[GP] A Game of Politics

[Rhialto]

"Hmmm..." Deacon Fevre shakes his head. "No. This does not fit our plan. We should tell them we will meet inside the barracks only if they release women and children. If they do not, we will meet in the same place as before. And that we would like our negotiations to take place in public, where all can see them, so as to show the fairness of our dealings. We do not wish to give rise to rumors of backroom dealings and bitter betrayals."

 

[Ranger Rick]

Deacon, this letter is what we want. We want to meet in a closed room so Lukar can be discredited and yet he will not lose face.

I am for your plan deacon, but we should follow the dwarves wishes. It is the honorable thing to do at the moment. They called for this so they choose. This way we can remove lukar and act successful.

 

[Rhialto]

Julius, I thank you that you have come forward with this information, but why have you done this so late. You have carried this essential piece for quite some time. Why have you not come sooner with this information?

Also if i see the information, the agent might not be Lukarn, the agent is not named. He is only the leader of the council. If i was a spy i would never become a leader, they catch too much attention. If the operation goes south you cannot longer flee. There for we still need to investigate who the real agent is.

Also i cannot belief that dwarfs with family in area would willingly let them be in danger, when commiting a military action. So i do believe that most dwarfs have been simply caught up in this. Offcourse the harden core of this must be taken care of. But we cannot let inoccent childern die because of the actions of a few evil persons.

There for i still stand behind my proposal. After this we can order an extensive investigation in this spy and the involvement of the kalur government. Rash actions would only give our enemies an advantage. And with a dwarf on the judge`s table the dwarfs will see that we have a fair and just government.

The Deacon glances at his fellow from House Centaurus. "Sammor, I consider caution admirable--in moderation. Too much caution can risk the loss of advantages gained, and may transform into delusion masquerading as wisdom. Lukar may not be the Kalur agent in nomine, but his actions indicate he is a Kalur agent de facto. I suspect he and his 'Commitee for Dwarven Rights' have been suborned by that nation--it is the only explanation for his behavior. If we do as you suggest, and ignore this for now, we will be taken advantage of by a group of opportunists in the service of another nation, who will expect us to be acting as you suggest."'

He turns to Eimhim. "And Quinn--the entire point of this is for Lukar to lose face. Right now this is not some calm act of compromise with his group--this is an act to yank the rug from under their feet. We want him to be broadly discredited. We want dwarfs to decide his orders are not to be followed. We want dwarfs to think that this rebellion was a bad idea--that the Commitee for Dwarven Rights has lead them down a dangerous path, and that we are willing to help them out. We are not trying to deal with Lukar--we are trying to destroy him."

 

[Ranger Rick]

Deacon, you sound as if this is personal? Might you be in league with someone that wants the dwarves dystroyed? Why do we need Lukar dystroyed? Have you no foresight? Are you that short sighted? If you dystroy lukar, than someone else will replace him. You can not prevent that unless you exterminate the entire population. To prevent further uprisings you eliminate the reason for them.

No it is better to silently discredit him and keep him in power. We are better served by an ineffectual opposition leader. I can not believe I need to teach you this. How could you have gotten to where you are by being so dense and stupid. We meet in private and discredit him there. We get him to capitualate and then he sells the dwarves our plan.

 

[Twinswords]

Deacon it`s Sarrom. But those are detials.
If we strike at Lukarn now, he might become a martyr. Better to quietly diffuse the sitiuation and then throw him in to jail. We must show that we are just, we are not weak, we can also show mercy and we are for equal treatment for all our citzens.

And if this really a prelude to invasion they would have struck during the distrubance. While we were still formulating a plan.

But what will be our offer? I want to know the precise terms.

 

[Lord_Raven88]

Julius, I thank you that you have come forward with this information, but why have you done this so late. You have carried this essential piece for quite some time. Why have you not come sooner with this information?

Also if i see the information, the agent might not be Lukarn, the agent is not named. He is only the leader of the council. If i was a spy i would never become a leader, they catch too much attention. If the operation goes south you cannot longer flee. There for we still need to investigate who the real agent is.

Also i cannot belief that dwarfs with family in area would willingly let them be in danger, when commiting a military action. So i do believe that most dwarfs have been simply caught up in this. Offcourse the harden core of this must be taken care of. But we cannot let inoccent childern die because of the actions of a few evil persons.

There for i still stand behind my proposal. After this we can order an extensive investigation in this spy and the involvement of the kalur government. Rash actions would only give our enemies an advantage. And with a dwarf on the judge`s table the dwarfs will see that we have a fair and just government.

