should compensate people who freed their slaves willingly, so all the evil greedy people will say 'We should've done that!' I think we should pay former slaves with the lands of their masters; if everything goes badly they can grow the food they need themselves and harvest it themselves, but it won't. You work harder for yourself than you do for a man with a whip."

"That is at least a respectably formed argument. And indeed many slaves have already been sold, the bulk of them overseas where they can command prices not influenced by this possibility. I hope you are aware, however, that ownership of a slave does not invariably come with ownership of land."

There aren't actually the numbers in this committee to block outright abolition, certainly not with that damn fool totally unwilling to compromise. The convention as a whole probably won't vote down abolition if it doesn't come with insane strings attached like "kill all the slaveholders." If there's no possible victory on the side of the masters, then better to not be on that side. 

"Any compensation to slaveholders would necessarily have to be paid for by the crown. It would be a great expense, which must ultimately come from taxes upon the country or plunder from foreign adventure, and which surely has a thousand better ways it might be spent. Why should the slave-keeper be compensated for his loss before the merchant -" Abadarans are very sympathetic to merchants, right? "-whose livelihood was trampled by the Tarrasque, or the smith whose arms were expropriated to put down the rebels in Galt, or the farmer whose fields were burned by the armies of Hell?"

"Loss in warfare and in monster attack is the sort of thing normally covered by insurance, and indeed much of that damage was covered by insurance, albeit with some sluggishness on the part of the Absalom reinsurers backing the policy issuers. The insurance policies in vogue for slaves are not worded to cover expropriation by the Crown; they cover mass escape or rebellion, disease outbreak, things like that. I agree it would be fantastically expensive as a lump sum. Perhaps as an interim measure the sale of slaves to purchasers other than the Crown or manumission-inclined churches could be forbidden, and then a steady trickle of slaves would be voluntarily offered at moments appropriate to the nature of their work. I believe this would also alleviate the outflow of halfling-filled boats bound for Katapesh and other such climes, which I would imagine to be of interest to a consistent abolitionist."

"Perhaps the slaveowners should have been wiser in their choice of insurance policies, then. I hardly see why their foolishness should be paid for by the crown, if the crown must in turn take that money from the" nobles "people. Why should any man who works to support himself and his family have a portion of his produce be taken to compensate fools?"

"Because a habit of doing otherwise may mean instead he starves. If it is too expensive to pay for what you take, you must not take it, or find a slower and gentler way to extract it. I am not, to be clear, first and foremost in favor of buying up all the slaves. I would prefer that no appropriations be authorized by the crown at all beyond those taxes necessary to pay for state services, and theft is not a service. I am merely saying that if it should be deemed necessary, it will do much worse harm to steal them instead of to insist on purchasing them."

"Has any slaveowner fairly paid the mothers whose children were born into bondage? If so, then let that man be compensated for his loss. But the others are no less thieves than you make the crown out to be."

"—if people hear that their slaves are going to be taken without even being compensated, and their lands and property given to those slaves, they'll have no reason not to just put their slaves to death before that happens. I'm sure none of us here want that to happen."

"Put them all to death for murder. It's what you'd do if they murdered a human."

"The archmage already said we're not allowed to have people executed for things that weren't illegal when they did them. —That's what 'retroactive sentences' means." 

"A plot of land is not paid for growing kindling and blueberries, a horse is not paid for foals, and the underlying assumptions under which investments were made presumed that a halfling was not paid for whelping."

"The punishment for murder is beyond the scope of this committee," he says to Permira.

"It seems we are at an impasse. I believe we should vote on the following issues we've discussed:

Should chattel slavery in Cheliax be abolished?

Should former slaveowners be compensated?

Should former slaves be compensated?

We can discuss the specifics further once we have decided what path we want to take."

"These proposals are currently very vague. Do you mean simply to kick the implementation details to the floor?"

"I think the whole purpose of a committee is to handle the implementation details, so that would be unwise. But perhaps we can come to a preliminary agreement on those larger questions before getting into the details."

