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."

(One of her allies can respond to that as well as she can, and avoid the impression this is a squabble between her and de Fraga, which neither of them in fact want it to be.)

"I have the honor of being the Condesa of the great city of Halmyris, and I strongly believe that the Duchess Carlota has the right of it. Two committees will merely reduplicate effort. Likewise, it seems to me unwise to not listen to the foremost legal mind of Cheliax, the Great Lluïsa Oriol i Cornellà. It is her who should be chairman of any committee on law."

Well, foremost legal mind, sure, but should that really be punished with committee chairships?

"The Condesa does me a great Honor that I can but Endeavor to Merit," she remarks.

Oooh, it's a fight. They're pulling something, like the extra economy committee that wanted to ram through slavery legislation. What are they pulling, and who do we like today? Duchess Bossy Pants, or Duke Kill One Third Of Men?

.....neither, really, but Luïsa and the tiefling lord are both against it, which weakly suggests that it's bad. Maybe they just don't want to kill a third of men.

She should have figured the nobles would form factions amongst themselves, even with the 4 estate convention structure giving them common interest.  She can’t figure out the implications of these dividing lines in particular though, hopefully Dia is on it.

So obviously allowing an even partly redundant committee to your own committee causes you to lose power, and chairing a new committee gives you power so the basic motivation here is obvious.

But even Thea could figure out that much, so Dia tries to see further.  The nobles that want a committee focused on cities… which means responding to the riots, and they’re nobles so they probably want crackdowns.  Is Duchess Carlotta against actually against crackdowns?  Or is this just a convenient opportunity to undermine her power she has to push back against, even if she agrees with the nominal cause?  Dia will think about how to tell the difference and any third options... 

"I will be replacing my order's Paralictor Rosa in his seat here and in committee as he was unavoidably recalled to Corentyn." For offending Chelam. "I think the Safe Roads committee has covered the concerns of cities adequately, and other concerns of Law and Order are included in the Justice committee, though if an overlapping committee is formed I would be pleased and honored to sit on it as well."

"I do not believe a separate Committee on Safe Cities is necessary; I trust the committee on Safe Roads to represent all necessary views and ultimately vote in line with those which are sensible. But if this convention deems that it is, given my experience running a city under the most difficult conditions for nearly twenty years with a minimum of disruption, and this week my work assessing what the people of Westcrown fear and require from such a committee immediately after a serious riot, I will of course take a seat on it."

Well if it has Narikopolus and Ravounel on it...they'll be outvoted 9-2 on everything but they'll be positioned to make some very good floor speeches.

"We all appreciate the work done by the committee on safe roads, and would not see it distracted from the important work of organizing the defense of Cheliax against bandits and monster attacks by the obvious work that needs to get done to make Westcrown safe from anarchy. The problem this city faces right now is that the architects of, and participants in, its destruction are still on the loose plotting further harm to it. It is a specific problem and there ought to be a dedicated committee at work on it."

"Where was the safe roads committee last week when the streets were awash with blood? The Duke de Fraga was defending public order. Where was the Duchess of Chelam? Where were the other members of Safe Roads and Safe Villages? They could not keep us safe, let us appoint instead someone who can."

The Count-Regent and Marquis almost certainly killed more rioters than anyone else in the room but it will not be particularly helpful to them to observe this. 

"Insofar as the problem is one specific to Westcrown - and I agree with Count Bellumar that it is, as no other cities have had similar problems since the chaos of the war," Thank you, Archduchess, for enabling him to say that, "It seems as though a committee for safe cities in full generality would have an unnecessarily wide remit, which would bring it into conflict with a number of other committees such as safe roads, judiciary, trade and travel, repairing damaged infrastructure, et cetera. What I believe the Duke of Fraga desires, along with the greater part of this hall, is a committee to address the security of Westcrown in particular. As the commander of the forces that have been maintaining order since it was restored on the fourth, I would be honored to sit on such a committee."

"A Committee for the Security of the Capital seems to be a wholly reasonable proposal," Joan-Pau says, "and I join Count Cansellarion in supporting it." Does he need to mention that he spent the night of the riots burning his spells putting them down? No? Well, probably. "If, however, I may return to what His Grace the Duke de Fraga said earlier, His Grace holds that it would be premature to bring forth proposals until they have been through committee. I laud His Grace's commitment to the constitutional process, but as one who has also worked hard to ensure the peace of Westcrown," it would be gauche to say more, "I would dearly desire to know a general sketch of what measures His Grace believes would be best suited for the maintenance of order in the capital?"

Queue queue queue queue queue. Stand in queue. Stand. Queue.

When's he going to get to speak, huh?

"The Lord Marshal has the right of it. I further amend my proposal to be A Committee on The Security of the Capital, and I would be honored to have him on the committee."

He's not going to elaborate on the committee, yet; he'll let the queued speakers proceed.

There are... other cities... in Cheliax... bank robbers and rioters and arsonists are just actually a different problem than highwaymen and owlbears and swamp ghouls. "Perhaps 'on Urban Order'," he offers.

"Greetings to the convention," she says. She hasn't spoken before, but "- The preservation of law and order is a fundamental priority, and without it, nothing can be done. My brothers as well as my servants were killed during the attack, our home in Westcrown destroyed with the loss of all my property, and while the great archmage Naima has been kind enough to call my brothers back to life there is no one who will save the loyal servants of my family, whose willingness to follow the lords of Vizcaya lead to their deaths - may Axis accept them. The failure of, as Fiducia Agramunt has put it, 'Urban Order' has lead to innocent deaths still uncounted. It should be our first and foremost priority to ensure that it will not lead to more, and so I wholeheartedly support His Grace de Fraga in all measures necessary for the security of Cheliax."

