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Duke Montgomery has spoken.

To a boisterous Eric Whitacre and his protesting members of the ACLU, worried about the death of the Tolerance Policy; to numerous adventurers who have followed the news of the drows' fate in Cordor, from the day an adventurer anonymously put a small, but very powerful petition into action; to a Cordor Square full of concerned Cordor citizens, many of whom had signed that very petition. And to a wall of armed Guards and Knights of the Law, standing between the Duke's Palace, Cordor's Hall of Government, and a mob riled into two distinct opinions by the debate.

Captain Phenwick Lamont of the Cordorian Guard stepped out of the Duke's Hall and announced that the city's leader would soon speak. And speak he did, with a voice like thunder, as though the Palace itself were resounding with his words from its very foundation.

"I am sorry that I do not come to you in person, citizens of Cordor, but it is a sad fact that there are many who would seek to cause you all harm by harming me. However, I am moved by your voices, and I will not allow your questions and your right to answers go unattended.

It is true that I did write the Tolerance Policy with my own hand, and it has blossomed into a beautiful thing because of your gardening. The sweet aroma of success has graced our city's trade by virtue of the Tolerance Policy, thereby improving our collective standard of living over the thirty years since its inception. But I have read the Amian Recorder. I have read the petition. I have taken to heart your personal letters, the audiences I have held with you. I have consulted with legislators and our city's merchants. And I have at last come to a decision.

I hereby absolve Lieutenant Galverson of all wrongdoing, with my apologies to Sir Caesar's court of civil law. His case is already floundering in mistrial due to the unfortunate demise of Vishlesz. By my judgment, Galverson is a truly good man, whose family has served the people of Cordor for generations. Whether he arrested Vishlesz out of a sense of duty to the city or in a moment of prejudice is irrelevant - he is a good man, and he will not be brought to his knees while acting in service to my laws.

As to the Tolerance Policy? Eric Whitacre is correct. It is very important to Cordor. It is a piece of this city's history. In fact, it defines us as a people tolerant of others, and protective of their rights. That said, the Tolerance Policy shall remain on display within these Halls, acting as the true heart and spirit of our people, even if it is not a formal act of legislation."

Suddenly, Eric Whitacre and others, such as Drey Aset and Unulith Jr'ent, cry out.

"What is this you're saying, Duke Montgomery?! That the Tolerance Policy is not legislation, but just...a piece of paper? You have to use the Guard to enforce tolerance as a law, or everything will fall to pieces! Racism will run rampant! First, the drow, then kobolds, and half-orcs, and other different but nonetheless meaninful members of our community, and then practicioners of evil faiths...and then people merely accused of practicing that faith...Duke, this will spiral out of control! You are putting tolerance into the hands of an intolerant people!"

The Duke is silent for several moments, and finally responds.

"I am sorry you feel this way, Mr. Whitacre, and any who share his opinion. I, however, will maintain my faith in the citizens and the Guard of Cordor to uphold Tolerance as a virtue without the provocation of the Law.

That said, I must also address another grave issue that faces us all: the petition to ban all drow from Cordor. Any other unsanctioned petition may have gone without notice. But how can I ignore a petition that gains a signature from over three-quarters of the people I oversee? I see names that I know, and names that I do not know, but what I do know is that I see more than names. I see an earnest desire for Change. I see...I see deep-rooted concern. And I see fear.

Therefore, I would be an unfit and unwise Duke to make no decision, and to allow the Status Quo to rule.

Captain LaMont. Commander Kenlyl. Knights of the Law and assembled Guard. Citizens of Cordor and our adventuring class, to whom we owe so much...

I declare on this day, by my right to rule as Duke of my province, that all practicing Lolthlites are hereby banished from Cordor on threat of exile and arms. It has been made very clear to me, both by my own counsel and by the Children of Lolth themselves, that they wish open war upon us. My duty as Duke is to preserve peace, and I cannot hope to have a tolerant city, if I cannot also have a peaceful one. All peoples identified as worshippers of Lolth shall henceforth be apprehended with impunity and immediately exiled from the city."

Red-faced, fists quaking, Eric Whitacre and his protestors raises a voice that is now puny in comparison to the Duke's mystic aural audio. "But how will you determine who is a Lolthlite, and who is not? Profiling? Registration? Your best gods-damned guess?! Duke Montgomery...you can't do this!"

"I can do this, and I have, the Duke addressed the dissenters with an air of finality. It will be up to the best minds and the coolest heads in Cordor to come up with a means to do as you ask. Those of you who wish to be heard on this matter, please give your names to Captain Lamont of the Guard or to Commander Kenlyl of the Militia. Between us, we shall determine a Council of Concerned Citizens to have an audience with me on this matter, and come up with a means of ensuring that our laws and safety are adhered to while the civil liberties of our citizens are equally protected.

