Crash Course in Tirchond Politics
While Sheva and Glaxo are waiting for Walther to assign their mission to them, another of our principles is in Council.
Cicero, long a voice for neutrality on Tirchond, is a slick-looking politician. He pumps more hands than almost anyone else, he sells his vote left and right, he makes all the friends he can and as few commitments as he can afford to. He’s got the biggest entourage of anyone in the Council of Tirchond, and when he enters the room people notice the scribes and orators with him.
Cicero’s a powerhouse, too, in the Council. He holds three seats; there aren’t a lot of people with more than that. Exactly seven, in fact; four individuals with four seats, two with five, and one- Estelias, of course- with a whopping eight. Why, if she applied them right, she’d be a majority on a Commission all by herself!
Let’s digress for a moment. The Council of Tirchond consists of 285 seats, divided amongst the various powers and interests of Tirchond; for example, there are ten seats reserved for administrators of the Silver College, fifteen more for Silver College professors, eight for Silver College students, one representing the administration of the rest of the schools of Tirchond (none nearly as big as the Silver College, of course), one representing the other schools’ professors, one their students, four representing the Hammerhead Halls, and so forth. There are even seats representing the orcs and goblinoids (one each), giants (four seats) and fae (three, but they’re rarely in session). Ultimately, the Tirchondian system was designed by grey elves, so it’s no surprise that the council members must be prepared to exercise a great deal of patience to get anything done. Each week there’s an agenda, which is an actual physical book of one hundred pages; once it’s full- and the full text of whatever’s on the agenda has to be in the agenda- that’s it til next week. With so many varied interests and so little space to write things in, it usually takes cooperation to get anything moving.
Once an item is in the Agenda, it gets scheduled for discussion by the appropriate Commission, if there is one. For example, tax reform goes through the Revenue Commission, while ambassadors are received by the Foreign Relations Commission. Some of the Commissions are less active, more obscure or esoteric, or seem to have more or less influence than the others, but in general, the most active Commissions include those like the Farmers’ Commission, the College Commission, the Foreign Relations Commission and the Commission on War and Peace. An item that goes from the agenda to Commission is discussed until the Commission, through a vote or consensus, makes a recommendation on it. The Commission can recommend that the item go to the full Council for a vote; or it can recuse the item, leaving it for another time. In general, the more stuff is on the agenda, the more likely items are to be recused in Commission for lack of time to discuss it.
All right; digression over, though I think you’ll find it’s relevant.
Cicero is, as usual, shaking hands and smiling big at the other Councilors. He’s working on drumming up support for a repeal of the taxes on artisans and performers, and of course a lot of his compatriots on the Council are giving him noncommittal answers, but you have to start somewhere. He notices, on the agenda, something very unusual: a meeting of one of the Commissions he sits on. But it’s the Extraplanar Affairs Commission.
Cicero frowns to himself. It’s an interesting one, that’s for sure, but the whole reason he sits on it is that it doesn’t meet often. Oh well, he sighs to himself, can’t win ‘em all. He looks the agenda over carefully; they’re due to meet in the evening.
With a sigh, Cicero signals to his entourage. Two of them, a pair of twin brothers called Fonzi and Sonti hurry up to him. They look definitely like men of letters. Both are human and their joint heritage is clear as day. “Come on,” Councilor Cicero calls to them, “we have other things to do.” As they scurry along in his wake, Cicero rapidly dictates a series of tasks- “I want you to proclaim the need for tax reform, and I want you to start drafting those reports, and you to-“ and so forth.
Soon they’ve reached a local tavern. Cicero sips at a glass of the local wine, but of course prefers not to be too intoxicated when working on Council- you never know what some people will use against you!- and spies an interesting looking fellow. Dwarven, crude-looking, with thick arms and a dramatic shield. He’s pouring over a series of maps with a slightly puzzled-looking expression.
Cicero frowns to himself as another figure catches his eye. Is that Sheva? he thinks, startled, as he spots the redhead from across the tavern’s long common room. He remembers her well; she’s the all-time leader on Cicero’s kill board,* and in fact probably saved him more than once. Plus...
Plus, he sees her sometimes when he pays his dues to the local thieves’ guild. Not that he’s a thief; he just likes to be on the safe side. And once in a while he sees her in the lodge of the Grey Brothers- not that he uses their services, but it’s always good to know where to find out whether anyone’s put a price on his head.
Outside it’s afternoon; soon our heroes will be getting stinky.
*While he was adventuring several years ago, Cicero kept a careful tally of the kills his fellow adventurers made while he was with them, especially inside the mountain called Firestorm Peak. Sheva’s still way ahead.
Next Time: We'll be flashing back to give you a little look into Fonzi and Sonti's morning, as well as Clambake's mid-day; and then we'll get stinky in the sewage!
