This is kind of petty, but she’s gotten the sense from the Education Committee that the state is desperate for funds, so this sounds like a reasonably tolerable way to raise funding.

"To expand on the Duchess de Chelam's point, Cheliax currently has an unusually large number of eligible nobility. Perhaps we should encourage current and future wizards of the realm to intermingle with them, but that is better done by a series of dinners, where introductions can be made and their fitness as partners and co-rulers can be carefully judged, not a simple rubric and a cash transaction. People who are bonded to specific places and specific families can be relied upon; a magical elite without responsibilities will not deserve respect. If the universities wish to honor them for their service or their donations, they are free to do so on their own terms."

He was going to give a speech about how this makes a mockery out of the very idea of the nobility, but the Duke of Fraga just said that in a way that the uppity peasants are going to be less insulted by, so instead he nods to the Duke of Fraga and steps out of line.

Much better to fund the state than the nobility. But his argument would weigh against it, not for, for assumed hellishness.

"I am not, myself, a vain wizard, but they are quite common. And this proposal clearly appeals to vain wizards much better than would marriage into a noble family. If I were to marry a Countess, my children would inherit her standing. If I were to purchase a Metabaron's title, my standing would be increased. Great wizards are not, typically, people who value their family line over themselves; if they were, they would make choices that made it easier to have a family, at the cost of avoiding danger which might propel them to higher circles. And Your Grace, if you do not believe they deserve respect, simply do not give it to them; the only cost that entails is reducing the attractiveness of the titles to those hungry for respect and acclaim."

"Requiring royal assent to the purchase of any title by one soul-sold - or whose soul is otherwise tied to Hell or the Abyss - seems like a reasonable accommodation for the Duchess's concern. Though with that established, there would be a question of whether it ought be open to other spellcasters; I understand Inquisitor Shawil has recently been giving full inheritable noble titles to strong clerics of Abadar, but when he runs out, others might wish to purchase the metastatus as well."

"This is how things were done in Asmodean Cheliax. I think very few things about Asmodean Cheliax should be carried over into the new regime, certainly not without at least admitting that's what they are. I am sure many of the Asmodean wizards are upset they no longer have their titles, but the decision to strip them of those titles was made deliberately, and I cannot support selling the titles right back to them. Cheliax needs wizards, but not the wizards it had under the Thrunes. I oppose this bill."

It's so annoying when Evil nobles make reasonable arguments against bad laws!! She will clap for him even though she doesn't like him.

Honestly it was also pretty normal for wizards to marry into the nobility in Asmodean Cheliax. He's got some. Including some soul sold ones. He's just not going to talk about any of that, since people seem unlikely to suddenly jump to stripping the existing titles from everyone without the deed to their soul.

"His Excellency-" Hopefully that's the right one, she thinks it's the one people were using for him earlier but for something they care so much about nobles sure do hate giving people a way to know their ranks "- makes a good point. I came up here to say that we should ensure the service discounts of this bill only take effect going forwards, because we do not want to be rewarding people for service to the Asmodean state, but at this point I do not think that would be adequate to fix it either. It justifies the paratitles to attract wizards and make revenue for the state, but many of the wizards it will attract are wizards we do not want and it undermines its own revenue stream at every step. I oppose this bill."

Between this, the previous votes, and committees, she's probably making an enemy of Coeliaris, but that was probably inevitable with how much their agendas here clashed and the support she's courting is almost certainly more valuable for her plans with the army.

"I'm fine with selling titles to the wizards. But I don't like how this law says all the money has to go to the wizard academies. We've got children starving to death in the orphanages because they don't have enough money to take care of them, and you want to spend the money beating students 'till they can cast spells? Either you fix the law so it doesn't say that, or no one should vote for it."

He's not actually sure whether or not more wizards would be good for Cheliax, and this isn't part of the bill he cares about. Maybe he should try to support it anyway, to make sure they get to the other provisions about magical law enforcement? But he's not sure what he would say.

"This is absurd. Noble titles come with obligations; the titles without the obligations are either entirely meaningless or are an Asmodean exercise in power for its own sake. If a wizard wishes to serve his country, and earn recognition thereby, maybe even a title awarded by the Queen, fine. But to sell them? You should be ashamed to propose such a thing."

He had been wavering on whether to say something… he wants to support Professor Coeliaris, but he cared even less about metatitles than her other proposals.  But the idiocy of that last comment gives him something clear to rebut.

