Oh thank all the righteous gods someone is saying what desperately needs to be said. She claps.

"I second the motion."

"I would be honored to serve as chair. When I was alive under Aroden, every subject of Cheliax knew that taking up arms against their fellow citizens in the streets would not be tolerated." Until the civil war, but he's — not going to think about that. "I will not tell you that Arodenite Cheliax was perfect. But we had stability, we had order, we had prosperity. We did not have lawless mobs taking to the streets of Westcrown and stringing up their fellow citizens from lampposts in the name of so-called justice.

During my time in Heaven, to the best of my recollection, I did not meet a single person who would defend what happened on the night of the third. Preventing a repeat of that anarchy should be one of our top priorities, for the sake of every man or woman who wishes to be able to live out their life in safety and peace."

Seems like a commonsense good that should be impossible to fuck up. She's sure they'll manage it somehow anyway, but she's still in favor.

"I think you should try to get on the committee," she Messages Narikopolus. "It is going to entertain a whole horrendous mess of things; you are well positioned to influence it." 

If we could but trust the law? But she should try to get on the committee anyway.

Victòria is confused. Some of the things he's talking about sound really bad! She's very much in favor of women not having to see their rapists just walking around on the street like they didn't do anything wrong! She hadn't actually realized there were men raping people during the riots but in hindsight it's not surprising, the sort of person who'd take advantage of Valia's speech to murder innocent people is hardly going to be decent.

(Her chest is burning. She should probably try to make it stop enough that she can actually focus on the speeches, only, she doesn't want to, she wants to track down every rapist in Westcrown and make him hang, by law or by force. Preferably law. Valia would be really upset if she didn't even make it a day before getting herself executed.)

With significant effort she manages to force herself to focus anyways. The speech is still confusing when she thinks about it. Most of the other things he's talking about seem... barely related? Writing a pamphlet making fun of the Queen is really different from forming a mob and going after innocent people, even if it's making a dumb point like the pamphlets who think the Queen should have executed Valia — and he listed it first, like it's more important than rapists getting away with what they did. (And of course, he's very Lawful, but she's used to that.)

She's going to watch how the people she trusts react to the speech, and decide based off of that.

Narikopolus sends a member of his new staff to hover by the signup area and put him down as soon as a paper for it materializes. 

Isn't everyone in the streets a rapist? 

...okay, okay, probably only like a third of them are rapists. She's not going to sign up because she's on way! Too! Many! Committees! Good luck not all dying, third of people who are rapists.

The other objection to raise - she doesn't have much hope, but one must do things without hope sometimes - is 'there's already a committee on public safety, which has been at work on proposals for order and peace in Cheliax, why don't you just join it and introduce your proposals there?' That would go much better; they could add Narikopolus and a few of the angry conservative nobles and still have a majority - well, not sensible people, but people who weren't handpicked by the angry conservative nobles.

But she absolutely cannot suggest it herself. ...Llei, actually, is the ideal person to suggest it, if he's willing. She will Message him the suggestion, along with the caveat that she strongly expects them to hold out for their own dueling committee.

Joan-Pau is very opposed to the conservative coup, obviously, and he messages Carlota to ask if he should ask Xavier to bring up the public safety committee or if she's handling it.

This sounds like a committee for not having people show up at your inn to argue over whether Iomedae wants them to murder toddlers. Taís is in favor.

She thinks Llei's the ideal person, being a member of the existing public safety committee and a riot victim, and has asked him, but if he isn't willing to put himself out there for it (and she wouldn't blame him) then yes, Xavier should. 

Got it. Communicate communicate communicate...

Damn it all to hell, sounds like they want more heads to roll for killing and looting on riot day. Thought he was safe with a week going by and no one asking him any questions.

She really hates this proposal. Is everyone going to have their own dueling handpicked committees covering the same ground, now? But it's warring with her dislike of the Duchess of Chelam.

It's obvious where this is going, if you know anything about the Galtan conservative playbook. She considers speaking against it, but - oration skills or no, she can maybe sway one vote today, if it was already really close. Which would obviously be worth it for this one, if it would work, but judging by the mood of the room it absolutely would not. Better to save it against whatever their biggest reach today is, and hope she can prevent them from coming out with win after win after win.

