"Do let me know if I can help in any way," he says.

"Thank you both. I will try to write something tonight, then, to be improved on."

Carlota's pretty sure she ought to give the Count-Regent his space, but she in fact needs him. The problem is which committee to introduce the censorship laws on. Rights is full of radicals, and more importantly chaired by the Archduchess, who will have to oppose them on this lest she infuriate her own radicals back home. Judiciary was previously chaired by Wain. She doesn't want to tip her hand about the fact Forms of the Monarchy is important, though it in fact contains lots of things around sedition and dissemination of censored material. 

So...safe roads and safe villages. It's a stretch, but pamphlets certainly aren't any good for the safety of Cheliax, and the Hellknights are not known to be ardent defenders of the rights of people to spread ridiculous dangerous libels, and she's pretty sure once it's through a committee vote it'll win a floor vote handily. But she shouldn't introduce it herself and chair the committee while they debate it and introduce it on the floor; that's too overt.

So, if the Count-Regent is willing to get tea the following day, she'd really like him to review her draft. As it presently stands:

In recognition of the enormous harm that has been, and is ongoingly, done by the publication of vile slanders, insinuations, radical materials, and advocacy both mistaken and malicious:

It is forbidden to publish or distribute written material in Cheliax unless one of the following is true:

The publication of the material is permitted under the law in those Chelish provinces and allied states where the Rule of Law is strong, that is presently Lastwall, Molthune, and Osirion, and the material is not modified from the version distributed in those countries; 

The material is published by a licit and authorized publishing house, and marked with the Arcane Mark on each page of that publishing house, that it may be attributed to a man who is fully legally liable for any lawless consequences of its distribution;

The material contains no political, social or religious commentary, and would not be identified by any reasoned observer to be attempting to make a political, social or religious argument; for instance it is a book of Accounts, a book of Recipes, a book of Apothecarie, or an announcement of an event (the latter being permitted presuming the event to be itself permitted, and illicit if the event is a lawless gathering).

For a publishing house to obtain authorization to publish in Cheliax, it must have a single, identified proprietor, in whose name the license is issued, and who acknowledges the following:

He is a Subject of Her Majesty and means to abide by Her laws

He has placed a bond of Six Thousand Gold Pieces against the possibility of chaos and destruction brought about by the works he publishes, which will be returned to him thirty days following the closure of his publication house unless damages result, and seized to pay damages should damages result;

He is further liable for damages from the works he publishes if they exceed Six Thousand Gold Pieces, and is liable up to the seizure of all of his properties, and if capital crimes are incited by works he publishes, he is liable for death;

'damages' in this statute refer only to harms monetary and personal that result from the publication being determined slanderous or libelous, or from Lawless acts which the publications advocated, directly or by implication; enabled, by instruction in how to carry out or evade detection for a lawless act, including harms resulting from lawless acts that the publication enabled by making it known that some other individuals had called for violence, or predicted it, or believe the gods to advise it, or believe it would solve Cheliax's ills, or by any other phrasing suggest it to the advantage of another person to commit criminal acts.  Should a publication cause monetary damages by some other mechanism than inspiring, encouraging or enabling criminal acts - for instance by the promotion of a business at the expense of a competitor, the publishing house shall not be liable. 

The distribution or copying of works which are not marked with the Arcane Mark of a licensed publishing house, nor approved by an authorized board of censorship, and which contain political, social, or religious commentary, or would be reasonably understood to be making a political, social or religious point, is henceforth illegal, and punishable with 30 days' imprisonment, a fine of up to 1gp per page of illegal commentary distributed, and liability civil and criminal for all illegal conduct inspired by those works.

The possession of works which are not marked with the Arcane Mark of a licensed publishing house, nor approved by an authorized board of censorship, and which contain political, social, or religious commentary, or would be reasonably understood to be making a political, social or religious point, is legal, if those works were possessed before this decree was promulgated. Possession of such works acquired after the decree was promulgated will be punished as distribution of those works would be. 

He's calmed down. Mostly.

"I am broadly in favor of this. I am concerned about defining publishing and distribution. I don't think we want to outlaw sending personal letters."

"Agreed. I'd really rather people feel free to speak their minds, just not to whole cities overnight with no consequences if this burns the cities down. We could add a clause to the effect that a person can write anything, and make a copy for their records, without being guilty of distribution or of copying or of possession?"

"I think that would be useful to put in explicitly, yes. Is it intended that every noble create a publishing house in order to distribute his own decrees? I'm not sure that's workable, especially this year."

"I had a draft which said all nobles will effectively be treated as a publishing house but I took it out because the radicals are going to be so upset anyway that they have to stop calling for people to quite literally kill and eat each other, and I don't want to give them more ammunition. Probably the less politically fraught way to do it is an exception for all decrees and books containing without commentary the law in Cheliax or elsewhere."