"I want to decide on the implementation details in this committee, but we are currently divided on whether to compensate slaveowners at all. I would not want to spend hours working on a detailed compensation plan only for it to not pass because the committee doesn't want any compensation. Thus, a preliminary vote to narrow our focus."

“What delegate Agramunt say is why I want ban say ‘property’ for slaves. Fine, is not most important thing, but intended prevent thing which just happen, forget that blueberry patch not person and horse not person and halfling person.”

"And a blueberry patch is not a horse is not a frigate. I am aware that a halfling can think for itself."

“Cannot steal from horse or frigate or blueberry patch, because is not person. Someone keep slave, every day, steal everything from slave, because that what stealing is.”

"Yes. All wealth gained from slavery is lies. It's a product of theft and a betrayal of the slave and of your god. If your god says slavery is fair trade your god is wrong. No compensation."

...does she think his god is wrong or that he is betraying his god? She should make up her mind. He's pretty sure the Pharaoh of Osirion owns slaves, though the church hierarchy is organized separately inside and out of that blessed country.

She neither doesn't know which of them is evil but she's pretty sure one of them is.

She looks up at Daniel. "Let's settle this. I propose a vote on emancipation. Will all slaves be freed or not?"

"Alright. On the abolishment of slavery, how does this committee vote?" Let's get this moving along.

"Yes on abolition." Everyone else? Everyone should vote.

Firmly: "Vote yes." 

"Against."

"Against."

Why do these humans suck so much. 

"I vote in favor." 

"In favor!"

Damn it, Vivas, she asked for a vote on 'Emancipation,' not 'Abolition'. There are probably no people in this room besides Ramirez who care about the distinction, but -

What'll it be, Antonio? Fully embrace the radicals or try one last time to stake out a moderate position? The radicals are ascendant here for the moment, but... A divided committee won't look good on the floor. It may still be possible to propose a compromise the halflings will think is giving up barely anything and the slaveowners will think is the best they can get.

"Aye to emancipation. Aye to abolition as well, but that may depend on the particular implementation."

Uncommitted. Still courting both sides.

"- aren't those the same?"

Shit! They aren't the same?

Liushna does NOT speak Chelish well enough to say anything here but she is listening intently. 

"I vote in favor of emancipation. We can vote on abolition next."

"...What is difference?" 

"To my understanding, emancipation would not prevent future slavery, rather it would only free current slaves. I misheard Permira when she proposed emancipation—I had expected her to propose abolition."

"...Well, vote yes to both, obviously." 

"Against both. Obviously."

He nudges Amadeu. Idiot goes and gets himself kicked out of the chair and then can't even be bothered to vote.

"This vote is not legitimate," he hisses quietly to Livi. 

"Are you going to try to sell the Archmage on that? He's the one who invited these monsters."

"The floor can still vote down the findings of the committee. We can record dissent."

"As Delegate Vivas says, emancipation is freeing all the slaves and abolition is saying that nobody can ever be made a slave again. I think," as of fifteen minutes ago, "that we should free almost all the slaves that exist now, and that everyone should be born free, and that no race of people be enslaved or in any way be treated differently by the law with regards to slavery, but that some people - murderers, bandits, raiders, vile men who might otherwise be put to death -" he looks the smallfolk leader in the eye and tilts his head eeeever so slightly and briefly toward Moles, in case that's the kind of ironic revenge that would appeal to her. " - might still be made to work as punishment."

"If all the judges are humans they'll find an excuse to sentence all the halflings to slavery tomorrow," says Permira, who understands some facets of the Chelish legal system very well.

"Perhaps we'll need a Committee on the Appointment of Magistrates, then."

"I vote no," Amadeu bites out, looking like he's biting into a lemon and not one of those people who enjoys that. 

"The proposal for emancipation passes, 6/3. Now, how does this committee vote on the abolition of slavery within Cheliax?"

"Against."

"Against, like I said earlier."

He sighs. "Against, for now."

