meeting

"..."

Having witnessed what she could only assume was a localised hallucination, the Synthetic reorients herself, glancing down at her papers.

"Now that...that is dealt with, on to matters. On the agenda is clarification of citizenship; the process of becoming one and what it means to be classified as a 'second class' citizen, discussion of a newly proposed criminal sentence, and -long overdue- a clarification of our stance on Witchcraft and determining specific laws regarding them."

She looked back up.

"Does anyone else have anything to add to the agenda before we begin?"
(Lucy)

Nidaz would shake his head from side to side.
(Nidaz)

Nidaz exclaims, "Nothing from me!"

Julius was leaned all the way back on his chair at this point, the seat balancing on it's hind two legs. His feet were kicked up onto the table, his heels resting on the counter. The General's hands were interlocked behind his head, and he brought in a yawn.

"Just show me what I need to sign! I hate these meetings." he griped.
(Julius pyr Aertas)

It's simple enough to Marcel.

Truthfully, to him it appeared as if they already defined such terms- but perhaps it ought to be recorded and written down - and so, he already exclaims.

"Citizenship is defined by full allegiance only to the Empire and servitude to its ideal- whether it's contribution as a local doctor, a craftsman, a farmer, or just a citizen that obliges the city and contributes one way or another- as well as any other acceptable path, as long as it's in no way hurtful to the Empire."

After all, there are myriad paths in life - trying to define them all under single parchment is futile.

"As for the witches.."

"I don't know a whole much about them. I think the wife of previous Don, Imogen, was one. A vile woman, whom I only regarded because she was Luca's wife." It's true enough; had she not been part of the Family, he simply wouldn't even look at her, but..

"I remember her talk about some 'tricks'. I don't know what they are, but I doubt they're beneficial - none of them are to be done against Imperial citizens."

"Otherwise, their arts seem to alter their minds too." Spoken purely from his experience with Imogen- ignorant to the whole spectrum. But then again, did he need it all to make such decision?

"Classify them as second-class citizens as well." So treat them just like Occultists. "Which means that they're unable to enter the Council unless all members vote unanimously - same goes to ascending the rank of Captain or above."

That alone ensures they have no political or decision making power in Achyon. Whatever else they do is irrelevant - as long as it's in the benefit of the Empire.

"What criminal sentence did you have in mind?"

A pause, to which he adds- turning his gaze to Titus.

"--And update about Ryker. What happened?"
(Marcel Delisle)



Ryker Pyr Docro Body Pillow [OTHER]
"Nothing compares to the real thing.. But when the real thing is missing in the middle of some Helscape? You have to improvise.

It's soft and pink.. Not as much as Ryker himself, but who can be picky in these times. There's an odd hole in the lower back side of it, a drink holder perhaps?"
Boost: None

"I agree with the points Councilman Marcel has made. But in the way of Commander Ryker?"

Titus pulls a deep inhale and prepares to lay it all out on the table.

"He led an expedition to probe the affiliates of Achlys about Cain, the patron of the Vampires. A terrible idea that I would have talked both him and Vanessa out of if I would have known what the hell was actually going on before the Rift."

A hand reaches out to somberly pat Ryker's head on the body pillow.

"Essentially, it all went to shit. After we fought a guardian to enter Achlys' realm, his daughter - to the contact we intended to see - referred us to the real gatekeeper of the realm.

One Bruno pyr Aertas, bound there for all eternity." A long glance is given to his brother at this point.

"Bruno takes us to Achlys the Primordial himself, and to everyone's surprise but my own, the Primordial known for stealing souls and entrapping them demanded that everyone present sign a contract of power to him. The same way our predecessors had in decades past.

Naturally we declined and ended up in a battle with him. Which we won without any major casualties. But before we could escape, Achlys bound and shackled an injured Ryker to force him to stay behind.

The last thing we heard was 'I'll be fine. We're just going to have a talk' as I was shoved through the Rift."

He sighs.

"We haven't heard anything sense. But while we are on the topic of banning the worship of the Dark Lord of Helheim and treating witches as second class citizens, we need to address a larger issue that has been plaguing our upper ranks for as long as I've been alive.

The worship of any Primordial or deity who would claim a magi's very soul should be outlawed, if not heavily regulated. Without any active riftmancers present, we lack a means to actually reach Achlys' Realm and attempt a rescue for the Commander.

He is essentially MIA."
(Titus pyr Aertas)

It's a little sad to hear how it ended for Ryker.. Someone she stuck so close by, gone just like that.. He didn't even invite her along to the meet with Achlys ..

How sad.

Regardless, the rat keeps a watchful eye while munching on her pie. A hint of sus' about it not being the right one always there.. But it tasted well enough.

No input for now.
(Niffty)

Upon hearing the revelation of what happened to Ryker, features of fear or something near it, that lasted a few seconds, took over the man's face, as he thought about the situation..

