(a few moments before -) 

"Gandia." He bows. "I don't think we'd had the chance to talk, I wanted to tell you how sorry I was about your father's death."

Juan bows back, only a little sloppy about it. "Your concern is appreciated, Archduke. He was a great man. I hope to follow his example."

HA.

"I wish I had more time to know him -"

"- Ah, hello, Marshal. The situation still seems under control, unless your men happen to have more of a knack for investigative work than mine. The streets are still quiet, thank all the gods, though there's too many bodies we don't have names for."

"Not for the most part, but there are a few with some expertise. If your men want to send any open mysteries along, they might have a bit more success. For unidentified bodies, you'll want Pharsmins once they're done clearing the undead off the streets, of course."

"We've got some killings that look like murders," he admits, "and I'll be glad to get them to someone who knows how to handle them properly."

"Terrible lawlessness in Westcrown, these days."

"Indeed. Juan, allow me to introduce to you His Excellency Alexaera Cansellarion, Count of Lladó, Baron of Alzina, of Figuerola de Meià, of Aurignac and of Aren, Chosen Knight of Iomedae and Lord Marshal of the Glorious Reclamation.

Lord Marshal, allow me to introduce to you His Grace Juan Ventura, Duke of Gandia, Count of Maella and Parlava."

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance." Ventura's accent isn't Molthuni, so - "Are you one of the lords the archmages raised from the dead?"

"No, count." If there is emphasis on the second word, it's ambiguous. "My family spent the long years of exile in Taldor, and I am lucky not to be alone. This is my sister, Lucretia."

She has heard of Alexeara Cansellarion. He is older than she imagined, but a paladin is good. Definitionally. She curtsies. 

Oh, that makes sense of it. She looked much too young to be the duke's wife. "I am pleased to meet you as well."

"She is unmarried, and grows lovelier every day." It would be marrying down for her, technically, but Juan can keep track of who the very most important counts are, at least if they come up constantly.

(She's, what, sixteen? Acceptable in Taldor, but barely so in Cheliax, and not at all in Lastwall. Carlota should rescue Alexaera here but a rescue from her would come across entirely wrong.)

Oh, now people are attempting to marry him to their relatives who are a quarter of his age. He...should really probably just pick someone tolerable so that they'll all stop.

"I believe you that it is so, and I am sure that when she is an adult woman there will be many men who would be glad to have her as a wife, if she does not choose to join the priesthood instead." That is less diplomatic than would be ideal but he isn't particularly averse to rebuking the duke of Gandia for trying to marry his child sister to men four! times! her! age!

Shrug. "I doubt so she will have much longer to wait."

Right, change the subject - "Did the two of you fare okay during the riots?"

"Fortunately, they did not touch us. And you?"

"I was unfortunately out of the city when they happened, and did not receive notice until it was all over."

Juan has a stable of comments ready to go about the poor behavior of Chelish commoners. Luckily, they answer to far more capable rulers than they once did, who will not take long to bring them to heel.

This is very silly. She is on a mission, and listening to a man who thinks she is a child speak about the riots does not accomplish it. She excuses herself and leaves to find someone else.

"Archduke." Carlota curtsies. "It is good to see you returned to us. I have a proposal I hoped you might find a moment tonight to take a look at. - a legislative proposal," given the general mood around here tonight.

"It's not that I'm averse to other kinds of proposal," he says, because why not, "but I do find them a bit hard to contemplate properly given—the shock of my recent experiences. Anyway, do you have a copy with you?"

She does!! Featuring the changes from the latest round of revisions, it now reads: 

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 it is marked with an Arcane Mark of the creator and a note of the Statute under which it is permitted, of which five are henceforth enumerated, with the Queen or a future legislative body permitted to add others.

Firstly, all material is permitted by the First Publication Statute of Cheliax if 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, notwithstanding a direct decree of the Queen to the contrary; 

Secondly, material is permitted by the Second Publication Statute of Cheliax if the material is published by a licit and authorized publishing house, and marked with an Arcane Mark on each page of a copyist registered with that publishing house, that it may be attributed to a man who is fully legally liable for any lawless consequences of its distribution;

Thirdly, material is permitted by the Third Publication Statute of Cheliax if 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). It is unlawful to mark a book as permitted under this statute if it adopts the form of a book of Accounts, Recipes, etc. to make a political, social or religious argument; in any case where a work is even ambiguously of political, social, or religious effect it must seek authorization under some other statute.

Fourthly, material is permitted by the Fourth Publication Statute of Cheliax if approved by any board of censors appointed by the Crown. No such board exists and this Law does not create one; but should one in the future be created any materials it authorized would be legal under this Law.

Fifthly, the right to know the Law being fundamental to a Lawful society, any book or printing of the Law in which the law is not abridged or modified is legal under the Fifth Publication Statute of Cheliax.

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 an Arcane Mark indicating under which statute they are authorized, 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. Falsely marking a work as authorized under a Statute which does not permit its distribution is henceforth illegal, and punishable with the destruction of the spellbook used to so mark the work, with a sentence of up to hard labor, with 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 an Arcane Mark indicating under which statute they are authorized, is legal, if those works are not displayed publicly, not copied save in extremely limited quantities for personal recordkeeping, not sold, not distributed, not read aloud, and not made available to others for display, copy, sell, or read aloud in any way. The possession of works which are marked with an Arcane Mark indicating under which statute they are authorized is legal, even if that mark was made contrary to the law, except where directly forbidden by decree of the Crown.