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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 9:26:33 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Nov 17, 2019 9:26:33 GMT -6
This was going to be a disaster and Kasimir was just glad that he had managed to get a warning to the court about what the council was summoning Catherine for. Luckily, it was just Catherine being summoned. He didn't want to know how bad it would be if they had decided to summon half the royal family. It was bad enough the royal family consisted of who it did. He hesitated and entered the council chambers, and took his place next to June.
"This is not going to go well, Blackwelder. As a friendly heads up." The others wouldn't listen, but at least he could warn one of them. Summers probably already knew how this was going to go down. Having la principessa here was bad enough. She had no need to work with the council now. The other four may push for her to return, but he knew better.
La Principessa Caterina did whatever she wanted, with the full backing of the court. Now that she was in her current rank, these was nothing the council could do. It was like dealing with that damned mage, who somehow managed to get through a regime change and still be untouchable. Kasimir wasn't a fan of Principe Eliodoro either.
Euthious was the one at the head of today's meeting. At least, Kasimir thought, it wasn't him.
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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 11:18:37 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Nov 17, 2019 11:18:37 GMT -6
The court had been more than gracious about the warning that Kasimir had delivered, after all it gave them a chance to prepare for the summons. Being held in contempt was possibly the worst thing that could damage political relations and prospects within the unseen, and a summons was not a thing to ignore. This new court unlike the last actually responded to Council summons instead simply ignoring it and allowing them to pull them from wherever they happened to be. "For once you may be right, Klein." Blackwelder replied, for once acknowledging that her fellow Councilor might know something she didn't. But something needed to be done, especially given Dallas's propensity for chaos. A firm, knowledgable hand was needed, and so far few candidates had stepped forward to fill the role of warden. The councilor couldn't help but think that perhaps they had been too harsh and controlling, therefore causing themselves to loose one of what had been their best assets.
Pulled from the upper ranks of MCU, a warden was trained to spearhead a team of similarly talented specialists. The cases they took were some of the worst in the unseen world; they often combined trafficking, family violence, gangs, vice, and special victims. Each individual was expected to know the laws of the mundane and unseen, and the case loads were often excessive due to the lack of qualified persons.
"You're lucky we don't summon the entire lot of them Klein, be grateful." Euthious grumped as he settled into his seat. The mage was something of a conservative, believing that those who went against the council's decisions got what they deserved. He believed more in the letter of the law than the spirit, which could at times put him at odds with the others, especially Summers and Klein.
"If you're done taking pot shots at the others Agathon, let's move forward." Blackwelder remarked. This summons had one of two ways in which it could go, badly or very badly. It all depending on how much of an ass Euthious decided he needed to be.
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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 11:24:45 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Nov 17, 2019 11:24:45 GMT -6
Kasimir thought they were rather lucky the entire lot wasn't getting summoned. For one, the entire lot included a necromancer and a damned strong mage, and for another, if he was talking about the other lot, it included a rather annoying fae. Just summoning Catherine would be more than enough. "Do you really want to get on the bad side of that damned mage again? One of the lot is more than enough." He still was wary of Principe Eliodoro after that mage's take over of Broadmoore.
He wasn't about to piss him off now that he was a vampire either. As far as he could tell, there had been no loss in power, though the new principe rarely made appearances at court and hadn't been formerly introduced. Yet. The only members of the royal family that were actually active were Catherine and Grigore and he wasn't about to summon both. He'd lose his head if he tried it.
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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 12:02:32 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Nov 17, 2019 12:02:32 GMT -6
Agathon muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like, "Not particularly.. but given time.." as if he was planning on going up against Tyrus. Where Tyrus had mastered multiple forms of magic, Agathon had really only mastered one or two. While powerful, he stood no chance up against someone with the backing of the veil. It would have been absolute suicide to even consider it, but he had if only out of sheer spite. He had not appreciated being made to look like a fool in earlier encounters with the mage now turned vampire.
"Is this a personal thing or are you trying to tell us something we don't know?" Councilor Edevane drawled. Representative for the fae, he wasn't much a fan of Catherine either, but could admit that most of what she did was in favor of others beside herself. It could almost be forgiven that she had decided to go rogue as the Council saw it, given that most of the last century had been spent either confined in Broadmoore or serving out the remainder her sentence in a quid pro quo fashion. "No.. it's.. never mind." Euthious muttered tersely before turning his attention to the matters at hand. Given a chance, he could go on a tangent about what he did or didn't like about someone.
Standing and rapping his staff on the granite floors of the chamber, he began the proceedings.
"This meeting of the Unseen Council will now come to order." Agathon boomed, his voice reverberating throughout the Council chambers. "Councilor Blackwelder will now call the roll." He added before sitting back down. Agathon would rather not have to go through all of the trappings of calling everything to order and just be done with it. But the rest of the council had him out voted 6 to 1.