"His Grace the Duke of Fraga speaks gently, as a good gentleman should," says Berenguer-Aspex as he strides to the podium, "and all of us should be with him. But if I am a gentleman I am also a soldier of the armies of Molthune, and as a soldier I say that in no city under Molthuni order would this have happened. Stricter measures are needed and must be enforced than have been carried out, and I say that that the formation of a Committee for the Reestablishment of Law and Order under good, loyal men must be the first objective of the nation. I'll yield to His Grace de Fraga if he wishes to restrict himself to the capital, but I for one think we need the strong hand of a strong man across the entire nation today to secure our country's peace. Let the Safe Roads talk about the ways to deter banditry in ten years' time, and the Committee for Law and Order how to make the Terrible Third not return tomorrow."

“I fully agree. Safe Cities only conflicts with those other committees as much as they also conflict with each other, which was no obstacle so far. The Committee for Safe Roads and Villages has a noble goal and intentions, and I too would be honored to join it and give my perspective. It is not an answer to the anarchy we have just endured. Emergency response and holding the Lord Mayor accountable are both good, but they come after the fact. Neither would have prevented the riots.

We must act to avoid a repetition - here in Westcrown or in any other city. The example we have set so far is abysmal and must be corrected, or we will see the chaos spread. Limiting ourselves to Westcrown is turning a blind eye to the danger. We need a committee with a mandate to restore order and keep our cities safe, and the will to see it done.”

“Hear, hear! Urban order in every city!”

“I traveled here from fair Ostenso, a city defiled by Galtans! Even now, we struggle to stamp out the disorder they brought to our streets.”

”Bring order to the streets of the capital. But do not stop there. Every city visited by the Galtan chaos of revolution must be set right by Chelish Law!”

How many of you live in a city even one month out of the year? You're going to do enormous damage and it won't even work. ...Okay, the Ostenso man might have a clue.

"Let's speak plainly. The freedom of the pen is an evil of the Abyss, inflicted on this country by foreigners over the protestations of all good men. It is a horror unto the Church, unto the people, unto their leaders. There is not a man in this city who can defend it, save the ones in the service of our many enemies, at work employing it to undermine and destroy us. 

The spreading of lies should be banned. The spreading of clever implications meant to spread lies should be banned. Slander should be banned. Language which flirts with incitement should be banned. None of these obvious and necessary policies are within the remit of the Safe Roads committee, much as I too respect its work.

The problem that we face today is very dire. The courts having been instructed to rule very narrowly, the only laws that can save us are those that are extraordinarily broad. In an ordinary country, ordinary laws against slander and malice and incitement function. But since the courts are barred from contemplating precedent and common sense, every single evildoer will escape the noose unless the laws leave no clever loopholes. So writing laws tough enough to put the criminals down falls to this body, and no existing committee is suited to it. There is no time to waste. I was accosted on my very way into this convention with more outrageous and inflammatory lies, with propaganda for the worst powers of the depths, with gleeful exhortions to criminality - this city will burn unless we quench it."

Thea is starting to get worried about what a bunch of (rural?) nobility might have in mind for “establishing order” and “quenching the fire” in cities.  

Well, their committee will need a religious delegate… no wait they’ll have the Abadaran, but probably they’ll want a second religious delegate to prevent the Abadaran from holding them back by threatening to quit.  They could just get a second Abadaran, but Thea will at least look for the chance to pitch herself when it comes time to finalize the committee members.

Message to Duchess Carlota. Would imposing a requirement that at least half the committee live in a city at least two months a year help, you think? Or all, but I don't want to exclude Cansellarion and Narikopolus.

Regardless of the answer, she gets in line again.

I like it. A majority of the members, maybe. Can you get anyone who didn't defend Wain at trial to suggest it.

Having been given his instructions, he goes to the podium. "Ah- uh- it seems to me that the freedom of the pen has some advantages. We- I mean, I would object to significant infringements on it."

"The details of a proposal to end the vicious madness tearing our city to shreds are the proper remit of the committee we are about to vote on forming, and a floor debate once there is a proposal to consider. But I challenge any man to look me in the eye and say that they believe it was right, that I was murdered in my bed alongside my wife and my son because the Galtans made it legal to tell men to do that and then sat back and let those men do it."

"It was wrong," says Joan-Pau, "indeed I personally delivered the man responsible to justice. But bluntly, Your Excellency, it was illegal. The man who wrote the pamphlet was hanged for it. The man who led the mob awaits hanging. The Galtan archmage who here hosts us cast the spells that brought down the rains that ended the riot. I would be the last to say that the existing laws were sufficient; for instance, they did not cover conspiracy to incite murder, but the vicious madness that tore our city to shreds ended approximately a week ago, and since that period we have had enough soldiers on the streets to terrify any rioter, no matter how mad, into submission. Our jails are filled to bursting with rioters, pamphleteers and murderers, and would be still more filled if we hadn't already hanged most of them. I agree that we need a bill on censorship, but the existing laws did not permit calls for murder. They were brazenly defied, and the man who brazenly defied them has been put in his proper place - the Abyss. It will not return your son, and I am deeply sorry for your loss. But justice has been done."

"The instigators of those riots was Valia Wain. The Galtans set her free."

Solpont — that's the man whose wife was trying to have Valia killed. Obviously it was right for him to face justice. Their child, no, of course not, Victòria can't think of any way an unborn baby could possibly have done something bad enough to deserve to die, but he was working for the Thrunes, he could die a dozen times over and it wouldn't come close to matching all the innocent people he hurt.

...She is pretty sure that if she gets up there and says so he'll try to have her arrested on some Asmodean interpretation of the law, and she told Valia she wouldn't break the law without a really good reason. 

And now he's trying to accuse Valia again — that's not illegal to respond to no matter how he tries to twist things, she will... get in line, it's a pretty long line...

I'll ask Lestdemarc, if you don't have anyone to feed it to. I can be an urban radical at the podium in another way.

