The Magnaura

[Kagemusha]

Ioannis stands up and says:

"May Markianos Ampelas rest in peace. My condolences to his family and friends. I am myself about to move East over Bosphorus and help in any way i can to protect the Eastern provinces from Jihadist"

Ioannis takes his seat.

[00jebus]

Looks at Lisas.

I'm afraid your assessment of the Order's provinces is out of date. Aleppo and Adana were not bustling and vibrant communities. Adana was, and is, just a wooden castle. And Aleppo was simply a motte & bailey. It is only now a wooden castle because my rank gives me one prioritized build a term.

So, when you add the fact that my army is still largely stuck on an island, the Order is ill-prepared to meet the Jihad. And we only have the Caesar to blame. His partisan politics have clouded his better judgment and endangered everyone.

The Order isn't, and hasn't, asked for much. Just the basic infrastructure that is now developing across the Empire. And the use of the army that is legally mandated to us.

Armatos and I will take up positions on the two river crossing near Antioch. Let this Jihad come and we will at least give them a good accounting before we fall.

Thats fair enough grandmaster, pehaps if you had send reports on the current state of your provinces to the magnaura, instead of ranting at the unfairness of it all, and practically insulting a member of the royal family, then maybe some more funds would be diverted to the order.
I also find your facade of neutrality when it comes to party politics here rather odious, you do control the largest house, do you not? Let alone trying to drive a wedge between the others.

His voice softens

My sympathies to Ampelas' family, I am sure he will live on as an example to us all.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Although we lost a great general and even greater statesman we all have to admit one thing..
Once the Turks won the battle they did not exterminate or sack the city just like we had done to their cities..
No.. They remained civil and occupied the place.. Perhaps there is something to be learned here?

Ioannis looks around to see the faces of the Senators..

[Warmaster Horus]

Pavlos looks like he wants to say something... After a few minutes of moral dilemna, he says:
"With respect, sir, there may be a lesson to be learned once our treasury is stable!"

[Ignoramus]

A messenger wearing the Caesar's arms walks into the Magnaura.

"My master apologises that he is unable to be here in Constantinople to comment on the death of Senator Ampelas, but has sent me in his stead."

The messenger reads from a scroll:

"I am deeply saddened by the death of Senator Ampelas. He was a good man, and a loyal Roman. His death and the destruction of his army is a terrible blow for the empire. I trust that all senators will pay due respect to him."

[ULC]

Veronica seems to grow agitated, and finally stands up.

"You will all have to excuse me, I have children to attend to, and it is getting late. Unless you have questions about the Organization, then I will take my leave.

[00jebus]

*Lisas looks at the woman, and says as though humouring her*

Fine, How many members do you suppose they have?
how do they get funding?
how well equipped are they?
what are their objectives?
What style of attack do they carry out to fufill these objectives?
who is their leader?
what threat do they pose to the empire?

[Andres]

A messenger arrives and gives a scroll to Savvas' scribe.

My master informs the Senate that he deeply grieves for the loss of Senator Ampelas and he sends his condolences to the family and friends of Senator Ampelas as well as to the members of his House.

This is a sad day for the Empire.

The scribe sits down again.

[ULC]

Veronica's eyes narrow at Lisas.

"As many as they want, by any means necessary, better then the Order, what ever they want them to be, whatever is effective, the man who gives the orders, and one that your obviously not finding worth your time. Now, if anyone seriously wants to ask me questions, go ahead."

[Kagemusha]

Kantakouzinos turns into direction of Veronica and asks:

"Can you give us an overall report off the Organization? It would be then lot more easy to ask specific questions of the details."

[Andres]

Or just give us names!

Savvas shouts as he walks into the Senate, an exhausted look on his face. He adresses Veronica again.

Give us the names of the Senators involved, mylady! We have much to worry about: a jihad coming to Constantinople, the loss of one of the finest Senators, the loss of a just recently reconquered city, Catholic crusades coming our way, a Crusade and a war against the Fatamids and an empty treasury.

So, please mylady, I don't want to be rude and I apologise if I come accross like that, but we don't have time to waste, the Empire is in a state of emergency.

Give us the names of the Senators involved. If necessary, House Tagamata will guarantee your safety.

[ULC]

Veronica's gaze remains just as hard, but she sits back down.

"The Organization is a network of cells, each completely independent of any other save orders from the Guardian, the head of the Organization. Just to clarify Senator Savvas, it is only the Guardian who is aware of each of the members identities, no one else save him know who else is a part of the Organization, although I know of two: Markianos and Apionnas. The current Guardian, if you wish to call him that, is a man simply known as Symeon."