"For." 

"For."

"For." 

"For."

"For."

"To the extent that this vote is legitimate, which it is not, I vote against."

"I will note in the summary of the events of the committee our dissent," Jaume assures him.

He nods back at Jaume gratefully. At least one person here is sane. 

"The proposal for abolition passes, 5/4." Now we're getting somewhere! Now, onto the other issues... "How does this committee vote on the compensation of former slaveowners?"

He's already going for that? Great! "Against."

"For."

"For."

"Against."

"For." There's a still a chance the chair will make a reasonable decision on this one so he's not giving the committee up for lost quite yet.

"Against."

"Against."

"Against."

"Against."

"The proposal for the compensation of former slaveowners fails, 3/6."

Nobody is threatening to kill anyone or acting inappropriately invested in their personal habits, so Jaume sucks it up and writes it down. The floor can still refuse.

"How does this committee vote on the compensation of former slaves?"

"For!"

"You cannot be fucking serious." 

Did you miss the part where this committee started because the monster-woman proposed a committee on murdering us.

"It was proposed as a potential option by a member of the committee. If you don't like it, vote against it."

"Against."

"Against."

"For!"

"Against."

"For."

"For."

Fiducia, did you not say earlier that compensating slaves would be better for the economy than nothing? I wonder what happened to your famed Abadaran impartiality...

"I'll vote in favor if we send this to the floor separately from the prior three proposals."

"Does that matter?"

"I think this proposal is substantially less likely to pass the floor than the other three. I'm uncomfortable tying emancipation and abolition to it."

GRRRRRRRR he has the swing vote and the alternative is to go along with what he wants or it fails anyway GRRRRRRRRRRR

"What worse if separate?" Liushna asks Permira. 

"It won't pass." She can see that. They might be scared enough of the archmage to pass them all together, but not if there's a compromise proposal of just abolishing slaveowning they can agree to.

"It could pass, but I wouldn't bet on it. I'd much rather have no slavery and no compensation than a continuation of slavery... and also no compensation."

Yeah, she's getting that. "As you say."

"The proposal for the compensation of former slaves passes as a separate package, 5/4. I think that's all of our existing proposals... are there any other proposals from members of this committee?"

"Maybe find way, slaves get compensated, presented separately, find way get people vote yes?"

"No one is going to vote yes on any of this, you stupid bitch." 

"Oh just shut up you arrogant overgrown worm."

"I'm an overgrown worm! There are slips over there pretending at government while a strix eggs them on," he valiantly refrains from saying anything about the half-blood; in today's radical society elven blood might be less disqualifying than warranted, "and I'm the overgrown worm!?" Not to mention of course the source of the insult, ugh. 

"At least a worm probably wouldn't openly talk about how he was trying to get things past the archmage."

And yet none of them did as much for the cause of abolition as you. "You've been outplayed at politics by, yes, a bunch of smallfolk and a strix who's barely fluent in the language."

"You make one mistake!" It's not like everyone else wasn't thinking it. 

"I propose that all found to keep, own or refuse to release slaves after this law takes effect be put to death." No retroactive punishment.

He looks pointedly at the servants taking notes on this committee. They're hearing this, right?

This again? He sighs deeply. "... how does this committee vote on Delegate Permira's proposal?"

"For!"

"I don't believe it is obligatory for the chair to put everything a committee member says to a vote."

"For."

Perhaps it's not obligatory, but for these members this chair will.

"Against. You cannot possibly expect men to divine that the law has changed before anyone has managed to tell them, and to punish them for breaking a new law that nobody told them was law is - Asmodean. We are past that way, now." Not that he'd vote for it if they proposed a suitable change, but they won't, so there's no need to mention that fact.

"Against." More pointed looks at the note-takers. See how all the horrible slips are voting to kill perfectly normal people? This is what happens when you let them try to outlaw slavery!

"Against. I would prefer this particular proposal be defeated in a vote, rather than simply ignored."

"Against."

Amadeu stands up violently. 

