Welcome to Politics (Joshua Morris and Gallows)

[Gallows]

The Ambrosia Cafe was quickly becoming one of Gallows's favored places to spend time during his day in Sacramento. It was not too far from the funeral home where he had found a job, and served decent coffee and snacks. The best part for his purposes, though, was the fact that during the earlier parts of the day (he had never been there at night, so he wasn't sure if it still applied then) there was quite a lull in business. It was very easy to get a table with some distance between you and the nearest customer--a customer who most likely was not a mage, and therefore had no business hearing what you wanted to discuss with the Moros Councillor and Sentinel of the Consilium.

Gallows had made sure to activate his Mage Sight that morning at his Sanctum so he could make sure no other mages were listening in on their conversation. After all, the last thing he wanted was for some Seer or Banisher to take advantage of his meeting with Morris and turn it into and impromptu assassination attempt. Still, he was much more tense about the political implications this talk could have than the prospect of physical violence. He did not expect trouble here.

Ordering himself a nice tea, Gallows sat back and waited for Morris( Jmiland1 ) to meet him.

  Casting Grim Sight at Sanctum

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2012-01-20 12:36:02		Gallows rolls 5 to activates Grim Sight with chanting		10, 2, 2, 4, 1		1 success

[Joshua Morris]

After five minutes of being parked outside and watching the place, Joshua makes his way into the cafe. Seems like a quiet place; definitely something he could approve of. He spots Gallows from the door, gives him a nod, and makes his way over. He settles himself into a seat and folds his hands on the table. There's a brief pause as he ponders the question of address; he always felt awkward the first few times he spoke with a mage without a "name" he could use. He finally settles on "So," as in, "So. What can I do for you?"

[Gallows]

"Thank you for meeting me, Mr. Morris," said Gallows with a smile. He took a sip of his tea and almost grimaced. He kept forgetting that tea here wasn't sweet by default. True, he was all right with hot tea as well, but it just wasn't the same. "You can call me...Isaac, for these purposes." It was close enough to his real name that he could probably remember it, and not as noticeable as his Shadow name. As symbolic and important as Shadow names could be, words like "Gallows" and "Scepter" and "Skull" tended to stick out in normal conversations. And those were only some of the shadow names he had heard.

"I had a few questions about the government structure here, after attending its most recent meeting. There were some...strange ideas floating around, and I wanted to make sure I understood how everything around here worked, and if I might be able to make myself of any use." He paused. "Also, you are my Councillor, so I thought it appropriate that I meet you at some point. It seemed smart to kill two birds with one stone." He put down his tea. "My first question is about your own roles, actually. Is it true that you are Sentinel as well as Councilor?"

[Joshua Morris]

"That's correct, yes. I'm--" Joshua pauses as a waiter approaches; he orders a coffee, waits until the interruption is gone, and starts again. "Yes. More one than the other, to be honest. For many months it was just myself and Tamwood; there wasn't much need for a Councilor. Clearly," he says, leaning back in his chair, "That's changed. So I'm not exactly used to the idea, but I'll be doing what I can to fill that need for our Path."

[Gallows]

Gallows nodded. "I'm familiar with the need to step into unfamiliar shoes, Mr. Morris," he said, keeping an eye on the waiter as he moved away from their table. I served as a Lictor of the Silver Ladder until quite recently--I hope those skills might be helpful here. It seemed like there was a bit of...well, a bit of confusion, to be frank, over some of the Silver Laws during the last meeting." He twirled his stirrer idly. "Particularly in the matter of appointing new Councilors."

He sighed, getting to the crux of the--or at least this--issue. "I want to make it clear, sir, that I respect what you do for this Consilium immensely," he said, "But I feel like I would not be doing my duty if I didn't speak to you about this. By Consilium law, I don't believe you can legally fill both the Councilor and Sentinel positions." He let out a deep breath. From what he had seen of Morris in the Consilium, he seemed like a good man--but that didn't tell him much about how he might react to a statement like this. He could only hope for the best, and try to do what he thought was right.

