Goblin Lands 2 Diplomatic Mission WEEK 18: Revoked Reservation Status

[Kolgol]

By this point Ka’zac was inwardly fuming, but he managed to maintain a diplomatic demeanor. Each of them verbally attacks our tribe, but as soon as I speak a word in defense, I am chided for bickering? He was however, glad that the conversation had shifted towards a collective vote instead of each individual opinion of his tribe’s actions.

“As the speaker for Ka’Rhug and a council member of the UTR I would like to vote for making the wholesale slaughter of ferals a crime. I don’t believe that such unnecessary force should be used on them that they are wiped out, but we should certainly be allowed to fight them in self defense, as they are unfortunately sometimes going to be our enemies at some point or another. Therefore we shouldn’t attack them without provocation, but instead take measures to ensure our mutual safety and benefit in the future, with the aid of some of Gultor’uf’s suggestions.” He stated, swallowing his pride.

“I also move that past offenses should be stricken from the record, as there was no previous law established, and there was no prior discussion as to how the UTR handles outer lying tribes. Ka’Rhug also, as a tribe, agrees to not final death olgogs that are not within, or under the jurisdiction of; the tribe of Ka’Rhug and the assets associated with it.”

“Lastly, I would like to call for a vote of no-confidence in the protection of Brother Sira and the associated governments of the Valley of Vegalia and the Domes of Doyest Vesk and Vegalia. They have shown no proof of their supposed protection in the past, claiming that we handled the problems faster than they could assist. I believe this is false, and is an excuse to disassociate themselves from our new nation. I believe that we as a nation can handle our own problems, and that we should not rely on others to do our fighting for us. If this hadn’t happened, I am sure they would have eventually have found a different excuse to revoke their “protection”; as we are now a nation, we are sure to be provoked more often by the Church of One. This would not only inconvenience our supposed “protectors” but it would force them to spend their own resources constantly defending us. I say that we are a mature enough nation with a powerful standing army that shouldn’t have to bow to the whims of those who demand our good behavior but provide nothing in return.”

[The_Or_Lur_Tribe]

Tlahob was glade that someone was finaly making since. All this bickering was wasteful and pointless.

“The Or’Lur Tribe seconds the motion.”

[Rhug_na_ru]

At this moment Reshed stepped in. He was wearing his usual outfit, minus his blue jacket. He went and sat in the location he figured would suit his position in the meeting and spoke.

“Fellow tribes of Refuge or whatever you may call it in these times. I am Reshed, the leader of the tribe of Rhug’na’ru. I would not like to dance around the point, for there is obviously no reason for delay since I’m sure, one way or another, you have found out what my tribe has wrought on the poor ferals in the area around Rhug’na’ru. Not my tribe, so much as it was I who ordered the attack in anger and fear. Fear for the loss of everything we of the Rhug’na’ru have striven for, and achieved, in this past year and more, it it could have been rendered futile by the Ferals. As you may now, we have in the recent year raised a modest fleet of flying machines; simple planes and our masterpiece: the Hindengog airships. I would like to focus on the latter as I explain the anger that caused my rash and evil action of the day that has harmed many of my people mentally and killed those that my anger was pointed towards. The airships fly not with wings or leyas, but from a lifting gas called Hydrogen. It is somewhat hard to come by but as fate had it, our friends in Tla’la’cal found plants beneath the surface that excreted the substance and gave some to us, and with that we have a near infinite source. But at a cost.”

He sighed and rubbed his brow.

Hydrogen is a violently volatile gas that with the slightest spark it could burn and explode. We knew this of course and placed it and the Hydrogen plants in a sealed off portion of our bunker with vents to the containers that we would siphon off of to make our airships soar. It was sealed, for what we would have thought to be forever but alas, it was not to be so. It was the day that we slaughtered them that it was shown not to be so. After numerous reports of missing items from food to tools and materials, I had sentries placed in and around the small village to keep out those thieves or catch them in the act. We caught and stopped none. SO I decided to have the bunker searched for signs of forced entry, seeing as we have never opened the deepest doors and they may or may not lead to another way out. It was in the sealed off rooms, or so we had thought to be, that we found where they entered. A small hole behind a broken set of doors, with a tunnel leading up and out to some distant location. How did we know it was a feral tribe you may ask, and I will show you."