Sergi, would you kindly get in line and propose that the city committee be at least majority city residents? I'd rather not propose it myself but I think they're going to be quite wildly ignorant if we don't get that.

Oh, that could be bad. Yes, I can propose it.

He gets up, whispers to his wife, and gets in the speaker's line.

Felip looks at the line.

"I fear at this point my proposal has already taken up too much of the general floor's time. We have committees and then votes on their proposals for a reason, and I say we put our system to use, instead of attempting to hold the debates on proposals before the committee is even formed. I move to hold the vote to form a Committee on Urban Order chaired by Delegate Cerdanya now, and any comments on the committee be directed to him once it is formed."

"My amendment was on the structure of the committee, may I propose it?"

"I recommend you propose it to Cerdanya, who can judge the wisdom of it without taking more of the floor's time."

She will oppose the cloture vote, of course, because she wants the 'some of these people have to be from cities' rule proposed and it hasn't yet had the chance. But she does not register her vote against it optimistically. The convention has never failed to vote for cloture. It's one of those consequences of having a convention made up almost entirely of people who do not want to be here. 

Huh? Stop debating this and make the committee and then start arguing about how Valia Wain got away with it? Yeah sounds good, 340-125.

Mmmhmm. And then the vote on the committee itself?

Law and order! No more riots in the cities! Those are good things! Passes by approximately the same margin!

Yep. And a note to Alexaera and Narikopolus in case they didn't instinctively parse all that the same way she did. The one to Narikopolus is written the way that allies speak to each other in Cheliax and the one to Alexaera in the way allies speak to each other in Axis.

Archduke, I am grateful to see that you will be present on the new committee, as I believe it positioned to do - or if things go ill to prevent - crucial work to improve the situation here in Westcrown. You already generously reviewed our efforts to impose adequate censorship. I expect the committee to entertain an alternative censorship proposal. If it is more just, lawful and Good I of course know it will have your support, but if (as I suspect) it is worse it mostly needs your delay, that Rights may bring the proposal you have reviewed already to the floor first. 

and to Alexaera: 

They have all their proposals already and I doubt they meant to spend any time debating them. A few might even be a good idea. I don't want them to get their censorship proposal to the floor before we can do ours. Try to hold the proposal for a new Lord Mayor for some time interviewing the man, if they have a specific man in mind. I do not think it will be productive for you to speak on Valia, assuming you are unwilling to imply that the Church's custody of her in Lastwall will involve any of the retribution they're looking for. Bloodthirsty schemes to hurt her further will play well on the floor and poorly in the city, I think, and are in any event an exertion of everyone's energy towards something they can't achieve. 

Jonatan is "taking signups" in the back, which is to say that he has a sign-up sheet with eleven carefully selected names already on it. The official procedure is that the chair can choose who to put on the committee, if more than eleven people want to be on it; he'll regretfully remove a few people to make room for the Archduke, Archduchess, and Conde Cansellarion.

When there's a break in the floor's business, he'll be pulling his eleven people into an immediate meeting, the matter of public order being an urgent one.

She’ll try to sign up, but when she sees it, she suspects the sign up was prefilled and the chair already had people in mind.  She looks to see who the religious delegate they have prefilled is, maybe there is an angle there.  Yes, it’s as she originally suspected, it’s Fiducia Jaume Agramunt.

"Now I wish to turn the floor's attention to the Committee on Diabolism, whose activities have spurred so much of this recent emergency. The war is over. Diabolism is not Cheliax's most pressing problem, and people animated by vengeance are not following the spirit of Her Majesty's pardons, and not interested in rebuilding this great country to the glory of its Arodenite days. Doing good is not the opposite of doing evil; we should turn our eyes to the virtuous churches, not remain fixated on Asmodean wounds. I move that we dissolve that committee, and that the floor not consider the proposals it managed to pass, if there even are any."

Yeah that's got to be nearly unanimous.

Oh good, she doesn't have to say it.

... But diabolists are bad!

Clap clap clap.

She'll sit this one out. Vote for it, yes, express that, no.

What is this...oh, completing the purge of Wain's influence. Extremely reasonable. She'll cheer.

This eminently reasonable proposal is still irksome because:

1. Lluïsa hates de Fraga now, and
2. it's about beating up Valia Wain in absentia, and Valia Wain is Lluïsa's propertyclient.

(Though she still plans to vote in favor.)

So the Evil nobles are just... admitting to everyone that they're Evil and think it's fine for there to still be Asmodeans????

Okay he likes finishing off the iomedaean headhunters, not just dealing with their leader. But didn’t that woman the boss seems friendly with, empress of greater chelam, propose all the committees? So would voting to dissolve one be taking the wrong side in noble politics? Maybe one of the boss’ guys can explain who is on which side. 

At least votes are secret, so he can abstain and act like he voted the right way once he finds out what that is.

"Diabolism will not go away quite so easily, but I second the motion to dissolve the committee. It remains a crime and can be dealt with like any other serious crime."

She's going to vote against it, of course, but this is another fight she can't win and obviously so.

For!! Save her!!

She’ll vote for, somewhat reluctantly.  She was starting to get an in with Victoria, but with the mood shifting against Valia, Victoria is not as useful a potential ally.  And the committee did leak her information to a pamphleteer that twisted it and sent a mob her way.

"Indeed." She'll propose a Committee for the Suppression of Illegal Cults once things have died down somewhat.

There's no line, and so no need for a cloture vote this time. How does the floor feel about the committee's attempts to fight diabolism?

Yeah that was a fucking terrible idea and went terribly and it doesn't look like they'll be judged disloyal for saying so! Passes 306-11!

"Finally, the chair of the Committee on the Judiciary has abandoned the convention, yet the Committee's important work must continue. I propose we reconstitute it with open signups and Count Rodrig Bellumar as chair."

