Aspexia-Isona thinks this is the committee for declaring vampires can't be counts. She is opposed to this, and so needs to be in it to block it, right?

"Hello everyone! Hi 'spexie! I'm Condesa Halmyris, recently a heir and recently inherited! What a splendidly interesting gathering! Shall we all agree to be civil to one another? The convention itself seems to have become something of a mess, but that's no excuse to have the committees turn foul!"

Aspexia doesn't know this person "Hello, Lucia."

"A pleasure to meet you both. I certainly agree that it's best we conduct this committee civilly — we have nothing to gain from pointless squabbling."

Josep bows, a little, and murmurs, "As you say, my lord."

"Hear, hear." That's Conventionese for 'as you say my lord', pay attention.

"It seems to me that there are several topics we'll need to consider. We need a procedure for ensuring that those who inherit are suited to the task, and perhaps for addressing any such situations that may have been... overlooked. We need to ensure that we don't destabilize our country further through excessive radicalism or idealism, by attempting to displace qualified heirs. We need some sort of formal proposal about the newly-resurrected nobility, many of whom have no clear successor. Ideally, it would be advantageous to have some sort of consistency, rather than every part of the kingdom doing this haphazardly— paying respect, of course, to the longstanding customs and privileges of many of our lands.  And of course, we need to ensure that whatever we propose is sensible— I'm sure we've all seen some of the nonsense in the pamphlets.

I now open the floor for recommendations on which of these topics we discuss first." That is, who here is desperate enough to get out in front?

Oh he's cute. She taps her pen as though she's got lots of thoughts to sift through about all this.

"Perhaps we should begin by establishing the basic rule of inheritance to be followed when no special circumstances obtain? The traditional approach is for the eldest child to inherit, but there are many exceptions to this rule, and perhaps one of those exceptions is a better basis to build upon. Among the common people, the parent will often choose his heir as he sees fit, or split his estate among his children if he desires; among the nobility, there are some estates that pass only to sons and not to daughters, or only to married daughters for lack of a son. Perhaps we might consider the wisdom of these alternatives?"

Let's see how that lands.

"And of course all these standards typically apply only to legitimate or formally legitimized children, but at times exceptions have prevailed."

Lucia frowns. "The tradition in Halmyris is to pick the one that shows the bloodline the best, or otherwise the oldest. I think this kind of thing is suitable for more places. If you have two children, and one is a second circle wizard, or a powerful adventurer, you should pick that one." She frowns. "We should not have estates that pass only to sons." 

Hm. "Condesa, would you say more about the tradition of Halmyris? It seems indeed reasonable that the strongest and wisest should be the one to inherit, but how is that determined?"

Lucía shrugs" Oh, the Montemayors all have a little lightning, but most of us have only as much as one might get from stroking a dry catskin. I hear in the past there was a block of oak one had to pierce, but in the last few generations only one two have had the bloodline. I had thirty cousins, and none of them had it but me."

"Ah, I see. Not a solution that we can use outside of the illustrious bloodlines that carry powers, then. We could leave the choice entirely to the parent, but so many parents are blind to the faults of their favorite child..."

"Perhaps a system like that, with some specific criteria — lawlessness, manifest diabolism, imbecility, that sort of thing — that are considered disqualifying regardless of the parent's decision?"

"I think parents usually know best? Unless they're senile, I mean, but that's a specific thing you can test for, isn't it, and usually fix with magic?"

"You can fix senility with magic? News to me."

"I certainly agree," his father perhaps aside, "and I wouldn't wish to impose any qualifications so extreme that it would eliminate a suitable heir, but I do think there are some defects sufficiently serious that they ought to be disqualifying." Because he needs an excuse for dealing with Galè. "Did you have concerns about the three I proposed?"

"Lawlessness imbecility and diabolism? Is diabolism maybe too specific, surely demoniacs would be bad too - or, i guess they'd be lawless, but if someone were worshiping, uh, divs."

"That seems perfectly reasonable, if there are no objections. Manifest worship of any power of the lower planes, perhaps?" He'll look at Aspexia-Isona. He doesn't want to pick a fight over that clause, if he can help it.

"Manifest worship of any power of the lower planes is absolutely disqualifying," she agrees wholeheartedly. "- I think there are Neutral Good counts who are fine?"

He rather doubts that. No one's ever accomplished anything worth noting and stayed Neutral Good, let alone ruled a county that way.

Is he willing to count on Galè being anarchic* rather than merely lawless, if it means keeping Aspexia-Isona on his side? ...yes, he thinks, everyone who works with him knows his word means about as much as a Galtan's. He can build in some redundant checks later on in the process.

"I suppose that's reasonable. Perhaps we could express it as— anarchic nature, or serious disregard for the laws of Cheliax, so that anyone who's Neutral Good but doesn't flagrantly violate the law should be fine? With exceptions for violations of those laws that only existed due to Asmodeanism, of course."

*Chaotic

Nod nod.

"Reckless disregard for the laws of Cheliax is disqualifying," she agrees.

"I confess I would prefer an explicit rule to guide the choices of a parent. I think perhaps this honorable assembly underestimates the folly of many an aged parent, whose favored child is plainly incompetent and unfit for the title they wish to bear."