Reshed pulled a small bone and obsidian necklace from his pocket and held it out to be looked at. “None in Rhug’na’ru, to all my knowledge, would wear such a necklace or would lace it with either material, and it came down to a simple solution in my head; the ferals were breaking in. As that was my first though, I was not very angry. Mildly so, but not greatly. Then they told me they had found it in the Hydrogen chamber. If you remember earlier, Hydrogen is highly flammable, a small spark can cause great destruction. If they had made a SINGLE spark down there, they and all above would die. The fires would spread from Airship to Airship in the air yards above and destroy them and all who fall in the burning wreckage. Our village would burn and the Rhug’na’ru would be gone. It was this fear that filled me with anger. The safety of my tribe is first and foremost, as they are of kin to me in many ways. So I ordered the slaughter of the ferals who we had spotted some time earlier from our flight patrols over and in the area.”

He closed his eyes and turn his head to the ground. “Such were my thoughts, and reasons for my action. After a time, maybe two days but at this time I do not know, I got reports of what happened out there to the ferals, in detail, and what the pilots that day were going through. Nightmares, both sides. A terrible set of nightmares I had wrought on the whole area, in flame and steel and hate. I thought for a long time on what do do about this, crying for my people, those ferals I had murdered and those that would sek to end us for these actions.”

He raised his head to Ka’zac, then turned away a moment. “Even Kolgol, who still killed them, gave them a chance. I did no such thing. All I can do is apologize and that is no sure thing, nor is it able to stand up to my terrible, however excused, actions. I do not believe these Earthers and their words of protection on our lands at any rate, but they do offer a way for my to pay retribution for my crimes.” He looked down at the floor, then back up again. “I offer these ideas: either the UTR takes me as their prisoner for my crimes against our race, or you turn me over to those who have no proof of their words. Either way I hope you will bear no ill will on those in the tribe of the Rhug’na’ru, they are not to blame in this act and were only following my orders.” He would sit down and stare at the necklace while other discussed this whole series of events.

[lalder]

Lalder says "There are many votes, so I will try to get to them all.

My vote on making Killing Ferals illegal is no as its worded.

We need to phrase it carefully because all should be allowed to defend their tribes and the UtR. Killing shall not be allowed with a self Defence exception and and an exception allowing while acting in the defence of your tribe, the UtR or others. This is Olgog to Olgog and Tribe to Tribe. This should allow our enforcers to do their job. And allow our Tribes and armies to respond to those who attack us. If an outside tribe attacks a UtR tribe, retaliation/defence is allowed by the defending tribe and its allies and the UtR.

We need to protect those who protect us. I hope this wording protects Babi and their tribes. This should also protect Urog and his Brezians, and those who help them, as they are under attack from the other leaders/tribes there. And I want to make sure Any tribe can help another tribe that is attacked. If the wording does not, I’m open to change. If this is ok with Babi and Urog I will vote yes for this phrasing.

With this exception, The Ferals did attack first in most cases, so those who acted should work to rectify their damage of their attacks if possible.

I personally accept and vote to accept Ka’zac offer to not burn Olgogs not of their tribe. Then if killings do happen, we can rectify and find out what actually happened and restore those killing was wrong.

I Vote to help Reshed and his tribe. They reacted badly, but their entire tribe was at risk. As part of their punishment/help, we need to make this hydrogen production safer. Which may mean reducing their production until we/they can do this. They will have a long road of penzance and healing.

I Vote against the no confidence vote.

Part of the reason parts of the Colonies and/or Oners don’t come here in force is this projection. The small forces we can handle, but not an all out attack. I vote we need it and should work to resolve this feral issue to make it right and keep our protected status. Although we need to make sure the Brotherhood understand our actions were not without reason and this protective status was to protect all olgogs, not just Ferals. Additionally earthers are part of the cause of the Feral attack in the first place by harming the natural food supply the ferals rely on.

[The_Or_Lur_Tribe]

Tlahob rolled his eyes at Lalders long winded speach. To him it was simple.

“My vote is simple. I vote yes to. the no kill law with Llders defense claue. I also vote yes to the no final death however I move that we make that a code of war for all but vamyrs, undead and other threats of similar nature. And finaly I vote yes to the no confidence, as I believe that we can hold back enemy’s as the others do,by making alies and advancing in our ways.”

