My soul at liberty

The strange bird-faced creature whistled to itself as it approached the desk. Not bird-song, not exactly - the tune was something more human, something more familiar. It was catchy, uplifting in a way. It made Jorgen smile. Days like this were great, much better than when an emissary of one of the Bound turned up or some horror sent by Cornwalker. He needed more days like this."Welcome to Anvil, may I help you?" With a normal visitor he would have added the honorific "citizen", but clearly this was no citizen of the Empire. A denizen of the realms - a servant of the Speaker in Dreams he was sure of it. He remembered studying these creatures for his civil service exam.The creature stopped, almost as if surprised that he had spoken to it. If it had a mouth it probably would have been grinning at him, the effect wasn't quite the same with a beak."Salutations. Remonstrations. Ex-pec-tations" It sounded the first few syllables of the last word out, as if tasting the words."Welcome to Anvil" Jorgen repeated, unsure of what else to say in the circumstance. The bird-faced creature trilled at him and then carried on as if everything made perfect sense."Interlocution. Contribution. Sub-sti-tution."Jorgen had met Day heralds a bit like this before. All pretentious and constantly spouting synonyms and homonyms as if it made them sound clever. This was something different. Lashonar's strange little bird creature talked as if enjoyed the taste of the words it was saying. As if each syllable were a delicious morsel."Presentation. Documentation. Val-e-dation" the creature was dancing round the room, and despite everything its upbeat spirit was infectious. It stopped, produce a letter from it's tattered robes - and placed it carefully on the desk in front of him. He glanced down. Never take your eyes off them they'd taught him, but it seemed safe enough given the circumstances. There was a name on the outside of the letter, it was addressed to the Song of Liberty. He wasn't sure he knew who that was.Before he could ask for more the bird-faced herald was already dancing towards the door. It exited the room singing the same song it had entered to and this time he couldn't help but join in. A deep abiding oath... I love it here around this fire... He faltered slightly, unsure of what came next. The bird was gone and the song with it.Jorgen glanced down - there was a name on the envelope now, he was sure had not been there a moment ago. Jarrigk Silktongue, the Song of Liberty.

Overview

As is their right, the tiny nation of Axos has taken the unusual step of calling a meeting of the Liberty Pact. They invited every member of the Pact to submit proposals for amendments to the Pact; the Empire chose not to submit anything, but the other nations have seized the opportunity to advance their own agendas.

To facilitate the meeting, and avoid the dangers of Sumaah and the Commonwealth needing to commit to a dangerous journey when both nations are at war, the eternal Lashonar has agreed to provide the Caucus Forum to permit delegates to talk to each other without concern for the distances. That will present a few challenges of its own of course, but presumably nothing that can't be overcome.

Attending the Pact

The meeting of the Liberty Pact will take place at 19.00 on Saturday in the Caucus Forum The Voice of Liberty and their aide will be collected from the Hall of Worlds by a herald of Lashonar

The Voice of Liberty Jarrigk Silktongue or a representative they appoint, is expected to attend the meeting on behalf of the Empire. Each of the other signatories will send their own Voice, or a proxy thereof. Each emissary is allowed to bring a single aide with them to offer support, but the aides are not expected to directly participate in the discussion. This restriction might prove harder to enforce than the Axou perhaps realised when they chose to use the Caucus Forum given that its patron Lashonar encourages free communication. Regardless of how it plays out, the only Imperial citizen who will get a vote on whether to amend the pact or not is the Voice of Liberty.

As the meeting is taking place in the Caucus Forum, the Voice of Liberty and their aide will be collected from the Hall of Worlds by a herald of Lashonar at TBC. Provision will need to be made to allow access for anyone who is not a magician - a Pauper's Key or The Ambassadorial Gatekeeper for example.

The Magpie in the Room

The meeting of the Liberty Pact will take place in the Caucus Forum, a space for communication provided by Lashonar The eternal Lashonar has been placed under enmity by the Conclave Care must be taken to avoid engaging in treason when communicating with an eternal under enmity

The Caucus Forum is a boon offered by Lashonar - a special chamber that can be accessed from many different locations as the eternal desires. When the Axou called the Liberty Pact together there was no issue with the Empire attending a meeting in the Forum - indeed it has been used repeatedly by Imperial citizens over the years. Last season however the Conclave supported a Declaration of enmity against Lashonar raised by the Archmage of Night Bella Vicente d’Apulian. In the words of the Archmage, "the Unstoppable Gob has to be stopped from spilling our secrets to our foes."