To the slips and the strix: "Fuck you." 

To the other pro-slavery guys: "And fuck you for playing along with this farce." 

And he turns on his heel and stomps out of the room. 

Jaume dutifully records this event in the minutes.

Four to four, now, on the matter of 'Kill all slaveholders,' and that only with the abolitionist chair switching sides. That proposal would fail in the wider convention, of course, he's not worried about it, but it's not a good sign for the possibility of negotiating any reasonable compromise proposal to bring to the convention.

Well, they already weren't going to get anything reasonable past the committee, but now they especially aren't getting anything reasonable past the committee.

"Evil fucking bastards. Not enough for you to steal all our stuff, you want the Crown to let you murder innocent people? Good fucking luck. —Fiducia, put in the report that I think the slips are murderous thieves and it should never have been legal to free them."

He storms out. 

Yeah. It can go in the report.

Fuck.

Liushna turns to Daniel. 

"Can explain why think bad idea?"

"So. There's a lot of people here who want revenge, for many terrible things that were done to them. But we're not going to get anywhere if we kill everyone we don't like. That's how you get a cycle of violence, like what happened in Galt. There's also basically no chance it will pass the floor."

None of this is going to pass the floor. The floor was not selected for being personally interested in questions related to slavery, a selection process which obviously produced ludicrous results. Jaume would write it all down accurately anyway but not even a less Lawful man would be all that tempted to try to interfere before it hits the floor when the floor will so obviously annihilate it.

Liushna drums her fingers on the table. 

"But," she says slowly, "is not about don't like, is about bad person keep being bad, dangerous to everyone." 

"Killing someone does stop them from doing bad things, by virtue of them being dead. But arresting them without killing them also achieves this, and is certainly less evil. I'm also not sure if specific punishments for crimes should go in the constitution at all." And he's pretty sure that, for the halflings, it is about "not liking" slavers.

"If we don't have severe enough punishments to make the slavers stop slaving, they will fine themselves one copper for every slave and keep doing it."

Oh boy this is not going to make her look good, but, "Explain arresting?"

"An arrest is when someone is, by official personages, prevented from moving and acting freely, pending longer-term arrangements that will typically depend on whether they are found guilty of a crime. If the Queen's guards came into the convention hall, pointed someone out, and said that they were suspected of a crime such as fraud or murder, that person would be arrested - prevented from going anywhere other than with the Queen's guards."

"...Okay. Hear word, 'arrest,' in Pezzack, before revolution, but seemed mostly another word for killing."

"Under calmer circumstances there is a part between the arrest and the execution for double-checking if the person has done something which carries that penalty."

"Okay. So think 'arrest' good enough?" she asks Daniel. "And more likely pass?"

"I had imagined the illegality of owning slaves would imply arrest, but Delegate Permira is right that we haven't explicitly qualified it. I'm willing to vote in favor of 'the penalty for illegally keeping a slave must include arrest'. I think it's more likely to pass the floor than the death penalty," any positive number is greater than zero "but I can't say by how much."

"Arresting someone and then letting him go is arresting him," Permira wishes to point out again.

"How about 'the penalty for illegally keeping a former slave must include arrest, and the government must ensure the freedom of any former slaves'? I think that would prevent a situation where slaveowners illegally hold slaves in perpetuity."

"The second is meaningful, the first isn't."

"I doubt we're going to have a proposal detailed enough for the floor to vote on today. Perhaps we should adjourn for the day, having agreed to compose a proposal for full emancipation and abolition without compensation to owners, and convene again tomorrow to start on the details. Some of us have other committees meeting soon, and tomorrow we'll be able to start better rested and with fewer interruptions."

"...Also have other committee," Liushna admits. 

Nod.

"It seems that would be for the best, then. The vote on Delegate Permira's proposal is incomplete, currently 3/4. We shall resume tomorrow."

Jaume copies the highlights as an interim report. If he were the President he'd want to know which committees were dysfunctional enough to have multiple storm-outs.