"I wonder if it's within the scope of the committee - or for that matter the Convention - to suggest that it would be good for Cheliax's stability if Queen-approved noble titleholders were assured of resurrection should they be assassinated by radical elements."

"I don't think that's inherently outside the scope of our committee, but I'd be reluctant to write it into the Constitution itself — the Queen will not always have archmages backing her up, not to mention the difficulty of specifying what qualifies as 'assassination by radical elements.' With that being said, I'm not opposed to such a recommendation, as long as it doesn't carry the force of law and isn't likely to aggravate the general body — did you have a suggested wording?" 

"I don't, this occurred to me just recently."

"Perfectly understandable. Does anyone else share Delegate Petit's concern and have a suggested wording?" Hopefully someone does, he hasn't had the chance to come up with anything.

"I am uncertain of the wisdom of this. It may only serve to attract attention to us from the radicals, and to set us against them."

He heard there was a group gathering to advise the queen on matters of inheritance and so of course that's where he'll be. It takes him a while to find it, and the meeting is already in session when he arrives, but he can make that work. He opens the door, walks up to an open chair like he belongs there, and sits.

"Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt, please continue."

"- I think there are processes to vote on new members?"

"... Hello?" says Aspexia-Isona, who has been here the entire time.. 

He'd rather not expand the committee's membership; the more of them there are, the more people they have to satisfy to get a unanimous proposal through, and the greater likelihood that someone on the floor will take issue with one of the provisions. With that being said, the man is dressed like a noble; he doesn't know all the nobility by sight yet, and he doesn't want to anger anyone important.

"Indeed. May we have the honor of knowing who we're speaking to?"

"Taldaris Ventura, brother to the duke of Gandia and priest of Aroden."

- She thought Aroden didn't get priests any more! Apparently this is one of these that was infernal propaganda! Great! "Welcome, Your Holiness." 

"Oh my gods, did the Asmodeans just lie about him being dead this entire time? I really thought that part was true!"

"Oh, no, He's dead, but that doesn't mean He's not still with us, in every road and every tower, in the swing of the scythe and the turn of the page, and in every human heart. Gods may die, but humanity remains. As Amaznen and Acavna died to preserve us from doom, Aroden died to bring us the age of glory," or something, "and His priesthood remains to preserve His wisdom."

He is really quite confident that Aroden is, if not necessarily dead, at the very least incapable of choosing priests, but he's not going to risk offending a duke's brother, let alone a Sirmium duke's brother, by saying as much — oh, or he's just admitting it, which seems like it ought to simplify things but almost certainly won't.

"It's an honor to meet you. I believe the procedure approved today allows for delegates to be added by the agreement of two-thirds of the committee; are there any objections?"

"No objections! And may I say, what a lovely sentiment!"

This smells like a scam and Josep is not at all certain this is actually a duke's brother. On the other hand, he might be and really it's not a real problem to have him on the committee probably.

"No objections from me."

Remei doesn't love this - who goes around being a "priest" of a god who can't say boo about it, what a mad thing to do - but if she can't win she'd rather not admit it, so she'll act like they're going counterclockwise around the table and look expectantly at the next person by that reckoning.

The next person around the table is a very quiet priest of Gozreh who got recruited because they needed a religious delegate and he didn't seem like he was going to object to anything they proposed. "No objections."

He seems like a decent and reasonable person who worships Aroden, who's the right god to worship when he was alive.

... Maybe he's undead? That's compatible with that the guy said. She heard Arazni was undead, once, maybe this is like that?

"No objection."

The chair's statement sounds like "no one object" rather than "someone please object." 

"Sounds fine to me."

"No objections here either." Hopefully there's nothing else wrong with him.

"Welcome to the committee, Ascendant Ventura. We drafted an initial proposal yesterday, and were just about to discuss potential revisions, as well as any necessary precautions in the event of civil unrest." He passes a copy to Ventura.

He looks it over.

They shall be given discretion over their choice, with the following exceptions: no one shall be allowed to inherit who is possessed of anarchic character, nor who, from the date of adoption of this constitution, engages in manifest worship of any power of the lower planes, recklessly disregards the laws of Cheliax, or suffers from imbecility. 

This is perfect! He just needs to make sure that whoever's making these determinations spends a day around Juan. Maybe three at most.

"A very reasonable initial proposal," and a lot of blatant self-interest, but that's to be expected, "but there does seem to be an omission - namely who shall judge whether an heir is suitable. Are all such cases to be remanded to the queen, or to one of her officials, or perhaps to the church of a lawful god which can be expected to rule justly?"

"Their liege lord, except in Longmarch, where, due to ancient tradition, customs differ!"

"We hadn't decided on a general solution," says Aspexia-Isona, who thinks it should absolutely not be the liege-lord.

"Who can say that a man's - or woman's - liege will always rule justly? Is not corruption rampant in this land? Better for the choice to be made by one trusted and impartial." Which is to say, better for the bribes to go to the church.

"Well, a lot of the lieges were recently replaced and one might hope they were replaced with well-chosen and incorrupt gentlefolk."

"We are writing laws that may hold for all time. It would be foolish to count on the beneficence of those recently elevated to extend in perpetuity through their descendants." Case in point: One duke is already dead and his heir remains a moron until the queen accepts this committee's recommendations.

She nods along with Taldaris.

He realizes, too late to fix it, that he has severely misjudged the situation with the Duke's brother. He's going to need to tread very carefully outside this committee.

"It seems to me that even among the Lawful and licit gods, some churches may be far more suited than others to judge such cases. Iomedae's church is certainly competent to judge such cases, though it seems to be a bit short of personnel at the moment, likewise the Church of Abadar, but I worry that a typical priest of Erastil may not have the context to make an accurate judgment. I think, if we choose to go this route, it would be best to list specific gods whose priests should be entrusted with these judgments."

Josep pictures the sailor-cleric from yesterday's meeting of the Trade committee, or the Calistrian from the Family committee, judging a succession case and shudders. 

"Yes, I think I agree. Although I worry that this may impose too great a burden on such clergy. They all seem in rather short supply in these troubled times."

"I would propose that we require it to be judged by deliberation among a group of men," she says, "not a single person, one to be chosen by the liege-lord, one by the crown or by an official the crown chooses to try such cases, one by each claimant, and then three chosen by the churches of the gods neither Evil nor Lawless - perhaps the three gods with the greatest churches in the liege-lord's lands?" 

Wait, that's Pharasma, oh no! "Or perhaps if we are worried about clerics of Gozreh, those either Good and not lawless or Lawful and not evil? We could also enumerate churches but I would be worried about leaving some out."

They spend the rest of the committee meeting enumerating ancient traditions (and "ancient traditions") that seem likely to be relevant.