what it says on the tin
Next Post »
« Previous Post
Permalink

"Hello again, everybody! I apologize for skipping yesterday but the morning session ran so terribly long and I didn't want to bump into anybody's other committees or keep everyone till suppertime. Looking at our accumulated agenda items...

"I think the Grand Salon idea is alas completely nonviable for now - it will at least have to wait until some publishing houses have started up or something, though mercifully the stricter law didn't pass.

"I've pulled together quite the list of empyreal lords and minor gods, but now that I've seen how much the other committees are rushing, I'm not sure it makes sense to hold the official benign objects of worship list proposal till we've managed to research every single one. So I think the proposal on the list will need four segments - one is the obvious shoo-ins, gods we know are fine. One is the list of definite nos like Asmodeus. One is the amendment about various rural/fey relationships we passed last time we met. And then there's going to be this big long list of names that could be just anybody for all I've been able to read up about them - which will only get harder, as that's certainly 'religious content' - and we need some procedure for approving them, maybe consensus among the whitelisted churches. So today we should cover that.

"I'd love to hear from Lluisa if she managed to get the Education committee to cover anything about church-based education, since she's our overlap member.

"I talked to Songbird Gabriel and he's not sure that there are many more available clerics who could reasonably be invited to Cheliax at this time. A lot of them are already here; they've known we were in need since the war. But I'm willing to hear out ideas for inviting more that might get around this limitation, I just don't think 'the Queen should invite some more' has enough meat to it to fly in the main hall.

"And I know we didn't get the tithing idea floor-ready, but I think that even if we get it absolutely perfect it's going to want a terrible lot of politicking to pass, the nobles aren't going to like it a bit, so in addition to tweaking the proposal itself I think it wants some strategizing if it's something we all agree we want.

"Is there anything I'm missing? Anything new that's come up?"

Total: 23
Posts Per Page:
Permalink

“I’ve thought of a new idea, one which might inform everything else.  It’s not exactly a proposal, more like an open request and procedure for handling it.  There are several ways to get information directly from the Outer Planes and domains of beneficent Gods: Lesser Planar Ally and Communes being the obvious ones, oh and I guess the arcane version is Planar Binding.  It’s obviously very expensive, requiring 4th and 5th circle slots respectively (and a 5th for the arcane slot), and additional offering besides that, but if we have anyone powerful enough to cast them we might ask if they can spare any slots, and we might inquire if the Archmage is willing to budget anything for it.  And maybe inquire of churches with hierarchies and higher circle casters outside Cheliax if they will accept commune questions for any price or exchange.  We need a procedure for queuing the most important matters for discussion and inquiry to the appropriate called outsider or Yes/No commune question, but I think this could really inform the entire convention more effectively to learn directly from the beneficent Gods and planes this way.” 

Permalink

"Oh, interesting! What kinds of thing are you thinking of asking outsiders about?"

Permalink

“Well I don’t want to waste their time with obvious questions, but I think judging by some of the votes, even obvious issues like “is slavery Evil” have some confusion, so hearing from an outsider might help some people to be more convinced.  For one issue that might help us in this committee, a more direct account of more obscure Empyreal Lords and other beneficent minor deities might jump start out us past hours or days or weeks of research.  And I think it’s useful to have something to aspire to, so just an account of a day in Axis or Nirvana or Heaven or Elysium might positively influence things.  As to other questions… some procedure for collecting points of confusion and disagreement about morality and alignment and then addressing questions to the Outsiders or giving them time on the floor.  I think lesser planar ally, we could get an outsider for days at a time, and although the offering is expensive, I think Good Outsiders often take donations of time and effort to charity, so splitting it up among many volunteers it could be affordable, even without begging the Archmage for donations!”

Permalink

Lluïsa has a planar binding spell (with limits) at an arcane third circle thanks to law school, of course, but isn't really planning on sharing lesser-known spells freely. Let them think she's fifth, or has a lot of scrolls to burn.