“Powerful Wizards provide many essential spells and services: scrying for distance communications, teleports for rapid transport, and all sorts of utility.  Teleport wizards are essential for remote logistics like the worldwound.  Wizards are, like most valuable professions, are generally paid for their services, and all sorts of factors can influence how much payment they will accept: prestige, opportunity for specialized training, opportunity for social advancement.  An upfront payment for prestige is a simple standard way of tying them to the service of our great nation while letting them convert the services they have done for money into that prestige.  I will acknowledge the point that ongoing service plays a role in conventional noble titles.  So some form of yearly fee or tithe or service as part of maintaining the metatitle would be a reasonable amendment if this bill is found unsuitable by the convention in its present form?   And monetary payment is nothing to be ashamed of!  To those loyal to the Queen and to those that want to avoid new taxes, I would ask you to consider the recent turmoil and thus the need for funding Cheliax has.”

There, hopefully Coeliaris can recognize his suitability as ‘working wizard’ lackey.

That guy is a little confused but he’s got the right spirit.

Heh, now that he thinks about it there’s nothing saying people can’t resell the metatitles. That might be fun. Find some guy, stack up as many discounts as possible, sell the title and then buy it again … probably doesn’t work, definitely wouldn’t work for long, neat trick if it does though. 

What kind of self-respecting wizard would waste money on a metatitle? It’s not like it would make you better at magic. 

This is obviously a scam. Transmuting wizardly power into social status is cheap and easy: Lisandro’s name was right alongside the nobles this morning, being acclaimed for catching the lich. No payment to the crown needed. Even before that, a middling show of wizardry was enough for a noble girl throw herself, and a barony, at him. 

Lisandro thought Coeliaris had more dignity than this, but presumably tuition won’t be enough to fund her wizard schools. He and his proxy will stay silent. 

"Everyone wants to be powerful and important. This law just makes it so that titles aren't just for jumped-up Taldans who can't even fly, they're also for the people who actually matter."

Lisandro’s proxy does want to say something. 

“Why’s it called a meta-title anyway? A metabaron would mean a baron who’s the baron of barons, not a wizard who doesn’t even have a barony?”

Okay, now it looks like I’m going against the professor. This isn’t even a political opinion, it’s a grammatical one. 

Yeah but I’m right, right?

Fine. Wanting laws to use words properly, instead of making changes just because the original word reminds people of political enemies, counts as a political opinion. 

A less Asmodean person might point out that it's a bit perverse to make a big fuss about disapproving of people for defending their own cities against surprise invasions from foreign soldiers bent on rape and murder, or indeed to reward those soldiers for the rape and murder, which was really most of what happened, as there wasn't exactly much of an organized military engagement in either Corentyn or Ostenso.

To say that would be to suggest that she expects the audience to care more about good and evil than about sucking up to their latest masters, though, and she knows her countrymen better than that. Let's all heap meaningless honors our conquerors, why not.

... It is definitely a proposal. It would bring the crown money. But do they need more people with lifetime privileges marching around, even if they were to be wizards?

Anonymously, for obvious reasons:

"Besides providing funding, how does this law help make Cheliax a better country? I wholeheartedly believe that their heightened intelligence and significant wisdom makes Wizards good rulers, but the proposed titles do not even grant them anything to rule! I can see the point as honorary pronouncements, but their value in status goes down if anywizard can just purchase one."

The King-In-Irons strides up to the podium. "It gets Cheliax more wizards! Foreign wizards will want to come so that they can buy the rank of count and take precedence over barons in all the parades that Her Majesty's government will no doubt be hosting, in which all the nobles who feel like it parade in order of precedence." It is really hard to tell how ironic he's being. "Then these foreign wizards will kill monsters and craft magic items, two activities which the state would quite like to occur here instead of in Absalom."

"Really, though, let us be honest, here: The state needs money. To solve this, the committee has therefore decided to sell the rights of the nobility without the territory of the nobility to powerful wizards. While I personally consider trying to buy power gauche, I suspect some wizards will take the convention up on its offer, and this will provide the state with money. There seem to be no reasonable arguments against it - besides, of course, Delegate Mont's nomenclatural one - that don't amount to 'a handful of arrogant noblemen are unhappy because they want to be special, and giving more people rights makes them less special.'" His staff will arrange nonlethal duels outside of convention hours.

No, the problem is that a lot of the "rights" of the nobility are the "right" to hurt innocent people and get away with it! But of course Delegate Ibarra is in favor of powerful wizards being able to hurt whoever they want and never ever get what they deserve.