Why is he here. He doesn't want to be here. This committee looks like it's not going to involve any political philosophy. 

Now that there's a Committee on Forests Feather will dedicate all her real efforts there, but this one is obviously the next most relevant one!

Also, the two committees shouldn't get stuck waiting for the other's decision. Or decide to do opposite and incompatible things, or something. So it's important to have someone on both.

This committee contains mostly non-humans and presumably none of them will want them not to have rights, so she has no idea how the deliberation will actually work besides them presumably agreeing on that.

Lucia looks a little scared, but also very interested in everything. "Hello everyone! Gosh, what a big hammer you have! Why don't we all introduce ourselves and also say what kind of thing we are?" She blinks a few times. "And I guess our style?"

"I am King Drum Thornfiddle, First of His Name, King of Brastlewark, Lord Protector of Gnomekind, His Most Desnan Majesty, Grand Master of the Banner of the Stag, Knight of the Royal and Distinguished Order of the Scrivener, et cetera. Gnome."

"I am Antonio Ramirez, baron of Fangspire, an orc."

"Liushna, Shalyeen of tribe Windwhip. Am Itarii. Humans mostly say strix." 

"Hi Antonio!"  She waves happily. "I'm Condesa Lucía Velacruz i Montemayor, de Halmyris. I'm human, with a lightning bloodline of some sort!"

"Alfonso Antoninus Blanxart, Archduke of the Heartlands, and human."

"Alonso. Former slave."

"I am Kicharchu! I am a kobold!"

"I'm Bright Morning Feather, a druid from Ravounel Forest. I'm... a druid?"

"Druid is a race?"

Feather feels her Chelish is rather inadequate to the task, but she'll give it a go!

"Druid is - a kind of person. I'm not sure if 'race' means the same thing in Chelish. One thing I think 'race' means is that everyone of the same race can have children together, and that's not true for druids."

"As a druid, I turn into other kinds of people. Sometimes I'm a human, like now, sometimes I'm an owl, sometimes something else. It would be wrong to say I'm a human, because I'm not one half the time and maybe one day I'll decide to stop being one entirely. And druids are meant to -" transcend - "grow beyond being any one race like humans. Because we care about all races equally. And for other reasons it's - harder to explain," she finishes somewhat lamely.

"I am Aspex Ibarra, wizard of the fifth circle, King-In-Irons and captain of the Court of Exiles," and I have been nominated for this by gnomes, who I am going to murder if this doesn't turn out to be interesting. I'm here for revenge, not for any of this bullshit, "and I am a human."

King Drum rises. He doesn't know Condesa, but the rest are solidly on his side. Part of him wants to do an elaborate deception like in the court of the Thrunes, but he's been doing that for decades. It's been getting, well, a bit boring. It's time for honesty. Prepared speech #4, then.  

"I am King Drum Thornfiddle, of Brastlewark. Many of you may not have heard of Brastlewark, and those who know may not truly understand what it is.

"Brastlewark is a free gnomish city. It is a city of gnomes, governed by gnomes, for the benefit of gnomes, with the practices and laws that are most suitable for gnomekind. It has been my solemn task for nearly a century to ensure Brastlewark's independence. Through my work and that of my aides, Brastlewark kept its ancient privileges even under the despotic rule of the despicable Thrunes. 

"We continued to govern ourselves using our ancient practices, such as the town meeting. We worshipped the gods of our fathers and mothers-- Desna, Erastil, Cayden Cailean, Brigh-- in the ways our fathers and mothers did. We had freedom of the pen, and if we couldn't publish in Cheliax, what of it? Neither could an Andoren. We ran our own educational system in our traditional fashion, with respect for the scholar's curiosity and none of the cruelty of the Asmodeans. We passed our own laws and enforced them fairly on our own people. We maintained our own granaries for times of famine that no petty baron stole from to enrich himself. 

"I fought for Brastlewark's freedom because of my constant and dedicated opposition to Asmodeus and all his works. But no one, I hope, will criticize me for saying that that motivation was secondary. I fought for Brastlewark's freedom because I care about my people.