"I have much Experience with this Field of Wizardry; the Help of Outsiders is Valuable but of course has a Price matching its Value, which is why it is not especially Frequent Practice. I may of course Bill the Cost to my Client; a Church, except Abadar's, has a different Relationship to its own Finances."

Permalink

Poke, poke, it's actually willing to speak as a domain expert.

Permalink

Internal sigh.

Permalink

"It seems a wise idea. I do not know if all outsiders will know things like the names of all the minor gods, but certainly they can discuss their days, and which things are good or bad. I could talk about the Summerlands, but I am not very studied about other matters. Some at the convention have said that they remember Axis; perhaps they could be asked to describe it, as well?"

Permalink

Oh, that must be the former lantern archon that fellow mentioned. Poke.

Permalink

Why.

"If the Committee wishes to hear from a Called Archon in my Employ, it may," she mentions neutrally.

Permalink

Enric thought the archon was secret, but maybe after one day, it realized the convention was safe? 

Permalink

Oh right, there is nobility from Heaven and Axis in addition to foreign nobility besides just Eumenes.  Maybe that’s where the more reasonable progressive portion of the nobility come from?  In which case giving them a platform to speak is an excellent idea.

“Yes, maybe on one of the less busy days, if we hopefully have some,  we could have some of the resurrected delegates could speak of their time in an Outer Plane.”

“And Yes of course I would love to hear from an Archon you’ve called!  What type?  How many years or centuries of millennia of experience?”

Permalink

"A Harbinger Archon, a Librarian, of at least some Centuries I believe..."

She was sort of hoping for "no that's a terrible idea" here, but of course not.

Permalink

Oh, a library archon! Archons aren't quite as cool as angels or agathions but that's definitely one of the cooler kinds of archon, so it evens out. Possibly she should be slightly suspicious of everything it says due to the fact that it was called by an evil wizard but most evil wizards she's met are much worse than Lluisa.

Permalink

"If it's here for a long haul and it would be willing to visit us I think we'd all love to meet it!"

Permalink

He nods.

Permalink

Yeah, of course everyone wants to meet the archon. To be fair to them, it's pretty cool, she would want to meet it too.

"Very well, then."

Permalink

It's taking all this as a positive response!

It flows out of her cloak fairly rapidly, some mixture of shiny light and clockwork parts which assemble in a rapid, orderly fashion into the intricate ordinary form of a harbinger archon, bodies orbiting their primaries with friendly curiosity.

"I am the archon in question, a member of Delegate Oriol's staff, and qualified domain expert on the calling of outsiders, by virtue of being a called outsider myself. I am a librarian ordinarily, yes, and I'm not sure of the local calendar but it's been for quite some time. I'm not at all a direct participant in this convention, just a delegate's staff member, but I'm happy to serve as an expert here. As is the Delegate, I believe. I can begin by looking over your list of empyreal lords; my superior is likely already present, but I may know some additional names."

Permalink

Isn't it supposed to be a secret cloak-archon?

Permalink

No, it's an apolitical cloak-archon. A harbinger archon orbiting a wizard makes that wizard look like a Lawful Good wizard with an archon familiar, and you mortals are all having some kind of complicated alignment-related politics here.

Permalink

Thea is totally reading alignment politics into it!  Lluisa must be working really hard on atoning to have gotten an Archon to work for her!

…she casts detect magic to check for any enchantments or illusion on the Archon (assuming it is an Archon) in case it is some kind of trick.

Still, cool high circle magic! (Is Lluisa using scrolls?  Or higher circle than Thea assumed?) And a (well-informed) Outsider!

Permalink

"Welcome to Golarion, it's so lovely to meet you! Here's the list I've got so far, it's across a few pages depending on what if any research I was able to do..." She spreads them out.

Permalink

Praise Good! Enric has heard that sometimes angels look like a man or woman but with wings and swords and light, but sometimes they look like something that you can't really understand. Makes sense that Lluisa would get one of the odd ones as her angelic guide, being an odd one herself. 

Permalink

"Hello Archon in Question. I don't think I introduced myself when you were hiding in a coat. I am Delegate Enric Porras. Thank you for the help with the list."

Total: 23
Posts Per Page: