(1412) Meeting

**Animus** · Dec 4th, 2014 12:56 AM

Eyes flick back and forth. Tension, pain. Anger. From people he cared about. The radiating emotions stab into the shaman.

Instincts. The nagging whispers in the back of his mind. Aching to comfort and soothe, or to hide out until the storm had passed. Especially when it meant looking back on his own past. And yet ... when would he learn to stop running, if he continued to retreat?

"Actions have consequences, and those repercussions must be felt. But." A pointed gaze toward Avis. "Do you believe that anyone in this room has entirely avoided breaking vows? We are all fallible. But the Arrow must be led."

A shudder. Words uttered in a bout of petty wrath, now coming true before his eyes. "Would you deny the Order's survival, because no one fits on a pedestal?"

Dec 4th, 2014 01:04 AM

Asp shook her head lightly, looking to Animus for a moment as if to request a second. She was calm in the face of the Mastigos's storm.

“Avis, I won the right to request the Adamantine Arrow posting to the Order position of Banner Warden, a request I was to make to Leo and never could, because he is missing, or worse. I haven't been appointed Banner Warden for the Threats, and I haven't vowed to be. I haven't asked for the posting, either, because I haven't had a commanding officer to ask for the job. It would have been tonight. Here's the thing, though... I don't have a preference as to where I serve.”

She lifted a gentle finger and indicated the Mastigos with it.

“You could defend that standard just as well as I can. You don't lack for the passion and talent to rock at it, and it is plainly something that means an incredible amount to you. You should be the Banner Warden for the Threats. I'm not going to request the posting, not when you are obviously the best fit for it."

There it was. And of course it was true. Asp wasn't going to bullshit about it - the vehemence with which Avis argued the importance of the Warden for the Cabal was exactly why she was better suited for that position. One duel where Asp's blast had slipped under Avis's shield just so? The Obrimos was proud, but she wasn't that proud as to think herself better simply because she'd won a Duel Arcane. She was an Arrow. They settled their duels in battle, not some safety-dance of wills. Winning that didn't make her a better Banner Warden.

Avis would make that standard her being. That was exactly what a Warden needed to do.

Her hand found the table again, and she looked around at the six other warriors about her contemplatively.

“Guys, I haven't asked for anything here. If you collectively want me to lead, I will serve the Order by doing so in whatever position you deem appropriate given my skill set. If you do not, then I will serve where the person you deem appropriate for leadership sees fit, be it as a First or a Talon or the watergirl. That's our collective decision to make, and whatever decision we make, I will abide by.”

**Teeramus** · Dec 4th, 2014 07:20 AM

Striker listened as Avis and Asp laid out their reasoning. It seemed he was learning more and more about politics every meeting of mages he went to, though this one seemed fairly cut and dried to him despite what Asp was saying about collective decisions.

"Wait up Asp." The Talon began, leaning forward and banging his hand down flatly on the table, making sure he'd be heard. "Since when has the Arrow done things by 'collective decisions'?" Striker made double air quotes with his single hand. "As far as I know we're s'pposed to put the best person in for the job right?" He looked around to see the other's reactions. "Your the best for the job right now, so you do it. Even if there were any real reasons why you couldn't," he looked to Avis to see if she was going to push her, agenda?, or not. "We'd find a way to work around it so our Order can be the best it can be right?" The Australian leant back to give the others a chance to realise how simple the situation was as well.

**Jonokuchi** · Dec 4th, 2014 03:35 PM

The large Arrow leaned back in his chair, which strained under his bulk causing Jonokuchi to sigh. He would be lying if he thought he was only sighing about his seat. Perhaps it was the way that he found it hard to trust, even among those here whom he trusted enough, which kept his mind always wondering whether they were about to use his besmirched honour against him. As of right now, he was failing to grasp how this had suddenly turned from a meeting about the Arrow's direction into a conversation about their cabal.

However, as Avis explained her concerns, Jonokuchi found himself slowly understanding his Councilor's point of view. She was afraid of her cabal becoming affected by this. Perhaps it was due to his own deep-seated hatred of himself that Jonokuchi cared less for the Archangels than he did for the Order that gave him direction and a means to seek his revenge.

"First Talon may be appropriate for now," the Mastigos finally said, voice rumbling as he looked around the table, agreeing with Talon Mace, despite sounding bored in it's bluntness. If there was anything that could be said about Jonokuchi, it was that he had very little charm.

Dec 4th, 2014 07:01 PM

Mace shook her head as Avis spoke. "Conflict of interest is no reason to deny a post," she said. "We all have conflicts. You and I sit on the Council, Jonokushi, Asp and Animus are sentinels. Every one of us has a myriad of duties, duties which will come in conflict with each other. Existance is War, Avis. Conflict, and how we handle it, defines us. All of us." She glanced around the table, planning her next words, before considering Avis. "But alright, perhaps Asp is not the best choice. We need someone we can all trust. Who would you have?" She turned her mind to her own question. Who would she trust to lead them? Of those gathered, she'd met most of them only a small handful of times. She trusted Animus, but he didn't want the responsibility. Worse, it wouldn't be good for him. And the others? She'd spent the most time with Striker, and ... well he needed someone who could balance his rashness more than he needed to be in power. She could work with him, but under him? It was a frightening thought. In the end, it came down to the two women fighting in front of her. But which would it be?