"Gnomes are different from humans. We have different needs, which ought to result in different laws and traditions and forms of governance. A human may live in Brastlewark, as a gnome may live in Westcrown. But it is an injustice for gnomes to have no place to live that is designed for us to live a life proper to gnomes. The old kings of Cheliax recognized this, and gave Brastlewark its ancient privileges and immunities.

"My hope at this conference, most of all, is to protect these privileges and immunities. But my second hope is that all nonhumans should have the same rights as the gnomes-- to a homeland within Cheliax, in humble submission to the noble and generous Queen, but governed by members of their own race for the needs of their own race. I hope to see Devil's Perch"-- he nods at Liushna-- "independent from and yet harmonious with human village. I hope to see villages of halflings"-- he nods at Alonso-- "who are free of human domination, for they rely on humans for nothing, and know that self-reliance is the only path to true freedom. And though I know less of the needs of those people, I hope to see orcs"-- Antonio-- "and even kobolds"-- Kicharchu-- "free and safe as well, and at peace with the humans around them.

"Thank you. I hope you are all with me."

(Permira is also here, in the background, glaring at the humans.) ("Permira, a halfling.")

Orcs at peace. What a joke.

"Food does not grow in the sewers very much. It come from city. So kobolds cannot be allbyourselves."

This is the first time another delegate has said something applicable to the forests that Feather can unreservedly and enthusiastically agree with!!

She doesn't know about the local customs for endorsing something, so she settles for a "Yes!" and a grin.

“I think you’re being optimistic about halfling villages. I think legalizing the independence of Devil’s Peak could work, but there aren’t any places for halflings right now. Where would you put them?”

"The population of Cheliax is less than half of what it was before the death of Aroden. It's not like there isn't empty land, we just need people to kill all the monsters that have taken up residence."

"Unless those 'monsters' are people who should have rights just like the halflings." This is getting tiresomely repetitive, but - "can you define who you'd call monsters, and who you'd call nonhuman people we want to give rights to? I am asking because different people have given me different definitions of the word 'monster' so I think this is central to the discussion."

"There is lots of room in sewers for kobold size people. But, not lots of food, so probably more kobold size people wouldbeterriblyunhappy."

"By 'monster' I mean anything incapable of peaceful coexistence with its neighbors, for whatever reason."

"I have no objections to that!" It actually sounds so great that Feather worries she's missing something; maybe she'd better double-check. "So, anyone who's using the land and does not attack anyone can stay where they are, and they'd be people with equal rights. And anyone who can't or won't refrain from attacking others, you can attack back and drive out or kill, and they're called monsters?"

"I'm the Condesa of a port city, and what I care about is passports and taxes. If a gnome ships parts from Brastlewark to Andoran- does he pay taxes twice or once? If a gnome visits Westcrown does he wield a passport? And even outside Brastlewark- to whom do ungoverned peaceful entities pay taxes?"

...Liushna turns to Baron Ramirez and says, quietly, in Draconic, "What are taxes?"

"Brastlewark pays its taxes. It pays rather more taxes than anywhere else in Cheliax, although I am hopeful that the Queen will see the injustice of this, since she is Lawful and Good and does not have to be bribed to allow gnomes to live in peace."

"Halflings don't have land, but we should. We should be given a place of our own, from the land of the slavers or the lands of evil nobles."

Feather once asked the villagers around the Forest to explain 'taxes' to her. The answers she received (across several villages) included:

- Lawful payment for things the rulers do, like building and patrolling roads

- Lawful tribute to your superiors

- Good (?) contribution to a common cause, like fighting enemies of Cheliax

- Evil tyranny (?) by the strong of the weak

- Chaotic (???) theft by the tax-collectors

Taxes seem to be one of those things the humans don't understand themselves (but will get offended if you point this out). She hopes she can sit this one out, because if someone asks her 'who will the Forest pay taxes to' it probably won't end well, or at least won't end in any kind of mutual understanding.

"We are saying what things should be given? The kobolds are fine to live where we live but want food sent."