This presents a conundrum. The Empire believes Lashonar spills secrets to the Empire's foes, and yet a sensitive meeting to discuss the business of the Liberty Pact alliance is taking place under his roof, facilitated by its heralds. The magistrates remind citizens that it is not a crime to speak to an eternal or herald that is placed under enmity - provided one is not a sorcerer of course - but that Trading or dealing with an eternal under enmity is illegal and will be investigated as treason. Any Imperial citizens who visit the Caucus Forum must be mindful that they are dealing with an enemy of the Empire. They are asked to speak to one of the chief magistrates - either Stanislav Karkovich or Cosme i Zuhri i Guerra - before attending the meeting. It has been suggested that the Celestial Arch consider sending an observer along to such a meeting to ensure that everyone knows what they need to do, or not do, while dealing with Lashonar in its own space.

Likewise, the chief magistrates would like to speak with the Voice of Liberty and their aide after the meeting; there's no requirement for them to disclose the details of the meeting and it is merely an informal chat to reassure everyone that there are no grounds for pursuing an investigation of treason. Again, representation from the Celestial Arch would be ideal, as they are the foremost experts on the complex diplomatic problems of dealing with eternals.

Agenda

The Axou have prepared an agenda made up of the amendments proposed by each member of the pact

In line with the Liberty Pact, "Each member of the Pact will ensure that they have provided information on any issues they plan to raise and provide the wording of any vote they wish the pact to discuss in advance of the meeting." The Commonwealth, Sumaah Republic, and Axos have all presented amendments to the Pact they wish to debate and then vote on. As the chair of the meeting, and the signatory that called it, the Axou have arranged the agenda.

The Liberty Pact is not the Senate; as such it is possible for the members to discuss and alter the wording of an amendment during their debate. Only once the matter is voted on is the wording finalised, and nailed down.

Centring the Way (Sumaah)

Sumaah seeks to centre the Liberty Pact on the Way of VirtueIt is impossible for true liberty to be achieved without the guidance of the Way. Only the Way truly recognises the need for individuals to be free to pursue their ambitions, and only the Way appreciates the true nature of prosperity and the importance of labour receiving just rewards. As such, all signatories to the Liberty Pact will welcome missionaries versed in the Way to spread the true faith and to help people understand the real meaning and importance of destroying the institution of slavery.Sumaah

It is notable that the Axou have placed this point first on the agenda. This amendment is likely to be bitterly opposed by Axos and the Commonwealth. The former view the Way as an abomination that serves the wicked Creator, while the latter are very careful not to prioritise other religions over the Common Good. One civil servant notes wryly that the Commonwealth desire to remove the Axou from the Pact may prove short-sighted given they would be their staunch allies in resisting this kind of amendment being forced on them by their two virtuous peers.

Amend Trade Requirements (Axos)

Axos seeks to change the requirement for free trade with other members of the Pact to a prohibition on embargoThe requirement that each signatory to the Liberty Pact enforce free trade with the other signatories should be replaced with a prohibition on embargos between members of the pact. Members of the Pact should trade with each other, but should be free to set their tariffs to best support themselves.Axos

The Summer 384YE amendment requires all signatories to the Pact to practice free trade with every other member. The Axou are clearly finding this rule onerous - being unable to place tariffs on trade from the Empire, Sumaah, and the Commonwealth appears to be at risk of overwhelming their vastly smaller economy.

They want to flip the clause, so that instead of requiring free trade, the Pact simply prohibits members from embargoing each other. That would give individual nations the ability to permit free trade or place tariffs as they chose. It is not clear that this will work as well as Axos seems to hope - left to their own devices the Sumaah in particular are likely to demand significant tariffs on any Axou trade coming to them. It is possible that they do not believe they have anything to lose.

Remove Jarmish Embargo (Axos)

Axos want to remove the embargo on trade with JarmThe Summer 384 Amendments relating to embargo and free trade should be struck down. The Liberty Pact already says that signatory nations will place economic or trade sanctions of their own choosing on nations defined as slaving nations above.Axos

The clause embargo trade with the Principalities of Jarm is a significant problem for Axos. They've recently been caught dealing with Jarm in a way that technically violates the Pact, but there's no indication they're trying to apply this retroactively. More likely, they are looking to resume their dealings with the Jarmish wizards if they can.

Their argument is that the Pact should not dictate what level of sanction is applied to any other nation, as long as sanctions are applied. They've also been pretty clear they think the proscription against Jarm is nothing less than the Commonwealth trying to use the Liberty Pact to pursue their own political goals and nothing to do with slavery.

The Commonwealth will fiercely contest any attempt to remove the embargo against the Principalities from the Pact; any argument to get them to endorse such a thing will need to be particularly compelling. It's hard to predict how Sumaah might respond to this and a lot will depend on how their High House of Prosperity is feeling about an outside body dictating their tariffs.

