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[Haspen]

Nay, Aye, Abstain.

[notquitethere]

Nay
Aye
Nay

[Hiddenleafguy]

Nay, aye, nay.

[Terenos]

Nay. Aye. Nay.

[Sheb]

"Such a display of consensus warms my civic pride."

[Iituem]

The voting ends.  All Towers return their tablets to the boys, who present them to the Senex.

Results of Voting

Motion 1: 36 Nay, 9 Abstain

Motion 2: 27 Aye, 18 Abstain

Motion 3: 33 Nay, 12 Abstain

The Senex stands.

SENEX:  "The votes have been counted.  It is the will of this Council that we shall suspend funding of Stratos' Academy pending the counsel of Tower Procco, and that the sorcerer will be permitted to remain."

The Senex strikes his staff once, and the Towers disperse.

It is now the Night Phase.  You may now send your Actions to the GM via PM.  Once received they will be processed, actions resolved, pre-day messages sent and the new Day will begin.

[Iituem]

Late Aprilis, 263R

Once again the Council have gathered in the spacious Hall of the Towers. The Senex Princeps, Chief of the Centuria, The Highest Judge and Master of the Coin are all here, along with 41 Towers.  The Senex Princeps begins to speak once everyone is seated on the low stone benches, which form a wide circle around the center of the hall.  The Senex and the three other Crowns, as they are called together, are seated at the northern side.

SENEX:  "Council members, welcome.  Before we begin, a word from the Chief of the Centuria."

The Chief stands.

CHIEF:  "I would like to extend the gratitude of Ragona to all those Towers who gave support to this war, particularly Towers Richards, Carus and especially our commander Tower Elbegast, who led us to victory.  They are fine examples of what it means to be Ragonan."

The Chief sits.

SENEX:  "Thank you.  Today we have to discuss and decide on two topics.  First of all: The city-state of Irlax has offered us a peace treaty."

The Highest Judge stands.

JUDGE:  "The terms are fairly straightforward.  We will retain Sarlax and other captured territories.  Irlax will retain its remaining territories and continue as an autonomous state, but as a tributary to us.  They are prepared to offer us 35% of their taxes as tribute.  This is a reasonable offer."

The Master of Coin stands.

MASTER:  "And an offer they only make because the wolf is at their door!  We currently triple their forces, their men are either dead or deserted, if we do not accept this treaty we will conquer them outright.  We should at the very least demand a more straightforward vassal relationship - in this proposed treaty we would be obliged to defend them in times of crisis, but they would be under no obligation to provide us soldiers or arms."

Both men sit.

SENEX:  "The second matter is a request from our ally, Anterra.  They have been facing stiff competition in the iron market of late, particularly from private investors.  They would like us to guarantee the import of their iron from now on."

MASTER:  "About 20 bushels, from their state mines.  I understand the private mines have their own arrangement.  It would not be a serious burden, although it might annoy some of the other traders and potentially raise import prices."

SENEX:  "If any Towers wish to speak on these proposals, you may begin."

The Senex lifts the iron staff that is his symbol of office and strikes the marble floor thrice - Clang, Clang, Clang! - The time of discussion is now.

Morning Phase has begun.


Major Mechanics Change!

The addition of wages has shaken up the economy.  Everything has been rebalanced (broadly), but there may still be some slight echoes and some people's income will have gone up or down very slightly.

[notquitethere]

Tower Elbegast takes to the floor. "My honoured Towers, justice has been served. The Irlaxi have learned that rapacious invasions will not be tolerated. They have been appropriately punished. What step we take now is our choice and I am eager to hear your views on the matter. I will say two things on the matter first however. Conquering them outright is not a commensurate response and may damage our standing with other city states. A vassalage relationship is only worthwhile if they are strong enough to support us should the need arise."

"As for the matter of the iron: to continue to assure good relations with our ally, this is a small request to acquiesce to."

"I would like to hear from Tower Procco as to the efficacy of their philosopher."

"Finally, there has been for a while an informal faction amongst us who hold that the security and prosperity of the City of Ragona and all its freemen should come before the private profit of individuals. We Patriots have helped fund the aqueduct and ensured that a rapacious neighbour was kept in check, we opposed the private lending of money to rich distant emperors who's motives for our city are unclear."

Here he gestures to the Towers, many of which often sit silent in the debates, "I am this day formalising this faction. Those that wish to join the Patriots of Ragona are invited to my manor in two days time for the first meeting."

[Haspen]

"So far he was able to find out how to improve the efficiency of our accounting by small degree. I find it unfair, however, that you desire to have results from a man who was given no money, no building to work in and is in the city for mere two weeks. Senex Princeps I want to inform that I shall personally pay 1000 denarii for the philosopher's academy, if others are seem so unwilling for charity." Rava smacks her lips.

