Dolor is also here to reform the army. There's nothing else plausible she would have been picked to come here for, and it's a purpose she's happy to fulfill, because gods above and below she has a lot of thoughts on the entire damned institution.

Blai hopes that nobody asks him about the exact capacity in which he served at the Worldwound.

If only every officer who sneered at him could see him now. A grunt in a patchy uniform, barely human, here in the decision-making-room with the nobles and officers. 

As the only officer to (have formerly) possessed general rank to attend the convention, it is clearly Count Melcion Sarria i Sulemeiz duty to attend this meeting, so as to be available to provide key information for all parties on the sources of the disastrous failings of the Thrune army.* It's important for the state to have full understanding of the sources of the disaster, so that they will be fully qualified to reverse it.

(*: i.e., not him.)

Berenguer-Aspex Riner is here to stop Xavier from pulling a coup and conquering Molthune, since apparently someone has to.

Cansellarion has very little concern for the reformation of the army per se, but a great deal of concern about to whom the army will be sworn. Maybe, just maybe, he can arrange for an oath to the Constitution like they have in Andoran - and had in Galt before Cyprian's coup - instead of one to serve the queen.

The table already has rapidly-Scribed dossiers on it, one at everyone's place, and quick-scribed placards with everyone's names on them for them to claim.

"Gentlemen." Polite, fair-spoken. "Soldiers." That word rings out.

"I'm Archduke Xavier. I've just spend the past year trying to restore order to Sirmium, with the assistance of the Galtan army and General Cansellarion's -" he nods to the man "- troops. Mostly, I'm trying to restore order from deserters who used to be part of the Chelish army."

There's... two officers in the room, one is an Iomedaean cleric who came here from the Worldwound and one's supine. "If you don't count the Worldwound army, which I hear got all the best men - your officers were all shit straight through, your sergeants were brutes, and most of your soldiers didn't want to be in the army and so got beaten every day, and, surprise surprise, really didn't want to be in the army."

"I've been trying to fix it. But it's going to take a lot more than me to get this done. I want to get a proposal out of this committee for a plan to make sure that in five years - two, if we can manage it - we have a real royal army that can stop the Rahadoumi if they try to sack Corentyn again and go get my house back from that diabolist bastard Nefol up in Molthune who claims to rule Cheliax."

"For that, we're going to need - well. We're going to need people who knows how the Chelish army got that bad." He nods to Sarria. "We're going to need people who lead companies." He nods to Blai. "To tell us how you could get any work done, in the Chelish army as it was. We're going to need people like Marshal Cansellarion -" nod to him "- who have lead armies that weren't Hellish and know what an army that Hell isn't out to damn looks like. And we're going to need people who fought man to man, soldier to soldier, with pike or bow, because you saw it all and nobody ever thought you'd get to tell everyone, and because whatever we come up with - it'll be a way of sending people like you into the push to kill or die, and you're the ones who know it has to work."

"I expect a lot of bickering in the other committees. This one? This is the committee that's keeping Cheliax alive. So let's get to work. Names all around?"

"Dolor Rado."

She doesn't trust this man as far as she can throw him, but at least he seems to know the right lies to claim about his motives are, and that's more than she can say of most of the officers she worked under before she defected. He might be the useful fool kind of officer instead of the useless fool kind.

"Alexeara Cansellarion. I can bring copies of Lastwall's manuals with me tomorrow. Best practices for having an army that doesn't damn everyone in it."

"Select Blai Artigas," aaaaaaaaaah, "and I have the garrison discipline handbook Lastwall sent with me now, if that is of use, though I'm sure there are others."

“Iker.”

Melcion and Riner, generic important people with important names. That Xavier, though, he knows how to make a good speech. He probably wouldn’t have said any of that about the soldiers if not for that rule about a conscript in every committee, but it still feels good to be flattered. Let’s see if he can back it up. 

Blai’s name sounds familiar, but Iker isn’t sure where he heard it from. 

Dolor… there’s only really two types of girl conscript, and she looks like the type who stabs you if you try anything.

Alexeara— oh he’s already taking this in the wrong direction. 

“Whoah, Lastwall discipline handbook? Those sods have it worse than we do, keep the pointless beatings if the only other option is not being allowed to have any fun ever.”

"The petty cruelties enjoyed by an undisciplined soldier do no benefit for him in the long run. Lastwall's soldiers may have less fun in this life -" he's not even sure that's true " - but they are not damned to the torments of Hell."

Does Iomedae hate chess? He still hasn't gotten a clear answer on that one.

We're all burning anyway when hell wins. Wait, that's not something you can say to paladins to piss them off, not anymore. How about–

"Lastwall rules would turn three of us into deserters and bandits for every one of it it turns into an angel. Might be a good deal for heaven, but it sounds like a bad deal for the army."

Berengeur-Aspex had somehow gotten the wrong location for this, probably because Xavier bribed one of his servants -

Lies and slander.

- But he'll actually show up now.

"Archduke. Lord Marshal. General. Men." 

He'll sit down. The Committee To Stop Xavier From Pulling A Coup And Conquering Molthune has begun.

To Alexaera and Blai, "Thank you." To Iker - "I think we're not going to have much fun on duty," he says frankly. "But instead we're going to actually pay the soldiers their salaries instead of docking them for not weeding their officers' gardens and then they're going to spend it on drinking and gambling and women off duty, because if I try to ban whoring off-duty there will be a mutiny, I'm not Iomedae and I know it."

Ricard is mostly here to agree with Xavier, his new liege lord.  He had a passing fascination in military history, perhaps that might even be useful.  But then again, most of that had been filtered through an Asmodean lens, and everyone else here was probably more familiar with the truth.  His parents might have taught him about fighting and command, but it couldn't match up to the actual experience of everyone else here.  

He'd actually wanted to join the committee on the Rights of Nonhumans, he'd always been curious about other races, but the angry halfling and the Strix both seemed scary, and there seemed to already a fair bit of drama around it, and there wasn't someone whose opinions it was clearly best to follow, so he fell back on the safer option.

Iker gives the room a sharp-toothed grin. The new guy arriving and interrupting means he got the last word against the paladin, and then Xavier took his side. Or, at least, Xavier knows what's up. Your move, paladin.

Eventually he notices someone staying quiet and trying to avoid attention. "Hey you, he said we're introducing ourselves."

Ricard is mildly startled.  "Ricard Tosel i Castel, Count of Gaulter-"  Ricard seems like he's going to say something more, but cuts himself off.

That's how it's done. Push around the scared guy on behalf of the boss, show whose side you're on and where you stand. Iker gives the count one last smile and then settles down. 

Xavier's expression in response to Iker doing that isn't actually approving. It's a raised eyebrow of reprimand -

- And a more gentle smile and nod to the young man.

Ricard gently smiles back.

Coming to this committee was probably the right idea, the Archduke already approves of his presence and was willing to stand up for him.