4/28/24 Minutes
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Title: 4/28/24 Minutes
Author: Rizan
9: His Majesty arrives, meeting convenes. King Blackthorn apologizes for missing the meeting last month, his notes got scrambled.
9:05: Governor Shadowyke begins, speaking for Vesper. Vesper fares well, and alcohol production is up. His Majesty appears quite interested in this news. Shadowyke states that Vesper plans to send the first shipment of honey to Minoc so that Governor Happy can begin brewing mead for the season. The docks are crowded with ships at this time. His Majesty requests a crate be sent the way of the Crown, as he is sure it will be put to good use. Shadowyke continues, mentioning that there hasn't been a raid from Ziggy in a while. She worries that he may have infiltrated the docks under disguised ships and names, or that he may be up to something even more nefarious that has not yet been discovered. All the same, the summer mead will flow and with the help of Minoc, the citizenry of Vesper looks forward to a grand summer. Shadowyke concludes her report.
9:08: Governor Tatiana Thorn reports for Skara Brae. The city continues to thrive, the coffers stay full and trades keep growing. The citizens are happy, and Tatiana continues to support the populace with repairs to armor. All goes well with Skara Brae, as the Rangers continue to keep the city safe. Governor Tatiana concludes her report. 9:11: Governor Rain speaks for Trinsic. She states that she fears for that beautiful city; just this morning she went to pay a visit to the new High Paladin at the Counselor's Hall when she discovered a scorpion in his new kitchen. Governor Rain fears that they may have a new queen, as they are being found on the docks and through the city, possibly interrupting trades. His Majesty pledges to send his top investigator out to see what's happening, if she's willing after a recent incident involving clowns. Governor Rain states that it would be greatly appreciated, and His Majesty makes a note concerning the scorpions in Trinsic. Governor Rain states she plans to meet with the Paladins and Guard this week to discuss, then concludes her report.
9:16: Governor Hagrid speaks next for Britain. Hagrid has recently returned from sea battles, and found thatthe Britain coffers are full, and the hordes (presumably of pirates) are being kept at bay. Cannons are well stocked, and the "Crown Jewel" is as glorious as ever. Many warriors flock to the provisioners of that city. Hagrid concludes his report.
9:19: Governor Happy Daze speaks for Minoc, and greets his fellow Governors. The city fares well, the citizens are in high spirits. Trade orders continue to ship regularly and the coffers are full. Nothing has been seen or heard from Ziggy, though there have been pranks played on the citizens. The exact nature of those pranks need not be included in these notes. It involves burning dung. Discussion is had about whether it may involve scorpions, and a Fecal Expert named Artemis is mentioned as possibly being the person to consult regarding the issue. His Majesty offers to send... someone to assist with finding the culprit if Governor Happy desires. If the problem persists for more than a fortnight, Governor Happy states he shall request assistance; though, he suspects it may not be nefarious in nature and require further investigation. The citizens are excited at the prospect of a new shipment of honey from Vesper from which to make mead. Governor Happy also requests an additional shipment of hamcake from Lord Cogniac of Serpent's Hold. Lord Cogniac states that can be arranged. Governor Happy concludes his report.
9:29: Governor Merlin speaks for New Magincia. The Governor mentions that the city is under much pressure from all the pirates plaguing the realm at present. He states that the pirates give the good swashbucklers of Magincia a bad name, and that the pirates are a plague to the city's docks. Even when captured and forced to walk the plank, they seem to reappear as quickly as they are dealt with. Governor Merlin continues, stating that he has some events planned, such as luring Scalis to the docks, and will want help from the adventurers of the realm to try to deal with him. He plans to announce the events in the usual forums available to the populace. With respect to construction in New Magincia, Trinsic is sending shipments of marble and crafting materials to that city despite the pirate interruptions, and the renovations to the Governor's Mansion are nearly complete. Governor Merlin extends his gratitude to Governor Rain for her and Trinsic's support in the construction efforts, and the animal hospital is next on the agenda. The Governor concludes his report.
