The Magnaura

[TinCow]

The Magnaura
(The Byzantine Senate)

The Protoasecretes shuffled across the floor of the Magnaura. He could be heard grumbling to himself about how long it had taken to clean the building after the last Senate session. As he reached the doors, he turned around and sighed wistfully at the immaculate condition of the interior. He knew it would not last long.

With a resigned shrug of his shoulders, he signaled the guards at the entrance, who promptly unbarred the great door. It took only moments for the stream of bodies to rush through, variously talking, laughing, shouting, and gesticulating wildly, depending on the Senator and his circumstances. All were followed by servants carrying candles, documents, quills, ink, and, to the Protoasecretes' dismay, copious quantities of alcohol.

After the initial rush quieted down, the Protoasecretes cleared his throat and stood up at the front of the room.

"Senators of Byzantium! Welcome to the great Magnaura, the traditional home of the Senate. I must first start off by paying proper homage to the great Basileus Aleksios Komenus, first of his line. May he live a long and prosperous life and may the Komnenid Dynasty last for all eternity! Let no Senator forget that we are assembled here to serve his will and aid him in the governance of Roman Empire!"

"Now, since some of you are newly risen to the rank of Senator, let me remind you of the basic rules of the Senate. First, Edicts and Amendments can only be proposed while the Senate is in session. You can conduct business in here whenever you wish, but legislation itself is restricted to formal sessions. I will notify you when sessions begin and end and my word on the matter is final!"

"Second, do not bother proposing legislation that you are not qualified to propose. To prevent us from being paralyzed by pointless paperwork, our wise ancestors have previously decreed that various amounts of seniority of rank are required to propose certain numbers of Edicts and Amendments. Any Senator who exceeds his alloted quota will have his excess submissions stricken from the record, regardless of their nature!"

"Third, with few exceptions, all legislation must be seconded by two Senators before it can be put to the vote. Do not come whining to me if your prized Edict does not end up on the ballot because you were too lazy to gather supporters before you proposed it!"

"Fourth, make sure your legislation is formated in the proper manner! It is hard enough to keep track of the mass of paperwork that goes on in this building. For our own sanity, please format your legislation in the following manner: Edict/Amendment X.Z: Text of Edict/Amendment. (X = Number of the Senate session, Z = Number of the Edict/Amendment within the Senate session.) For example, the third Edict proposed at the fourth Senate session would look like this: Edict 4.3: All Senators will wear togas. The numbers of all Edicts and Amendment proposed during an Emergency Session will be the same, but with an E preceding the numbering (i.e. Edict E4.3).

"Finally, violence will not be permitted in the Magnaura! Limit your attacks to verbal sparring only! Any Senator bringing a weapon into the building, or raising his fist to a fellow Senator, will be forcibly removed by the guards. This is Constantinople, not Rome! We do not stab each other to death in this Senate!"

The Protoasecretes looked around the room and noticed that few men were paying any attention to him. He muttered some obscenities under his breath and glared at the gathered body of Senators. When nothing changed about their demeanor, he sighed, stoop up as straight as he was able, and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"I hereby declare the Byzantine Senate to be in Session! The floor will remain open for debate and legislation until 3:30pm EST on Thursday, June 5th, at which point there will be 48 hours alloted for voting."

With that, he sat down to watch the inevitable chaos.

[Privateerkev]

Makedonios walked into the Senate with paperwork hooked under his arms and a couple aides in tow. Stopping in the middle of the grand room, he looked for the area set aside for the Order. He finally saw that a simple large table with a bank of seats behind it had the Order's coat of arms on the front. Pleased that the place had been set up to his liking, he walked over and took a seat at the left end of the table, to facilitate oration, which he was sure he would have to do some of.

Looking behind him, he saw the doors that led into the private chambers reserved for the Order. In there, there was a hall with a table large enough to seat all of the Order members. Plus a small barren room for prayer. As well as sleeping quarters for those sessions that go all through the night.

Tall, and with a head of blond hair, the soldier had simple clothes on. A plain cape adorned his shoulders and had a purple Orthodox cross on the back. A small scar adorned his cheek and his eyes were full of life. Unfolding the sheets of paper, it is clear that the noble is preparing to present business before the Senate. But out of respect for the Emperor, he has decided to sit and wait until the Basileus makes his appearance.

