exsilium | thirteenth rune; frost; video

thirteenth rune; frost; video

[Hello, friends. A cold-eyed elf with a fairly significant skin condition stares at the camera, his jaw set, his mouth a thin, inscrutable line.]

Talk of a council is all well and good, but we have another matter in front of us.

As many of you have pointed out, there is no formal system of law in place. At present, those of you who acted as peace officers have simply continued as you were in your own worlds. If you brought others to justice, if you spoke about justice -- you have continued to see this as your right.

[His eyes narrow, drawing his long eyebrows together.]

But it is not your right. Your laws are not universal. Your morality is not sacrosanct.

We must decide on appropriate conduct as a whole, with consideration given to perspectives outside of our own.

I propose that any code we settle on be simple and direct. For example:

1. Murder shall be abolished. In the case of murder, execution.

2. Theft shall be abolished. In the case of theft, the hand shall be cut off at the wrist. Repeat offenders shall lose both hands.

3. Conspiring with the United Earth shall be considered treason. In the case of treason, suspected or actual, execution.

4. Bodily autonomy shall be respected. Knowing efforts to mind control, telepathically invade, steal, or otherwise forcibly take spiritual or physical authority over another sentient being will constitute assault. In the case of this assault, execution.

And so forth. These are merely ideas, of course.

[His lower lip twitches, suggesting that he's perfectly aware of the extremes he's recommended. Suggesting that he's just trying to get your attention, to get you to think about how you would define your own terms. What constitutes murder? Theft? Conspiracy? Justice? He's only asking.

Maybe.]

[After several hours, the post is edited with a very carefully recorded text attachment.]

Proposed countermeasures to theft:
public humiliation
fines
time locked away

Proposed countermeasures to murder:
temporary exile
(where? to a safe place? to a random location in time?

General countermeasures
better jail system (?)
compassion (???)
mercy (???)
trials (how? who receives authority? who takes what position? what verdicts should result?)
jail time (general solution?)
punishment via the VR room (?)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh? We have that understanding? Recent events suggest otherwise.

There's been a relative paucity of maimings, as I understand it.

The woman with her magic sliced from her body would disagree.

And notice how the one who did it's being held for it being a crime? Do you think that might indicate that it's not seen as a legitimate method of punishment?

Does he regret his actions? Has he gotten what he deserves? Do you think so?

Me, personally? [An unpleasant laugh.] If I had my druthers, we'd be using little hooks to turn his rectum inside out. But what I think is also wrong.

Yes. And the extremity of the Ebon Blade is not correct for what we want to build, either. But what we decide needs to be collective. I do not care if you dislike how I've begun this discussion. It is begun. That is all that matters to me.

Hon, it was begun two weeks ago. You're not kindling a fire; you're throwing a match on one already burning and thinking that, damn, you did a good job.

I do not think such a thing at all. I think we have spoken of a council. I think we have spoken of conduct. I think we have no specifics on the latter.

Am I wrong? Point to me where people besides your lot have brought up any ideas.

Yeah, why is "my lot" excluded?

You're not. But the rest of us should not be excluded, either. The people who are not human. The people who are not from Earth. And so on.

Ohhh, I see. So this was all just a bid for equality.

[He makes a frustrated noise in his throat.] No. This is a useful discussion. I have been clear and reasonable in --

[He stops; shakes his head.]

No. You dislike me, and so you are going to continue missing the point. There is nothing more to say to you.

No, I dislike what you said here. I found it pointless and asinine. And if you're so badly prepared to deal with people attacking the points you raise, probably you shouldn't raise them.

You have not attacked my 'point'. You have attacked trivialities and misdirections, and substituted them for the point. You know the purpose. You simply don't like it. But the others have responded well, and fruitfully.

[he shrugs.]

Snipe away, if you wish. Or offer something I can record for later use.

[Sardonically:]

"How can you eat with only one hand?" "Which hand should be removed?" "Should executions be public?" All so fruitful and helpful. Definitely not scaremongering that just makes people even more freaked out and even less likely to like the possibility of laws.

So yeah. There's my fucking offering for you. In doing this, in starting this line of dialogue because you wanted to be some big-dicked smug motherfucker, you have further brought down the level of discourse. You have scared people. You have thrown up another obstacle in the way, because people are going to hear chatter about hands getting cut off and resist even more the possibility of getting anything in place. Does that make you and your ego happy? Well done; you've made an impact upon the population at large.

People are offering alternatives, as I expected them to do. That you choose not to read them is, of course, your business.

[He smiles the smile of someone who doesn't have to prove that he's a big-dicked motherfucker to anyone. He already knows he is. His voice is soft; gentle, despite the guttural quality.]

I eagerly await your next insult, Ms. Karimov.

That wasn't an insult. Engage with my point. Do you deny that this sort of scaremongering gets people scared?

[It may be fair to say that Koltira's perception of what's scary doesn't quite align as it should. As a result, he shakes his head.]

I don't view it as scaremongering. And I don't see the fear you've mentioned in these replies; not by and large. Shock, perhaps. Distaste. Some admittedly surprising agreement.

But that is the issue. Definitions. I don't define murder as you do. I don't define violation as you do. The same is true across the board. We cannot discuss this problem of conduct if we don't explain what conduct means. I realize that you dislike my method. That is fine. But I think it is quite clear that I am not trying to terrorize this population.

Yeah, because you can judge the reaction by people who reply. Look at the sorts of people who did reply to you. People who agreed with you, righteous types strongly opposed to you, and people who were already up your ass. The people who replied to you have already been having this conversation for two weeks at minimum. The people who replied to you are not people who are going to be swayed one way or the other; they're the people who are looking to do the swaying.

It's the people who didn't reply who are my concern. Those who were half-listening, those who don't know their position yet. They're going to hear hand-chopped-off, and it's going to push them towards a position. Because here's what you don't get: with issues like these, the people who speak up never matter worth a shit. It's the people who stay silent you gotta go for, and you have just made things very unpleasant for them.

[He's so glad that he's been among modern people long enough to know what 'up your ass' actually means.]

Of the few respondents that I might call my acquaintance, none have replied favorably. The rest of them are, in fact, among the silent. I feel you underestimate these people, and that you are also incorrect in characterizing this as a matter of opposition and support. I am not looking for support. I am looking for ideas. I have them.

[Spat out:]

Hi. Buddy. If they're talking they're not silent. That is the definition of silence.

Yes. And they are not skittish children.

Yeah. Again. It's not the people who replied who we're talking about here.

I am not speaking of them! The silent are not fools. They are not the easily intimidated, frightened mass that you are describing. And even if they were -- if they were --

[He's lost patience; now.]

That would you make you a bloody hypocrite, wouldn't it? Because it's quite interesting for you to lecture on fear-mongering after your rousing speech on that sniveling, thieving coward. That was incitement if I have ever seen it, and you bloody well know it, too. You self-righteous fool.

[He leans in, his lip curled.]

By the way. Take the priest. I never asked for him in the first place.

[FEED CUT.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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