"Councilor Kasimir Klein, Councilor Cadeyrn Edevane, Councilor Alexander Summers, Councilor Agathon Euthious, Councilor Creight Kovach, Councilor June Blackwelder, Councilor Myer Hatfield... four present and three are absent. Councilor Euthious we have a quorum." She said and took her seat again. The Council wasn't some shadowy group like the rest of the unseen seemed to think, they operated on much of the same parlimentary rules that the rest of the world did at one time. Perhaps with a little more magic and a lot more fuss though.
Agathon nodded a curt thanks to June before speaking again, "The Unseen Council summons Catherine Dumitrescu, La principessa della corte del drago." His mouth twisted around the words as he spoke them, feeling each for weight and flavor, but still somehow finding them altogether unpleasant.
Catherine stepped forward through the large carved wooden double doors of the Council's chambers. There was no sense in dragging whatever nonsense this was out, she had disliked them even as a Warden and saw no reason to like them even now. Dressed in a suit and heels nicer than any of the ones she'd ever worn as a warden, she took her place in front of the Council calmly. "Principessa Caterina or should we call you Lady McBride or Warden Dumitrescu?" Agathon mocked, clearly unamused with the fact that she had actually shown up. He had hoped to find some sort of fault or wrong doing with the woman, but had yet to find anything truly.
"You may call me Principessa Caterina or Lady McBride." She replied cooly, not giving an inch into this mad man's ravings. Agathon had always been hot headed and didn't even begin to understand the glacial nature at which the unseen saw things. From what she knew, he had been something of a prodigy but only in one form of magic and with little talent elsewhere.
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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 12:10:37 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Nov 17, 2019 12:10:37 GMT -6
This was going to be incredibly embarrassing for the council wasn't it? Kasimir was of the opinion that the sooner they could do this, the sooner that it would be over with. The fact that they had even called this was madness, but hopefully the other Councilor's could be talked around quickly. He didn't actually want to see what an unbound Catherine could do if she decided that she had more than enough of their politicking.
"Principessa Caterina, are you aware of why we called you here today?" Of course she was. He had informed her ahead of time. They were there because Catherine had technically broken her parole, which consisted of community service as a warden. She wasn't technically allow to step down for a little over 200 more years. The parole was nonsense and overboard, but they had to be shown doing something about trying to hold her accountable.
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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 12:34:01 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Nov 17, 2019 12:34:01 GMT -6
"I am aware." Catherine replied flatly. Showing any emotion one way or another could quickly be taken advantage of, especially by individuals like Agathon. He greatly enjoyed picking, prodding, and poking until he got his way. Like a childhood bully, it seemed that life had been unfair and it was everyone else's fault. As far as she was concerned the Council was a bunch of children fighting over who did or didn't get to have some role in a playground battle.
"Lady McBride.. or rather Principessa Caterina. Please explain to the council why you have decided to break your parole and step down as warden?" Edevane asked, finding the new title a bit absurd. He had known the man who had adopted her and raised her as his own, this was almost sacrilege to the memory of the dead. "As it stands you've violated a council mandated order and could be returned to Broadmoore to serve out the rest of your sentence for your crimes." Agathon added. He would love nothing more than to see her rebound, and put away for good. The woman was a danger to herself and others, and given her current alliance with the new Dragon Court it stood to reason that she would only continue to be a problem until fixed.
Catherine considered the question posed to her by Edevane and Agathon's obnoxious addition to the question. "Councilors, during my tenure as Dallas's Warden... I was repeatedly met with resistance from the Council. These took the forms of constant questioning of my sanity through multiple psychological evaluations, repeated budge reductions leaving me unable to hire personel, and being disallowed to make decisions necessary for my team to function effectively in the field. I was also repeatly harassed for information about my sire, whom has shown nothing but tolerance and patience for ones such as yourselves." She explained plainly.
In fact the Dragon Court was almost never a problem, and for the most part kept to themselves only taking what they needed during hunting. If anyone was the problem in her opinion, it was the werewolves in the Cedar Ridge pack.
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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 12:50:32 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Nov 17, 2019 12:50:32 GMT -6
How did they even know if she would remain in Broadmoore? Principe Eliodoro was in charge there and could simply let her out if he wanted to. The thought just occurred to Kasimir and he paled as he considered that. What guarantees did they have the vampire court wouldn't simply release any prisoner? Right now was a terrible time to realize such a problem and Kasimir cleared his throat and spoke, forcing himself to move past that problem. It could be solved later.
"Your highness, how can we convince you to return to the post of Warden and serve out the remainder of your sentence?" They couldn't force the issue and he didn't want to try. If they succeeded, he'd face backlash at the court. If they failed, he'd face the same backlash. As far as he was concerned it was better not to touch that with a ten foot pole.