"That seems reasonable. I don't see any other obvious problems, which doesn't mean they aren't there. But I don't think anyone will mistake it for something I wrote, and if they did, I don't think they'd vote for it."

"We're going to pull everyone together and make it clear that we all drafted this, because the country cannot tolerate any more of this. Alexaera will speak to how it's less restrictive than Lastwall. I'm hoping I can get the Inquisitor to speak to how it's Abadaran and less restrictive than Osirion and necessary for public order. Hopefully we can have a statement from a respected merchant in Westcrown about how he's ready to get a publishing house opened that will happily print anything anyone wants, so long as it's not madness and calls for lunacy.

I'd like it if you'd be willing to speak for it in Safe Roads. I think it'd be slightly improper for me to introduce it, chair all the discussion of it, and then take it to the floor, but if you don't think it should be you I'll ask the Hellknights." Hellknights are known to be in favor of censorship and against the city burning down.

"I will try. I am not sure it will do more good than harm, but if you think it will help it pass, I will try."

"Most people don't really have much in the way of principles, but they don't actually like cowering in their homes while mobs thunder by, and also they can track who won and who lost. I do not expect you to encounter much hostility in the committee. But - we can play it by instinct when we get there. I'll talk to the Hellknights also."

Nod. "I assume they will want some of the language changed. But - we have a few days to hammer things out."

"Indeed. Perhaps I overestimate the sensibility of the assembly but I think if we walk in with something with broad support we'll be able to walk out with it as well."

Rouen reads the paper carefully.

"This is a certain improvement over the present state of affairs, Your Grace."

She pauses. "The sentence for the sale and transfer of illegal pamphlets is very low." If they get caught before they kill a lot of people, the money they have on them, which isn't much, gets taken and they need to not starve for a month and then you let them go to do it again.

"I think the majority of arrests will not be of radicals denouncing the crown but of wizarding students being careless, and I don't want a first offense to ruin their lives, if it doesn't in fact ruin any others. I guess we could give a range of potential penalties depending on the seriousness of the violation."

"You have more experience with Her Majesty than I, your grace. May I ask what royal statutes against spreading propaganda for the gods and neargods of the Lower Planes you currently believe she considers to be in effect?"

"I believe as of one of the decrees immediately following the war, evangelization for Asmodeus or the powers under him is liable for death. There have been thousands of executions under that statute and I have no reason to imagine Her Majesty hesitant in employing it. As of decrees of the same time evangelizing for other powers of the lower planes is also illegal and liable for death; the private worship of those powers, without gaining by it or attempting to persuade others to it, generally isn't a capital offense, but - I understand this to be only because Her Majesty expects it will take some time for the people of Cheliax to abandon the habit, and sees little to gain by killing a million of them."

"Yes." Lictor Rouen Stought nods. "And how would failed attempt to evangelize be counted, do you think, Your Grace? I would not wish a demon cultist to escape because he was captured before he could sell his pamphlets."

"Nor would I. I do not imagine that the censorship laws apply in the place of other laws; if content is banned for other reasons this does not make it legal. But we should make that explicit."

Rouen nods and will keep looking and point out a couple more loopholes.

"I imagine that to the sensibilities of the Order this is still too lenient, and not only would I not consider myself betrayed if you were to say so on the floor I suspect I'd find it actively useful. Only if that represents your true best assessment as a servant of Law in Cheliax, of course."

"It is," Rouen says, "being significantly more lenient than the codes of any states that continue existing." She nods. "I will take your words into consideration." She does not play politics but she thinks she sees where Carlota is going and this is legitimately a case where she's right. Ugh.

"I appreciate your time and your counsel, Lictor."

"And I the chance to give them, Your Grace."

"Issa, what do you think of the censorship law?"

        "Your grace?"

"Have you taken a look at it?" She hands her a copy.

       She waits a respectable amount of time before answering. "I think it's very wise, your grace."

"Issa, they dragged random people off the streets to make them attend the convention. They won't have any more context than you, but their votes weigh as highly as mine; such is the Republican convention. If you tell me their concerns, then I can introduce a bill they like, and all Cheliax is served thereby."

        "Yes, your grace."

"So if you have any thoughts, even if they are just that you find it confusing, that would be valuable to me."

       "Your grace, the most important thing is - say someone's selling a pamphlet, am I going to hang for buying it? How many laws have I got to keep track of, to know that? I think the law should say very clear what you've got to do to make sure you're following it."

"And the law as it is written does not seem clear to you about that?"

       "I don't see how I'd tell if I was allowed to buy something without reading it straight through."

"Thank you. That's actually very helpful.. ...do you think we ought to ban the pamphlets, Issa?"

      "Yes, your grace, absolutely. They're awful and led to the mobs and are full of treason and horrible lies and the city's so much worse since they got started up."

"So if all authorized writings had an arcane mark saying under what provision they're authorized, and it's always legal to buy something with the mark, but there weren't any more pamphlets, that'd be fine?'

      "That'd be wonderful, your grace."