[_Tristan_]

Methodios Tagaris walks into the Senate, a determined look on his face. Dressed in a long-sleeved white tunic and baggy trousers gathered at the knees such as worn by the Varangians. Over his tunic, a thin coat of mail can be seen. On his shoulders is draped a heavy black silken cape. Noticing that the place is still almost empty, he goes and find a seat in an unclaimed section of the benches.

[Kagemusha]

Ioannis Kantakouzinos walks inside the senate and sits down near the seat of Caesar, looking around the Senate with curious expression in his eyes.

[Ramses II CP]

Vissarionas was standing meekly to the rear of the mass of senators when the doors were finally thrown open, having deposited his new errand boy in his rooms in the city. When the crowd moved forward Vissarionas moved with them, timidly, coming to a stop as the groups dispersed to their various stations. Casting about somewhat vacantly he at last spots the Order of St. John's table, where his Grandmaster, Comes Makedonios, is already taking a seat.

Confident now Strator Vissarionas strides across the chamber and issues another perfect salute to the Grandmaster, then takes a seat in whichever chair the Comes points out to him. Vissarionas is wide eyed and clearly very impressed by his surroundings, but determined not to make a fool of himself. He has exchanged his more foppish cap for a less dramatic and noticeable model that rests comfortably on his bald head, and his garmets are similarly muted with only the Order's tabard over them being noteworthy.

As with his master, he observes a respectful silence while waiting for the Basileus to arrive and address the body.

[Privateerkev]

Makedonios spies Vissarionas and gives him a smile. As the sergeant takes a seat near him, Makedonios leans over and asks in a low voice,

"Did you by any chance go to the races? How did the Blue team do?"

[_Tristan_]

Espying the Grandmaster of the Order of St John at the other side of the Senate, Methodios respectfully inclines his head when the Grandmaster's gaze passes over him.

Noticing that there is ample room left nearer to the Basileus dais, Methodios finds a seat on the benches nearest to the Throne.

[Privateerkev]

Makedonios sees one of the Strators he has been in correspondence with and gives Methodios a friendly nod in return. He then leans in to hear Vissarionas's reply.

[BananaBob]

Nathanail ek Korinthou walks into the Magnaura, and seeing the gathering of the Order of St.John, proceeds to sit down amongst them at the table. He wears a long white tunic underneath a robe decorated with the insignia of the Order of St.John.

[Smowz]

A shy and curious young man enters the Magnaura wearing plain looking robes, fumbling his authentication papers under his arm Nevoulos ek Philadelphias looks around hoping to find someone he recognizes... He sees some of the retainers if Hypatios of the Asteri sorting some papers to one side and rushes over enthusiastically.

They shoo him away rather embarrassedly, he realises he is not on the battlefield or in the company of his bodygaurd here and he must act as a nobleman.

Nevoulos curiously eyes the men who have the insignia of the Order of St.John and catches the eye of the Grandmaster and admires the magnificence and peacefulness of the man in such a grand setting. He begins to veer to sit somewhere near them and realises that he should sit somewhere near the representatives of his house toward the other side of the great political theatre.

He moves as regally as he can manage over to that side and rather over majestically sits on the stone seats two rows back from where he suspects the house's leader may sit.

He realises he has not much to do but wait and decides he must be seen to be doing something and gets out calls in one of his two servents to fetch him some parchments to read and write on.

[Cecil XIX]

Armatos walks into the Magnaura, but stops at the doorway in surprise at how quiet things are. After a few minutes of waiting or someone to speak, he dejectedly departs.

[flyd]

Markianos Ampelas enters the Magnaura neatly dressed in clean clothes. He takes a seat without minding too much where it is, bows his head, closes his eyes, and presses with his fingers upon the bridge of his nose, as if nursing the most horrendous headache.

[AussieGiant]

A tall slender and solemn young man enters the Magnaura. He's wearing the blue silk cloak of the Saracen Mansuriyya regiment embroidered with inscriptions from the Koran. Black bands of cloth on his upper arms display his name and rank, that of an officer of one of the Sultan’s Egyptian Slave regiments. His deeply tanned face is set in a stony and unreadable expression.

That gaze falls upon a court official rapidly approaching with two burley guards in tow. The short agitated man begins speaking excitedly in rapid fire Greek, pointing to the door and gesturing for the man to leave.