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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 13:12:26 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Nov 17, 2019 13:12:26 GMT -6
Catherine raised an eyebrow at being addressed as your highness by Kasimir. It was a bit of a strange thing to hear, especially given how long she had worked with the other vampire. No doubt her sire and father, Grigoire, would be less than thrilled given it would remove her from the daily duties of the court. But admittedly she was bored, and aside from managing the reschooling of her younger sister, there wasn't much that didn't run itself. Returning to her post as Warden would at least provide her with something to do, but there would most certainly have to be some changes made.
"I would petition the Council to consider my parole served," Catherine began. They were more than taking advantage of her and being raised to respect their position, not to mention her longevity. "Absolutely not!" Agathon shouted, pounding his fist on the bench. "Need I remind you just how many innocents were lost at your hands because you cannot and could not keep control!" He shouted again. The demand was in his opinion unacceptable and bordering on coercion.
"Councilor Eusthios, I wish to remind you that I am capable of maintaining control more than I am given credit for. However if you feel the need of an example of loss of control, I would be remiss in not reminding you, sir." Catherine insinuated. Agathon was a fool and was determined to run over top of the rest of the Council to get his way.
"All I require is the resolution to the issues mentioned. If I am to return as a warden in your service, I expect to be treated with respect and dignity. I am not a dog at your beck and call, and you will find yourself sorely lacking in your search of any equal." She argued. Two could play at this game, and one of those two had obviously forgotten just how well connected she was within the unseen. Two of the well known noble families considered her a daughter, and were more than happy to back her. Catherine's requests were often reasonable, as well as few and far between. She had rarely used her position for power or own desires.
"Stand down Eusthios." June finally said, eyeing the other with disgust. The man was entirely too ruled by his emotions and opinions. He would be the end of everything that was sound and reasonable about the Council if this continued.
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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 13:25:22 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Nov 17, 2019 13:25:22 GMT -6
"She has had extensive training on her control. She took a leave of absence to deal with it. A solid year of relative time." Though only a handful of weeks here. He considered his options. "Perhaps not a complete mitigation of the parole, but a year and a day remaining. To give us time to find someone to cover the warden position for Dallas." He was going to pay for it, but he was a councilor as well as a loyal vampire. He could defend his option.
"And a resolution of the issues is something I have been pushing for as well, Councilor Eusthios. For some time now." The last bit was said through gritted teeth. He had been pushing them to provide more funding for Dallas for some time. Cutting the budget to them he took as a personal slight. But he was one of seven and could not control the whims of the entire council. He did good to maintain his position at all, given how little some of the councilor's seemed to care for anything but their own skin.
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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 13:43:52 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Nov 17, 2019 13:43:52 GMT -6
"As have I and Councilor Summers." June added. Edevane could usually be persuaded given a good enough reason, it was Agathon and the others that often made decisions difficult. Kovach and Hatfield usually did everything they could to not show up but still complain about the issues they hadn't even been present for. Their lack of foresight and participation may have been why the Were-creatures and Unseelie Fae often had such complaints. "Need we remind you Euthios, that she has up until now complied with every directive, request, and demand from us? You were the one who put her into Broadmoore for so long and continued to allow such draconian treatment of its patients." She said chastising the other. It was true, often Eusthios threw his weight around and bullied the rest into making poor decisions, usually claiming to have blackmail of one sort or another. Many of the Councilor's didn't want to find out if he did or not, so often they complied with his demands in an effort to get rid of him quicker.
"As unfortunate as it is, even if given a year relative time or not, we will struggle in finding a replacement for Lady McBride's position." Edevane snorted, finding Kasimir awfully optimistic that they would find someone of Catherine's calibur within the rest of the unseen. They had a hard enough time even getting the communities to cooperate with MCU, and the Council for licensing and other such matters.
"She's served her time in hell and then some, if you want the woman to come back so badly.. fix the problems." Councilor Summer's spoke. Before his appointment to the Council, he had worked side by side with Catherine as her partner on multiple assignments. He knew that she cared about what happened in the unseen, and that was something that by far outweighed what she had done.
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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 13:52:11 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Nov 17, 2019 13:52:11 GMT -6
"Certainly not someone as qualified, but there must be a specialist ready to move up." It would be a step down and a serious one, but they weren't given much of a choice. "I believe Councilor Summers is correct though. We need to fix the problems." And they would regardless at this point. "And if her highness chooses to return when we do, count ourselves lucky. Either a year and a day and we fix the problems, or we fix the problems and hope she feels kind to us."