Turning to respond to answer the questions "Firstly while I was informed of the contents of the deciphered message, I wanted to see for myself whether or not this was mearly a strange coincidence or whether or not it was part of a Kalurian plot, like you I want to limit the loss of life incurred. Based on the actions of Lukar it seemed likely that the letter was authentic, so it seemed prudent to reveal it's contents to you"

"Secondly even though this letter was intecepted, that doesn't mean that other letters weren't sent to other agent, also any agent operating on our soil, would likely be using a false name. Also the letter was addressed to a named agent"

"Thirdly, I believe Lukar is a Kalurian Agent, while it's all very well and good to incite a riot, only the leader of this Rebellion would have the control necessary to ensure that this rebellion goes the way he wants it to, also let us not discount the fact that Lukar might be more than willing to die for his country, particularly if he feels that our nation has caused some great personal loss."

"And finally I don't believe that a meeting in a place that they control, is prudent. If he is a Kalurian agent as I suspect, he's likely to try to capture or even kill us."

 

[Rhialto]

Anguis rolls his eyes. "Mr. Quinn, I do not want to leave a suspected enemy agent in any position of authority whatsoever. You are talking as if Lukar has merely commited some personal discretion, instead of being in the service of a foreign power. I do not want to use whatever hold this might give us to force him to agree with our short term goals--that would be unwise. If we publicly reveal that Lukar is a Kalurian agent as he desperately flails around trying to avoid a deal that would advantage his people and disadvantage himself, we will be believed. If we reveal it after he has given us a deal, and can strike a pose as a worthy dwarven statesmen, we will be seen a political opportunists attempting to tarnish his name--we will entrench him, not defeat him. And as for making Lukar a martyr--if he plays this as I suspect he will, he will be seen as a base villain when this is over, a man who promised freedom to his followers, while hoping to grasp a crown for himself. If he plays it better, we come up with some punishment that leaves him alive--exile him to Kalur, for example, and while he may gain a hero's reputation, we can make sure that whispers follow him afterwards--far from ideal, but still a worthy solution to our problems."

He takes a deep breath. "And Sarrom--and my apologies for an honest mistake, for I'd heard it was otherwise--you seem to underestimate Kalur. They do not want small Tarsur--they want the North, and the revolt in Tarsur is the stepping stone for them. If they charged in the moment the revolt had occured, they would be seen by the dwarfs as opportunists. If they come in when the situation is at its worse, they become heroes."

ooc--My source for your name. See, a fairly honest mistake.

 

[Timothy]

OOC: whoopsie. Changed Sarrom's name in the first post.

Okay, I think we have heard the opinions. It is now time to compromise and form a united front.

 

[Twinswords]

Well this was my proposal. Why not keep this.

The captain and other misbehaving miscreants will be arrested and put on trail. There will be 3 judges. And atleast one of those will be dwarven. In exchange for this the dwarven leaders wil submit themselves to the same court and offcourse if they gave themselves up willingly they will be shown lentient.

In exchange for a peaceful solution of this rebelion and release of the hostages. There will be given food for the hungry and a recommendation of this commision to the govenment of Farseer to deliver more race equal benefits laws and the forming of a commitee of equal racial opertunities. Also a sum of 10000 goldpieces wil be given to repair and renovate the neighbourhood.

For judges i would like to see a judge from house leo. As they have a reputation of seeking justice, a suitable neutral dwarf, as reprentative for the dwarves and a person from Corona Austrina as a symbol of the people of farnese and it`s new democratie.

Any comments?

 

[Rhialto]

"I think there's little question of what we're going to offer the dwarfs, though I don't think 10,000 gold is within our means," notes the Deacon. "The question is are we to denounce Lukar publically, as I intended, or privately, as Mr. Quinn suggests." He glances around at his fellow commitee members. "Once again, I think this comes to a vote. And before we do--may I take a moment for a brief prayer?"

Assuming there is no overwhelming negative response, Fevre makes a circle with his hands, then clasps them together. "Oh, my mighty Orr, All-Encomposing-All, Lord of Lords, Prince of Princes--we ask You to guide our decision. May it be made with wisdom, and enlightenment. May it help us win these dwarfs back to the path of Your righteousness and discipline, from which they have strayed. And may it lead us to triumph over our enemies, the heathen nation of Kalur, which credits not Your Divine Will and Nature, but worships barbarous gods of cruelty. For only in you, Orr, are we complete, and it is from you, shining above, that all good things come down to us, undeserving mortals and sinners that we are." He unclasps his hands, and makes the circle over the group. "Amen."

Anguis looks the group over. "Well, I feel you know where I stand, and where Mr. Quinn stands. The question is, where do you stand?"