A stack of letters
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[A large pile of letters has arrived, some of them with versions of this poster enclosed (defaced or... otherwise)
https://nodebb.cityofarabel.com/topic/52252/notice-of-the-order-of-the-aster
The letters contain various pleadings and warnings, and outright anger.
The general gist of it is- merchants are extremely annoyed they are being intimidated out of selling entirely mundane gemstones, which they have been doing for years, for jewellery, baubles, and all kinds of "remedies" (and other cons)
They are demanding the council does something about these brutes, or risk "economic disaster" mass strikes, and other vague "threats."
Signatures vary, one claims to be from a merchants guild, others from various small individual groups of merchants and several from independant jewellers.
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[A reply Is sent in the form of an excerpt from Arabel's very own lawbook]
Serious Crime:
Serious Offenses:
DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS: LARGE FINE, PUBLIC DEFENESTRATION OF HELD OFFICE, OR ONE TENDAY OF RESTITUTION TO THE COUNCILS.
Fines not to be below 5000 coins, and not above 15 000. Any held offices are to be revoked. Offenders are to submit to aiding the Councils for no less than One Tenday's worth of labor, as determined by the judging Council.
-Magical Crimes- Animation or Control of the Undead. Summoning of planar beings from both lower and higher planes. Magical tampering with memory, mental states, or other compositions of an individual's body or their humors.
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I will not be participating in this in any way, shape or form. My place is warfare, not politics and economics.
It seems important to realize that the number/weight/purity of such stones would factor into any such decrees- there is a difference between some teenager selling a few stones cobbled together into fittings and someone moving cart loads of the stuff around.
Specificity, clear goals, and clear intent are important in all things.
Holy Strategist Hallenthen
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Am I to understand that the Order of Aster- an organization with only ten people in the settlement of Eveningstar is making secular law for the entire
KingdomNation?Waldermar Scarbrough
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No. I am making a public bulletin debunking this overreach.
Senior Retainer Polk
Honorable House Misrim. -
I am glad House Misrim is standing up for the commerce and rights of our merchants.
In the future, such proclamations should be approved by the council.
Note that the national treasury relies on the taxes of these merchants to support the pay of numerous civil servants and contracted individuals to ensure the smooth operations of our city.
Waldermar Scarbrough
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I am not enforcing secular law. I am merely enforcing what is written within the Nation's own Lawbook.
-Dawnsquire Aritian Faressain
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Shall we outlaw gravedirt then?
What about the urns of ash from our loved ones?
Waldemar Scarbrough
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I have gone down this path with him. He is too stubborn to reason with. I have asked for a vote on his conduct, and at it's logical conclusion, if he does not yield, with the First Peer's approval, I will order his arrest, and have him put in stocks for a few hours. It will not dissuade him, but it might stop others from trying to post similar declarations. And I fully intend to bring charges against any knight or free citizen that harms any citizen under this misguided interpretation of the laws.
Polk
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Possessing onyx is not a crime. Using it for nefarious purposes is. But LOTS of stuff is made from onyx that is just mundane jewelry. You cannot seriously think to put criminal charges on every jewelry shop in the nation, do you?
Osco -
How much of the stone was needed to bring the most vile of creation to rise?
- N
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At least one crate-full was delivered. But - a crate-full of onyx could also supply a merchant for a long time, depending, of course, on the demand for items made from it. However, due to the recent hoopla caused by the Dawnsquire, most of those merchants have had to close shops and are out of jobs, their children probably hungry!
A sword is a weapon, but until you kill someone with it, it's not illegal to have the sword. Even then it's not the sword that's illegal - it's what you did with it. The same is true for gemstones. A LOT of gemstones are used for magical enhancements. But until you do something evil with the gemstones, they're just stones! It's not onyx that is illegal, it's what they're DOING with it that is illegal. Punish the crime, yes. But don't put good, hard-working, honest craftsmen out of work just because one person did something stupid!
Osco -
A ban on just onyx is not going to ruin the market, nor gem sellers. it's a fairly common gem, and not one used in much aside possibly statues. It is not even that common in jewelry, thus if people are going broke from the demand of onyx, they are putting too much of their coin into the recent large shipments of it. Which, is most likely to be bought and used by necromancers.
-Dawnsquire Aritian Faressain
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This new, reasonable style of discourse from you Aritian would have been wonderful a few days ago when we could have put it to a vote on wether the Council should or should not ban onyx.
You had no right to do this. And the time is up. Take down your posters immediately.
Polk
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I will not, Retainer Polk. Nor am I required to, as the vote has yet been called.
-Dawnsquire Aritian Faressain
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Retainer Osco, we are thankful for the information. The manlings they met in the forest must have had something to do with this. Do they recall their names?
As for the gemstone...
Banning the stone would probably not work. It is used in many other things and is midly common. This would indeed require a vote from a council.It is a council can decide not to bad the gemstones and do nothing of it.
They can monitor those with large quantity so they are not used in the foul creation of undeath.
They can issue a limit on the numbers owned.
They can ban the use temporarily until a situation is resolved.
They can ban it completely.If they seek to limit or ban, merchant can seek out similar gemstones to replace their stock. We suggest jet, obsidian or the common black tourmaline.
- Nan
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Moved from Plot Faction: Council of Twelve Peers by S Swifty Willownall