Clever, guaranteed to be a font of horrible reactionary atrocities, and she has no grounds whatsoever to oppose it. 

....who departed the convention? Why can't the committee just pick a new chair? He is too scared to ask.

"Seconded. The vicious, anarchic cruelty of those who wish to return us to the worst excesses of Galt has no place in the Cheliax of today, and Count Rodrig Bellumar is wholly qualified for the task."

"Cannot the committee choose its own chair, or did we establish procedures for nothing?"

Duke Kill One Third Of Men has a whole fucking program here. This makes some sense of the earlier fighting; he's trying to wrest the role of convention organizer from Chelam.

Who do we like today...

"The procedures allow for the floor to choose the chair of a committee, and in this case I think it is called for. The previous members of the committee were unfortunately connected to the Terrible Third, and I suspect are not representative of this body as a whole. If we are not to have duplicative committees, let us have committees whose proposals will pass."

"The procedures allow for the floor to choose a chair while establishing a committee. Should you wish to reestablish the committee, I believe the correct procedure is to vote to dissolve, and then vote to create the committee anew. No business having emitted from the Committee, and the objectionable individual having already departed it, I see no grounds for such a vote."

This isn't what she got in line to talk about, but she's at the front of the line now, so she might as well take advantage of it.

"When other committees wanted to change their chair, the people on the committee voted for who to replace them. The Judiciary Committee still meets all the rules for committees, we have the right number of people from each of the four big groups, we can just vote for a new chair from the people already on the committee. If Count Bellumar wants to join the committee, he can show up and we can vote on whether to add him. There's no good reason to get rid of the entire committee and replace it with totally different people just because Valia isn't at the convention anymore.

But I don't actually think he suggested that because of the thing where we don't have a chair. During our committee meetings we've been talking about how to make fair laws that protect everyone, that don't let nobles just go after innocent people who haven't broken the law, and that make sure nobles can't just get away with murdering innocent people or things like that just by being nobles. And some of the nobles don't like that, they think they should just be able to do whatever you want with you, so they're trying to trick you into voting to replace the whole committee with people agree with them. They were talking in the speeches before about how they wanted to punish innocent people who hadn't broken any laws, even if they didn't do anything wrong, because they want you to be afraid of what they'll do if you dare to even question them.

When I was fifteen years old, my lord had an innocent woman tortured to death for a crime she hadn't committed, that it was obvious she hadn't committed, just because he needed to blame someone. That was wrong and Evil, and I don't want anything like that to happen ever again. And I think the Judiciary Committee should be made up of people who agree that was wrong, and who don't think anyone should be able to get away with hurting innocent people just because they're a noble, or a powerful wizard, or anything else like that."

Séfora applauds. 

"Perhaps I speak unreasonably, since my grandfather sheltered in his own tower, secret from the Asmodeans, and the few villages loyal to us from which we got our sustenance were loyal and true, and so I who say this am untouched by Asmodeanism, but what I say is this: That never would have happened under my grandfather. I do not support it and no one willing to support that should be on the judiciary committee. But neither would the wholesale slaughter of innocents that Valia Wain ordered, and anyone who is not prepared to condemn Valia Wain's murderous treason has no place writing the laws of the country, either."

He nods and smiles at Aspexia-Isona, then addresses Victoria.

"Of course the torture of innocents is wrong and Evil. But I do not think our laws should be a reaction to Asmodeanism, and instead be a wise balance between the needs of the accused and the victims of crimes. Many of us have long years of experience with how law properly functions in many other countries around Avistan, and that is what the committee's responsibilities call for. It is, after all, the committee on the Judiciary, not the rights or responsibilities of nobility."

"The chair should be someone already on the committee. For continuity."

Why is he talking with no speech prepared.

Enric is still kind of scared of Valia and the Diabolism committee, didn't want to speak for them. Probably is better for the convention to not do that But now they're going for his committee. Yes, the archduke proposed it after he did and got the credit. But it's his committee with his friends, and they're going to make trials where officials and evil lawyers can't just do things to you. Those nobles don't look like they're going to do that.

"We have someone who is an expert in judiciary who can be chair. Someone who knows the ways laws can be evil, knows the ways laws can be fair and just, she's memorized all the old laws and new ones. Someone who didn't have anything to do with the riots, but who we know will fight for good and innocent people and for just laws. Because the whole city just saw her win a fair trial... I propose Lluisa Oriol for chair of the Judiciary."

There's more reasons too, he wants to give a speech but can't think of one fast enough. So that'll have to do.

All gods above. They really do not realize that every person here hates them, do they. 

Well.

Narikopolus and Cansellarion are gone; is Carlota sending messages, if he looks at her? He can try to get on judiciary if it's re-forming, but he expects they've already packed it. He is having a failure of imagination about what a helpful floor response would even look like, given these options. Or, well, normally one would stay quiet in such a situation, but if one, hypothetically, wanted good things to happen -

The defense lawyer for Valia? Seriously?

Delegate Porras, who is alive, has walked out of the river to propose her as Judiciary Chair. Lluïsa sure has some complicated feelings about this situation.

"We witnessed a farce in which a Mephistophelean lawyer tricked her way into what the judge admitted was a foolish loophole in the law. The loophole was fixed the next day, and now you propose that diabolist serves as chair of the judiciary committee? Absolutely not!"

If Llei's looking at her - 

I think you would do better to speak against their proposals on the floor than in the committee. I don't think we can win the vote here.