[Ardas]

Alexei Riskov, a large man in a robe lined with fur around his shoulders and neck, rose after two previous speakers. His bearded face bore a determined look.

"Esteemed Councilors and Crowns, my Honorable Towers, The matter of foreign policy and trade is simple. Nay, it is a trival matter, one which should not be a questino of extended debate. It is a mere formality that only needs to be clarified and finalized. The War was successful, and to pull back now is foolishness. If you fight, either cripple the enemy so that he may never raise against you, or inflict only the lightest of damage and seek to make them your friends. Never leave situations unresolved, and the proposed arrangement is just that. My esteemed Master of Coin has it right - the only relationship that should exist between Irlax and ourselves is one of outright hegemony, with Ragona being their suzerain, mercantile hub and taxmaster.

Irlax as a vassal state shall be forced to route their trade though Ragona, pay all suitable tarrifs and fees that are subject to that trade and pay us the proposed 35%. The coin they shall use will be our denar, and their foreign policy shall never be different from ours. Last but not least, their forces and guard shall report to our Centuria and shall never act without knowledge of Ragona first."

Alexei then paused, taking a little break as to start a new subject.

"As many of you know, iron is the lifeblood of this city. Towers of Ragona are standing on strong iron foundations, with our furnaces belching out smoke day and night to produce metal, our ships ferrying ore and shipping out tools and good that the rest of the world can only dream of and our Centuria brandishing said metal and testing it in battle. As such, a deal to import ore is a beneficial one. Or is it? With iron flooding our market and their request to support a supply chain, what benefit is there to this arrangement, apart from burden to the state and ruin for home producers? The deal we can accept, but only if a tariff on ore imports is applied, to equalize the price of all ore being brought in with the price that Anterra is asking. With prices low enough as it is, this would be enough to cover the cost of the said import and maybe even give us funds to pay for such projects like the academy or the aqueduct."

Last but not least, I do applause the project of the academy, but I believe that it is lacking in practical sciences that our great city could use. Engineering and geology should be premier departments or at least established ones, which would support civil engineering and further expansion of our mining efforts. Riskov family is willing to contribute to the project, on the condition that said departments are included and made useful for civic benefit."

[Spiderking50]

And I hope this improvement in accounting procedures will be shared with all of Ragonia. I stand in firm support of this Stratos for I believe he may be able to impart knowledge that is quite beneficial to us. He teaches mathematics, an integral tool in any sort of construction. He teaches the study of the spheres and other celestial lights, which as any tower with a ship knows, is vital to Ragonia. And he teaches machinery, albeit I know less of this, I'm sure there is a use for it. If this man can improve accounting procedures in two weeks, with no funds and no roof above his head, then I believe he is beyond capable. And it seems Tower Procco believes similarly. We agreed to fund Stratos under the sponsorship and Proccos verdict of worth, and it appears that he has proven himself worth.

Now, I'm assuming this to be true so correct me if I'm wrong. Since this academy will be paid for largely with city funds, many of his works will be directed at improving all of Ragonia or shared with the general public. This academy may be beneficial to all of Ragonia. In addition, if that isn't enough, it should also be beneficial to Towers who have ships or plan on building anything in the future. There is much to be learned and gained by us and the general populace.

I can say with certainty that me and tower Riskov agree on this issue. Knowledge is a wondrous thing, but if the city is paying for it, it should be directed towards civil benefit. I too shall devote funds if the academy is directed at benefiting Ragonia itself and all Towers.
On the issue of the war, I fear further slaughter may further harm many Ragonians. Are we conquerors? Savages? Murderers? Do we enjoy the destruction and seizure of land? Is this the Ragonia that we live in? I certainly hope not.

We set out to punish Iralax for its transgressions against Lorenze. They offered us a white peace, and we turned them down. We continued to slaughter their people and take their cities even after they begged us for their lives. Now we're contemplating subjugating them? Ha! The Ragonia of a few fortnights ago would be preparing to stop us. We should not and cannot continue on. We did not set out to topple a government and dominate an entire people and nation.

What we have gained is more than enough compensation for the war. We have crippled Irilax, taken their lands, and widowed many a wife. They will not be encroaching on other territories ever again.

I too wonder of the division of spoils. Do the majority of spoils go to those who benefit most from this war? Do they go to the blacksmith who forged weapons and to the soldiers who have been paid for their service? What of the craftsman who's goods cannot sell abroad because no neighbor wants to buy goods from a warlike state? Where is the justice in that?