[Rhug_na_ru]

Reshed put the necklace back in his pouch, looking over at Lalder with a slight annoyed look on his face. “You imply that the production of Hydrogen can be made safer, and at the moment it is as safe as my people can make it be. There is no way to make it non-volatile in any form aside from getting rid of it all together, and I know that will not happen. Push that thought from your mind, it is as safe as it was before, beneath our land surrounded by concrete.” He looked over at the representative of the Earthers. “I vote in favor of not trusting these Earthers. Have they stepped in to help us before? If they had wanted to they could have stopped many of the attacks that have been happening up to the point of Simonsburg. They say they were about to, yet they have no proof.”

He stood slightly straighter, looking Lalder in the eyes. “What makes you trust them, or for that matter, what makes you think we as a nation cannot handle ourselves? We have sizable armies and were able to push back the church of one, who had formidable weaponry. I understand that what they propose is nice, keeping us safe from outside threats and all, but do you really think we need them in this?” He crossed his arms. “But off of that point, you say “Reshed and his tribe” and “they have a long road”. Not that I dot appreciate the gesture, but there was no fault in my tribe other than my own, so do not involve them. I did not offer them up to be changed by tribes who do not understand their way of life. Try do do so and you will find stiff resistance.”

He sighed again, not focusing on anyone in particular. “So, as for the other votes; I vote yes to the anti-feral killings as stated by Ka’zac and restated by Lalder. Another yes for Ka’zac’s other proposals.”

[Urik_s_Outcasts]

Urik had sat and listened to all the talking back and forth and dearly wished he had sent Dreg instead of coming himself. He hated meetings, always had. So he felt great relief when they finally got to the voting even if at least one of the propositions didn’t seem worth voting on. He stood before addressing the assembled olgogs.

“I think we can all agree that the first two motions are fair and agreed to.” He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. “But the third one? I absolutely vote no. Have things really changed in the last year? Oh sure we beat the church you say. The fighting only stopped when the VoV, Brothers of the Fist and EEF recognized the UTR and established reservation status. We didn’t beat the Church of One. We didn’t even put a large dent in their forces. We took a couple of settlements and defeated a few hundred paladins. The only thing that stopped a crusade of tens of thousands or millions of troops attacking us was our agreement with the Colonies.”

[Gang_of_the_Uf_Mag_o]

Urog was uneasy. Lost in thought, he gathered his thoughts and pooled his memories. How did we get to this point? It then hit him… a series of events that couldn’t be coincidence. His tribal council was voting on something, which was odd considering that the United Tribal Council didn’t have authority over several of the tribes present. What was a ‘vote of no confidence’ anyway? Strange Earther terms…

When Dreg of Urik’s outcasts spoke up, he was pleased that he wasn’t the first to mention that Sira and the Vegalian Earthers (as he would now call them) were supposed to be allies, not simply shrugged off because it was inconvenient.

“Dreg is right. The Vegalian Earthers of the East extended a hand of friendship to us when we needed it. They supported our cause and defended our ways when the EEF Earthers and the Earther Gangs of the Rehsed Cross were hostile to us. The used a silly Earther ritual or law against their Earther bretheren to our benefit. Their hands were offered in friendship, not for us bite because it doesn’t give enough. They had only one rule, and we broke it.”

Urog looked out to the Vegalian Earthers present, “I wish it to be known that the Brezans do not forget your friendship, even if our actions mean we cannot continue our arrangement. Your leaders granted compassion without hostility, arrogance, or distaste for our methods. The Gang of the Uf Mag’og thank you.”

He looked back to his olgog brethren, “Consider this: I think it odd that at the same time the feral’s food supply is waning and they begin to attack us that a massive attack occurs against the EEF, the Earthers of the North. I think they called it “terrorist.” The Earthers of the North ask us for help in ways that make us olgog uncomfortable. The ferals act in a way that make us uncomfortable too. Both cause us to act strongly and in ways that create a rift between us and the Earthers. To any who have observed us in the last few years, our reactions are predictable. We respond with fear and mistrust to the Earthers of the North, and we chafe against the one simple rule that the Earthers to the East have bound us by. So I think it odd that after months of cooperation with the Earthers we are in a position to spite both our Earther neighbors at the same time. It is a coincidence that I can’t ignore.”

Urog pauses to take a breath and change his tone from pensive to matter-of-fact, “I will not vote because this matter isn’t just for the council of the United Tribes of Der’al. It ignores too many present. I ask instead: What will we, the olgog, do when our friends ask us to accept responsibility for what we have done? Are we willing to accept the consequences of whatever that decision is in light of recent events?”

