Emergency Session Of The Hall Of Speakers

[*Darkrob]

As Rhistel moved to speak, Charles hushed the girl whispering in his ear and leaned slightly forward as to instinctively better position himself to hear what he was going to say. He looked very interested in the continuing process

[*Serena]

With a nod in thanks to the Speaker, Rhistel made his way to the podium, managing to look like he was forced to do so even after being the one who expressly asked permission to speak in the first place.
Once in the middle of the Hall again he briefly moved his gaze on the audience, he then cleared his voice a little and finally spoke in his usual posed tone.


"Some of you have voiced their alarm, others have made... counter-proposal, some of which, I am sorry to say, are nothing but Utopian, considering our current situation.
Before we go to vote, I will try and clear as many doubts as I can, as I believe this is in everyone's interest.


No one, at any time in this council, has ever suggested for the Harmonium to lose jurisdiction on the Bazaar for what concerns laws matters.
I don't think there's reason to say this aloud, but we all know that by Agreements previously taken, the Harmonium has and will always have the right to... perform their duties in every part of the Cage, with the sole exception of Faction's grounds.
I am uncertain why some are afraid this situation could change here and now. There are already part of the city the Harmonium has willingly decided to not patrol, and yet, even there they never failed to reach when they deemed it was needed, no matter how far the nearest patrol was.

Allow me to reiterate this, we are talking about merchants, not criminals." He states plainly, his tone almost bored. "I don't see any of you requesting stockades and permanent pickets in any other part of the city, so why you wish to keep seeing them in the Bazaar?

And to those who have brought up the feys and their attacks to the Cage... your concern are legitimate, we should all worry about this, as it is indeed a situation that needs to be dealt with.
But it is also an emergency situation. What we are discussing, here and now in this council, is not some... contingency plan on how to deal with the attacks.
We are discussing what should be the Market situation during the Cage everyday life, even and mostly when the Raven Queen's threats will be long forgotten.
Do not make this decision with your mind focused on war. We are not planning to be in war forever.”



He pauses to take a small breath, lowering his gaze briefly on the podium, then he just shakes his head and returns his attention to the audience

“Even if not sharing the thought, I can of course see the other objection raised at the idea the Free League could take care of the Market on his own. The Free League, afterall, does not have voice in the council, so why should any of you decide to give them control of an entire Ward?
Of course, the problem is not military training or organization, as some has tried to state. Again, it is a Market, not a war zone. All of us should wish to not see violent acts in the Market, as it would affect our economy. We should not feel the need to have sword drawn in there.

We Fated have proposed for the Free League to be able to administer their own everyday businesses in the Bazaar, and we are also convinced they can pull off the job.
Still, should the council not feel the same way, we are also willing to propose for a Faction with proper vote at the Hall to be assigned to the Market, as aÂ… "legal" Keeper, letÂ’s say.

Now, I have no reason to play modest with you. Among you all, the Fated are the only one, after the Indeps themselves, to be able to do this job. We know the Market, we have always been there and we recognize what the merchant necessities are.

But most of all, contrary to what most seem to believe, we do have the Free League support in this…” He pauses to look around “...You were not expecting us to talk about someone else’s problems without their knowledge, were you?”

“Still, should you also not like the idea of the Fated being assigned to this, please by all means make another, possibly not convoluted, suggestion.
But if you want our vote, do be convincing: we do not wish to see the Market in the hands of someone who would bring it to ruin.

And as Factor Ta’Kan has already said… should this “experiment” not work well… I believe no one will have problem with the Council bringing up the subject again in the future. We would, in fact, expect as much.”


He finally pauses and looks to the Speaker wit ha small bow.


“Should you wish to allow questions, I will gladly answer any of them. Otherwise, I have concluded”

[*Hydra]

Kala looked at Rhistel after he had finished his speak, a bit of anger could be noticed in her traits.

- I sincerely doubt that any faction desires to see the Fated influence and taxes increasing under the pretence of their "charitable intents".

[*Serena]

Still on the podium, Rhistel would briefly look in Kala's direction, a composed expression although betraying some bewilderment at the random remark.

"Tax changes have hardly any connection with this issue, Mrs Ta'Kan, I thought it was quite clear from my speech. Fated always had all the means to do what you are implying, yet... they are not doing it. So, again, can we avoid baseless assumptions and focus on the matter at hands?"

[*Hydra]

"Baseless ? I'm just questioning the neutrality of your faction regarding these matters, especially as a former Fated factor, now among the ranks of the Doomguard has been very adamant about his desire to change the status quo.

As for the desires of the indeps, should I remind you that some of them have actually called the Doomguard for help, something that was denied by the rest of the League and I wouldn't be surprised if the same occurred with you or any other faction. If the indeps wish to have more autonomy its fine, but they have to work for it by themselves without any help, they are not children needing parents."

[*Serena]

He nods at her words, offering what seems like a hint of a shrug

"That is quite fine, Mrs Ta'Kan. Anyone who followed our speech until now knows the Fated proposal was to leave the Bazaar to the Indeps," he states in a plain tone, "it means we are on the same page, even if you didn't notice."

With those last words he returns his attention to the speaker, clearly still waiting for directions from him.

[*MimiFearthegn]

"We have heard the arguments concerning the matter at hand -" the Speaker spoke up.

"The matter will now be put to a vote."

//Locking the thread while I wait for responses and tally things.

[*MimiFearthegn]

The Speaker called for a vote. The motion to remove the Harmonium was very popular. The Fated, Godsmen, Sensates, Doomguard, Bleakers, Dustmen, Ciphers, and Signers all voted in favor. The Xaositects said something which was also construed as a vote in favor of removing the Harmonium, in favor of the "Right Gardeners."

Naturally, the Triad voted against the motion. The Harmonium and Guvners were both very vocal about the foolishness of the entire notion. The Mercykillers waited until the others had voted to voice their concerns about security again, and then cast a very half-hearted vote against the motion.

The Athar abstained.

Then the vote was called on who to replace the Harmonium with. The Fated, of course, offered themselves as the guardians of the bazaar, but very few believed the Heartless to be acting in the best interests of anyone but themselves. There were exactly two votes in favor of Darkwood's proposal - the Fated themselves, and the Mercykillers.

Quite a few votes were cast in favor of the Free League, before the representatives of the Fraternity reminded everyone that it was technically not possible to grant a non-existent faction anything. There followed a small debate on whether or not the Indeps did, in fact, exist. The conclusion of said discussion was that no one could (of course) know exactly who the fifteen factions of Sigil were in the mind of the Lady, but that they all certainly knew that the representatives in the hall were "real" factions. The status of the Indeps was uncertain, and they didn't have a leader to represent them anyway.

Undeterred, most of the factions still insisted on casting their votes for "no one" to be appointed the guardians of the bazaar, with the caveats that -
1) The Harmonium would have a few weeks within which to remove themselves
2) The Legal system of the Cage would not be disturbed; serious crimes would still be dealt with via the normal judicial process (should the criminals be reported and delivered from the Bazaar to the Barracks)
3) Harmonium forces could still enter the bazaar in order to protect it from outside threats, within reason

But, the Harmonium were to remove all their checkpoints and fortifications from within the Great Bazaar, and not to interfere with the dealings of the merchants - whatsoever faction they might be. Those who did business in the Bazaar would be - in practical terms - responsible for protecting themselves from pickpockets, thieves, and rabble-rousers.

The Triad voiced concerns that this would lead to vigilantes, chaos, and all sorts of bad things - the Great Bazaar would be akin to Undersigil, or the Slags! But the general consensus was that it couldn't possibly be that bad, and that was that.