Eslandola Colonial Council, Second Cycle, 618, IN SESSION

[Capt Wolf]

Guilder took the letter from the messenger, read through it silently, then read it aloud to the council. He then reached for quill and parchment to pen a short reply to Von Bricktin. When finished, he folded the letter and sealed it with wax from a nearby candle, then spoke aloud.

"Please take this reply to Sir Von Bricktin. While I cannot promise him any result, as this council is still deliberating on the matter, his letter will be entered into the record and taken into consideration when we reach a conclusion. And to that end, if you would stay here for a bit, we may be able to have you carry back other messages to Charlatan Bay and Bastion."

Guilder turned his attention to the full council again.

"Lady and gentlemen, we appear to have a Sea Rat courier at our disposal for the moment. I propose that we adopt van der Meede's proposal now as a first step and get the process of resolving this situation started. Aaron, would you be so kind as to repeat your proposal?"

Aaron van der Meede stood. "I propose that we send word to Fuerte Unido to detain the Sea Rats ships and crews while we sort out this matter, and that we also send word to the Sea Rats in Charlatan Bay and Bastion to send us an envoy or envoys authorized to negotiate a settlement."

Guilder nodded approvingly. "Very good. Does anyone second this proposal so that we may proceed with a vote?"

[Kai NRG]

De Troir rose.  "Second!"

[Capt Wolf]

Guilder nodded to De Troir. "And so the proposal has been seconded, and voting may commence."

Guilder looked at his fellow delegates from the Sea of Storms. "And I will start off the voting with an Aye!"

Aaron van der Meede rose. "As it was my proposal, I vote Aye."

Pieter Reyngout stood briefly and added "Aye from me as well."

[Legostone]

Governeur Monezterrell: My Town, my Vessels, how could I vote anything else? Aye!

Captain Lamar Evercrees stood up: AYE!

Farrucio Paraja slowly rose from his chair: Where do we find our fastest messenger pigeons? Aye!

[Kai NRG]

Argentum, de Troir, and Jalape all recorded their votes in one breath.  "Aye!"

And Captain Argentum gave the ETWC delegation a pointed glance, as much as to say, "You'll have a harder time finding an excuse to be the odd ones out this time, my fine fellows!"

[gedren_y]

Valentia groused a bit at Guilder's dismissal of her concerns, but voted, "Yea."

As she sat Viscount Doblin patted her shoulder and softly said, "They'll learn." In a louder voice he voted, "Yea."

Hammish thumped his head down on the table with a groan. Raising his arm, he mumbled a vote of "Yea." from under his armpit.

[Garmadon]

The Lieutenant leapt up.

"Detain, detain?  Is that all?  I shan't vote for anything less than the utter destruction of Bastion and Charlatan Bay!!"

"Seconded!" exclaimed Agent Guelds, quickly and with emphasis, smiling and winking at Captain Argentum.

Willoughby slapped him with his slate, however, and, with the stipulation that he advised bringing in the regiment and making sure of the piratical captains and crews, voted Yea.

One yea and two abstains from the ETWC bench.

[Kai NRG]

Captain Argentum sank back in his chair, a little flummoxed.  "Well, they do beat all!" he muttered.

"Why did na' we think o' that?!" Chef Jalape asked, in open admiration.

Esterhazy cleared his throat loudly, hoping to drown out his companions.

[Capt Wolf]

"Well, we have heard from all but the Sea of Thieves representatives (nudge nudge @Umbra-Manis), with no dissents, so I think we can go ahead and get some couriers on their way."

Guilder reached for his quill again and scribbled the notes called for by the council. He handed two identical notes to the waiting Sea Rat courier. "Take these to authorities in Charlatan Bay and Bastion, and thank you for rendering this service." With that, the Sea Rat messenger was on his way.

Then Guilder picked up the third note and walked over to Jerome Monezterrell in the MAESTRO delegation. "As mayor of Fuerte Unido, would you like to sign this order from the council to detain the Sea Rat ships and crew?" Guilder handed the document to Monezterrell, then looked around the room. "Don't we have an Eslandian courier at our service? Someone get the courier!" he shouted as he pounded his walking stick on the floor.