"Delegate Permira, I am in principle okay with an arrangement like that, I have done something similar on my own estate where I inherited and freed a large number of halfling slaves, but most halflings currently work on the same estates as free human farmers. This arrangement would necessarily limit your ability to govern yourselves."

"Delegate Kicharchu, it is one thing to compensate a freed slave by giving her the lands she has worked without pay all her life. It is another to continually send food that must be grown by the labors of those that live above ground. If you wish to continue to live in the sewers you will need to trade with the aboveground races for food."

"We could also live somewhere else if there is a good place."

(Aside, to Liushna) "The closest Draconic word is 'tribute'. It's the portion of the produce of the land that is given to the queen, rather than given to the local lord or the churches or kept by the farmers. I think there are also city taxes sometimes but I don't know how those work."

(To the committee as a whole) "I think that separating each race and giving them their own laws would be a disaster. Perhaps it works for gnomes; I know little of gnomes and would not say. But dwarves live among humans, by human laws. Should we banish them all back to the Five Kings? I doubt they would be happy with that, and we'd all suffer. Who would manage the mines? Elves live among humans, by human laws. Should we send them all to Kyonin Forest? Trust me when I say that to put orc villages with their own law and own governance in the middle of a human countryside would not lead to peacefully living side-by-side. And that is to say nothing of true monsters - dragons, the hungry dead, trolls and owlbears and dinosaurs and beastmen. River-singers and" strix, but he won't say that in this company "harpies and ogres and man-eating flowers and faeries and demons. That's an awful lot of tiny villages with their own laws. It seems more like the Varisian Wastes than like a real country, to me."

Liushna did not understand and/or recognize every item on that list, but she does know the word owlbear and she knows that those aren't people. 

On the other hand, that doesn't mean his general point is inaccurate, and he was just helpful to her, so she won't say that out loud. 

In the Forest, everyone depends on other races to live, and someone depends on them in turn. This idea of every race living all alone by itself feels - unnatural. Like everyone trying to imitate the humans in miniature, because the humans want to fill the world with nothing but themselves and the creatures they eat, and the other people who live among them have come to think that this is what good living looks like. That it's a way to happiness, and not just victory in war.

Feather has talked with over two hundred Outsider-humans. Almost none of them were happy.

"As long as halflings are as free as humans to be wizards and priests and lords and delegates and merchants and can never be enslaved again, we can live by the same laws humans do. But if we are not, we must have our own laws and our own judges."

"We are voting on who can be wizards and lords? Excitement!"

"Halflings can already be wizards. So can kobolds, Kicharchu." Alexandre is one of the humans who are happy! "I've trained halfling wizards myself.* It's just that Asmodean law doesn't let them."

"And I agree with Baron Ramirez. In Absalom, every race of people lives under the same laws, cheating and stealing from each other without care to height or pointiness of ears, and damn near every one of them is happier and less wicked than the richest and most independent lord in Cheliax."

(*: And killed kobold, but he doesn't want to talk about that.)

"Think most people happier and less wicked not have deal with Asmodeus." 

Permira is really quite sure his claim to have taught wizardry to halflings was a bribe and a trick but it's a really tempting bribe, see. "The masters get to be happy, by the old rules. We don't."

"Delegate Esquerra—Absalom, though cosmopolitan, is still a human city, in that the majority of its people and nearly all of its councilmen throughout history have been human. I did not mean to suggest that other races were not welcome to live among humans if they wished, only that if they do so, they must abide by human laws. If a human goes onto halfling or strix lands he will need to abide by their laws just the same. But, purely as a practical matter, I doubt many humans will abide being governed by nonhumans."

"I have plenty of humans in my barony who abide it just fine." Admittedly, it's easy to be a step up from a red dragon.

"Most of the councilmen, yes, aside from all the ones with elven, draconic or extraplanar blood they lie about. Funny how aasimar - I'm sorry, 'Celestial-blooded sorcerers' - get called shining exemplars of humanity please nobody notice their glowing eyes and tieflings get called another race, isn't it?"

"Everyone knows the regard in which they aren't alike, but I would happily expel all the aasimars from government if we would also expel all the tieflings." Considering he's seen none of the former here anyway.