Fiiiiine.

"Maintaining safety and order within Cheliax is, as the Duke says, of absolutely paramount importance. No other freedom can exist without it. It must, at all times, be our first priority. Accordingly, a committee for it was established on the first day. I am on it. New members are certainly welcome to join the Committee on Safe Roads and Villages, if others have realized the importance of such work, but that is where this work is being done."

Thank you Llei. It's probably not going to work. "Our committee is hard at work on the maintenance of law and order in Cheliax. The first of the policies which our committee discussed affirms the duty of every lord of Cheliax to maintain order in his territory, and contains proposals to hold local lords accountable should they fail in that duty, which I believe is in fact terribly relevant to the crisis we face today. A second policy we have worked on contemplates improving the state of emergency response, which was also a contributor to this tragedy.

 I know three of the members of our committee to have been personally attacked during the riots, and every member of our committee to be eager to see order restored, justice done, and the Lord-Mayor of Westcrown empowered to preserve order in his city and replaced if he will not do it. We would be glad to accept new members of the committee, and the rules of order permit us four more; I can speak personally to the Duke de Fraga's character and commitment to our nation, and would recommend to this whole body that they support him in joining the committee."

Fine, Count-Regent Napaciza isn't the Duchess of Chelam. Her personal pride can take the hit.

"Delegate Napaciza has the right of it. From all I hear, that Committee is doing Good and Useful Work. Moreover there should not be Duplicative Committees. I was also Personally Assaulted during the Riots and trust that Committee to be Attentive to my own Concerns."

Four seats would be fine on a sensible committee, but Safe Roads includes a Calistrian, a bandit queen, a devilspawn, a Hellknight who according to rumor may or may not have been expelled from the convention, and a woman who can't even stop rumors that she's taking Geryon to bed.

Message to Felip:

Safe Roads is full of radicals, including among others a bandit queen. It'll be near-impossible to pass anything sensible even with four seats; plan accordingly.

"I would be glad to join the existing Committee. However, I am not yet convinced that my proposal represents duplication. Roads and villages face different challenges and call for different solutions than cities, and I amend my proposal to name it The Committee On Safe Cities. I think the floor should decide whether they would like to hear the proposals of a new committee, with a Heaven-returned jurist at the helm, or if they are satisfied with the expansion of the duties of a committee that seems already heavily burdened. I likewise can vouch for the character and commitment of the Duchess of Chelam, but I fear the rest of the existing committee is less well-known to me. Perhaps we should review its membership before the floor?"

Wow, how come this guy can claim the endorsement of Heaven but she can't?

"Happily the good President has now established a System of Secretaries and you may review such Details at your own Convenience. I suppose the Previous Minutes not to be Lost as each Committee has had Many Scribes in Attendance. The time of the General Floor is quite Limited and all may make use of this Excellent System for Efficiency."

She has the minutes but she suspects only she and the Hellknights do and she does not, in fact, care to share them in this moment. 

Narikopolus: can you find some nice things to say about the Count-Regent and the Marquis de Juncosa? 

Alexaera: You should join too, on the grounds you are occupying the city at present.

"I have found all of the religious delegate Raimon Pages, the sortition delegate Arlet Ginel, the Marquis de Juncosa, and the Count-Regent of Ilnea to be capable and intelligent men and women, devoted to the Queen and to the cause of law and order, and while I hold the Order of the Chain in frank distaste, its representative has been Lawful and concerned primarily that our laws not be misinterpreted.

 As I observed before, the existing proposals before our committee are about the responsibilities to preserve public order of every lord in Cheliax; it seems to me there will unambiguously be overlap with the new committee. Or perhaps the honored Duke can describe to me the kinds of policies he imagines his Committee on Safe Cities working on, and on hearing them I will be satisfied that I misunderstand."

"As I understand our convention procedures, it would be premature to bring forth any proposal until it has been shaped by a committee. I will simply observe that villages may rely upon personal reputations and ties between citizens; roads must handle the risks of bandits and monsters; and cities, being densely populated with strangers, have significantly more risk from disorder and potential loss when that disorder occurs. What policies are appropriate for them are clearly different, and I dare say that the need for policies that promote peace in our cities are substantially more urgent."