What idiocy. Who--

Ah. Sirmium.

"Well, it seems I was wise to bring that up in discussion with Carlota earlier today. I am less sanguine than you about how it will fare on the floor; I think this may be another situation where strategic retreat is called for, or clever maneuver. How much did you investigate the state of serfdom in your lands, Conde?"

"It has been among my priorities, though of course there has been much that needs doing. I would certainly not be opposed to minor reforms, to prevent the worst excesses of Asmodean cruelty, but abolishing it entirely would be far more disruptive."

"I had to write a manual on how to be a proper master, and then once I realized how they were misinterpreting that, I had to write manuals on how to be a proper husband and a proper father." He grimaces.

"I think if we merely introduced the ancient rights of serfs, it would be viewed by the commons as a compassionate and extremely popular measure, after generations of tyranny. It will strain the consciences of us and our allies to argue for serfdom before having done so. Few knew how to interpret dreams from Desna, or that it was improper to maim them, or that they could not be forced from their lands on the master's whim."

She reads the transcript more carefully. "The Sower asks why people like having serfs. We might be able to host a meeting of the Erastilians, and invite some other members from Rights, and see if we can stymie Sirmium in committee. If they focus on the rights of serfs instead of their abolition, that is two victories at once."

He nods. "I would certainly have no objection to reestablishing the ancient rights of serfs, with special care given to those eroded by Asmodean masters, so long as the institution itself remains. I do not know if the more radical elements of the committee will be satisfied with that, but I expect them to have little hope of convincing the floor alone."

He had been dearly hoping that they would be able to have Ferrer arrested for treason, but the Queen refused Captain Sarocca's request to permit him to do so.

"Returning to the legislature, it seems to me like we can perhaps hope to establish a tolerable state of affairs with the constitution, and prevent the legislature from changing it without sufficiently high agreement. Or perhaps there is a way to have the liberal coterie unable to enact their most foolish ideas; we could have both a small deliberative body, which generates proposals, and then a larger consultative body, which must approve them. If a majority of counts must affix their mark to the abolition of serfdom, it is unlikely to happen, even if every archduke votes in favor, and if it requires three quarters of them, I cannot imagine it coming to pass." 

Nod. "That does seem reasonable. I presume this body's assent would also be needed for any matters which in Aroden's day would have required convening the Estates-General?"

"We cannot rely on the floor understanding what those matters are, and perhaps some of them have grown stale. So let us enumerate the categories. Off the top of my head, I can think of: adding members to the body, editing the overall organization of the government, imposing a new tax, declaring war, chartering a colony, chartering an order, issuing decrees, appointing ministers. What else is there?"

"Would you leave ratification of treaties with the Crown?"

Hmm. "No, I would add that to the list as well, I think."

The approval of the Estates General was not actually required for all of those purposes in Arodenite Cheliax, but considering that the new legislature will likely convene much more frequently, it doesn't seem unreasonable to imitate the customs of other countries in this respect.

"Approving regents for the Crown. Altering the composition of the coinage. Permitting favored churches to establish ecclesiastical courts, or revoking such permission." He frowns thoughtfully. "It would perhaps be prudent to consult with Conde Acevedo before presenting the Lord-Marshal with our proposal, to ensure we have not forgotten anything."

"I would consider it a favor if you obtained his advice without sharing your intelligence with him. We may lose our opportunity if the Duchess or the Lord Marshal think that if they give us a finger, we will take the whole arm."

He had been imagining that they would consult with other men of good judgment before presenting the Lord Marshal with a draft. The prospect of developing their proposal alone, with only their own knowledge and experience to guide them save what they can obtain without ever stating the reason directly, is rather more intimidating. It would be so easy to simply fail to consider something important, not out of malice or carelessness but merely due to the magnitude of the task.

His face betrays none of that. "Of course, Your Grace."

"If we forget an area of responsibility, I imagine it will be easy to add to the draft afterwards; it is only the skeleton we seek to establish at the moment.

So then the thresholds. There is both the question of who must be consulted--the deliberative body, the consultative body, the Queen--and what assent is required: a majority, two thirds, or three quarters. I doubt we will be able to get three quarters in the final proposal, but we may as well start there and retreat back to two thirds as required." If there are only twenty in the small council, the difference between the two is not very large, but he feels more comfortable with the prospect of finding six defenders for a privilege than nine. It will likely matter more for the large council.