"Valia Wain was found at trial to be guilty of conspiring to incite the murders of half the people in this room. She did not hang, because the law had unwisely been neglected and did not forbid this, but she was certainly acknowledged to have done it. Who, then, did she conspire to incite those murders with? Well, her fellow murderous radicals. The Calistrian who just spoke, and who spoke also to second Valia's Evil speech. The song-sorceress who helped coat Wain's words with poison. The bandit queen who stands there applauding them. The Mephistophelean 'defense attorney', Lluisa, who embraced the cause of freeing the murderess to ensure Wain would be on the loose to continue eroding the foundations of our society. The man who just spoke in that defense attorney's support. A voting majority of the judiciary committee are people whose opinion on the rule of law led to Valia Wain's speech and to Valia Wain's ongoing liberty.

Abolish the committee. Reconstitute it. Cheliax must be governed by law - real law, that which has been observed to function for a safe and stable country, not law by idealistic improvisation and negligence. There is no more glaring evidence of the failure of our present system than the fact that a woman can be found to have conspired to incite the murders of hundreds and walk away free to do it again, to speak her madness from the very steps of the courthouse that should have hung her, except perhaps the fact that her co-conspirators presently control the only means by which our laws can be improved.

We can do better. Law is not a good place for improvisation and radicalism. Law must be reasonable, stable, tested by precedent, proved by tradition. We can introduce sound laws and practices that will serve the people of Cheliax well - much better, I will add, than the madness of the present moment serves them.

And we can investigate how exactly a murderess walked free under our present system, because every such occasion undermines the rule of Law, the credibility of our government and the trust our people place in their Queen. It makes us look weak when we can least afford weakness. Every 'mercy' is paid for in the blood of other men. We must have peace, and having the only committee of the judiciary at the convention be full of wild-eyed Wain acolytes who conspired with her in murder, and now conspire without her to continue in it, is not compatible with peace.

If it takes two votes, then hold two votes. Abolish the committee. Then constitute a new one. Or prepare to turn half this city into graveyards and the other half into desperate fortresses, and to descend entirely into the brute savagery that befalls every civilization to take the rule of law lightly."

Valia was innocent, they checked, the judge said she was innocent — the count isn't even trying to be subtle about his diabolist trickery, surely all the normal people who don't want their nobles to just make up reasons to hang them can see that, there's more of them than there are nobility—

Oh no. That's a much bigger speech. Louder too. This isn't going to go well.

They're going to make this city a bloodbath in the name of saving it. But she cannot usefully say that.

Make this city a bloodbath, as if it weren't already one?

Honestly sort of expecting that to happen either way, at this point.

She wants to speak in favor of Lluisa… but it would erode the credibility she needs for later (she’s thought of how to spin her proposal to appeal to the sentiment against Valia).

It can get so, so much worse. Has he seen the Chelish Army? They'll cause more damage their first week in a city than Valia Wain has caused in her lifetime, and Pezzack wasn't bloodless.

Possibly the killing one third of men platform is a smokescreen for instead killing all commoners with opinions. This would be much more inconvenient. Korva's not a rapist, and is a commoner with opinions.

Time to speak, then.

"I thank Delegate Porras for his Words of Kindness."

"To the Vile Accusations of Diabolism which have been made against me now I have no Response, for they deserve none. Bring them before the Queen as she has Commanded if you believe them Grounded, or else be Silent. This Floor is no place for such Calumnies."

"Yet I have heard similar Accusations before. Indeed, my Political Opponent made them against me, as Founded then as they are Here, and thereby Seized the Chairmanship of the Committee in Question."

"Is Delegate Bellumar, then, opposed to Groundless Accusations? We see now that he is opposed only when the Weapon is not in his own Hands. That he may Wield it with greater Finesse is not to his Credit; it is no Fit Weapon. The Queen has made her Will Clear; make them to her Majesty! Indeed once this Matter is Settled I urge the President to Promptly Forbid all such Accusations."

"Is Delegate Ferrer, then, a Murderous Radical? I have known her to be Engaged Diligently in the study of Law that she may Learn and Obey it, and indeed she has sought out my own Offices and Extensive Library of Law for Instruction, which I am glad to Provide. To any Delegate approaching in Good Faith, I add, I am so Willing."

"Is Delegate Sefora of Aspramunt, then, a Murderous Radical? Why, she is my own Savior, who pulled my Corporeal Form from the River when I came under Assault. That I am not Drowned does Belie her Purported Murderousness."

"At any rate, Delegate Porras would thrust the Chair upon me, and though I confess it seems a Burdensome Duty, I will not shirk it. The Membership of the Committee are Diligent and concerned with a Fair and Just Judiciary all. Each of its present Members is Uniquely Suited and, to my Mind, concerned with Justice Alone."

"Though its Ranks must assuredly be Bolstered. I had meant to offer Privately, but do offer now Openly, that Delegate Napaciza join our Number, and would invite also Delegate Cansellarion if he be Willing, though his Duties are Numerous. Any others with special Interest or Qualifications may step forward. I ask only that all who do bring no Vicious Cruelty, no Unfounded Accusations, but only a Fair Heart and an Ardor for Justice."

technically she is a murderous radical, but they were very justified murders

Time to get in line.

When Lluisa is done speaking, Enric attempts to convey 'you're alive, I'm alive, thank good' in a look and expression. 

Relieved smile at Enric.

Stoically, but not all that stoically.

Uh, Carlota?

Changed my mind, let's fight. If you don't mind probably losing. It's not usually lethal here.

She is lining up herself. 

Nod.

....wait, but should he be lining up? ...he cannot think of anything to say, right now, so he's going to hover by sign-ups. It seems utterly bizarre that being almost murdered by Valia can get him lumped in with the radicals but he's really not confident that it doesn't work that way, now.

Do you have any strategy you'd care to share? Joan-Pau asks Carlota. He hadn't planned to get into a fight here and he hadn't thought she did, either.