9:36: Craig the Mongbat, Governor of Jhelom, speaks for that city next. Unfortunately, the news from that city is less than ideal, as there is an update on Ziggy; Governor Craig will return to that in a moment. For the time being, he mentions that pirates are a problem, and they seem to be attacking in a higher than normal volume. As an island city, Jhelom is accessible only by boat or moongate for shipping. Governor Craig states his hope that Governor Merlin, with is affiliation with pirates and swashbucklers, might have some way to help deal with the issue. His Majesty states his regret that his reach over the High Seas is limited, and there is little more that he can do. He declares that he has absolute trust in his Governors and the people to help end this threat. Craig continues, stating that Jhelom set up an outpost to monitor for pirates on the coast of the swamp south of Dungeon Destard. The workers tasked with setting up the outpost found a burned out workshop, filled with an alarming number of burned corpses, stretched lizard skins and broken mechanical parts. The workers appeared to find a journal, or part of one, belonging to Ziggy. King Blackthorn asks for a copy, which Craig says he would be happy to provide, as he brought copies for any who would desire one. With that, Governor Craig concludes his report.
9:46: Lord Cogniac speaks for Serpent's Hold, as his Majesty asks for an update on arrow production. The Order has been monitoring the pirate situation closely. They have taken a special interest in the goings-on in Dungeon Covetous (where currently pirate attacks are concentrated in unusual force). Reports of strong magical equipment arising from this event no sooner reached the ears of the scouts of Serpent's Hold than counterfeit wares were spotted being sold on vendors by unscrupulous merchants, attempting to mislabel goods in order to trick the unwary. Lord Cogniac recommends an investigation into these, as he calls them alliteratively, scurrilous scamsters. Lord Cogniac continues, stating that with the help of Halister Marner, the Moonglow Teleporter Mystery has been mostly solved. The Gods apparently saw fit to disable it when the Council of Mages faction base was relocated to Moonglow, after the destruction of Magincia so long ago. Lord Cogniac states his intention to write a missive to the Grand Architect to perhaps re-enable the teleporters in the future. It is hoped that the prayers of those who use the teleporters might be answered. Finally, Lord Cogniac begins his discussion on arrows and other sundry ballistics. The previous efforts of the S.A.R.S. (Strategic Arrow Reserve of Sosaria) to release large quantities of arrows and crossbow bolts were successful. The initiative seems to have paid dividends. Prices on arrows dropped to 60 gold across the realms, and 40 gold was the standard for bolts. The goal was to further readiness in case of a realm-wide emergency. Due to the recent influx of pirates, the strategy is shifting. Before, the goal was to reach and maintain low prices; now, such would be impossible due to the increased demand. The current initiative is to "Keep Down the Ceiling". Most arrow prices have stayed within the target range of 60-70 gp, however several hotspots have not maintained that price point. The bowyer in Britain, New Haven's provisioner, and the Luna suppliers have all seen higher than usual increases in demand; Luna reaching 155 gold per arrow overnight. The work for the S.A.R.S initiative now is to drive down the highest prices, and to keep them down as long as they can. Lord Cogniac mentions the pleasant news that bolt prices remain fairly constant at 40gp, other than one incident involving the bowyer in Skara Brae where the prices rose to 64gp overnight on bolts; the S.A.R.S. initiative was able to correct that problem quickly, and prices should now be stablized in their usual range. In short, the S.A.R.S. has been a success. Serpent's Hold is already preparing for a grand price reset at the conclusion of the pirate invasion, whenever that threat may be ended. This will involve pushing prices back down in all 97 locations across the realms back down to the standard 60gp per arrow. Lord Cogniac concludes his report. King Blackthorn thanks Lord Cogniac for his thrilling report.