Condemnation of Large Scale Disasters (Axos)

Axos want the Pact to expel any member who creates a large scale magical disasterMembers of the Liberty Pact will condemn and eject any member found responsible for creating a large scale magical disaster such as the Cold Sun incursion into Lantir.Axos

This amendment has been placed before the Commonwealth amendment that deals with a similar matter. It has some flaws, mostly in that it doesn't lay out how a member nation might be "found responsible" for creating a large scale magical disaster, nor explain what constitutes "large" in the eyes of the Axos magicians. The Commonwealth would presumably be in favour of this - but a lot will depend on whether they were in fact responsible for the Cold Sun invasion as some rumours suggest. Sumaah is likely to be in favour - they are quite leery of eternal involvement on a large scale.

The civil service have assessed this wording and are concerned that it is very vague. They do not expect the amendment to pass given the lack of concrete definition, but it might be upheld as a matter of principle rather than a full amendment. They also caution that given recent diplomatic developments between Axos and the Empire this is likely not about Cold Sun at all, but about the threat of the Empire unleashing the vallorn.

Cold Sun (Commonwealth)

The Commonwealth calls for Pact members to aid each other against the Cold SunThe Cold Sun represents annihilation. This is an evil on par with that of slavery; it denies living individuals their liberty in a profound way. Members of the Liberty Pact will aid each other in opposing it wherever it makes incursion into the mortal realm.Commonwealth

The Commonwealth are asking for aid from their fellow pact members to resist the Cold war#incursion of Cold Sun in Lantir. There is some room for amendment to their wording - the initial proposal was apparently that the eternals and their servants are a threat to mortal liberty and should be resisted wherever and whenever they stage an incursion into the mortal world. This amendment is an attempt by the Commonwealth to gain allies for its personal struggle with Cold Sun, using the veneer of slavery to justify its inclusion in the Liberty Pact.

While this would benefit the Commonwealth, it would require every member to take reasonable efforts to help anyone else invaded by Cold Sun. Yet the wording is quite vague as to what that aid would involve, and as such it is likely that both Axos and the Sumaah will be cautious about accepting it without clearer expectations being laid out.

Signatory Status (Commonwealth)

Commonwealth again seeks to eject Axos from the Liberty PactThe true power of the Liberty Pact is international, and only those nations that wield power on the world stage can truly shoulder that burden. There are any number of smaller nations whose bravery in rejecting slavery should be recognised. As such we propose the creation of two degrees of membership. Members of the Pact will have full rights and voting ability. Signatories will be protected by the Liberty Pact, and have the rights due all members, but will not be permitted to raise amendments, vote, or attend the formal meetings of the Pact.Commonwealth

The Commonwealth has been unhappy about the involvement of Axos in the Liberty Pact for some time. They have also been of the opinion that it is only the Great Powers - the Empire, Sumaah, and themselves - who are in a credible position to defeat slavery once and for all. If their amendment passes, all smaller nations will effectively be represented by the great power into whose sphere of influence they fall. Protected and recognised as "signatory" to the pact but without any legal powers to amend it.

Axos will clearly oppose this, given it is an attempt to remove them from being full members of the pact (see below). The Sumaah are likely to be in favour of it, at least initially, but it's not clear how strongly they will support it. The Commonwealth brought up a very similar amendment last time the Pact met and it was rejected. It seems they are not content to let the issue lie.

Status of Axos (Commonwealth)

The Commonwealth wish to confirm Axos status as a signatory to the Pact rather than a voting member of itThe Liberty Pact recognised the courage of Axos in abandoning the cruel practice of slavery, and thanks them for their efforts so far. However they are in no position to bring the forces to bear needed to defeat slavery and so they should be recognised as a signatory to the pact, not a full member.Commonwealth

Obviously this amendment is reliant on the previous amendment related to signatory status passing. If the previous amendment does not pass, then this proposal will be defunct.

After the Debate

Once the debate and vote is completed the wording of any amendments will be recorded and a copy given to each of the Voices of Liberty. It is then the responsibility of the Voice to find a Senator prepared to present the amendments for consideration by the Senate. The Senate motion must contain the exact wording of any amendment, and is subject to Scrutiny like any other motion. If it is passed, the amendments become part of Imperial law as normal. If the motion is not passed for whatever reason, then additional meetings of the Liberty Pact will be needed.

With that in mind the Chief Magistrates suggest that as well as discussing Lashonar it might be worth the Voice of Liberty having a chat with them about the amendments proposed by the three other members of the Pact. There are some that look problematic, on which they may be able to offer Imperial legal advice.

It is also important to remember that while the Liberty Pact has the power to determine its own strictures and tenets, the other three nations likewise have bodies of state that will be required to ratify those amendments. The House of the People, the Commonwealth Generals, or the Grand Ilarchs Council all have the power to refuse an amendment to the Liberty Pact. This is most likely to happen if an amendment is pushed through that seriously damages their interests in some fashion. At the point any signatory nation does not agree to enact an amendment to the pact, it will inevitably trigger a crisis that will need to be resolved before the Liberty Pact can go forward. Either an acceptable wording will need to be found, the amendment will need to be struck down, or the conflicted nation will need to leave the Pact.