Alderaan - Love and Intrigue

After the meeting about the Cunning Man, Jocasta stopped by her suite to change into clothes more appropriate for her audience with the Queen.

Arriving at the palace, she waited for Zeno's arrival so they could enter together.

Zeno was there, prepared to support Jocasta's plan. He did not expect it to necessarily go anywhere, but he had also not expected his own plan to have the initial traction he had found. So he was at least cautiously optimistic.

"I'm following your lead here Jocasta. Let's see what we can accomplish," he said to her.

They are brought before the Queen, she is seated in her trophy room with many stuffed and mounted creatures from her many hunts. She said, “Good evening, how can the Crown be of assistance this evening?”

Solara Panteer wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 11, 2021 9:53 pm

They are brought before the Queen, she is seated in her trophy room with many stuffed and mounted creatures from her many hunts. She said, “Good evening, how can the Crown be of assistance this evening?”

Jocasta bows before the Queen, "Thank you for granting us an audience Your Highness. I was meeting with Duke-Consort Thul earlier today to discuss cooperation among the Houses toward a specific goal, when it occurred to me that we could use something similar on a larger scale. To that end, I would like to propose the creation of a council, with equal representation from each House, whose sole purpose is to foster unity and cooperation among the Houses."

Zeno joined Jocasta, slightly behind and to the side, giving her the lead but clearly in a supporting place. He gave a bow to the queen as well.

After she speaks, he concurs. "I believe this idea has merit, and would gladly support it and participate."

“There are a great deal of Houses great and small, what purpose would this Council serve?” she asked. “How would it interact with Parliament and the Queen’s Council?”

Solara Panteer wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 12, 2021 7:30 am

“There are a great deal of Houses great and small, what purpose would this Council serve?” she asked. “How would it interact with Parliament and the Queen’s Council?”

"Parliament and the Queen's Council have their own duties and agendas. These are vital for the operation of our nation and I wouldn't want to diminish their abilities. While the Senators and Council members are generally people with big personalities who fight for their interests, these representatives will need to be more predisposed to compromise and cooperation, even with those they may hold some objections with. For this reason, this new council should be a separate entity from Parliament and the Queen's Council.

The representatives of this council would act similarly to diplomats, with the objective of creating channels between Houses that either had little reason to interact or have some animosity hindering relations. Some ways they could do this is by sharing their knowledge and expertise, such as how the ADF exchanges commanders and meets for training exercises, but it wouldn't need to be limited to military matters."

"What if we had a quarterly forum for the Houses to gather, a council does not seem feasible to manage but this sounds more like a way to keep the Houses speaking and allow for them to have input without political jockeying of importance. Though again we are unsure what this would accomplish that current systems do not," she responded.

"It is not our purpose or role to make the Houses play nice, we would prefer they saw it in the best interest of Alderaan to do so, while it may go awry at times, until now it has served our nation quite well."

Dapper Dog wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 12, 2021 11:13 am

"What if we had a quarterly forum for the Houses to gather, a council does not seem feasible to manage but this sounds more like a way to keep the Houses speaking and allow for them to have input without political jockeying of importance. Though again we are unsure what this would accomplish that current systems do not," she responded.

"It is not our purpose or role to make the Houses play nice, we would prefer they saw it in the best interest of Alderaan to do so, while it may go awry at times, until now it has served our nation quite well."

"The current systems accomplish much, but the Houses can be isolating. It is not my intention to force false cordiality, merely to provide a venue through which Houses can interact without ulterior motives, to find common ground and provide support freely without thought towards remuneration. A quarterly forum is an excellent solution and a step to encourage unity and combat prejudice or ambivalence.

I was guilty of the same prejudices as many against House Thul before I had the opportunity to sit and speak with Duke-Consort Thul and find commonalities. The same goes for House Ulgo and House Rist, but when the fighting broke out Yesterday, I found a Baroness of House Ulgo who cared as deeply for the civilians as I did and a Rist who fought against Bouris Ulgo."

"We believe a quarterly forum is the best path forward and will consider when to organize it and who will host it, though we feel it best to rotate through the Houses," she responded.

Zeno listens quietly and patiently, silently supportive of Jocasta in her efforts. When it seems like an idea has been settled on he nods his assent. "As this was Lady Jocasta's idea, I suspect it might be worthwhile to allow House Teraan the honor of being the the first to host the inaugural event. Then she can use the opportunity to establish a tone for what these events should be, as an example for the following houses."

Solara Panteer wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 12, 2021 1:14 pm

"We believe a quarterly forum is the best path forward and will consider when to organize it and who will host it, though we feel it best to rotate through the Houses," she responded.

Zeno Thul wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:03 pm

Zeno listens quietly and patiently, silently supportive of Jocasta in her efforts. When it seems like an idea has been settled on he nods his assent. "As this was Lady Jocasta's idea, I suspect it might be worthwhile to allow House Teraan the honor of being the the first to host the inaugural event. Then she can use the opportunity to establish a tone for what these events should be, as an example for the following houses."

"I am grateful and honored by Your Majesty's consideration and disposition towards this idea." she bows deeply to the Queen.

Hearing Zeno's nomination, Jocasta replies, "If it is the Queen's wishes, House Teraan will take responsibility for planning and hosting the first convention."

"We will take that under advisement and will see if such is viable, thank you for bringing this proposal to our attention," she said in dismissal.

Jocasta bows again to the Queen and sees herself out.

/exit

Zeno similarly bowed and exited alongside Jocasta.