He's pretty sure that's not how sorcery works. Case in point: Antonio Ramirez is not a dragon.

"Delegate Conde Antonius, it would seem to me that if strix have their own laws and lands, we must have border-taxes and passports and the possibility of war."

"Border-taxes and passports, yes. War is a possibility, but—two dukes would not go to war with each other unless the crown were in dispute, and even then they might hope for a peaceful resolution. I hope that nonhuman vassals of the empire would enjoy similar peace."

"My bodyguard is a tiefling, archduke, and one of the finest men I've ever met. Expel them all - I'll take and train every one of them." To come back looking for vengeance, obviously.

'What if the strix get hungry?' He doesn't ask because he still wants to keep this particular strix friendly or at least nonhostile on the slavery committee, and it's not like anyone else here is ignorant of strix dietary habits.

...right?

"I don't deny that there are good tieflings," though he has his suspicions about anyone in this man's adventuring party, "but, in the end, few enough that a general policy of exclusion still seems worthwhile. If everyone with Infernal blood had been removed from power in the old days, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"If you don't believe you can make a good country out of Evil people, Archduke, I think you'll have some trouble adjusting to Cheliax."

"I certainly don't think you can do it with Evil rulers. But that's the business of the Committee on Excising Diabolism, not this one." Given the composition of this committee he's not going to get this part of his position into its recommendations, so he'll wait and propose it on the floor as a compromise when the rest of the convention inevitably rejects whatever it does come up with.

"Absalom is a wonderful city that is trying its best to be cosmpolitan, a city for all people. I don't think Cheliax is a country for all people nor should it try to be."

"Long long long time ago, Chelish--ruler--meet--strix--ask if want be part of kingdom, strix say no, ruler say, okay, we make peace. Peace not last, but--if strix properly part of country, pay taxes, should be improvement on, not part of kingdom, have peace. Not sure Brastlewark situation is that?" 

So 'taxes' are paid only if you're part of Cheliax and ruled by them? They're not paid in exchange for peace, you can have peace without taxes? That sounds great!

"Does anyone remember why the peace with the strix broke down?"

"Brastlewark governs itself internally but pays taxes to Cheliax, yes. We don't allow in tax collectors. The city government sets aside a portion of the taxes we collect to pay our count, duke, and Queen. As long as they receive the set amount of taxes, we can collect it however we like. Which is good, because gnomes are naturally suited to experimentation on such things."

"The main thing that taxes pay for," he says, since probably none of the nonhumans understand this, "is defense. If a place is part of Cheliax and pays taxes, even if it governs itself, then we will defend it if it is attacked by humans from outside Cheliax, or by a dragon, or by devils from a portal to Hell, such as currently plagues the Whisperwood. Now, Élie Cotonnet may choose to close the portal to Hell in the Whisperwood out of the Goodness of his own heart, or out of his hatred of Hell, but if he did not, then Cheliax would pay him to, because the Whisperwood is—at least currently—part of Cheliax, and is under the Queen's protection. If a people wants to be totally free of Cheliax and pay no taxes, I am not necessarily opposed, but then they will not have the Queen's protection."

"I would oppose that. 'Defense' cannot be easily divided up and parceled out only to those who pay for it. A wall around a city protects every home within - if one man says 'I have no need of your protection, I will pay no tax' his home is still safe. In the same way, when a band of marauders comes out of the mountains to steal and burn, we cannot simply direct them to the farms that have chosen not to pay their due. Portals to Hell are archmage business of which I know little, but the everyday work of defending the borders and the forest bounds saves all of the country or none of it."

"Yes, we certainly cannot make that arrangement for individual farms. I doubt we could even make it for the forests. I was speaking mostly to the delegate from the strix, who if my knowledge serves me live on a remote coast little inhabited by humans."

"I see no reason the strix could not be independent, so long as they are not raiding and permit merchants through the passes. Few people who can't fly want to live in the mountains, and it's not like much grows there." The problem, implicitly, is the raiding and attacking travelers.

"Have more problems humans want mines than humans want farms. But, also, good place raise sheep." 