Heavens, this could be a tricky situation! Especially considering the contract that Nidaz made in the past..

Maybe is not good for him to take part on this whole affair..

"We must proceed with Riftmancy's studies and rescue Ryker as soon as possible, Julius.." He would say, remaining silent at the end.
(Nidaz)

Oh, this was actually important. Julius dropped his casual pose, lowering his feet to the ground and leveling his gaze to his brother more seriously. The whole story; aside from Bruno's mention causing him to furrow his brows a bit, left the General consistently straight-faced. Cold, even.

Did he not hold any love in his heart for his uncle? Or, did he have that much self control? Either way, he seemed to keep a cool head. Until coming up with a solution for Ryker's dilemma came up, prompting a shrug from Julius' shoulders.

"Well, I tried dabbling in Riftmancy a bit! But, I can't really get anywhere in my studies without Ryker around. With what little knowledge I have, it would do more harm than good to attempt a rescue mission.

Nevertheless! We should prepare for the worst, and assume that he's gone for good. If Ryker was dead, what would we do moving forward?"
(Julius pyr Aertas)

The Synthetic took a deep breath, pressing fingers momentarily to her temple before glancing at her brother for support. Her eyes shifted back to the rest a moment later.

"Thank you, Councillor Titus. This does indeed bring up something that I see as extremely important to discuss."

Achyon was in many ways a city that was less compliant to Imperial ideals as she'd prefer, but while she could accept some deviation in the name of progress, there were lines that should not be crossed, could not so long as they were to be a true part of the Empire.

"As we all should have some knowledge of, at this time Achyon is still considered a colony, its region contested. However, it is inevitable that at some point Esshar will become a true province of the Empire -perhaps several- and that Achyon shall be the provincial capital. One of my roles here is to ensure that when that time comes, the city deserves the status."

"The act of selling one's soul is not something we can tolerate, at all. I am glad to hear, Councillor Titus, that you made the correct choice when presented with it. We are not slaves to those things that would call themselves gods, we are the bringers of an age in which we are all the gods of this world, through technological and military might, and we cannot allow our society to be pervaded by those who are."

Her opinion was hardly unexpected, given her strict adherence to Imperial ideals.

"I second Councillor Titus' motion, and put forth a further point on the agenda; the outlawing of such deals, and the stripping of citizenship going forward for any who make it."

She leaned back slightly.

"As for what happens without the Commander...lets keep that for the end of the meeting. Get through the rest before we focus on that."
(Lucy)

"..."

Marcel stares somewhere forward. If Ryker dies, does that imply he could potentially become Commander? There are only so many options they have before it reaches all the way back to him.

The thought makes him shudder.
But what he says is almost expected.

"--Then we must focus on rescuing him. As soon as possible." A brief pause.

"I don't know how Riftmancy works, only that to defy great distances one needs a great deal of energy."

"The expedition I've planned would potentially bring back home the power of the sun to us - energy source so vastly powerful that it could perhaps power this travel."

"Even for a novice Riftmancer." He glances off to Julius while saying so- clearly implying that he would be the one to do it, should it reach that stage.

"As for the bindings of Primordial-"

"I believe nobody has ever done that ever since the times of Iron Chambers Council."

"Which was... about forty years ago by now."

Quite a while passed, and no other contact was made. Though, there seems to be a quiet hum while he ponders on something else..

Picking, sorting options they have to rescue Ryker.
(Marcel Delisle)

Marcel Delisle whispers to Nidaz: Aren't you connected to Achlys as well?

Nidaz whispers to Marcel Delisle: Yes...

Marcel Delisle whispers to Nidaz: We might try to use that connection to reach out to Achlys, then.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Titus chimes in near the end of Marcel's words.

"Men sell their souls for a number of reasons. With those who have already being 'grandfathered' in, making a public statement about it and more noticeably how it does not align with the ideals of the Empire should hopefully be enough to deter the masses from doing so in the future. Ah--"

The dufflebag beside him is opened, and from it comes a generator no larger than a small child.

"In addition to what you're able to obtain on your expedition, we also have this bad boy. Able to power the lower floors of the Tower of Babel for decades after it was abandoned. If we can charge it up, it can be a massive source of sustainable power for whatever purpose we have in mind."

He had done more talking than he wanted to, all things considered.

"That's all I've got, Lucy. My apologies for the news being so grim."
(Titus pyr Aertas)

"Hrm.."

"Yes. The public statement would be good."

Quite frankly he doesn't remember anyone else who sold their souls, but it's best to ensure that it doesn't happen again. As for the power sources..

"I assume Amelia contacted you." As she did him. Marcel may look like an old war veteran, but on the side he's quite often among the lead developers.

Given his own creations and contributions to some projects.

"If so, we already have the purpose defined, along with what I was telling her about."

"Unless you had more." A pause, soon his gaze turning to Lucy.

"Will you be able to take care of agreed updates to public statements and laws we discussed here?"
(Marcel Delisle)