10: After some small general discussion between the Governors about the arrow report, His Majesty concludes the official meeting and asks if any of the general populace in attendance wish to address The Crown and Governors. At this time, I must switch to reporting about the events of the meeting in the past rather than as they occur, for I requested permission to address the assembly and was kindly granted permission by the King. What follows now is a summary of a concern that has been plaguing my mind for quite some time regarding two related issues involving the same city: Moonglow.
I began by thanking His Majesty and the assembled Governors for being willing to hear me speak, and I apologized for the unusual nature of my reason for addressing the Council. I came to them not as a friend, for I consider many of those who sit on the council to be so, but as a citizen of the Realm who has observed meetings for over a year now, and participated in many battles to defend the land. I noticed a disturbing trend, and had to voice my concerns to His Majesty and the city leaders.
I began first by stating two premises: first, that service to the Crown is a privilege, and not a right. Secondly, with privileges come responsibilities. Per a post on the public forum by former Scribe Petrichor in June of 2023, rules of conduct for Governors were clearly spelled out for all to see beyond those which are agreed to by the Governors when they officially accept their positions and duties. The first rule and the first responsibility under the Rules & Conduct section state: "1. Governors are expected to attend every meeting. Failure to attend once (without advance notice) is a warning. A second failure to appear is immediate dismissal by the King with a replacement appointed as soon as possible. These positions are not meant to be occupied by the idle or unwilling!"
This is the primary responsibility of those who accept the privilege of speaking on behalf of their cities, to report to His Majesty and fellow Governors. Given this, I spoke about the twofold concerns that had been bothering me for some time. I submitted to His Majesty four books that I intended to use as evidence in the prosecution of my two-pronged case, as I started by accusing the current sitting Governor of Moonglow, Haste, of dereliction of duty and the abrogation of his responsibilities to The Crown.
I called His Majesty's attention to my minutes from the 6/18/23 meeting, when His Majesty stated his desire in the council meeting to be more insistent on attendance during that term, which figures into my first concern. I asked His Majesty to keep this in mind as he heard the rest of my case.
The city of Moonglow was completely unrepresented at council by the previous Governor, Nick Carraway, and the current Governor Haste had failed to attend all but one meeting. Including the present meeting, 8/9 meetings were unattended by a representative from Moonglow, a shameful showing given that Vesper had no sitting Governor in the past session and had a better attendance over the past year. While the actions of the previous Governor of Moonglow do not reflect on the current one, it established a trend that plays into my second concern. As evidence, I submitted a book to His Majesty which contained a summary of attendance of all meetings for the past year which had not been cancelled, including those meetings which His Majesty himself missed yet his Governors dutifully attended as appointed and required.
Given that my minutes have been open record and freely provided to the Governors as well as any who asked for them, these figures were accepted as accurate. My second concern has to do with the Council of Mages of Moonglow. I realize I make no friends with these accusations, but I had to raise my concerns and with no Moonglow Governor to discuss them with, I sought to address the Council of Governors and His Majesty. The Council of Mages, dating back to the Faction Wars, had turned against Lord British and Britannians as a whole to serve their own interests. I submitted as evidence two books: the first being the book "Attrocities of the CoM" by Horace the Scribe, and the second being my own investigation report titled Fiends and Fortune. This investigation dated back to August of last year, when the Council of Mages sent their representative Ellyn the Mage to try to recruit one Madame Maggie, a fortune teller possessing powers of precognition and sight not seen since the Seers of times long past. Our investigation into the matter included finding the book in question by Horace, which described a massacre in Minoc perpetrated by the Council of Mages. In addition, during the attacks last year by the elf Zelphar on the Lycaeum, Serpent's Hold, and Empath Abbey, the Council only bothered to send a token helper (Ellyn, incidentally) to summon aid for the Lycaeum. Given that Zelphar's goal was to summon an Orcish blood god, one would think that the magical might of the Council of Mages would have been freely offered to combat his plans, yet their ranks were nowhere to be found as adventurers had to investigate and thwart Zelphar's plans without their assistance. While the Council cannot be held responsible for the defense of all Britannia, their blatant refusal to assist in the matter plays into a pattern I have observed over time.