With a slow even motion the Saracen Officer reaches into his red scale armoured tunic and produces a number of documents, both guards tense momentarily and even the official stops talking momentarily as a horrifying thought of violence crosses his mind.

A moment passes as the official looks at the documents held in front of him, finally he snatches the papers and begins to read. After no more than a minute he hands back the papers and hisses out a series of instructions to the young officer calmly standing before him. At last the official finishes his tirade and the young officer inclined his head in agreement and moves to the back of the room to stand against the wall and watch.

[pevergreen]

Michail slips in, walking past the Order and the multitude of Houses now in existance. The only thing of note about his appearance is the orange and black cloak he wears over his left shoulder, leaving his sword free. The brooch connecting his clock and tunic had an odd design, a silver hawk. It seemed a trivial thing, but Michail absently polished it. As he sat down he noted the lack of conversation between groups. As currently Michail is unaffiliated, he sought to make some action at least.
"Friend Senators, I speak for the good of the empire. I propose we start the debates, let us talk between our political groups and work out the best course of action for all involved. As of yet I am waiting on a scout's reports, but shall return to the floor when he arrives. I now hand the floor to the next willing speaker..."

[flyd]

Markianos looks up.

Let the Basileus speak first. It is not only proper that he is given that honor, but how shall we debate if we know not what he plans to do, and in what way he intends to lead the Empire?

Markianos then glances over at the oddly-dressed Saracen, and puts his head back in his hands.

[pevergreen]

Michail's face looks as if a stinging blow has been struck to it. For a moment, it seems that he may attack Marianos, but then realises he was indeed presumptuous. Making a mental note to thank Markianos for pointing out his mistakes, Michail sits quietly, vowing to learn how to play these political games.

[The Lemongate]

Anastasios Neokaisareitis enters the Senate chamber. He is dressed in simple, efficient clothes, but his tunica cannot conceal the fact that he wears a light chain shirt underneath it. Even though it is still early morning, it is clearly visible he has been up and about for some time. Those Senators who know of him realize he is probably returning from his tasteless exercises at the Campus Martius.

He takes a seat near the section reserved for the Asteri. Though his demeanor is calm, there is a certain uneasiness about him. Careful observers notice he is not at his best in this hall of debates.

A few quick glances around the room show that many Senators have arrived. Most noticeable among them, the Grandmaster of the Order of St. John, Makedonios Ksanthopoulos. There was much talk about the Order and its leader in the City. Some thought of him as a holy man giving his life for a noble cause.

"Heh," Anastasios chuckled lightly, "nothing in this world is noble."

"Then again," he mused, "he has his fixations, I have mine. Why should I judge him?"

He realized his gaze had strayed a tad too long towards Comes Ksanthopoulos and quickly looked away, hoping the inappropriate gesture had not been caught.

[Ramses II CP]

Makedonios sees one of the Strators he has been in correspondence with and gives Methodios a friendly nod in return. He then leans in to hear Vissarionas's reply.

Vissarionas ek Lesvou speaks quietly in the Grandmaster's ear.

M'lord as I understood the proceedings the blue team did exceptionally well in that their charioteer won the race despite having broken his wheel in the middle! It was a remarkable feat. My own red team's man made an, err, small contribution as well by heading off the pursuit and taking third place. Quite a pleasant experience, and I managed to collect an errand boy that I suspect will be quite useful. He is named for the Archangel Raphael! I will speak more of him later.

With a quick nod Vissarionas then tries to follow the further conversations erupting in the chamber.

[Privateerkev]

Makedonios sees Nathanail walk in and he waves him over. The new sergeant walks over and joins the Order's table.

It seems few people wish to pre-empt the Emperor's right to speak first and dictate the tone of the session. Most people are just walking in and attempting to make a good impression. People are sizing each other up.

With a soldier's gaze, Makedonios keeps an eye on everyone without it being obvious. He notices Nevoulos, another noble he has sent a letter to, look in his direction. The Comes smiles and gives the noble a friendly nod. He notices his friend Armatos walk in, see nothing happening, and leave.

Looking over at his fellow land-owner Markianos, Makedonios is happy that he swore off alcohol. The entry of Apionnas Vringas got Makedonios's attention. As someone who read books on the Holy Land, he knew what the Strator's silk cloak meant. The Grandmaster was sad that Apionnas had to go through such an ordeal but happy that the young noble was obviously free.

