(IR) The Treaty of Erinhei-Cinlu Summit (Turn 1)

[Anabstercorian]

A pop of compressed air crackles the outside corner of the room.
Within the sound, a finely dressed lich appears.

"I have come as you requested..." growls the lich angrily. With your
quizzical looks, it announces "Acererak! I have come to listen
and to vote."

The lich floats over to the meeting area.

Two servants, one male, one female, slip over to Acererak and pay him special attention, fulfilling his needs almost before they are expressed, bringing him all manner of undead luxuries. "We've heard so much about you," says the male one in an eerily affectionate tone. "Welcome to the Silver Palace, Acererak," purrs the female one. "If you need anything, just ask."

They move on to the next guest.

 

[Guilt Puppy]

For many crimes against Empire including wanton murder, resitance to servants of law, false accustations, blasphemy, heresy and many more vile acts

"Wanton murder? Who was killed by the Brotherhood?" (If there were any killed in the attack, add a "...but in their own defense" to that last line.) "Resistance to servants of law? What law? We are bound by the Pact, which we have not offended. If Iuz wishes to bring up resistance, then clearly he incriminates himself, for fleeing from our Brothers' attempts to subdue him in the Great City."

"No accusation we have made against you has been false. I do not know what constitutes blasphemy or heresy by your standards, but regardless, neither of them are crimes under the Laws of the Pact. If these are the accusations we face, what need is there for a trial? We are guilty of none of these things, and even if one were guilty of all, there would be no need for a trial, as none of these violate the Pact."

"The Brotherhood believes in law, and will go to trial to face any accusations, no matter how spurious or false, but not if those accusations are meaningless under the law."

 

[Knight Otu]

This is going to be interesting...

"Now, first of all, we need to determine the procedure of voting - the proposal of the Miranda alliance sounds fair."

"As for the other issues, we should recap the events that lead up to this point, and examine them throughoutly before making a judgment of any kind. If I miss any crucical information, do not hesistate to add it.

We shall begin with the Sealing - all of the planes, except for some pockets of the transitive planes, have been sealed by the gods. Apparently, a great threat necessitated this step. The Sealing had widespread effects, many subtle, and their consequences are not yet visible. Keep these subtle effects in mind, though.

One of the most noticeable effect of the Sealing is that most gods, especially the most powerful ones, no longer are able to reach Oerth. Among them the patron goddess of the drow, Lolth. With the influence of Lolth gone, the drow went into what we call the Withdrawal - aptly named, as it is reminescent of the withdrawal suffered by drug addicts. The drow could either learn to live without their ... "drug," emulate it differently, suffer mental harm, or suffer physical harm - in this case, death.

By the time the Withdrawal struck, Iuz was present at the to-be-built Great City with Eclavdra. Soon after, Elistraee appeared, allegedly to aid the drow to live through the Withdrawal. Iuz, mistaking the events for an attack by the demigodess, armed himself with the Regalia of the Velsharess to be better prepared against Elistraee.

Meanwhile, many factions tried to aid the drow in their own ways. Some resulted in ... drow who no longer need Lolth, and some resulted in drow who emulate Lolth themselves, and are possibly ...darker than before. Gallador's forces subjected several drow to vampirism, which can be counted as "emulating Lolth differently." My knowledge on vampirism is limited, but I believe that a spawned vampire is a loyal slave to its creator, right? This may work against Gallador's favor.

At this point, Iuz and Elistraee no longer fought alone - they were attacked by other powers, often in the name of the Treaty of Erenhei-Cinlu - on both sides. In the chaos, Aerdi has managed to teleport Eclavdra out of harms' way, to Rel Astra. There, Eclavdra became the target of several powerful magical effects - a miracle from Iuz, and a wish from Faerinaal, both worded to grant her the true Freedom of Choice. As we know, she chose what we might call "the light," and she promptly went on a ... rampage that might have destroyed Rel Mord and killed King Rhynnon.

In the Great City, Iuz was accosted by the Scarlet Brotherhood. Weakened by the fight against Elistraee, he soon was forced to retreat, taking Eclavdra's Regalia along."

 

[Melkor Lord Of ALL!]

Princess Lanfear bows deeply and respectfully to Acererak:

"Greetings, Mighty One, it is great to see you here, my father has nothing but respect for you! I am sure you wil be the voice of reason here! I wonder if you would be interested in helping to conquer the Undeath world of Ginebei, now full of Vecna followers?!"