I have spoken. May Tolerance continue to guide this, our City of Water, our jewel of trade, Cordor."

And then the Duke's voice went silent for the last time, his decree ringing over an uncertain populace.

// I cannot say thank you to enough players for this long and involved story arc that, as you can tell, is not yet over. Without Estara beginning the petition, it may not have come to this point - without the influence of several other players, it certainly would not have. You all owe yourselves a grand huzzah for bringing this all about, and now I, for one, am excited to see where it goes from here. Feel free to respond IC'ly in this thread.

The thoughts that race through her head are those of hectic double-guessing. The emotions that run rampant along her body threaten to break her down right there, right on the spot, right after the speech.

Estara was never certain that her decision was correct to put up that petition, beautifully made but swiftly acted upon. She hadn't thought twice about it, really, until all these things had started happening..

Had she tarnished the gold of Cordor, the jewel of Amia, the City that accepted all, and no matter how much she laughed and cursed at, she loved.

Had she ruined some drow's lives, who might have come to Cordor for their chance at acceptance and a new life? She recalled her friends Jud'vardas, and more recently Shirae..

She seemed to take all the burdens of guilt that the ACLU threw at Galverson and The Duke on her own shoulders. What.. exactly.. what had she done?

Several guards can be heard talking excitedly about Duke's decision. "About bloody time we stopped offering shelter to pillagers and raiders, who have so long terrorised the cities and villages of Amia!"

Mage guard Aramus felt a burden lifted in his chest. His niece had been among the dead found in the sewers that many months ago, killed by drow. He had taken a vacation to visit the Tower of Mystra and returned, but serving was just not in his heart, and he did his duties without passion.

But a ray of hope, of faith, and of justice was given this day as the voice of the Duke uttering the ban on all Lolthites carried over the square to Aramus's post by the temple door. With those words, the Duke had lifted a great burden from his heart that he had pretended wasn't there. The passion for serving once again flowed, and a smile, real instead of the fake one he used for the last months, could be seen on him.

As soon as lieutenant Daernais'shal heard the news, he shouted loudly "Woohooo!", then ran to Nomad, and took quite a few good pints of beer to celebrate the happy thing.

*Anne smiles as she sees the verdict, turning sharply on her heel as she leaves, making her way to the Nomad. Walking in a much more lively pace then usual, no manner of trouble makers or ruffians seem to be able to dampen her spirits.

Though she does eye any drow she walks by, her expression becoming slightly hard as she watches them. However, this does not last for long, and soon her good mood returns in full force.

Once there, she joins any guards there in celebrating the ban, offering to buy drinks for other guards as she drinks her tea, offering a toast to Lieutenant Galverson’s health, prosperity, and service to the city of Cordor.*

Valas, upon hearing about this .oO(Bloody bastard! He actually did it! City of Tolerance allright...it should be called the City of Madness instead.)

//Sorry for the OCC, but how does this affect things in-game? Do all drow need DM supervision to enter Cordor now, or should we just assume that they know who is Lolithe and who isn't?

Once the crowds file away and the streets once again become quiet, Sergeant Aerman, a second generation Cordor Guard makes his way to the Inn to celebrate with some friends and colleagues.
Relieved to see Galverson back on the force and relived to be seeing a start to clearing out of the unwanted elements of his beloved Cordor.
He's seen for many days after doing his duties with a smile on his face and an air of optimism in his voice.

*As Hunar hears this he chuckles*

"Bloody bastards gotta be careful from now on. Ain't welcome here either."

Aloe, sat on her favorite trash barrel, was roughly tipped to the side as someone needed it, and didn't bother to ask. But all the time the cursed and swore at the leaving figure, she was positively delighted. She grinned at her eldest child.

'The buggers won't get either of you now!'

*A figure clad in a heavy, stained robe makes his way towards Southern Cordor, sweeping the street on his way* "Concequences, concequences. They got what they asked for."

*A small gnome stops in front of Duke's Hall. He removes his odd looking helm revealing a completely hairless head, splotched slate grey skin color, and alert grey-green eyes. He kneels in front of the stone sign and silently prays. After a few minutes have passed, he opens his tiny palm and removes a small red gem, he reaches out and carefully places the gem upon the ground at the base of the sign, murmuring a few words under his breath. He stands, retrieves his helm, and walks off with a tear running down each cheek and a crooked but full smile upon his homely face.*

*News spreads into the South. Glurgle gets wind of the Duke's decree and makes sense of the pieces of info he picks up here in there in the shadows. He mutters to himself.*

"Only a matter of time. I bet people are acting surprised, heh."