[Joshua Morris]

Joshua shrugs. "As I said, they were unusual circumstances. With a more robust population of Moros, I would be amenable to stepping down as Councilor and focusing on my duties as Sentinel. I suppose you have someone else in mind for the position?"

[MichaelH]

That had not been quite the reaction he had expected. But fair enough.

"I'm afraid I'm rather new here--it would be a bit arrogant of me to suggest any candidates." He paused. Perhaps Morris was worried that this was some sort of ill intended power grab on his part? "All I know is that you seem to be a capable candidate, and I myself am most likely not. Even if I had the skill for either position, I'm not well-known or respected enough here. I assume that you know more Moroi around here than I do." He pursed his lips. "I'm curious, though--you would rather abandon your Councilor post than your Sentinel duty? I would have assumed that Sentinels were harder to come by."

He had wanted to make it clear from the start that this was not about serving his own interests. If Morris had been the Councilor for any other path, he would have done the same--it was his duty as a Ladder. To be honest with himself, if he had fit the bill for either position, he would not have hesitated to attempt to fill them. But he knew he did not fit. So, this was how it had to be.

[Joshua Morris]

Joshua takes a moment to put sugar and cream into his coffee, saying, "I'm a soldier, Isaac, not a politician," as he does so. He stirs the coffee and adds, "I'd much prefer to do the one job over the other." He's silent for a moment as he thinks. "As for the other Moroi, no. I don't know any of them. The only other who was in town at the previous Consilium meeting is Tamwood. Everyone else is too new, yourself included, so he'd be the only one I suggest for the position. And even that wouldn't be without reservation. Except..." Lips purse as he grits his teeth. "Except he's Sentinel now, too, isn't he?"

There's another pause, before he sighs and sets his coffee spoon aside. "So. That means... I have to be..." He trails off. Oh, and this day started with such promise. "I have to remain the Councilor, instead of Sentinel."

[Gallows]

Gallows didn't respond for a moment. He was very tempted to take the cowardly route and avoid eye contact by examining his tea, but that would not be fair. He had gone into this with a purpose, and wasn't going to back out because it was unpleasant.

"I am very sorry, sir," he said earnestly. "I've met a Moros named Salem who seems to have a good head on his shoulders. And...well, if there is any way that I can be of service, don't hesitate to say so. Anything I can do to help would make me feel a lot better."

He was silent another moment, putting his mind to work. He had seen Consiliums organized in all sorts of different ways, and each had their own idiosyncrasies, their own weaknesses and strengths. It appeared that Sacramento was in the middle of a lot of turmoil.

"I hadn't realized that so many Moroi were new to the area," he admitted. "I suppose that does change things slightly. I'm the opposite of yourself, sir--I'm no soldier. I'm a lawyer, and a politician. I try to bring change through the system. That's why I'm here to talk to you--it seems like this Consilium...well, to be frank, it needs help. You are missing a Mastigos Councilor, and appear to be juggling Sentinels like tennis balls. I don't know if there is anything I can do to help, but...I thought I would offer."

[Joshua Morris]

Joshua deflates a bit and looks into his coffee, as though he might find answers in it. "Sentinel's been a fairly steady position until recently," he eventually says. "Council's usually in flux though. There isn't a Concilium meeting that goes by without someone new ascending to it. Every Concilium has new faces that show up; and by the next one, many of them are gone." He looks up at Gallows and takes his mug in hand. "Silver Ladder, in particular, come and go.

"For us, this city is what the Wild West was for the Sleepers," he continues. "It's frontier, and not everyone can handle that. More than that: it's Sarajevo, it's Mogadishu, it's Sierra Leone and Chechnya. It's a war, and the enemies and stakes and battlefields are just as fluid as anything on our own side. Makes it hard for us to fight. You want to know why the meeting was sloppy, it's because we've always been too busy making sure that we'd make it to the next day to bother setting any Law down in stone. Maybe it's time, though," he says, and sips his coffee. "There's too many of us, now; we can't count on the meetings running smoothly because of common sense and decency. Those things go right out the window when the crowd gets big enough."