"If you choose to remain Chelish citizens, then Cheliax could make a law obliging anyone who wanted to mine on your land to seek your permission and pay you a portion of what they take. I don't know what current Chelish law on that looks like; most places that are good for mining don't have many humans living there. If you were independent, you could of course make your own laws, but humans might be less likely to obey them willingly."

Nod. "Right now, own laws, humans not obey. Mostly. Pezzack fine lately." 

"I think we ought to make a distinction between races that are already part of Cheliax, but might wish for independence, and races that are already de facto independent, and have their own governments, but might wish to be under our protection; and we ought to decide which races are which. Of the races represented here, I think halflings belong to the former category, forest people, gnomes, and strix the latter, and orcs are more complicated, since there are both orcs that live among humans and orcs that live apart from humans."

"I don't think the forests need protection usually. Or, not against other humans. A portal to Hell sounds terrible and I don't want to speak for the Whisperwood, but if the taxes would pay for... paying an archmage to close it... then a forest that didn't pay taxes could, uh, keep the money and pay the archmage themselves? What matters to us is not fighting with others in Cheliax and keeping our forest. And then we could give you things like plant growth, I don't know if counts as a tax."

"Kobolds do not a government."

"Forests are complicated because they take up a lot of land in the middle of our territory and they often make it very difficult to get between our cities. Protection isn't the only thing that we might ask you to pay for, but I do think plant growth is an acceptable form of payment."

"However, all I'm currently asking the committee to recognize is that the forests are not currently meaningfully governed by the laws of Cheliax, that their inhabitants are not by default citizens, and that further negotiation between Cheliax and the forests ought to happen outside this convention."

"Delegate Kicharchu, I apologize for excluding your people from my earlier enumeration. I think that kobolds are not currently meaningfully governed by the human government of Cheliax either, but you will most likely need to come up with some way of policing yourselves if you want this to continue to be the case."

"Explain this? Please."

"There needs to be someone who can speak to the humans on behalf of the kobolds—even once the convention is done—and they also need to be able to tell the kobolds that certain things are wrong, and most of the kobolds need to listen to them. And they need to say that attacking or stealing from humans is wrong, and punish anyone who does these things so that they don't do it again. If kobolds cannot stop other kobolds from hurting humans, then humans will have to stop them."

"I agree that we can't do all the negotiations now. I can't promise things for Ravounel Forest, only propose them, and I expect there will be more negotiations like you said. This convention is for setting the highest laws of Cheliax, and a specific deal probably isn't that, so what we can recommend to put there is that we want peace and trade and cooperation and should try to negotiate and make deals instead of fighting."

"Oh. That is hard. Because no one listens if you say, 'starve!'"

"Would you all starve, if you couldn't steal from humans?" He hopes kobolds don't eat humans but they probably do.

"Things do not grow, very much, in the sewers. Farther down there are drow who grow mushrooms. They do not like stealing either. But they cannot be listened to if they say, 'starve!'."

"That's" a disaster, how do you make peace with people used to getting their entire livelihood from theft "very unfortunate. I think all that's in this committee's remit is to declare that the kobolds, like the people of the forests, cannot currently be considered citizens of Cheliax but that we seek peaceful and mutually beneficial relations with them. I hope that actually comes true some day."

"Most cannot speak Chelish."

"There are kobolds in the forests who hunt their food. You could move to a forest if you wanted to. But it would probably be hard to adjust, I don't know what your life is like right now."

"Right now I am a delegate!"

"I mean the other kobolds. I haven't been to where you live and I don't know how different it is from a proper forest," Feather explains. Talking to very different creatures with varying takes on language is totally within her skillset!

"I would like to come up with a definition of citizenship that isn't just a list of races, and makes provision for someone who wasn't previously a citizen to become one, but that seems likely to take a while and many of us have other committee meetings to attend. I move to adjourn until tomorrow."

"I support the motion."

"That sounds good to me. I think we've made good progress!" Which is to say, progress towards Good.

Clap clap!

King Drum Thornfiddle gleefully bangs his overly large clockwork gavel. A door opens and a little bird emerges and says, "I now pronounce this meeting adjourned."