[Umbra-Manis]

Revon de Crocodil rose from his seat, "The honorable councilor Hadelson and I are fully in favor of the measure, but our good Captain Haddock has chosen to abstain from this vote over a perceived lack of severity"

Two yeas and one abstention from the Sea of Thieves 

[Capt Wolf]

"Thank you, Revon. And with that, the proposal officially passes with no dissents and three abstentions." Guilder looked around the room. "I should add to the record this is a first step, and that it is clear the council wants strong action taken against these pirates!"

[Professor Thaum]

Enter the doctor, angry :

  "Me, I oppose !!! This woman is already married !!!"

...

...

Er... it is not a wedding ??!!

You're a bonehead Callaghan !!! You told me that was a second wedding for Valentine going on in this room !!

the doctor leaves, throwing something to someone

 

Edited January 26, 2018 by Professor Thaum

[gedren_y]

"Oh, of all the idiocy," Valentia grumbled as she stood and walked to a window. A quick rap on the glass got the attention of a young man outside. A hand motion spurred him to run for the entrance. "Your courier will be here shortly, Guilder," she said before returning to her seat.

[Bregir]

Where is the council currently seated? I seem to remember you have a horrible democratic habit of moving around... ;)

[Capt Wolf]

7 hours ago, Bregir said:

Where is the council currently seated? I seem to remember you have a horrible democratic habit of moving around... ;)

We do.    Currently it's meeting in Weelond.

[Bregir]

During a short lull in the debate, a Secretary came up to Guilder, whispering into his ear: "There is a rather winded young gentleman wishing to bring you a message, sir. In the uniform of a Corlander naval lieutenant too." 

Upon being admitted, the young man made it to the Admius Legistrad, bowed respectfully, and handed over a letter, doing his best to hide his exhaustion. He had obviously been running, but he was immaculately dressed in his finest uniform. 

The letter read:

"To the colonial assembly of Eslandola,

It as come to our attention that we share a common concern with the Sea Rat privateers, mainly operating out of Bastion. Corlander vessels too have been attacked recently, as have Eslandian, and while we have little interest in lumping all Sea Rats together with these villains, we cannot abide threats to the safety of our citizens and yours.

While the Royal Navy will continue to carry out its orders with determination regardless of the odds, cooperation with the other Grand Navies of Terra Nova is most welcome. Should the grand galleons of Eslandola wish to join us in our campaign against those who would threaten peaceful trade, the Royal Navy will be honoured to sail alongside you, putting aside any possible differences arising from our common history. 

It is our hope that you will accept this outstretched hand and have a reply to Rear-admiral Fletcher, who will act as representative for the Royal Navy during this campaign. The Lieutenant is at your disposal as courier.

Signed

Undersecretary of trade

G. Robertson

[Capt Wolf]

As the young lieutenant from Corrington waited, Guilder read the letter aloud to the council.

When finished with the message, Guilder took a breath, then continued to address the council in his own words. "This is a most interesting offer. While we have started a process to deal with the specific attacks of earlier this month, that course of action does not preclude us from entering into anti-piracy efforts in general, or to address the specific attack if negotiations do not proceed well. What are the council's thought on this matter?"

Guilder then turned to the lieutenant. "Young man, please find a seat. You may find this takes a bit, and you are most welcome to stay as we discuss the matter."

[Kai NRG]

Jalape stood up and cleared his throat a little nervously before addressing the council.  "O' course," he began, "we canna take definite steps wi'out hearin' frae Bastion, sae be that they ha' an explanation o' their attack.  But as pirates, o' one form o' t'other, ha' been tha plague o' the Brick Seas these many years, I believe cooperation wi' tha Corries in tryin' to eradicate tha plague would do muckle good to both our nations, and harm only to our enemies."  Having said all this without pausing for breath, he sat promptly down again, glancing around to gather the effect of his speech.

[Capt Wolf]

Guilder always marveled at Jalape's accent. He could never quite locate it, at least not to a region of Eslandola.

"Thank you Chef Jalape. Does anyone else have any thoughts on a joint anti-piracy effort with Corrington or other navies of the Brick Seas?"

As Guilder waited for a response, another messenger delivered a letter. Guilder read it quickly to himself, then addressed Jerome Monezterrell in the MAESTRO delegation. "It looks like we have some news from Fuerte Unido. The ships and crews are under armed guard, although it appears several Sea Rat crews have fled into the jungle. Jerome, do you have any additional news from your fair town?"