Damien Clauth is seen handing out pamplets that simply say.

Lothites are now banned from the city, and the duke cannot provide any surefire ways to tell an elistreean from a lolthite, it wont be too long before accusatrions are made and fingers are pointed, and all the drow are banned from the city do to the guards inability to seperate the chaff from the wheat, soon the dukes law will spread to humans worshiping bane and the half dragons and velsharoonians...there is no clear cut way to lable, seperate and expel those of religions that are considered morally unethical!.

Her eyes and ears in Cordor deliver word to Jaqueline Vandree of the recent announcement. There is a smile on her lips as the first piece of the puzzle is placed.

*Danum struggled and squirmed in the Cordor knights grip as he was dragged from the scene, making the grapple look as brutal and obvious as he could* “This is to be the new Cordor?! This is an example of times to come, I see nau others getting mishandled for merely speaking their mind to the Duke! Oppression and censorship at the mere whims of the guards.. what a mockery, how hasty and brash to take advantage of the guards new found power to brutalise Drow!”

*A wry sneer spread across his features as the guard unclasped him with warnings not to approach the palace again, prodding at the gold inlayed metal plates across the guards chest* “I suppose you’d love to lop my head off.. mayhaps I can expect it, should I step even the slightest toe out of place from now” *crumpling his nose up, he began to slink around to the bridge, leaning against the tablets of law, making sure to scrape his shoulder plate across a piece of the writing*

“First the llothite faith, soon, any other faith of minority races, nau tolerance ensuring the guards are in check, be prepared for victimisation! For belittling, grilling for information and sly abuse to any and all, impulses guiding your ‘fair’ guards to strike down any and all who they can devise the slightest inkling for. ‘Fear’ of dark faiths, to be the new tool to embrace those who serve.. and crush any who speak out!”

*His chin dipped, sighing softly and shaking his head.. a sudden intake of breath proceeded by a ripple of his blackguard aura stinging at the souls of nearby guards, protesters and do-gooders attempting to contain the situation, gentle flickers of his emotions, hurt and dismay, suffering and shadows of images crawling into the minds of his targets, puppies nailed to walls, innocents strapped into torture devices and a few other unsavoury visions, eyes burning violet into the floor before the guards once again send him from the area, the crowds dispersing and the guards returning to their posts*

How utterly dull, he mused, a little chaos and a few caught in the crossfire would have been a beautiful accompaniment to the scene.. a pity, but still, my accusations hang in the air, perhaps there are a few more vantages to be seized..

Quote:

As to the Tolerance Policy? Eric Whitacre is correct. It is very important to Cordor. It is a piece of this city's history. In fact, it defines us as a people tolerant of others, and protective of their rights. That said, the Tolerance Policy shall remain on display within these Halls, acting as the true heart and spirit of our people, even if it is not a formal act of legislation."

Xavi, standing between the colums that flank the steps in front of the Ducal Palace, frowns as she hears the words of His Grace. "Is he going to just ignore years of dissatisfaction? Thousands of names on the petition? This isnt right!" His next words, however, lift the clouds from her heart as the banning of Lolthites is proclaimed. Even more, the statement that 'the best minds' would set to work on a method of identifying the fiends, while clearly a stalling tactic, gave her hope that some reasonable means of enforcing the ban would be enacted.

After the speech, she again made it clear to all who would listen, including Eric Whitacre, that she did not wish drow banned, but only those who expressly followed a belief that explicitly branded surfacers as cattle and filth. She insisted that she would seek council with Jud and others knowledgeable in the ways of the spider bitch, and would see that any constructive comments reached the Duke's ears.

"Finally", she thought, "we may be able to live free of the fear of filth such as Danum, Ullviri and Ana'Rahma."

// just a reminder that Xavi filed an earlier petition on March 13 in the form of a letter to His Grace (http://www.amiaworld.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17065), which was followed on May 3 by Estara's poster in the Square (http://www.amiaworld.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=18274). Perhaps that darned clerk Franton is actually in the pay of the Lolthites...

The lolthites are gone.. *Anorfirien Alow said quietly to herself as she watched the speech from across the square cloaked by her improved invisibility spell, "I wonder how much more pain this will cause the people here.. and how long it will take for the guard to fully remove all the lolthites.. oh wait this envolves brutality so the guard will have no trouble enforcing it" She thought to herself, "i wonder how long it will be before all drow are banned, then i wonder which poor minority race will be next. If it is Demonkin and the corrupt duke or his lapdogs harm my children or my husband i will not rest until this city is a small crater remembered by few"
she whispered quietly to herself, then walked off towards the nomad for a drink.

The City of Tolerance?

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