Re: Town Meeting

[Ivy]

"All there really is to do is to patch up our armour and remember to put it on each morning. I'd imagine everyone in town understands their role in the event of an attack."

"Or at least, I would hope so by now."

[Auron Warfield]

Auron, while a little late to the discussion, comes into the inn. He places his weapons down alongside Degren's, and moves to stand over his comrades shoulder. Degren fills him in on the parts of the meeting he has missed so far in a low whisper.

He silently listens, for now.

[Gurok]

On the contrary, Grayfeared-, I think a scout should be sent out as soon as possible. Its possible if we hurry, they could get to the census taker before he has the chance to report back. I was thinking the blue one, and somone who can blend with earth, air, or water. Whether or not it is the empirials who will be attacking us, or some hellions and phase beasts, or, Faerie forbid, Pierre, in his altered state, we need to have a strategy and a plan of defense. We should be prepared for all three, and I think we can be. They are not mutually exclusive.

[Sylvie]

*Sylvie quietly slips into the building, her ears twitching in excitement at the town gossip she's about to hear. She stands in the corner and listens*

[Gurok]

Oh, hello Auron and Sylvie, thank you both for coming as well.

[Grayfeared the Whitehawk]

Gurok, preemptive strikes are different from defending ourselves. Do you remember what happened with the last imperial we killed? If we act on this for no reason, we bring retribution down on our heads. Risking that based on someone that 9 times out of 10 can't do anything anyway, would be a bad decision.

[Degren Brightforge]

"If you plan to make requests of people, you'd be best to remember names. Referring to Auron as 'the blue one' may not always cut it. We'll find a way to defend ourselves from the Empire, one way or another. Besides, I know for sure the Empire scout brought back no information of use. We should turn our attention to more pressing matters, while we have everyone here. Don't get me wrong. The Empire worries me greatly, but they come in one of two possible forms: the first, they're weakened and disorganized by their long trek across our island , and they won't be able to offer any resistance. The second option is that they march on us with such force that we have no chance of survival. Either way, there is little we can do until we learn more information."

[Ivy]

"I'm with Greyfeared. If you think going out and looking for a fight is going to do anything but make you more enemies, then you're sorely mistaken."

"I'd also like if we moved onto discussing other matters."

[Gurok]

Nono, I was talking about Herrr. He got turned blue by Faerie, I think it's done him some good. Anyhow, I think you're right, we should not start out hostile. When I say send out scouts now, I just mean to collect information. I don't think it would be a good idea to use them for attack unless we are absolutely certain that a) they are going to attack and b) that making the first move is absolutly the only way we could succeed in protecting the town effectively. Sabotage is rather cowardly in my opinion, but still preferable to getting killed.

[Pierre]

"Ahh, this meeting is for the politics again I see...." A small sigh can be heard, "If you will excuse be for a moment." Getting up from the table Pierre and purchases a full bottle of wine from Phineas.

"Phineas, I'd like to speak to you in private again after this ordeal has finished, if that's alright with you." After Phineas gives his response, Pierre makes his way back to the table.

"Ahh, Sir Auron, glad you can join us." Pouring himself a glass full and taking his first taste.

"First, what the hell is the sub-order of flowers? Second, I think some of these matters don't need to involve the entire town. In fact, some of these matters may be more personal and may not want talked aloud. Third, set the damn council up to deal with most of these matters. We've been putting this idea off for way too long. I expected something ready to be in play since I left the 7 or 8 months ago. Make a three person council, put in place a confirmed sheriff. Hell, put in two sheriffs. The system doesn't have hit the ground running, so long as it's a start, we can tweak things as we go. Once a council is in play, let them decide options, then bring it to a vote on important matters involving the town."

Pierre finishes his glass in a large gulp and begins to pour another.

"I've been in this town for about a year, and this is the most disorganized I've seen it yet. This town is getting bigger, we're getting new faces here more often. If we don't get this on the go, we're going to be drowning in political talks for a long time."

"And I don't think we should worry too much about that imperial yet, the guy dropped his ledger that he was writing in, I bet he doesn't even know it's dropped from his belt. He's got nothing on us as of right now."

[Datura Shinso]

Datura enters quietly from the back door, taking a seat beside Pierre. Glancing around at the company, he sighs and pours a tall flaggon of ale. Sitting back, he downs the drink entirely.

[Ivy]

"I have a proposal concerning a town council."

"Does anyone else?"

[Grayfeared the Whitehawk]

That was quite direct Pierre. But you are right. We need to set up some semblance of order. The sheriff has always acted as their own judge of right and wrong without answering to anyone. Making the sheriff answer to the council would be a good start.

[Gurok]

Well the majority of you seem to think that the empire is not our primary concern, so for now at least, we'll move on. Pierre, you're right. A lot of this could be dealt with easily with a small council. My dear is that if a small group makes he decisions for the town, those who do not agree with the decisions will not have their voices heard, will be dissatisfied , and rebel against the organized structure, creating tension and bad blood. As we recently saw when a few of us went to represent the whole. I want to avoid bad blood and division at all costs. A system where everyone has a say can be tedious and frustrating, and somtimes it can be a bit of an invasion of privacy. But open communication is still, in my opinion, the best way to avoid conflict within the town. However, A council (not one with absolute power, mind you) is a compromise. All those who are here now, if you had the whole town to chose from, who would you like to represent you when it comes to decisions like these? If you could all think about this and submit your nominations at the end of the meeting, that would be much appreciated. OOG: i'm going to bed, I have an early morning. I'll reply to any more posts tomorrow afternoon. Night' y'all!

[Ivy]

"I have an idea for a council. we do what we're doing now."