Michail attempted to start the proceedings early but Markianos put an end to it. Makedonios just sat back and watched to see how people would handle the situation.

And then Anastasios walked in. Makedonios had done some research on the senators and knew who the man was. His cruelty was well known and for some reason, he was able to get a conversation with Anna. The feeling of jealousy came back and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Anastasios staring at him. He decided it was best to just ignore it. There were far more important matters at hand.

The Grandmaster was brought back to the present when Vissarionas finally answered him about his question regarding the races. Makedonios's eyes lit up when he heard how the Blue team did. But knowing the races could be a contentious topic in the Senate, he kept his voice low when he talked to his youngest sergeant.

I'm glad to hear Kaspax won. And please tell me about the boy you found when you get the chance.

[ULC]

Iakovos rushes into the Magnaura, perspiration on his brow, his clothes slightly disheveled. He spies Makedonios and Vissarionas at the Order's table and rushes over to them and takes a seat. "I'm am terribly sorry M'lord Makedonios, I had worn myself ragged last night reading. I am afraid we we will have to acquire more candles." Iakovos finally takes a breath, and takes a look around him. "I have not missed anything of importance, have I?"

[Privateerkev]

Pleased to see another of his sergeants, Makedonios waves Iakovos to come sit. He leans over and speaks softly.

You haven't missed much. It's only proper for the Basileus to speak first and set the tone and direction for the session. So mostly, people have simply filed in, taken their seats, and talked softly amongst themselves.

[Ignoramus]

Ioannis Komenos, clearly sick of the silence rises to his feet and begins to address the senators.

In the absence of my father, I shall raise some important concerns.

Senators, I call upon every one of you to publicly swear your allegience to my father, Aleksios Komnenos, Basileus of Rome! Should you not do so, I need not tell you what my father's actions will be.

You have seen how mistrust and intrigue have brought our empire to the verge of destruction. Therefore, lay aside your scheming ambitions, and serve my father faithfully. In turn, you shall have your reward.

The Caesar sits down, with silence greeting his words.

[Cecil XIX]

I, Armatos ek Naksou, swear absolute fealty to Basileus Alexius I Komnenos!

[Csargo]

Philippos enters the Magnaura and stops to look and see if his Comes had already entered. He finds the area of seating for his house, but no one is there. He shakes his head, and takes a seat alone.

He looks as though he wishes to speak, but decides it would be better if he held his tongue.

[The Lemongate]

Like a soldier at attention, Anastasios stands up and salutes the Caesar:

I swear to serve Rome and her Emperor, Aleksios Komnenos!

He quickly sits back down, feeling a little foolish in his eagerness.

[pevergreen]

Michail sees Philippos sitting alone, for a moment he seems to be considering something, he then rises, stating in his all-so-common cynical voice
"Gentlemen, all I have done and will do is for the good of the empire, as I stated. Basileus Alexius I Komnenos I serve you."

Seemingly happy with what he has said, Michail walks over and greets Philippos with a barely perceptable incline of the head. Taking a seat next to Philippos, Michail strikes up a short lived but hurried conversation, in a muttering tone. Without waiting for a reply Michail returns to his seat, still without House, seemingly without honour.

[Ramses II CP]

With a slight look of annoyance Vissarionas rises and vows his allegiance to Aleksios Komnenos.

[Csargo]

Philippos thinks over what Michail said to him. Once Michail looks towards him again, Philippos slightly nods his head, so only someone who is watching him would notice.

[Privateerkev]

Annoyed at the bit of theater going on, Makedonios had hoped to just stay quiet. But when two of his sergeants stood up and spoke because of the specter of fear that the Caesar created, he knew he had to say something.

With all due respect Caesar, I do not swear to someone because a third party asks me to. I swear to them directly. When the Basileus arrives, I will make it perfectly clear where the loyalties of the Order lies. As will I to you when you are Basileus. Until then, I find this exercise... distracting...

[ULC]

Iakovos pulled out a roll of parchment and a quill, and quickly began scribbling something on the paper. Quickly finishing, Iakovos read it over and then nodded to himself before rolling it up and calling over one of the pages and handing over the paper. Iakovos whispers something to the Page in a whisper, and smiles to himself. Iakovos listens to Makedonios, nodding in agreement but saying nothing.