To use magic or not to use magic. It's an escalation, but against people who are already escalating at full bore - no. There are wizards within 60 feet of the podium, she'll just have to do without. Even if she lacks their political power she's still good at public speaking

"The count Bellumar says he wants consistency in law. This is a laudable position, and one that should be held by the leader of the committee on laws - which is why it should not be him. He does not object to lies in general, only lies when he is not the one who says them. He lies about Lluisa, when he claims she serves Mephistopheles, in the same breath as he says we cannot condemn people for being evil. He lies when he condemns Delegate Porras, who has had no part in these proceedings, for the temerity of believing that anyone without noble birth should be allowed to speak. And he lies when he lays upon me the deaths that were wrought by Bernat Vidal-Espinoza, and shows here the flaw in his lies for all to see - for I am not and have never been a part of that committee."

I think there's an opening to point out that the Queen cares a lot about the judiciary, more than she's been evidenced to care about anything else.

And that while her vision plainly requires reforms a committee that reforms the vision of the Queen will do far more for peace and order than one which attempts to oppose it.

Probably all this will achieve is looking prescient, but if we can broker a compromise where we only throw the actual radicals off the committee and put a wide range of serious people in -

Alicia is here! Good at speeches and backing him up.

Wait is he just friends with the radicals now? When did that happen? Was he a radical this whole time? 

I follow the logic but I think this is a bad hand to bet the stakes on. He'll make a speech if he has to.

I do not mean to, and do not ask you to. There are two fights in the next hour more important than this one.

“Do not forget, delegates, that despite Barrister Oriol’s efforts, a magistrate enchanted to consider only the law judged that Valia Wain conspired to incite murder. Who did she conspire with? Delegates Ferrer and Rivera, the two girls who just spoke against fixing the Judiciary Committee. 

Do not trust them to bring us safety, to have Cheliax’s best interests in their hearts, to make wise decisions about the Law to come. Do not trust them at all.” 

He nods.

Voshrelka has remained silent this entire time, and will continue to remain so, but she's keeping track of what's going on. Or, well, trying to. This is... an attempted coup for the committee on forming laws? Because they did not like the results of the current laws and how they let the well spoken but idiotic Iomedean live. Among other things, including a general power grab, it looks like. It's kind of hard to tell, it's all weird backwards civilized nonsense. Still, the lines in the sand are fairly clear from where she sits, and she accordingly begins taking notes on the clans. In goblin, because it has the cursewords she requires to describe this nonsense. The branch of goblin she knows doesn't have its own alphabet, so for maximum amusement to herself in this very boring argument room, she writes it phonetically in elvish. The result is not the most beautiful atrocity she's ever made, but she's rather specialized in them in her years, so that's not saying much. It's the sort of thing that can be countered, especially by archmages, but it'd take at least one spell to manage it, and she rather likes making people work to learn things from her. At least things she doesn't want to tell them, anyway. She doesn't quite know what the clans are aiming for, just yet, but a picture of who is in what is going to help make that apparent, she thinks.

From there, then she can try to figure out if it's for or against her interests. ... Vidal speaking in favor of the coup makes that unlikely, but it's foolish to oppose whatever he supports just on general principle.

"Marquis de Almenar says it correctly. For myself, while I will not take a song-sorceress's word, if Delegate Oriol will swear she has never compacted with fiends and Delegate Ferrer will swear she did nothing illegal on the day and night of the Terrible Third, I will humbly apologize to them for my accusations. If not - the laws should not be written by such people as them."

"I think that the Judiciary committee should be reconstituted with new members, as many among its membership are radical and unlikely to come up with any proposals useful to the wider body. I believe those radicals genuine in their assertions that they did not intend the horrors they unleashed on our country; and I believe them innocent before a court of law, because they were interrogated by one; but this does not improve my opinion any of their character. The young women who worked with Valia Wain on her evil speech are at best too immature and unwise for the work before them.

However, I think that in reconstituting the Judiciary committee it is important to consider who we reconstitute it with. I attended the trial of Valia Wain, not particularly because the fate of Valia Wain was important to me but because it was very important to me indeed, to understand the vision of our wise and noble Queen for how the law should function in Cheliax. I came away with the impression - and I challenge any who attended to disagree - that the Queen has labored greatly over Her Majesty's judiciary, that she perceives it as a very important part of how Cheliax will wind its way free of Asmodeanism. Under Asmodeanism the courts always found what was convenient for the powerful. In this case I think the courts certainly arrived at a very inconvenient result. Under Asmodeanism a person could not be guilty as a matter of fact and innocent as a matter of law. But in Axis, of course, one can. In Lastwall one can. It was plain to me that those are the footsteps in which the Queen intends to follow; and I think it is immoral and in error, to seek to drag her from her course rather than speed her in achieving the peace and order that both of those places achieve. 

I fear that some came this day to this convention hoping, frankly, to override the Queen because they do not like her vision of the judiciary. I know some men ready to introduce, to a reconstituted Judiciary committee, proposals to try Valia Wain for treason, in direct countervention of the will of the Queen. I am nearly certain that there is a signup sheet with eleven names already written, to give Count Bellumar a committee that will obey him in this, and in bringing back torturous executions which he knows the Queen to oppose, and in trying Valia Wain's associates who Her Majesty's prosecutors have already interrogated and cleared of wrongdoing, and perhaps in countermanding Her Majesty's instruction that Her judges rule by the law." All guesswork but the hit rate will be high enough he can't dispute some without implicitly granting the others. 

"It would not, in fact, bother me in the slightest to see Valia Wain die a traitor's death. Many have who intended, and wrought, much less harm than Wain did. But I was appointed by the Queen, and I serve her, and I believe this convention can only diminish itself if it starts to think of itself as a body opposed to its own ruler rather than a body which diligently and obediently preserves her from error and works to execute her vision even where it is not our own.