"A concerned citizen of the town can call a town meeting. They are responsible for setting the topic, and a time to discuss the topic. It would be best that this information is shared as publicly as possible. Any person interested in voicing an opinion on the matter should attend, otherwise they get no say on the matter unless they can find someone to speak on their behalf. If there is a disagreement on the matter, the individual responsible for the meeting is responsible for adjudicating the debate and calling for a vote once all points of view are heard. The winning vote is the course of action to be taken, and the outcome is to be advertised as clearly as possible."

"We do not need a set appointed council, especially since holdfast doesn't even have the population to fill a backwater church. If you want to have someone speak in your interest, find someone with the same interests as you and have them attend meetings on your behalf. I don't see why the whole of the knights would need to attend a meeting when Degren could perhaps speak for all of them."

[Jaya]

Jaya walks into the inn after finishing up her prayer to Lord Fire. This had better be important she has magical training to do and with a teacher like Lord Fire himself she does not want to disappoint. She was just in time to hear talks of a council.

“I agree, a council is needed, why should the decisions of the town be made by just one person? Why give just one power like that? Each sheriff, like was already stated had their own versions judgement. This town has so many different beliefs and morals. It needs something more, a group of people working together to solve our problems in a way that is debated, talked about and agreed upon.” She gives an approving nod before looking for a seat.

“The only question is how many people will be on it and how do we decide who they are?” She opens up the floor to answers while pouring herself some ale.

[Grayfeared the Whitehawk]

I think situations would arise that would make calling every member of town take to long. It would be hard to get anything done on time. Not to mention the fact that the population is growing, but at the same time, it is quite unstable. I think a 3 person council, elected by the people, would be best. Each member would represent a group in town, and one would be a neutral party. Something along the categories of pro-imperial, pro-confederate, and neutral. Confederate could just be switched out for anti-imperial.

[Ivy]

"Jaya, is it? You mistake my meaning. What I propose isn't what I would call a town council, but rather a means to organize town meetings. 'council' doesn't really apply at this point, as there is no appointing of a specific number of individuals to speak for all of us. If people are interested, they can take part."

"As for sheriff, all we need to do is establish in writing the roles and responsibilities of the sheriff, and pick someone to serve as sheriff who will fill that role. For example: The sheriff may only be responsible for enforcing law and order, and the people of the town can decide on the law. That sort of thing"

"Also, Greyfeard, I think it'd be best that we had a hundred percent of the people who cared deciding on things, rather than have ten percent of people who may not care at all, setting edicts and laws."

[Grayfeared the Whitehawk]

That's why I said to elect them. If the people they represent don't wish to be represented by them anymore, they can call for impeachment. If the people decide to vote in a representative that doesn't care, that is their decision. There are too many people here to make everyone happy. Also, once again, that would just be leaving the sheriff on their own with no one to answer to. We'd just be waiting for another big screw up so we could install the next sheriff, instead of having someone watch over them.

[Jaya]

"Yes, I'm Jaya, I think something more organized would be beneficial because currently this town is a mess. Sure we can appoint roles and responsibilities of the sheriff and choose who we think is best but someone should hold them accountable and someone should be there to help them reach a decision without bias because kill first ask questions later clearly not working...look how it played out last time think that was well played? Clearly we need something a little more than if people are interested, they can take part..."

[Degren Brightforge]

" I would love to live in a world where everyone can speak their peace and be happy. But the purpose of a council isn't to ensure the happiness of the people, it is there to do what must be done, regardless of if it annoys a few people or not. With a council of 3, we can set the greater resources of the population in motion within a few hours, and get more done in days than we have in months. I believe in the council, and would be glad to see it finally come back to life "

[Grayfeared the Whitehawk]

"I agree with Jaya. We all know that fairy picked Gurok to be sheriff. During this meeting alone, she's said, 'It's possible if we hurry, they could get to the census taker before he has the chance to report back.' Whether or not it was meant to be sabotage, or murder there's one thing we should remember. It's a tax collector. We would be putting the town in danger to deal with a tax collector."

[Bishop Fairchild]

Bishop stumbles into the inn, unaware a meeting was taking place. All heads turn towards the small commotion. He plucks the stub of cigar from his mouth and grumbles one word:

"...apologies."

before leaning against the wall next to the door and folding his arms.

[Ivy]

"Alright then, but when the council is inevitably ignored and scrapped because we feel our representatives don't speak for us, don't say I didn't warn you."

"As for the sheriff, and who they might answer to. They should answer as much to the people as they have to answer to the sheriff. It's important that the sheriff enforces the law that the townspeople want, and that if they don't, they will be replaced promptly by someone who will. I feel as though an appointed council would be an unnecessary step, is all."

"Besides that, we seem to be in agreement that we need a sheriff who will keep our town out of trouble, rather than get it into trouble."

[Jaya]

Jaya clenched her fist with the mention of Gurok’s plan.

“How much more needleless bloodshed needs to happen? How about we listen to each other and work together instead of ignoring or removing any sort of resistance. We NEED something organised WE NEED something uniting! We need a council, something that reflects ALL views in this town, not those of a small part of it.

Looked what happened with the elves! People never cared about their beliefs or their culture! You just removed them from the situation and took away their voice! Their option, their RIGHT to a say of what goes on in the place they live. A say in what happens to THEIR OWN KIND no matter what horrible things they did. Their code was VIOLATED, a code they follow, a way of life of my brother and sister fae. A code about RESPECT for a fellow being and a code of UNITY.

We’re lucky Faerie spared this town and those involved. We’re lucky to have the faerie ring, something Lessa SACRIFICED HER LIFE FOR. We should not let her sacrifice be in vain, learn from this and not just repeat past mistakes.”

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