[Capt Wolf]

"I'd also like to welcome our newest council members, representing the Prio Seas: Lady Condora, Chief Apulo, and Doctor Ayuda."

[Kai NRG]

Chef Jalape was about to jump up and extend a warm welcome to his fellow-chef, but Esterhazy caught him by the arm and whispered "Chief Apulo, not Chef Apulo," and Jalape hastily resumed his seat and hoped no one had noticed his impulsiveness.

[Tezclatipoca]

Lady Condora, Chief Apulo and Doctor Ayuda entered in the Council Room admiring all the decorum. They reached their seats but instead of sitting like Chief Apulo or Lady Condora, Doctor Ayuda stayed straight and said :

"I would like to thank you, gentlemen, and women, for welcoming us.

It is sad to see that our island is, once again, the focus of international tensions and we would like to be clear here. We are ready in detaining in good human conditions the Sea Rats who would cooperate with the local authorities but we are declining any incident the fleeing crews could encounter in the jungle."

Chief Apulo warmly got his welcome back to Chef Jalape even if he didn't knew why he received such a warm welcome from a man he didn't recognised... Well, did he ? No ! Sure he hadn't encountered Chef Jalape before... And then stood up just after Doctor Ayuda speech to add :

"Hello good sirs, I am Chief Apulo, sorry if I am not clear, but it's not my birth language.

 I am adding to Doctor Ayuda declaration that we will send patrols of native warriors and rescuers to look after the crews who got into the jungle. The internal part of the island is not safe and we would be saddened to learn men died during this incident..."

Then, Lady Condora firmly got up nearly like she was standing at attention (Probably a deformation from her training) :

"Our Green Riders, used for communications between Fuerte Unido-Puerto Desafio-Nova Malto and the Native villages, will not take on their responsibility to rescue drunk sailors lost in the middle of nowhere ! This will delay all our efforts to secure the roads on Isla de Victoria ! We need more military presence to help there !"

Edited February 5, 2018 by Faladrin

[Bregir]

The Lieutenant was blushing and looking around shamefully. He had been nodding off, and while it had been a rough trip here, his cutter rushing through the waves to reach the colonial council, he still hoped no one had noticed...

[Capt Wolf]

The council hall had broken down into private discussions on the matter, with no public debate for the whole membership for some time. When Jerome Monezterrell, Eslandola's Secretary of the Navy as well as Mayor of Fuerte Unido, received word that the Sea Rat ships had been detained and diplomatic discussions were ongoing, Guilder spoke with him at length. Finally, Guilder returned to his desk at the head of the room and gaveled the council to order.

"I think we've all had some good conversations on this subject, but it's time to bring it back to public debate." Guilder waited as the last of the private conversations quieted down. "From what I have gathered, the situation in Fuerte Unido is well in hand, and it appears we will be able to resolve the issue peaceably. But piracy is still a problem in the Brick Seas. I believe our naval captains have the ability to discern the difference between peaceful traders from pirates who fly the black. So, I propose that we take up Corrington on their offer of a joint anti-piracy mission. My only concern is that we make it clear that we are hunting outlaws, not traders who are simply trying to live their lives out from under the yoke of another government." Guilder looked around the room, then continued. "Who wants to go pirate hunting? And will someone second this motion so we can vote?!"

[Garmadon]

"An excellent idea!" exclaimed the Lieutenant quickly, jumping up.  "We ought to send a huge joint Corrington and Eslandolan force to Fuerte Unido, I maintain, to catch all those scoundrels as they come out!" and he sat down abruptly.

Agent Guelds rolled his eyes at him - he clearly hadn't been paying any attention to what the Gov. was saying.  "That affair's taken care of already," he whispered to his neighbor - "though it was rather... phh, lamely and tamely taken care of, if you ask me" ("or me," added the Lieutenant) - and then, raising his voice to an audible tone, added, "I'll second the motion, then, Gov.!"

"Thirded!" exclaimed the Lieutenant, before Willoughby smacked him over the head with his slate.

Three votes in favor of the measure from the ETWC bench (though they all wish it could have been something more... drastic...)