"The Organization's current objectives are unknown to me, although I did receive a disturbing letter from the previous Guardian before my capture. I suggest they not be taken lightly, at least for now, because they are currently in volatile and unpredictable hands. I wouldn't put it past them to strike now."

[Andres]

Markiaonos? You mean the late Markiaons Ampelas?

Savvas looks at Apionnas.

Senator, can you elaborate?

[00jebus]

I strongly suspect, ma'm, that you are not telling us everything, if you dont know whose leading them, how then do you know they are in volitile and unpredicatable hands?
If there objectives are unknown, why do you suggest they are not to be taken lightly?

If you are capable of giving an honest answer to questions when they are asked instead of wasting our time with sarcasm, then that would also be helpful, some of us do have more important things to do than worry about whats in the shadows after all.

As well as that, what do you mean by strike now?
at what?
given your past experience, what target or even type of target do you think they would attack

[ULC]

Veronica returns her hard gaze back to Lisas.

"I do believe I mentioned the current leader, Symeon. I knew Symeon only as he wanted me to see him, a yes-man and a fool, something I think your familiar with. And if the objectives of the original leader of the Organization were benign, then why would Symeon instigate a coup unless he wished to take it in the exact opposite direction? As of right now, the Empire is stretched so thin that if Symeon decided to act now, he could force it to collapse. I think his preferred targets and timing of it will be those settlements farthest from our own troops yet close enough to see if he can't divide our forces further, at around the same time the Jihad makes it's way into Imperial territory."

Veronica looks at Savvas with a less baleful stare.

"Yes, The late Markianos Ampelas was in significant contact with the Organization, particularly with Symeon."

[Andres]

The information you give is a little vague. Do you have evidence to back up your claims?

Also, can you give us specific information about the actions of this Organisation? What have they done so far? How is Senator Apionnas involved?

If certain information is too sensitive or if you don't know for sure who to trust, then maybe sending a detailed report to the Basileus himself might be a good idea?

[ULC]

Veronica considers each question of Savvas's in turn.

"Which claims? I see none that I need to reinforce with documents that I do not have. If you don't believe me, then don't heed me, but it does not change reality. If you want to know what Apionnas has been up to, then why don't you ask your own Imperial spy Kyrillos Lampinos, a former associate of the Organization. And may I ask, if Apionnas, the Emperor's right hand man is truly involved in the Organization, do you think it a good idea to send a detailed report he can intercept?"

[AussieGiant]

Apionnas moves forward from his customary position on the back wall of the chamber.

I would recommend the woman here ceases referring to me in this chamber. She is doing more harm than good.

Apionnas holds her in his gaze for a few moments to emphasis his point to her.

[ULC]

Veronica continues to look at Savvas while speaking to Apionnas.

"An inquiry into the Organization is being held Senator, and you have been in contact with them, so it cannot be helped if your name comes up. If you prefer, I can refer to you in pronouns. And I would request that you call me Veronica, not merely woman. I think some respect should be shown for the wife of a senator, don't you agree?"

[AussieGiant]

A raised eyebrow is the immediate response. After a moment he continues.

My lady,

I believe you have made your point to this chamber. Referring to me using pronouns is a little late at this stage.

If any one has questions they can ask me here or privately.

OOC: I'll be out for a few hours now. So responses will be delayed.

[Andres]

Savvas looks at Appionas and then looks back at Veronica.

Excuse me mylady, but Senator Appionas is a man who's loyalty to the Basileus has never been questioned before.

I'd like to hear more about this and I'm sure so will the Basileus.

As for my question about evidence, it's a reasonable question. After all, we are civilised men and this is the legislative body of the Empire. We are not going to judge a Senator who has proven his loyalty over the years based on mere accusations.

You can send the evidence to me. If you have reasons not to trust me, then I assume that you can also send your report to the Caesar.

Or hand your report over to the Basileus while he is present in the Senate so that we can all see that you gave the report directly to him and nobody can accuse anybody about having intercepted the report.

[Privateerkev]

Makedonios watches the proceedings for awhile. He almost visibly winces when Veronica brings up Apionnas. With a shake of his head, he can be seen writing notes and passing them off to various aids. If anyone is paying attention, they will notice that Veronica has been receiving notes throughout the session. It is not known from who she is getting the notes from. Finally, Makedonios speaks.

I'm starting to get concerned as to what is being brought up in here. I ask that Senators, and our visitor, exercise a little discretion as to what they reveal in public.

From the Princess's testimony in here, we know for a fact that some Senators glares at Hypatios are associating with this 'organization'. I would caution against giving these people too much information.