[Urik_s_Outcasts]

Small OOC note. Urik is at the meeting not Dreg if that was unclear. Just to avoid confusion.

[lalder]

Lalder says "For myself, I accept responsibility for the result of my own actions, orders, and decisions. To the Brotherhood and the VovF, I do hope after today they know at least the intent behind those actions as I’ve said, to feed the Feral’s the way I know and stop the feral attacks against my tribe. I will continue work to keep the Brotherhood and Vovf as friends and allies if possible. And I think we all should.

Not matter what happens, I believe all of us should also look for ways to learn from this, fix what we can, and put in ways to prevent it in the future."

[Derlur_the_Nomad]

Ogol heard enough of these proceedings. He had learned much about the different tribes of the olgog today, and who he needed to learn more about. He smirked when Urog made the connection between the events. The big lug was smarter than he looked. The fact that any Brezans were capable of intelligible thought and speech was novel to Ogol. Poor Derlur, he thought to himself.

The Karovian olgog stood proud, dressed in a traveller’s cloak that looked clean and fresh, and otherwise Karovian standard dress. “I’m Ogol of the Clan of the Heavy Falling Rock, part of the Great Northern Army.” He bows respectfully to Urog.

He continued, “Judgment is a harsh term for what we, the olgog, deserve. So is punishment. You can’t combat lack of compassion with a similar lack of compassion. There are no lessons to be learned from that, and no opportunity to right the wrongs that we have done.”

He then looked to Lalder, “How do you fix death? How do you right the wrong of final death?”

Olog then looked to the rest of the olgog contingent, “As the great and venerable Goblin King Urog presented, a series of actions meant to alienate us from our neighbors is not coincidence. Our responses to such actions were predictable. Well, some of you were harsher than expected.” Olog did not forget how easy it was to stir up old hatred among the Brezans… it was a powder keg waiting to happen. The nomads did not see it coming, but something else had to have.

“I’ve heard this council admit that our actions were wrong, based on fear, and that we’d never like to do it again. I heard that we want to resurrect those that died. Great. What else can we do to prove that we’ve learned our lesson?”

Olog knew the answers to his own question, but it wasn’t his place to say them. Personally, he didn’t care about the arrangement between the Earthers and the Olgog. But a great wrong was done, and he wanted to see if the olgog were willing to change their ways. And, well, the nomads owed it to olgog to lead them along the right path. They were not blameless in their pursuits. Too bad Kokiyo was torn to shreds; it would have been nice to learn more about the ferals, especially to learn why they were attacking the other olgog.

[GulTor_Uf]

Many in this chamber, argued for killing another gog, and at his trial we included every gog that died, including the “ferals” as you call them. Not they don’t count? The only saving grace is that the tribes voted to not kill him.

I now understand why that gog believes that no one here is ready to lead a nation.

I will go help these gogs that have been alienated by the actions of the people here today, I have preparations to make. "

Yagogi’al, We are going to need to discuss what cutting off nomads from the paths they walk will do. We haven’t owned land in the sense you presented here since the fall the city of karov.

I take my leave.

[GulTor_Uf]

Tracks intermingled outside of the UTR chambers, giving him pause. “politics” he mumbled, as he sorted through to Sira’s tracks. Following them, he went to find the earther[?].

His approach was hurried, there was so much work to be done, and it looks like the rest are working on forgetting this ever happened. The furrowed brows caused lines to be seen through his fur, showing all the complexity of the thoughts in his head.

"Greetings Sira, I am Bill of the tribe of GulTor’uf, and I don’t believe we have spoken before. I come to you in this moment because the task of helping the disenfranchised gogs has fallen to me. There are other concerns related to helping these gogs, as a group of earthers are releasing gogs they have had in death and slave camps.

All of these gogs need help, the ones in the camps are sick and need food and medicine. They have been separated from there tribes and family, and should be reunited.

If you pardon the distraction;

There is a game my tribe plays"

Bill creates a crystal with the leyas.

“It helps our tribe with understanding the relationships between things, and helps skills with the leyas” Bill creates a few more crystals, varying in colours. using some air leyas he lifted the crystals into the air. The crystals started to organize themselves into order, with the fist crystal he built in the center, and the others around it, in closeness to colour.

"This shows the relationship between the colours, based on the first crystal. This is a simple example, but we can do this with complex thoughts.

I propose that we find as many of the gogs and the gogs from these camps, get there name, tribe name, age and family members names to try and rebuild the tribes lost.