In August of last year once again, goblins from another shard invaded our realm and attacked Moonglow as one of their targets. The Council rendered no aid to that city, and it was King Blackthorn's own Commander Hew and Sergeant Kendra Spirits who led the defense of our realm and cities, and once again adventurers who had to use their magical prowess to close the otherworldy gates. Next, in February of this year, one "Alistar the Student" of the Lycaeum created giant, mobile, violent vegetables through a magical experiment gone wrong, and once again the Council of Mages was nowhere to be found in dealing with the magic gone awry. Once the vegetable threat was ended, the remaining magically contaminated chunks were left strewn about, consumed by forest critters who then, in March of this year, themselves grew to immense proportions and rage filled. In what seems to be an ongoing trend, the Council of Mages was not seen even though the giant animals were attacking the city of Moonglow from two fronts. These are just some recent examples of how the Council has acted only when its own interests were directly threatened, despite the fact that they are meant to be a vital and instrumental organization when it comes to the magical defense of Moonglow, and in the past did indeed help to defend the realm from sorcerous threats. In addition, at the time of this writing, the powerful Azazel the Fallen, Daemon of Odium, is once again free in our world. This potent threat has been left uncontested by the Council of Mages, and no help has been offered to His Majesty the King in dealing with this being. Tying my concerns together, the Governor of Moonglow should be present to hear of the threats to Verity Isle, or should at the very least be available to address these issues as they arise. In spite of this, for nearly the past year, sitting Moonglow Governors have been present at only one council session. The citizens of Moonglow have been left unrepresented by an absent Governor, and that Governor who should serve as the King's representative for his city has been nowhere to be found to act as an intermediary between the Crown and the Council of Mages, who have been left unopposed to pursue their own interests. Returning to privilege and responsibility, the Council of Mages has held a privileged position in Moonglow, and yet they too have shirked their duties to the citizens of the city, and I would posit, to the rest of Britannia as a leading magical organization in our world.
With all this having been said, then, I asked the Council of Governors if one of them would be willing to, on my behalf, call for a vote of No Confidence in Governor Haste; and though I realized that such a vote would not be in any way binding on His Majesty, it would demonstrate whether the members of the council had lost faith in one of their own's abilities to perform his duties, and might serve as an impetus for His Majesty to take action. My request was granted, the Governors did so vote, and a majority of the Governors present voted in favor of the vote of no confidence. I must confess, I was at this point so focused on what I was saying that I could not keep an accurate tally of who spoke, only that there were cries of "Aye!" and "Seconded!" among the Governors. If any said "nay" or abstained from voting, I could not say. That being done, I asked His Majesty to return to what I had spoken about earlier, and asked him if he intended to act on his stated desire to be more insistent on attendance at council, and if he would act to remove Governor Haste based on my accusations of dereliciton of duty and the vote of His Majesty's Governors. Not wanting to present a problem with no solution, I offered as a potential replacement my friend, Halister Marner, whom I know to be a good man and friend to the city of Moonglow. My nomination of Halister was well received by the present Governors, and once again if there were any dissenting or abstaining voices in the chorus of "Aye!" I do not recall hearing any.
His Majesty said he would have to give all of this some careful thought, that he would have to review the words posted by former Scribe Petrichor, but that in the new upcoming council session attendance requirements could certainly stand to be more closely upheld. With that, His Majesty ended the meeting, and his Scribe Amaris appeared to let us know that His Majesty found it acceptable for Halister Marner to temporarily represent the interests of Moonglow in the continued absence of Governor Haste.
Present at Council:
Britain: Hagrid
Jhelom: Craig
New Magincia: Merlin
Skara Brae: Tatiana Thorn
Trinsic: Rain
Vesper: Shadowyke
Serpent's Hold: Cogniac
Absent at Council:
Moonglow: Haste
Yew: Kelly Kapowski