A young, idealistic half-elven politician by the name of Erdanen Torrance takes the floor. His eyes are a bright blue and optimistic, yet serious. A native to Risur and a resident of Shale, he holds no major office yet, though his natural charisma has lent him the ear of several key figures in his region, and he might hold a promising political career even if the grand designs of the conspiracy don't come to pass.
"Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely," he quips, shooting a venomous glare at Roland Stanfield and the rest of the Colossus lobbyists. "We should remember what motivated us all in the first place - a desire to do good in the world, to fix the imperfections of the people of all nations. What good will changing the nature of plant-based life do for that? What assurances do we have that making changes of a truly RADICAL nature will fix the issues we see around us today and not spawn new, unforseen tragedies?
He clears his throat. "William Miller had the right idea - I think the Clergy knew that, and so snuffed out his idealogies to keep the world slanted in their favor. Making ourselves gods, or making the common man into something wholly uncommon will only shift the balance of power to a new group of enviable individuals. More than anything, I urge my fellow agents and officers of the Obscurati to remember we have looked upon THIS world, THESE people with the intent to put things right, to make things better. How can we be assured to achieve that if the world we create becomes something none of us are at all familiar with? It may be another few millenia before another intelligent society not unlike ourselves are able to root through the royal mess we've made, mucking with the natural laws as much as some of us are keen to.
"That said, change MUST happen. And it must not be a fundamental shift in power, but in thought. Only by encouraging justice and discouraging hypocrisy can we truly hope for any lasting change."
He sits, and smiles at a lovely tiefling lady at his side, smirking at her as the crowd assembled murmurs and mulls over what's been said so far. "I'd like to see a Watchmaker follow a speech like that..." he says, more than a little overconfident in himself.