And let it be understood. This convention cannot hang Valia Wain. She is no longer in the country. I do not think this convention can make Her Majesty burn people at the stake if she, a Lawful Good ruler, prefers not to.  This convention can only choose whether to aid our Queen and correct her errors, or to set ourselves in opposition to her and pass bills countermanding her on those rare occasions where she makes her will perfectly plain. I think that it would be stupid to do the latter. And so I believe that the Judiciary Committee must be reconstituted to exclude both radicals opposed to the nobility and radicals opposed to Her Majesty. Or, if you insist, to have two of each, to add flavor to the committee debates. But I can only oppose Count Bellumar's proposal, presuming it to come with a preselected set of people who will guide the Judiciary Committee into a new and equally unproductive flavor of wide-eyed radicalism. I ask him instead to nominate three men he'd see propose improvements to the Judiciary, and I would ask the Archduke Narikopolus to do the same, and I would ask the Count Cansellarion to do the same, and I would retain Lluisa Oriol as the body's sortition on the grounds that I believe our Queen to approve of her work, and as a matter of political philosophy I believe defense attorneys to serve the Law and not the client. If this body requires her assurance that she has obeyed the laws of our Queen since the amnesty, I suspect we'll have it." Lawyers tend to be very careful about technically obeying the law.

(She can swear under Truthtelling that she wasn't part of the riots, she can swear she didn't hurt anyone, she can swear that they arrested her and the Queen let her go because she didn't do anything wrong. She cannot actually swear she didn't break the law, and if she tries to swear to something else instead it's probably going to look a lot more suspicious than it'll look if she just doesn't go back to stand in line for the next several minutes.)

That...might be tolerable? Not what they wanted, but three he picks and three Narikopolus picks is six for law and order, probably, and paladins are only sometimes going to be precious about things. But why would she have suggested it, if it was going to be tolerable? She's been offering Narikopolus staff and lodging but surely an archduke is not that cheaply purchased.

Is... the Duchess of Chelam on her side? Her mind boggles; she hasn't forgotten who accused her of diabolism first, but... the grudge doesn't really stand up to this.

What a bizarre Convention.

That noblewoman is nice and helpful, explaining the more Lawful Good solution (and thus more loyal answer).  It could be a trick or another layer of test, but her logic and reasoning is sound.  So when it finally comes to vote he knows what he will support.

He's not sure he's going to like anything that comes out of this fight. Certainly not out of the Law and Order committee. But actually the most surprising thing is to hear that Oriol is sortition, not elected. Is she actually from Westcrown? That suggests... several assumptions he ought to flip on their heads. Maybe she's not so bad and the appearances at trial were accurate.

Hey wait a second!

Felip steps back up.

"The convention exists to represent the will of the Chelish people, not to simply enact the will of the Queen. As her loyal servant, I wish she had simply decreed the Constitution for us, as was her right.

She did not.

She instead charged us with its creation, with the best of our judgment, not with our best guess of her will. When we disagree with her is the most important time to raise our voices, and demonstrate that President Cotonnet's hope for us as representatives can be made manifest.

Wain did not commit high treason, nor mean to do so, and with our queen's legendary abilities, it would be risible to claim there was any meaningful way that she could. But the charge of treason is broader, and exists to protect the Queen's many servants, and the innocent bystanders who are caught in the crossfire of disorder. The peace of the state is the peace of the many that live under its just rule.

I will remind the floor that my proposal was for a committee chaired by Count Bellumar, but with open signups. There is a different procedure for creating a fully formed committee, which I am not taking, and I have no objection to Delegate Oriol's presence on the committee." 

Wait, did someone just say they’re trying to have the convention execute Valia for treason? Even after they had a whole trial that, at least according to what he’s heard, said she was innocent and just wrong because there aren’t actually diabolist nobles to riot against. 

That is bad. But the good gods are with the convention, and they already brought back Lluisa to defend her. And Aroden seems generally against letting the convention kill delegates. 

And the archduchess who took over the floor on the first day took over again and seems to have some compromise. Which takes him off, but Lluisa is still there, and that’s the important part. They’re still fighting, but Enric is pretty sure this part will turn out okay. 

Wait, is the test one of Chaotic Good (the Archmage’s convention) vs. Lawful Good (the Queen’s will)?  He’s going for Lawful Good, so he’ll vote as the Duchess suggested.

"Honored Duke, by the rules of the convention if there are more than eleven signups the chair chooses them. We all just witnessed that there were more than eleven signups for the new committee on cities, giving the chair the right to choose precisely the composition of his committee that he had planned in advance. If you wish to oppose Her Majesty and pursue your own vision of radical Republican politics in which this body is a check on the Queen, that is your right, but then you are replacing one radical body with a different radical body. I am asking instead for moderation. Pick three men who share your perspective on the Judiciary. Allow the Archduke Narikopolus to do the same, or any Archduke you care to name; only the Archduchess Jilia would be unacceptable to me, as we are trying to reduce radicalism, here. And allow the Lord Marshal Cansellarion, whose paladins have been performing nearly all the work of the judiciary in Cheliax, to pick three. Through balanced perspectives we can find wise and just laws."

"'Traitors should hang' is not a radical position and any country where it is considered one is doomed."

In what sense is "Pezzack should have just stayed Asmodean" radical???

This floor discussion is really helpful to Dia!  She’s just about figured out the basics of the noble factions!  She isn’t sure what to call them though, they both seen determined to label each other radical.  And they are both willing to distance themselves from or claim identification with members of their own faction on an ad hoc basis.

"I consider the Duchess's proposal a fair and balanced one," Joan-Pau says. "The archdukes have been dealing justice in their own lands and any can find three righteous men to speak to the cases they have seen; Lord Marshal Cansellarion's own chosen to tell us what Right is should we falter, Count Bellumar and three more righteous of old Cheliax to speak for the traditions of old, and one lawyer who can tell us what the laws of Cheliax were, so that we can know what they must become. What could be more fair? What could be more just?"

Everyone's calling everyone else radical. Lluïsa thought 'radical' was when Galtans marched everyone to the Final Blade.

In fairness it does sound like this faction would love to march everyone to the Final Blade.

She supposes she's solidly anti-radical, then.

"On your assurance that the signups will be handled in this manner, Duke, if there are more than eleven of them, I will gladly support the necessary reconstitution of the committee."

"The path of wisdom is not always moderation. But I agree that it is important to staff committees in a way that reflects the interests of the floor. Perhaps we should introduce a new style of committee, whose members are appointed by delegates as you describe, and the number of delegates they can appoint determined by floor vote, rather than a deal between dukes. Let us vote to dissolve the old committee, and then vote whether the chair of the new committee be Count Bellumar or Delegate Oriol, and then vote on which of myself, Archduke Narikopolus, and Lord Marshal Cansellarion they wish to appoint delegates for them, and distribute the seats according to that vote."

That’s an even easier choice, he can vote to let a Paladin handle it!

What could be more just? How about not removing the existing committee members, except for the madwomen? Probably a losing battle, though.

"As a member of the current Judiciary committee, I support a proposal to reconstitute the committee free of the radical voices that have dominated it in the early days of this convention, in line with the Duchess of Chelam's proposal." Sorry, radical voices.

It’s still going to hurt a bit to see his committee dissolve. But it’s not too bad, with the new committee guaranteed to be mostly good. Maybe he’ll be able to get some protections in through the rights committee, too. 

Also, wow the nobles can give speeches. It’s hard to stay still and quiet. Back home, town meetings didn’t have these kinds of accusations and arguments. Mostly because they have no archmage to stop it turning into a brawl if anyone starts talking like that. 

Rouen has now made it to the podium. "It is our purpose to serve the Queen. The Queen has, through Her appointed President, given us instructions as to what She wants from us. As I interpret her President, it is his opinion that 'those entrusted with the awesome power of government must be accountable to those they rule.' This is an exceptionally radical statement, but Her Majesty has, in fact, had it made. She wishes Cheliax to be governed by the Chelish people. She wishes for Cheliax to be governed by the laws in effect when they were written, and not by any others. These are her instructions. If I misunderstand, I trust She will correct me. If She wishes to give us new instructions, I will obey these as Her most loyal servant."

She's right but Carlota's going to ignore her in favor of winning. "A vote of the people on which people they wish to have making committee assignments is acceptable to me, as a way of ensuring that the committee reflects the will of the whole body. With this stipulation I will favor the committee's dissolution and reconstitution, and thank its existing members who are no associates of Wain for their service."

With the compromise accepted, it is time to vote. Dissolution of the previous committee is first, and few have spoken against it.

Yeah the Judiciary committee can die 380-20 and the twenty were probably people confused about voting or something.

And the chair? Is it Bellumar or Oriol?

Bellumar! He wanted to hang Valia Wain for treason! Pretty great idea! 

There's now a moment for each of the three men to explain briefly their theory for who should make up the committee, and then the first vote with three options is put to the floor. When given a choice between Archduke, Duke, and Count, how does the floor vote?

They are split between 'voting for paladins is Good and passes the loyalty test and makes you go to Heaven' and 'but really we should hang Valia Wain'. It comes out about 58% Cansellarion, 35% Felip, the Menadorans steadfastly for Narikopolus but not very numerous, some fraction of sortitions confused. No one established how they were planning to do rounding.

She's not even one of the twenty, not that anyone can tell given the privacy of the votes! This is far from a complete victory, but - it's not really a defeat either, they can trust Lord Cansellarion's picks and between him and Lluisa that's at least four. Maybe Victoria has better political instincts than she thought, or a better grasp on Carlota Chelam. The second vote is lost, but she knew going in they weren't going to get it.

She votes for Lord Cansellarion in the third vote, of course, and is pleasantly surprised at the numbers.

Well, eight of them are allocated cleanly. Then 8% is largest, and then 7%, and Felip will graciously accept that the 5% must vanish. Perhaps the Lord Marshal, who has not been planning to appoint six people to a committee, will look at his prepared list before conferring with anyone else?

Funny, that, the convention happens to have nine new representatives for the Church of Iomedae today, all of whom are officers in the Order of the Glorious Reclamation, half of whom have a year of judicial experience in post-infernal Cheliax because that's most of what the Reclamation's been doing. So, while he wasn't actually planning to appoint six people to a judiciary committee, he has a list of his own already.

Carlota's going to return to her seat quite smug. Alexaera and Joan Pau should both be very impressed what she pulled off, there.

Thank Iomedae for more competence in Cheliax. They still need to divvy up the four estates; Cansellarion has the churches covered, but perhaps he could take on sortition as well, as his choice would likely be superior to Felip's? Felip could cover nobility and the elect, and that way they can let Narikopolus pick freely.

Jilia is impressed, that's for sure.

Well, he can't tell the paladins about the secret secondary benefit of the lawful detention law but hopefully they'll support it just because it's perfectly reasonable as a lawful detention law. They're probably going to be whiny babies about reintroducing torturous executions, though.

That's agreeable. He'll pick a sortition. (He will most likely pick delegate Oriol, who has what is probably a valuable perspective.)

Trust a paladin to at least partially redress this unconscionable act of committee banditry.

Very impressive, Joan-Pau messages to Carlota.

Hopefully I am not an excessively clever wizard who has expended all my spells on the beast guarding the gates, with censorship and slavery still ahead.  But she looks very very smug as she nods back to him from across the room.

Well then. Good work to the archpaladin and the archduchess. Still sad to see judiciary go, and that chair vote does not look good. If Enric is a radical now, he and the other radicals need to get it together.

When you're a Duke, it's Lawful Robbery.

His business settled, Felip yields the floor to the elf.