Sigeþe considers that for a moment.

"So you're suggesting that we adopt Sigeþe's proposal, but also add keeping bonds for people who want it to the organizer's duties," Penþa clarifies. "But not have those bonds change how we evaluate evidence until we've had a chance to see what the outcomes would have been, at which point we reassess?"

"Yes, I think that would be fine," Gornet agrees.

"I just don't see why its necessary," Sigeþe objects. "I mean, maybe I misunderstood, but it's not as though having a magical bond will help with most crimes. It's not like the organizer could use a bond to notice someone stealing some firewood, or anything like that. So you're adding this additional duty with a bunch of downsides for quite rare cases. I think we should do something ... simpler than that."

"How common are cases without enough evidence to decide them?" Ðani asks.

"It varies depending on the kind of crime," Penþa answers. "For serious crimes like murder, something like one in three, although murders are so rare its hard to say. I suspect Gornet will say that's not relevant to his proposal, though, because he's worried that having magic available will make it easier for people to get away with murders."

"Not just that!" Gornet objects. "Has anyone really thought about what it will mean if people stop dying of old age and illness? We're going to have a lot more people in a few years, and the only ways anyone is going to die is by murder or accident, so we'd best be prepared to figure out which one it is."

"That's just reinforcing my point — this isn't going to be a problem for years, and by then we'll have more practical experience with what magic does and does not do," Sigeþe points out.

Genilha raises his hand, and Penþa gestures for him to speak.

"People can still die of old age, though. I was talking with Maenik about that this morning. It just doesn't happen for many more years. Even if it stopped entirely, though, I think it's a pretty big stretch to conclude that that's going to cause so many more murders."

"There are more murders in cities," Anþasta's grandmothers point out. "There's more of every crime, actually. It's one reason people don't like living in cities as much."

"Do you happen to remember any numbers for how much more common they are?" Penþa questions.

She shakes her head.

"No, not with any clarity. We could send a message to an insurance firm with the next caravan to find out, though."

"I think that's probably good information to have, one way or the other," Penþa comments. "We do need to start thinking about whether we'll have population growth and how to handle it."

They look out over the faces of the village.

"I haven't heard anyone object to Sigeþe's basic premise that we should increase the penalty for crimes that involve magic, though. Does anyone object to that, or should we put it to a vote?"

"As long as that's subject to eventual review, no," someone says. "We shouldn't keep the elevated penalties forever, though."

"Okay. Everyone in favor of increasing the penalties for crimes involving magic, and having me make a note to revisit this decision next year in light of what we'll learn?"

A clear majority of people raise their hands, with a few crossing their arms instead. Nearly everyone votes, including children, although whether the babe-in-arms that raises his hands in excitement when everyone else does is counted is not clear just from observation.

"Separately, who is in favor of putting off any other changes to the law until we know more? Say next year as well?"

A smaller majority of people raise their hands. Penþa spends a moment counting, and then makes a series of knots in a cord.

"Alright. I think that concludes the first topic. The exact wording of the motions I just recorded, and the accompanying change to the words of the law can be reviewed with me later, if anyone is interested. As always, you have six days to raise any objections."

Gornet and Sigeþe sit back down. The former crosses his arms, and then leans to whisper something to his neighbor.

"The other topic for today is how magic is going to affect our winter plans. Lhemur has a summary of the changes that he'd like to see — although I must remind you that doing nothing and staying with our current plan is also an option."

"So I did some trial runs with the template that Maenik shared, for duplicating items," Lhemur begins. "I think the main thing is that we're going to want to capture patterns for all of our crops, when they're freshest. Then we can have fresh vegetables throughout the winter. So I'd like to propose that we add those templates to the list of goods that every house should have."

"Also, I tried it out on a hot loaf right out of the oven — and the pattern saved it, and the duplicated loaf was still hot well afterward. So we should also save patterns of Okanel's excellent cooking, so that we can have it fresh. I think that should be the only major impact for this winter. We'll still need firewood, and we'll still need feedstock to make the food, so our current stores should get used at about the same rate. But I did also try making bread from mud, and it was possible, so we can consider dipping into that if necessary. After this winter, we can see how well everything worked and reduce our safety margin for next year."

"How are we going to handle payment?" someone asks. "If I produce a copy of someone's vegetables, does that count as part of their contribution to the food share?"

"That's one of the things we're going to have to discuss," Penþa agrees. "Personally, I think it makes most sense to count the patterns as a basic part of the food share, but if people prefer, we could come up with a fair solution based on inventors rights."

Maenik raises her hand.

Penþa points to her. "Yes, Maenik?"

"One thing you should be aware of is that patterns make exact copies, if you're not careful about this when seeding it can make crop blights more likely because if all the plants are made from identical seeds then some problems are more likely to kill an entire field instead of just part of it."

"Ah, that is good to know," Penþa agrees. "Are there other problems like that which come from over-using templates?"

"That caveat mostly applies to living things. A smaller worry is that some people find food is less satisfying if they're continuously using the same pattern to produce a completed meal. It's generally more likely to be a problem for the sorts of people who are unsatisfied eating the same meal several times in a row."