In favor on the basis of Estella’s recommendation, but Estella better have a good reason she explains later.

If she understood right, the Spell Lord is supposed to stop powerful wizards from being able to hurt people just because they're powerful wizards, and they have to be a wizard themself or the powerful wizards would just kill them. In favor. 

She doesn’t know anything about magic, but it doesn’t sound like it will bother her or any of hers… abstain.

From a selfish perspective she probably ought to be in favor but she doesn’t want to get in the habit of voting for laws on self interest instead of what’s right. Abstain.

She is of course very grateful to the Archmage. In favor.

In favor.  The wizards need to be kept in line somehow, especially now that the Archmages closed the Worldwound so they won't be sent off there anymore.  And it's not like anyone's been presenting a better idea.

He would really prefer there be less attention given to investigating what wizards are doing. Against.

Most of those do seem like things that ought to be regulated, and the Spell Lord model has been tested in Absalom without disaster. In favor.

Abstain, she doesn’t have a strong feeling either way. 

He'd rather not have important people deciding moment-to-moment law be rich powerful spellcasters. Against.

Sure, it's much easier to run a prison for mages if you have a single mage to negotiate with. In Favor.

For. 

Can't the archmage already do this? Well, making it clear he can is fine. For.

Wizards are so annoying. They should just obey the same laws as everyone else instead of wanting their own obnoxious titles and rules. Against.

In favor. He does wonder what they'll do with the position if Elie doesn't accept it, but they'd probably end up with something like this anyway.

In a country that has sane, and somewhat morality aware Wizards, this would be overkill. It is also unclear who will take up the office and be credible in it, if the Archmage doesn't. A single spellord sets pretty harsh requirements on both legal competence and magic competence, to avoid getting humiliated and avoid driving the countrys magic regulation into chaos.

On the other hand, this is Cheliax.

In favor.

Against.

It's barely a law at all, just a delegation of poorly defined authority with poorly defined goals to someone unknown. This is not how to Lawful. And she is unconvinced having a Spell Lord would have helped the badgers as long as the lich didn't make then his personal problem.

A Good wizard should have helped regardless of having a government office, but the Good wizards around here don't think badgers are people, so.

Passes with fairly low participation, 201-150.

"Thank you all. As the proposed section on Magical Education still has some controversy associated with it, we believe that it would not be best suited to go next, so we therefore continue with the proposed law, section IV:"

PART IV. — OF METATITLES

8. Establishment of Metatitles

(1) There shall be established a system of Metatitles, to replace the former Paratitles.

(2) Such Metatitles shall be sold for the benefit of the Major Magic Universities

(3) The basic cost of the Metatitles shall be determined and published by the Spell Lord

(4) Discounts shall be granted as follows: 

(a) Four per centum for each years military service to the Nation 

(b) Three per centum for each one years' teaching at a Major Magic University of Cheliax

(c) Ten per centum for each military award for Bravery approved by the Queen 

(d) One per centum for each Spell published and made public to all for no cost other than cost of materials.

(e) For participating in the liberation of Cheliax, Four Day War, on the side of liberty, Thirty Per centum

(f) For participating in the liberation of Cheliax, Four Day War, on the side of hell, not a discount, but an additional Fifty Per Centum instead.

(h) The Spell Lord's discretion: Up to half of the remainder.

(5) The total discount to be added. No discount to be greater than ninety per cent.

(5) Examples of Metatitles shall include:

(a) Metabaron (For third circle)

(b) Metacount (For fifth circle)

(c) Metaduke (For seventh circle)

(d) Metaprince (For ninth circle)

(e) The spell lord may at his discretion establish more Metatitles

(f) The queen may grant any titles at her discretion.

(g) The saviors of Cheliax are granted all titles.

"It is clear that the reborn cheliax does not lack for wizards, but it does lack for money. This is, partially, our answer."

"The proposed discounts here seem downright Asmodean. Four percent a year for military service? So if someone served twenty years in Cheliax's military, in service to Asmodeus Himself, they get an eighty percent discount, more than enough to completely offset the penalty for fighting on the side of Hell. Three percent a year for bringing up more loyal Asmodean wizards, and it stacks with the discount for military service. One percent for publishing a spell, with no mention that it can't be an Evil spell. Our army-wizards should've been put to the Final Blade, and even if we failed to do that we certainly shouldn't be rewarding them." 

Carlota honestly finds this whole slate of proposals very annoying and would generally oppose them. But she got the quick votes she needed yesterday and that's what matters.

"The argument for this proposal is straightforward: it appeals to those wizards who are very invested in their standing in high society, which is quite a few of them, and it is beneficial to Cheliax to have powerful wizards around, and it involves those wizards paying the state money, of which the state has great need. The argument for indifference is equally straightforward: the 'metatitles' currently have nothing at all behind them and confer no privileges. The argument against, I think, is that it is more convenient if wizards who desperately want noble titles have to get them the old-fashioned way by marrying nobles in financial trouble, and that it is vaguely embarrassing for the state to as a first resort start nakedly selling prestige to fund itself. Ultimately I am inclined to handle magical regulation by seeing whether powerful wizards are choosing to live and work here and adjusting course if they aren't. If this is a power that the Spell Lord wants and thinks will actually be useful, it is a power I am fine with them having the discretion to offer.

With one exception.

As written this would allow a powerful wizard of the old regime to become a Duke at a cost that he could almost certainly afford. I don't know if many of those are alive, and I am open to the possibility that some of them have overthrown Hell in their hearts and desire to serve their new, free country. But all of them have sold their souls, all of them attained their power in the willing service of the greatest Evil this country has ever known, and I would want more proof of their repentance than 'they paid a lot of money' before I would be willing to address them as 'your grace'. Or at all. I bear no ill will towards the men and women conscripted to serve in Asmodeus's armies, or towards anyone who spent their career at the Worldwound.

But there are names of the old regime I have only heard spoken in whispers, so afraid are people of them still, and I have no desire to invite those ones back."

The funny thing is that speaking only in whispers doesn't particularly help you evade any of the city-wide name listening spells. 

She kinda assumed all the really scary people were executed? Manohar was executed, right? If they got down to random Heartlands counts there's no way they failed to get through the Teleport wizards.

The thing about Teleport wizards, as opposed to random Heartlands counts, is that they can Teleport and most Heartlands counts can't.

This feels too much like diluting the power of the nobility, and the revenues all go to the crown; as Carlota points out, better to distribute them throughout the country and the many noble houses. (And if you're struggling enough that you need to marry a commoner, adding a wizard to the family is a good way to go about it.)

Maybe the meta-titles will encourage that, making it less shameful to marry a meta-count than a wizard? But no--better to have their wealth yourself, than have the state have it.