I ask that only generalities be discussed in here and all specifics be handed in a report to the Emperor. Then he can share that information with who he wishes.

[Kagemusha]

" Who´s idea was it to have an open hearing about this issue? If the senate is indeed infiltrated by this malicious secret society,. I think it would be best to put this woman, Veronica in protective custody under guard and the hearings should be done in private. What good does this do us, if the Organization knows also everything we are told?"

[Warmaster Horus]

Manouelitis opens the doors, walks to his seat calmly, and is informed of what happened while he was away. His manner seems to have changed a bit; he is less nervous, less stressed of being in the Magnaura. When the scribe finishes his story, the young man rises:
"Senators, I would first like to offer my most sincere condolences for the loss of Markianos Ampelas. If I understood correctly, he passed away bravely, going out to meet a foe three times his size, and has halved their number. This sort of act is to be commended, and I hope I shall be able to emulate his courage in future years.
I am sorry to say that my wish may be granted to me, for our situation is not glorious. A front has been opened, our Caesar and one of our largest armies with him are far from our lands, and a Jihad is headed our way. Now news of this "Organization" has reached us, and it seems to be a legitimate threat. And of course, there are continued squabbles in this chamber, squabbles which are likely to grow since dark claims are being made, with no true evidence shown yet."
With this, Manouelitis turns to Veronica:
"My Lady, I join Senator Ksanthopoulos in asking you to submit a detailed report to the Emperor, that he might help us solve this situation. It seems that the matter of the Organization is taking a priority over all other business; let us end it and turn to other important matters."
He addresses himself once more to the entire assembly:
"Senators, I ask that we let this matter rest if Lady Veronica will submit all her knowledge of the Organization to the Emperor, once, as Senator Kantakouzinos suggests, she is more than adequately protected. I finally ask that we take practical action against the Jihad and Turks, and that we decide of what we will do as soon as possible!"

[Privateerkev]

The Jihad does need more discussion. We need information. We need to find these armies as soon as possible and intercept them at natural chokepoints. We need to increase our spy network and watchtower lines. Picket ships will help as well, like the one that is operatiing off the coast of Jerusalem.

I'm concerned that the Caesar is still going through with his assault on Tbilisi. If his army isn't out of supplies, it will be soon. And we can use him and his army closer to home. If the Turks join this Jihad, then we will need to strike fast. For they have the shortest distance to travel. By taking our largest army far out to the frontiers and stranding them with no supplies, the Caesar is putting all of Anatolia, as well as Constantinople, at risk.

And I am concerned that there is still no development in settlements in Anatolia, except those governed by the Caesar's house. Cannakale just started building something and it isn't exactly on the front lines. If we are to defend this place from Jihad, then we at least need roads to move around on and buildings to train better troops. Further conversion will also give us more resupply points for our armies. But the priests are still standing around in areas that are well on their way to being converted.

If we want to stand a chance against this threat, then the Caesar needs to stop playing favorites and start building up across the Empire. If one part is weak, the whole suffers. While I am sure the Caesar would be overjoyed to see the Order destroyed by a Jihadist Fatimid army, I submit that we could do more good staying alive and destroying those armies.

[Warmaster Horus]

I am also concerned by the Caesar's action, yet in principle, he is doing what we should be doing: attacking the foe, doing something.
I am unfamiliar with T'Bilisi... Is it a rich city? If it is, then perhaps the Caesar has a good idea at the back of his mind.

[Privateerkev]

I don't know what it looks like now, but records (OOC: senate library photos) show it as a relatively minor castle.

I would like to hear what the Caesar has to say about this. With such a large threat coming our way, we are owed some explanation as to why he is sinking such a large amount of resources into a backwater outpost when it will result in keeping himself and a large army totally out of the coming fight.

[Ferret]

I am not sure Veronica is to be trusted, when she was given to me in Iconium, the man who gave her to me claimed that she was a member of an organisation, and that she had been involved in spreading unrest and generally hindering the empire. He claimed that the organisation is actually run in order to help our empire but this girl and her accomplices dress as members of the organisation and frame them as they commit foul deeds. What say you to this Veronica?

[Privateerkev]

Makedonios glared at Hypatios.

Seeing as the man persuaded you to exterminate a whole city, I sincerely doubt that the men who you talk to have the Empire's interests at heart. And the Princess has testified that this man was with you when she tried to take you into custody.

I am afraid your credibility is non-existent at this point.

And considering what you have put Veronica through, I strongly suggest you watch your tone when speaking to her.

[Ferret]

Excuse me? I met the man after the extermination had taken place and I treated Veronica with dignity, I asked a few gentle questions and let her free, nothing more.