He didn't think she'd feel kind. The year and a day was as much of a compromise as he was willing to give Euthios. "Councilor, please consider all aspects of the situation." And if the other was a telepath, they'd hear every single one of them. they could not afford to alienate the vampires, the fae, and whoever else decided they were attached enough to Dumitrescu to do something about it. He didn't think they could actually hold her unbound and didn't think they could bind her when she was fully cognizant and could fight back. Not that doing so would be any guarantee of anything other than pissing off the vampires and fae both.
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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 14:11:44 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Nov 17, 2019 14:11:44 GMT -6
The debate in the inner chambers amongst the Councilors was intense. Agathon wasn't about to give any ground and had somehow managed to sway Kovach and Hatfield as well. But Kasimir was right, if Catherine felt kind enough to return at their behest then they would very much so consider themselves blessed that this hadn't gone from bad to worse. Her demands had only been asking for a final resolution to things that often got shot down or overlooked, or worse considered superfluous and irrelevant.
"The aspects of this situation are that we're allowing.. that.. that.. woman out there to galavant and covort about without so much as a modicum of respect or control." Agathon said to Kasimir. He knew he was out voted, but he could still make things difficult. "She holds no remorse for her actions. She belongs back in that institution and so does that damn mage!" agreed Councilor Hatfield. The news that Tyrus had somehow been turned had made more than just small ripples in the unseen community, it had made waves for the werewolves. They were more than just upset at the turn of events, they were outright hostile and angry. He suspected it had something to do with la principessa Caterina, but couldn't prove a thing, which only made him angrier. "Her loyal is questionable. What's to say she won't just drop this court for another if she so chooses?" suggested Councilor Kovach. Seeding distrust was an unseelie specialty, and he was going to do everything he could to do so.
"The aspects of this situation are that an unbound class 5 psionic veil born is being reasonable and has thus far complied with everything. If "that woman" so desired it, you very well wouldn't still be breathing." June said pointedly to the three. "She has ties to the seelie court and ruling court of the vampires. We're already risking ourselves with our initial request, adding more would be foolish. Do you really want the fae to shut off the magic?"
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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 14:22:08 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Nov 17, 2019 14:22:08 GMT -6
"Thank you for that terrifying image, Blackwelder. I didn't want to sleep tonight. In the interest of not having magic shut off and seeing as we have no new charges for her, I think we should accept the compromise. Though I would like to remind you, Councilor Hatfield, that we do not put people in prison when they haven't broken the law. And that damn mage is considered a pillar of the community, alcoholic or not." And how he managed that was beyond Kasimir. Give the man alcohol and he was a chaotic threat to the unseen's secrets. And he still had the adoration of everyone he had made one of those damned little safety amulets for. No one on the council had any love for Tyrus after his frankly terrifying show down where he gained control of their prison system, no matter what face he put on for the public.
But he was a vampire now, and that meant Kasimir had to protect him. He wasn't in the uncomfortable human or vampire place anymore. Kasimir had no choice but to go for bat for him and didn't want to see what would happen if he tried anything else.
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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 14:36:36 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Nov 17, 2019 14:36:36 GMT -6
"All in favor of mitigation of the parole to a year and a day, as well as working towards resolution of issues within MCU say 'aye'." June instructed. She was going to put an end to this back and forth then and there. If anything needed to be replaced, it needed to be Eusthios. The man was a danger to himself and the rest of the unseen with his policies.
"Aye." agreed Edevane and Summers. It was the best they could agree on, and likely the parole would be a formality more than anything else. It kept things mostly tidy, and given what they were up against it was better than nothing at all. Dallas was seriously hurting for a Warden to keep things together, and it wasn't a city that could just be handed to an inexperienced individual. This would also mean that they'd have to look the other way when it came to her ties to the fae and vampires, as admittedly it hadn't yet amounted to much.
"No! You cannot possibly agree to this insanity Klein!" Agathon shouted and pointing back towards the outer chambers. He knew that the vampire had yet to vote either way, and could still win the argument in his favor at the last moment.
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Demands
Nov 17, 2019 14:41:25 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Nov 17, 2019 14:41:25 GMT -6
"I don't see us having much of a choice, Agathon. Aye." He voted. The other could throw a hissy fit if he wanted, but they were between a rock and a hard place. She didn't have to play nice after all. This wasn't someone who they could coerce or spell into obedience. They would give her the compromise. A year and a day to find a warden who could handle Dallas. They'd have to search the world and pull from somewhere that could handle it.
They'd have to shuffle the wardens they did have and put a new warden up somewhere that could handle a more inexperienced warden. Whereever that was. He'd need to look. There was going to be so much work to get something done and he'd need to do the legwork of determining the replacement and the changes quickly, given how slowly bureaucracy worked. "This gives us a chance. And if we're lucky, she'll stay on past then." If they were incredibly lucky.
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