**Weavebreaker** · Dec 5th, 2014 04:04 PM

"Rotate..." Weavebreaker broke her silence as she glanced between Avis and Asp. "I think both of you are more than capable and by cycling it back and forth you would both earn valuable leadership experience." A finger touched lightly upon her lip. "You two also approach situations differently, so it would effectively keep our tactics more varied then it would if only one held the mantle..."

Weavebreaker's eyes shifted over to Mace as she nodded her head softly, agreeing with her. "We all have conflicts..."

**Avis** · Dec 6th, 2014 06:25 PM

Avis had a problem. She was sure of it, now. Every time someone quoted the Phalanxes at her she had to resist the urge to make their fucking ear drums bleed. Why did people think she was oblivious to the philosophy of their Order? Did they imagine that she didn't try to live by it, just as they all did? The fucking conceit some people had.

"I know the First Phalanx, Mace," Avis finally replied, trying to keep the acid out of her voice. She paused and looked down at her hands, focusing upon their stillness and hoping that it would lend some stillness to her thoughts as well. Because, yes, exist was war, and her mind was set on conflict right know, but that didn't mean that her state of mind was what it should be. Balance was the true message of the First Phalanx, and that's what she needed to focus on right now.

"I accept your point about trust," she conceded finally. "The problem is, there isn't someone that I would have lead us. None of us are tempered enough. We might be great warriors, but doesn't mean that we'll be great with tactics. Or, even if we are great with both, that doesn't mean we have the temperament to counsel or to motivate others. So I like Jonokuchi's point. And Weavebreakers." A nod was given to each, thanking them. "If there was a rotation of first talons then I think it would allow us to learn from the best parts of each other, and help us learn to adapt. That's what I think would be best. And Asp," Avis said, turning her eyes to the Obrimos, "I would definitely include you in that rotation."

Dec 7th, 2014 11:36 AM

"I appreciate that, Avis. That means a lot." She smiled briefly to her cabalmate, glad some stuff had at least been cleared up. "I gotta be straight about the rotation thing, though. I've got one major problem with the notion of rotation: we're a military organization. Clear chains of command reinforced by appropriate Oaths make up the regular course of how we operate, and any leader worth their stripes talks with their people to come up with the best plays. That's teamwork, because squad commanders really are in the best position to advise the CO about things. It's the job of squad leaders to know their people inside and out, strengths and weaknesses, and who they are as people and soldiers - and that means whoever's in charge would be a fool not to consult them. If the squad leaders and CO are constantly rotating, we lose that continuity. We lose the trust that gets built up by units working together under a leader to become clockwork good, and the overall whole is weakened. Full trust isn't just given. It's built in action. I didn't trust Lockhart just because he was the First, you know?"

"Just to address some earlier things folks said - Avis is right about the fact that there's nobody quite ready to be a TG yet, and that includes me. Don't know the Hand yet. We've got some work to do before any of us are there. I do think our leader being a First makes sense, like you said. Least, for the moment."

She looked to Jonokuchi, a look of interest on her face. It sounded to her like he had been misunderstood. "Jono, were you meanin' to say you wanted to see a rotation of leaders, or were you suggesting that First Talon was an appropriate rank for our leader?" she said, her head panning about to swivel onto the Aussie. "And Striker? I'll come back to your point in a 'sec."

**Weavebreaker** · Dec 7th, 2014 01:03 PM

"While I understand your concern, you must know that it functions perfectly within other militant organizations. Trust and knowledge of one another will be built irregardless, because we will work and train with one another." Weavebreaker folded her hands together as she tried to honestly weigh what she would consider issues with a rotation.

"I think with any sort of change of command, there is always that learning period where the CO learns the wants and needs of the unit and the unit learns the wants and needs of the CO. With our situation, I think that will be less of an issue because it is not like we will always be starting fresh."

**Animus** · Dec 7th, 2014 01:05 PM

"Asp." The word is spoken with just a bit of bite. "It was a clever play, offering out the Banner Warden title and its associated baggage, but we are not the Ladder. Attempting to undercut your competitors fosters mistrust. And mistrust is the bane of stable chains of command. You damaged your own position just as much as Avis'."

A flicker of guilt. Did he have any right to talk about trust after the way he'd broken rank?

Eyes flicker around the room, taking in his fellow Arrows. "Trust and understanding are key, and we lose that if we start messing around with squad structure. So, if we're gridlocked? Keep the two squads, each with their dedicated First Talon. The squad leaders trade off on having final authority over the order as a whole, and if one emerges as a clear choice for permanent CO, then they can take on that role, and promote another from their squad to First Talon. It gets enough structure in place to move forward, while limiting the shell game played with leadership."

(1412) Meeting

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