Then she turns to Ashardolon, whom she shows only slightly less respect than Acererak:

"You speak wisely, Great Dragon, but you must remember that those Drow we gave a new, better existance were renegades, they were not Eclavdra`s followers, therefore not a part of the Treaty!"

 

[Paxus Asclepius]

those Drow we gave a new, better existance were renegades, they were not Eclavdra`s followers, therefore not a part of the Treaty!"

"That is a question that must be addressed by the council. One member cannot unilaterally declare another member's citizens exempt from the treaty; that way lies anarchy. When the question is brought up, you may speak on it; until then, let us attend to the order of business.

If any have voting methods to propose, other than that proposed by Miranda, please speak them now; otherwise, I should be quite grateful if the matter is voted on swiftly, so that we may bring some semblance of order to these proceedings. I assure you, if it becomes a shouting contest, Ashardalon and I will be the only voices heard."

 

[Bugbear]

Then she turns to Ashardolon, whom she shows only slightly less respect than Acererak:

"You speak wisely, Great Dragon, but you must remember that those Drow we gave a new, better existance were renegades, they were not Eclavdra`s followers, therefore not a part of the Treaty!"

"With all due respect, lady Lanfear, the Drow your master turned were citizens of the Empire of Eclavdor, regardless of whether they were residents of the Great City or not. However, this is not the time to argue the matter. whether your master has violated the Pact or not will be determined tomorrow when the conference officially convenes. We are I believe, still waiting for several delegations to arrive"

 

[Guilt Puppy]

Since the voting measures seem pretty much Okayed by all, Abbon produces a copy of the current charter, and commences with his arguments against Iuz.

The current charter:

[sblock] The drow submit the details of the TEC Pact, as requested:

Anabstercorians' power of Rary/Greyhawk/The Bright Lands
Bugbears' power of Greater Nyrond
Edena_of_Neiths' power of the Queendom of Eclavdor (the Drow and Yuan-Ti)
Guilt Puppys' power of the Scarlet Brotherhood
Kalanyrs' power of Miranda/Marchwards/Elvanian Forest/Gigantea/Hyperboria
Knight Otus' power of Greater Aerdi
Melkors' power of the Vampires/Ivid/Sahuagin
Nac Mac Feegles' power of the Iron League/Ulek League/Isle of the Phoenix.
Paxus' power of the Wolf God and his people.
Rikandurs' power of Iuz and the Empire of Iuz.
Sollirs' power of the Empire of Lynn.
Thomas' power of Aliador/Celene/Lendores/The Theocracy
Uveneleis' power of the Tempest of Hell and the Tharquish Empire.
Venus' power of Orcreich/Greater Khanate/Lesser Khanate.

The Charter of the TEC Pact (this is the original charter)

1: An attack upon one member of the TEC Pact is an attack on all the members of the TEC Pact.

2: All members of the TEC Pact are required to meet any single attack with an equivalent counterattack: If one TEC Pact member is attacked by 10,000 warriors, then all the TEC Pact members must attack the attacker with 10,000 warriors.
If any individual TEC Pact power has no way to issue a counterattack to help out as the TEC Pact requires, it had better have a good reason why it could not meet its' obligations.

3: If an attack is made directly upon any of the leaders ((Player Characters)) of the TEC Pact powers, all the TEC Pact members must immediately send as much force as is required to protect those leaders and drive off the attackers. In addition, all leaders and their following (significant NPCs) have guaranteed protection in each others' safeholds and territories.

4: TEC Pact powers must use their magic and/or psionics to ensure their individual power and it's leaders immediately knows if another TEC Pact leader is under attack, so they can immediately send help to save that leader.

5: If a TEC Pact member commits treason by attacking another TEC Pact member with Armies, or allies with Vecna, or otherwise does something obviously treasonous, the penalty for said treason is the destruction of that power, the burning of its' lands, and the massacre of its' people. This Retribution against treason is to be undertaken immediately by all TEC Pact members.