This has been an easy war. We have lost very little, and some of us have gained quite a lot. While others, others have endured hardships because of the war. I propose that the soils of war should be distributed with this in mind. That those who have suffered due to our warlike behavior should be compensated in relation to the damage to trade. I do not however wish to forsake the brave Towers who mowed down the enemies with such ease, I just want the consideration of all towers and peoples when the spoils are divided.

I beg you, Towers of Ragonia, do not dominate Irilax. If the Towers we were only a few months ago could see us now, they would be up in arms against us. We are not slayers of men and conquers of foreign lands. Negotiate a treaty and let us lay down our arms for the betterment of Ragonia.
On the issue of the importation of iron I have a few questions. How would this quota affect our relationship with Anterra? Similarly, how will it effect other trade with them?

Iron is quite important to Ragonia, it is one of our greatest assets. However, I wonder if we will gain more from Anterra by appeasing them on this issue.

[Sheb]

I would like to praise Tower Elbegast and our Chief of the Centuria for the fine job they did. I am a merchant rather than a military man, and some of the details escape my understanding, but my soldiers have been unanimous in their praise for our leadership's quality. Many of my people owe their life to the capacity of our supreme commander's Tower Elbegast.

If Tower Elbegast would accept me, I would be glad to be the second member of the Patriots or Ragona.

As for the peace with Irlax, what is the opinion of our Lorenze allies? It is a decision we should take in coordination with them.

However, no matter the final choice, there is something we could do. Many Towers fought bravely for Ragona, but Tower Windborne. Their Tower Guard was effectively wiped saving the rest of the army. I move that the Council offer Tower Windborne a 1500 denarii grant to replace the men they lost serving the city.

---

Regarding the question of importing iron, I am not sure I like the idea. Ragona grew rich and powerful because the Council always knew that his job was to govern, not conduct business or own industries. I am afraid granting the council the power to intervene in affair of commerce would create a dangerous precedent. Do we really want to see warehouse full of unused iron ore dragging down the City's budget?

On the other hand, I would like us to stay on friendly terms with the Anterrans. I am sure that me and the other shipping houses could work out a deal to satisfy our Anterran friends without creating such a precedent. If the Council will grant us a fortnight, we could report our progress at the next session.

------

[Ghazkull]

((i wasn't sure if Irlax was a republic anymore or not...so if its not replace Senate and such things democratic, with the appropriate leadership...))

Harald Stonetree rose.


Brothers, Colleagues, Friends. Fellow Ragonians. The war was a resounding success.

Victory is our. Our losses are negligible and the enemy is broken. What we set out to do was a war of Justice. To stop the criminal Irlaxi, send them home and finally to punish them.
As i look at our Victories i am sure we can all agree that the first two have been fulfilled.
Now it is time for Punishment. The Irlaxi are a vile and violent breed. They do not understand Diplomacy, Mercy is something like a foreign word to them. That knowledge has cost us and our allies hundreds if not thousands of lives.
Their pride will keep them from being useful Tributaries or Vassals. They will not bow and they will not bend. Oh sure they might pretend for a while but then? When we are fighting the wolves at our gates they will let them into the Tower Halls through the backdoor. They are like brittle Iron. To truly defeat the Irlaxi is to break them and make them part of Ragona.

I already here you muttering in the back rows! "What about the Innocent? What about the Civilians?" There are NO innocent Irlaxi. The Public supports their Senators and votes them into power. They are all guilty of the same crime and as any Civil Man can agree: THE GUILTY MUST BE PUNISHED!

he let that sentence hang for a bit before continuing.


Thus, fellow towers i move that Irlax be taken. That our men are allowed to plunder the City for three days and nights so that they may have their own spoils, that they have something to take home to their families for their hardships.
Afterwards, Irlax shall become part of Ragona. Its Senate shall be hanged from the rafters of their Senate for all of the civilians to see and from then on out they will become Ragonians!

[Spiderking50]

Slaughter the innocents and kill children? Why? Because the Irilaxi wanted territorial gains? AND WHAT DO WE WANT NOW? Territory. Tower StoneTree you are despicable and I publicly denounce you for your warmongering and the avocation of crimes against humanity. You say they are violent, but you would slaughter their children and burn their homes. You say they have no mercy, but you will topple a government over a political divorce. This war was for justice, but I see no justice in your words. "Plunder the city. Kill the children. Hang their Senators." You have no honor. You are no Ragonian.

[Hiddenleafguy]

"Tower Stonetree, as we have spoken of before, the only guilty party is the chief advisor, who, if you recall, usurped the throne. I would also like to bring to attention the fact that my spy in Lrlax has gone dark, may I suggest that we agree, on the condition that chief advisor Vashna pay for his crimes."