"For issues related to her direct responsibilities, the Queen can rule directly; for issues related to the direct responsibilities of the deliberative body, it may rule directly, with a supermajority required to modify procedures or admit new members and a majority for other business. For minor issues pertaining to the realm, the deliberative body may rule with a majority vote with the approval of the Queen, or a supermajority with the Queen's disapproval. For major issues, the deliberative body may submit a proposal for the consideration of the consultative body on the same standard--majority with the Queen's approval and supermajority without--and the consultative body must approve with a majority for most matters and approve with a supermajority for modifications to the organization of the government." (Felip does not yet think of the 'constitution' as synonymous with the organization of the government, but he means constitutional amendments.)

"The deliberative body meets four times a year, at the turning of the seasons, or by direct summons of the Queen in cases of emergency, until they conclude their business by a supermajority vote of members; the consultative body has until the next regular meeting of the deliberative body to vote on all issues submitted to it, and has no direct meetings.

No doubt we will find much more to discuss in detail--perhaps there will be different requirements for appointing a minister to a term and cutting short that term, for example--but I am eager to hear your thoughts on the sketch."

Their feedback is interrupted by the arrival of the next course; this one is a selection of wines, cheeses, and pastries.

"If the consultative body never meets directly, it may be more difficult for its members to consult with each other on complex matters. Apart from that... I admit that I would expect quarterly meetings to become burdensome, but if you expect otherwise I would defer to your judgment. There will need to be some standard for major and minor issues, of course, and we ought specify how abstentions affect the threshold. 

It was also a priority of the Lord Marshal that all offensive wars be approved by the church of Iomedae, and I suspect it will be simplest to lay out provision for that separately, without attempting to make it fit an identical procedure to other matters."

"They will be able to consult through the standard modes of communication available throughout the Empire; with three months to consider matters,  I expect them to be well-understood. We should perhaps include a provision where, at the meeting after a proposal has been sent to the consultative body for approval, it can be amended by the deliberative body and sent out for review again, even if it has sufficient consent to pass, so that subtle issues raised by wider consideration can be addressed.

As for wars, I was imagining simply leaving that off the list of powers of the council and Queen, and instead having a Minister of War who is appointed by the Glorious Reclamation, and may make such decisions in consultation with the Queen. 

I see another avenue we could proceed down: form multiple deliberative councils, which are responsible for laws of different types. I think this more closely resembles the Lord Marshal's proposal in committee. While we could form multiple consultative bodies as well, this seems unlikely to provide much value; instead we should ensure those matters which require specialized experience to consider have the standard for what issues are minor set so that most of their business need not be considered by the whole empire."

"Three months may be perfectly adequate for you and I, Your Grace, but for our Menadoran cousins, it may scarcely be enough time to receive word from the deliberative body and send back their decision."

He points out of the room and whispers. "We could consult with Narikopolus. It may be that it would be an unacceptable hardship for him to call his counts to Kantaria four times a year."

A servant enters with a map of Cheliax, which he investigates. "I am not sure what we could do differently, however. Either they must come to Westcrown--which is more of a hardship than simply receiving and sending a letter--or we reduce the frequency of meetings, to give the return trip four months instead of three. But I think it is far cheaper to spend Teleports on those few that cannot be reached swiftly enough by regular mail. If they can Scry, that also neatly solves receiving the letter, but not sending it back. Well, I suppose we will know who has not sent letters back in time, and can Scry them from Westcrown easily enough.

My own preference would be for them to consider the cost and exclude themselves from the consultative body if their contributions are not worth the hassle of communicating with Westcrown. But they cannot know whether any season's laws demand their attention without reading them. Delegating their vote would solve the issue as well, either to their better-connected liege or an ambassador."

"Of those possibilities, permitting delegation to a selected person seems as if it will best allow for us to address any issues we have failed to think of. If the chosen representatives are assembled together, it could also permit the legislature to respond to emergencies without undue delay."

"Are we imagining much in the way of emergency business which requires the full consultative body to be assembled? It will likely be as large as this convention, if not larger, and the only decisions we seem capable of making quickly seem to be bad ones."

"I am unsure what to imagine, but I fear that makes it all the more necessary that it be possible to respond to emergencies should they arise. Unnecessary haste is a danger too, but a danger that I hope can be mitigated with the composition of the bodies in question and the greater threshold for them to act."

"In times of crisis, it is often more important whether or not people act in unison than which plan they decide to implement. I think we should set responsibilities such that matters which require swiftness can be responded to by one or a few men, and only draw on the consent of the many in situations where issues can be slowly considered. An ox cannot gallop, and we should not limit a horse to an ox's speed. Even beyond the Lord Marshal's desire to only prosecute wars Iomedae approves of, it seems wise to me to vest that power in the hands of one or two men, rather than have deliberations which may be slow and public."