"That'll be fun to hash out on the floor."

"I think your contributions to this committee are valuable and that you're here for the right reasons. I think that this committee is doing good and productive work, and realistically, now that there's so much more interest in that work this committee will have to either grow and incorporate more perspectives or be dissolved and lose all its present members, like Judiciary. Does anyone have questions for Duke de Fraga, before we vote on adding him?"

"Are you planning to vote on further committee additions today if added to the committee?" Raimon asks the Duke de Fraga.

"I think that for propriety's sake the new members should abstain on votes for additional members, so the order of the votes is not of enormous importance."

"I have been told that Mendevian law and its enforcement is rather anarchic, which would make it a source of poor examples rather than good ones, though they might be examples of Good regardless. Do you have a few words on your experience with the law there, and whether what I was told was correct?"

That's kind of odd. Adding the conservatives to the committee will make it more Lawful, compared to its current composition; they see more eye to eye with the Hellknights than any of the current delegates do. And separately, Fraga's presence here is part of a floor conversation in which Carlota proposed it as a compromise, and while (since Urban Order did get founded) she's not particularly going to fight for Acevedo she does have to fight for Fraga, and the Hellknight presumably knows that, and also presumably knows that the current state of the agreement between Carlota and the Hellknights is 'do not throw your weight into wrecking her committee unless you want her to throw hers into wrecking you'. 

Hopefully she's just reading too much into it and the Hellknight is not trying to pick a fight with her. The Hellknight does not even have any incentive to do that. On the other hand the other Hellknight didn't have incentive to do it either, and did it anyway.

Hm. He had been hoping to vote on further additions to the committee.

"I think there is a clear precedence order," meaning that counts follow marquises who follow dukes, "and that I would join this committee as a full member, entitled to vote on any issue that comes up. I presume this is our first constitutional convention for all of us, and so we are not practiced in the proper forms. I would hear the Duchess de Chelam's argument for my recusal from additional votes to add members."

He turns to the Hellknight. "Of the countries besides Cheliax that I had direct experience of, I would say Mendev's law enforcement had the hardest job and yet managed to succeed. Proximity to the Worldwound meant there were always demon cultists to be rooted out, the safety of villages was constantly at risk, and yet the country has survived and its Queen remains a paladin. I think few places will match the discipline of the Hellknights, and did not understand that to be the standard our realm desires."

"I fear that, if the first new members to vote can vote on subsequent members, that will inspire the committee to consider the new candidates as a single bloc, instead of as individuals with individual expertise and perspective they can bring to our discussions. I believe there's a great deal to be learned from your experience in Mendev, which faced resource constraints even more grave and tragic than those of modern Cheliax, and of course from your experience restoring order in Fraga, and I would be grieved for this referendum to become a referendum on the Conde Acevedo, who I do not know as well and to whom I can hardly offer as warm and firm a recommendation."

He nods, and removes his helmet (it did its job already).

"Certainly Mendev has one of the best of all possible excuses for what failings it has. Reports were likely exaggerated; I asked principally because I was curious what a resident would say firsthand, and if you had said it was just as bad as rumored I would still have been satisfied, as examples to avoid can be equally valuable. I vote in favor of Duke de Fraga."

Oh good. The committee really will be improved by his presence. As the chair she will vote last.

"In favor."

"Abstain."

"I'd like to hear the Duke's opinion on the Duchess's opinion about whether he is voting on other new members."

(Abstention should be good enough if it's 4-2 otherwise.)

"In favor."

Wisdom from a Calistrian. He might even snarkily acknowledge it, if that wasn't half of how Rosa offended the Duchess before.

They did game the math out, ahead of the committee meeting, but not this stage of it. If both he and Vidal get on, then there would need to be four votes against Acevedo for him to not get on. He trusted that Carlota will made the trades she needs to make to get him on the committee and Acevedo off it, if that's what needs to happen. Was her suggestion cover for a trade she's already made, and Raimon checking whether or not he's going to hold up his side of the deal?

Well, if so, he wishes Carlota had warned him before the session. Just now, he was worried about votes against from Sefora, Raimon, and Arlet; but as one of the three has abstained, he thinks he's safe.

"I hope your fear is misplaced, and do not think it is sufficient grounds to establish a new procedure. I think it would be simplest if I vote on other new members."

"Oh, well, that's sneaky, I'm against now."

"What do you find sneaky about membership being effective immediately?"

Arlet folds her arms and doesn't answer him.

"The vote's a little farcical if you can troop three people in here who all want each other on the committee and get the first one on to help the second one on to help the third one on."

"Your grace, I invited you to join us because I think you have an important perspective to bring to our work. I think it is very understandable for the membership of this committee, who do not know you as well as I and might wrongly suspect a stealthy takeover of their committee, to be surprised at the number of people who arrived with you to join, and to want to ensure they can consider each individually. This is a simple way to assuage their worries."

Valentí has worked in Egorian for years and that means he has developed a significant tolerance for this bullshit.

It is still, however, Mephistophelean bullshit. He will consider abstaining to balance out the vote. If the Duchess seems to favor it.

The Duchess is indeed trying to indicate, inasmuch as people can read her body language, that she's deeply unimpressed with the Duke's refusal and is not going to be annoyed if other people say they are too.

"Given that it seems we are block voting, perhaps we could trade these two, rather more sensible sounding men here, for the Conde's absence and a single person not from the noble party acceptable to all present?"