-

TEC Pact Addendum:

3 or 4 of the TEC Pact members have Opt-Out Clauses. They required these Opt Out Clauses as prerequisites to joining the Pact.
If they Opt out of the Pact, that is not considered a hostile act. They do lose all rights and protections of the Pact immediately, though.[/sblock]

Abbon Craylor points out several clauses of the Pact:

"First we refer to Section Five, the penalty for treason. You will note that it leaves the definition of treason open to interpretation, clearly for situations such as this. Nowhere does it state that removing the crown from the head of a fallen ally should be considered treason, but by what good judgment should such action be considered acceptable? Indeed, short of actual assassination, what can be considered more treasonous than taking, without any consent, what is not only a symbol of rulership but is also an artifact of significant power to its rightful bearer? When Eclavdra fell, Iuz' first reaction was to remove her Regalia, and don it himself -- what more shocking display of opportunism and disregard for our Pact could there be? The terms of the Pact are clear: At this moment, Iuz forfeited all rights and protections of the Pact, and our collective duty became his annihilation."

"The Pact provides for no trial in these cases: 'This Retribution against treason is to be undertaken immediately by all TEC Pact members.' That so few responded against Iuz is cause for some doubt regarding the efficacy of this Pact... I can only hope that, once this Summit finalizes its terms, our members will be less hesitant about its enforcement. In any case, when the Brotherhood arrived to subdue Iuz, he resisted, then fled -- his refusal to be present for these proceedings should evidence further his wishes to remain a fugitive from justice."

"Further, regarding Iuz' subsequent attack against myself and my Brothers, when we were on a mission to preserve stability in his Empire to protect our fellow Pact-members, I quote section four: 'All leaders (and their following (significant NPCs)) have guaranteed protection in each others' safeholds and territories.' For Iuz to claim that the Brotherhood is 'outlawed' in his territories is in direct violation of the Pact... His attack upon myself and my other statesman, and assassination of one our Elders, inarguably constitutes yet further treason on his part -- excepting only that he should already have been considered disbanded and hostile, and so technically no longer obligated to the conditions of the Pact. Regardless, if there could possibly remain any doubts about his status, those doubts were destroyed by his actions against our Brotherhood."

"That Iuz is guilty of treason against the Pact should be clear to all. We respect the wishes of the Pact to continue with these proceedings, as the cause of justice should never be considered too shortly, but we see little room for doubt that Iuz is guilty of these charges."

 

[Bugbear]

I must protest.

We are getting ahead of ourselves here and dishonoring our host.

The summit will begin when all signatories of the Treaty of Erinhei-Cinlu, or their appointed representatives, have arrived at Rary's Silver Palace in the Bright Desert, (In other words, when they've posted to this thread) or on January 21st, whichever comes first.

We must give the other members a chance to arrive before we commence.

Also I strongly sugest that the status of Iuz, Gallidor, Alidor, The Brotherhood, and the mordheil be addressed before any actions are taken concerning the charter.

 

[Paxus Asclepius]

"I will, of course, request that Iuz be given a chance to defend his actions, either in person or by proxy, yet I must admit such a task would be formidable. It is true that Iuz did remove the Regalia, as noted both a symbol and a means of power, from the disabled founder of the Treaty. He will argue, of course, that his actions in this theft were necessary to defend Eclavdra from Elistraiee's influence, and in my heart of hearts, I would prefer to believe him. Nevertheless, the record of history is clear to any who wish to Scry it; Iuz removed the Regalia before the appearance of the demigoddess.


Post #74, 1st IC thread

Two minutes after the closing Elistraee arrives in Eclavdra's throne room to find Iuz wearing the Regalia of Lorldy might. The two demigods face eachother warily but, unless Iuz attempts to stop her, she steps past him and takes Eclavdra in her arms.

Whatever his actions afterwards, this first act was not, by any rational argument, anything save a direct attack against another power. Thus, it grieves me to state that Iuz is, indeed, in direct violation of the Treaty of Erelhei-Cinlu, and must be treated as the traitor that he has regrettably become."

 

[Paxus Asclepius]

I must protest.

We are getting ahead of ourselves here and dishonoring our host.


We must give the other members a chance to arrive before we commence.

Also I strongly sugest that the status of Iuz, Gallidor, Alidor, The Brotherhood, and the mordheil be addressed before any actions are taken concerning the charter.

"I agree that it would be most improper for actual legislative action to occur before all members, or their chosen proxies, have arrived. Nevertheless, I do not see a need to refrain from public speech, provided that it does not degenerate into a verbal or non-verbal brawl. I agree that the first orders of business must include the status of various members, but I would argue that, in order for progress to be made, we take the most urgent cases first; I submit that provable treason takes precedence over possible mixed loyalties.