We can do the organizing, but my tribe doesn’t have the resources to help feed and heal all the gogs involved. There is a large amount of gogs involved, and if we can get more people involved in helping create these crystals it would help get these gogs as whole as we can make them faster.

Would you be able to help, or be able to put me in contact with someone that can help?"

[Yagogi_al_the_Og_ab]

Hmmm… a fellow Karovian as part of the Great North Army, this is news indeed.

"The lands are Karov are bountiful when treated right. Any tribe staying in one location for too long will take up what the lands provide, and unbalance the safety of the ecosystem. There are certain measure that we can look to move forward with and further these goals, but they will come with time. I cast a vote that unwarranted killing, with respect to the defense clause be passed. I would further like to agree to the point of no final deaths, and this brings something else.

We will have begun discussing getting to the heart of the situation, and finding out about the attacks from the others. They do not really understand language nor technological tool use (beyond flint, bone and wood tools). They are easily frightened by Leyas, Technology and just about anything out of the ordinary. We can learn from what we see about them even if we don’t fully understand them. We can also take advantage of how the situation went done, and try communing with the dead to find answers concerning the attack. The dead, though tough to follow the communication, will not lie or stray from their path. This is something that is within our power, and we must make the most of this. What has happened has happened, and we can learn from our experiences."

[Kul_Gul_Rapi_Family]

Babi Hung his head low adjusting his top hat. He should consider it a victory that most agreed future killings of ferals won’t be justified, unless the tribe can invoke some sort of self defense. At the same time it sounded like the vote of no confidence in terms of the VofV treaty had died down.

“I agree with Urik.” He said nodding to the fellow GUTS member. “We hear tales about da weapons and armies the church can unleash. It not a thing we easily defend.”

He nodded to SIra, “Da Brother proclaim the treaty off if we don’t punish those responsible for the killings already occurred. We don’t do this da treaty off whether we want it or not. So are we gonna punish the tribal leaders who already do these tings, or do we call off da treaty?”

[Kolgol]

Kaz’ak grew uncomfortable as the conversation shifted back towards punishment.

“Five tribes here have agreed to absolve the accused tribes of their crimes. Or’Lur, Rhug’na’ru, Lalder, Urik’s Outcasts, and myself. Unless a majority is reached by the opposing side, by UTR law it is settled.” He said, proud to demonstrate his knowledge of the rules that bound the council members.

“If it helps, I will retract my vote of no-confidence in Brother Sira, but I still do not believe we should take all he says lightly, nor should we take what he says at his word. I will leave it up to each of you as to whether or not you seek to repair your relations with Vegalia, but Ka’Rhug will not attempt to re-apply for reservation status, nor will we be a pawn in anyone’s attempts to do so.”

[The_Or_Lur_Tribe]

“Kaz’ak I believe you are mistaken. I only voted on the laws put before this group. No member here said anythig about absolving the accused. If that is put before us then my vote would be that they must give up to the injured olgogs. Same as when we were attacked by the earthers devices. Infact if I could I woul put before this gathering that we seek out a few Uth and Peleblors to make a device to cause a gog to relive their crimes through their victims.” Tlahob stated rather put out that some assumed that they would go unpunished.

[Gang_of_the_Uf_Mag_o]

“Kaz’ak, You misunderstood me. We are not absolved of anything. Voting remains irrelevant because it doesn’t change what we’ve done. If, by your words, you wish to do nothing more other than forget what you’ve done, then make it clear. But no matter what your personal choices and desires are, the United Tribes of Der’al will be judged for what we have done.”

Urog waited, impassively, for the response. He also waited for one of his fellow council members to acknowledge his point about coincindence between the Mag deral attacks and the feral attacks on their tribes.

[Urik_s_Outcasts]

“Yeah I’m pretty sure we voted that there should be no more indiscriminate killing of Ferals. Not that there shouldn’t be consequences.” Urik said. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment.
“At the same time we all have some responsibility. Even if we didn’t kill any Ferals in our own lands we didn’t exactly rush to defend them either. What if instead of individual punishments we agree on group reparations from the whole UTR? Heal who we can. Maybe find some way to provide them with food. Or better that they can provide themselves.”

[The_Or_Lur_Tribe]

“The only problem with that is that the ferals refuse to be a part of any society or to even use a proper language. The best we can do is what the earthers claim to do for us, set aside lands where they can be themselves and make sure it has a ful supply of animals and other food sources.”