Let the Games Begin

[Nohiki]

Sol'Lux yawned. "Politics..." The meeting has being going on for an hour already and it still wasn't their turn. She had to explain to some conservatively thinking dragons, who thought the old clans shall be made again, that the existence of elemental clans led already to two wars. "Too bad every system we can think of will eventually turn into oligarchy." she frowned, thinking about leaving. She quickly forgotten it as that would leave deciding her fate to somebody else. Finally she got the word. "I say let the people vote their leaders periodically. Then and only then they will be assured that they control what is going on. For simplicity, we should divide the island into multiple areas and vote for according number of leaders. Those will be responsible for leading everyone on their part of the island. The question is if they should be voted for lifetime, because they will get valuable experience over time, or for short terms so they won't seize control."

[Morty]

"Stuck in a tree?" Iskander raised an eyebrow, and tried to imagine it. "Yikes." he shuddered. "Sounds like glitch. And who do I know who is expert on glitches? Aha! See you later, sahib." said Iskander, and flew off to where Gorn had been. When he arrived Gorn was nowhere to be seen, so he simply made his way along the branches, knocking against the wood at intervals. He stopped when it made a hollow sound. "Ello? Anybody in there?" he called, putting his ear against the bark, not really expecting an answer.

"That sounds wonderful. Now when are we gonna vote the legalization of narcotics? Hmm? Hmm? Who's with me." said Asmodeus, floating up through the floor of the meeting place. The council members turned to glare at him stonily "You know what, never mind. We can decide on this later." he smiled innocently and sank back through the floor.

[Midnightmoon]

"I would think that a dragon would be voted to lead the certain piece of territory and only gets booted off when some one wants a new leader, and in that case another vote would be done. So if there was a dragon who happened to be a good leader then he or she could lead until he or she retires. After a vote the new leader gets fourteen days of unchallenged rule then after that the population can demand another vote if the current leader wasn't working." Starlight inputted.

[Nohiki]

Soundtrack: www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/306207 (loop)
"If he can be challenged anytime by everyone, it's never gonna work." Said a deep, stern voice in the dark. Sol'Lux had to agree. She looked to the side to see the speaker. It was an ice dragon, around forty years. He sit a bit away from the main pack of speakers, where a branch was casting a shadow over his face. "If you plan to vote for the leaders, they must remain as long as they choose to, possibly for a lifetime. They could be recalled by majority of the people or by other leaders, because they will do it before the other can rise to power so big that the others will no longer be able to defeat him even with combined force." "That could lead to the others voting against him out of pure spite, like when his part of the island is prospering most." Noticed Sol'Lux. "Of course i only meant the military case." said the mysterious speaker. Sol'Lux tried to look into his mind. "Who are you? And why are you so aside?" she asked mentally. "I am me because you are you. And I have my reasons." was the response, then Sol'Lux was blocked and all she could see was solid ice wall. "That sounds pretty well, but there is one problem. It deals with internal threats, but what if somebody was to attack us as a whole? If the island is led to demilitarization and prosperity, it might be our downfall. It is not too long ago when Garuds hunted us for sport. We can thank the disease that they are here no more. But they were not the only ones." The blue dragon was silent. "Well, any solution?" she asked the crowd.

[Morty]

"What we need is a strong military, and an uncorruptable leadership. I say we subject all possible candidates to a mental search before putting them on the throne, so to speak." said a brash crimson fire dragon, slightly younger than the shady ice one. "Anyone found to be hiding something will be expelled from the candidacy." he added curtly, shuffling his wings.

[Nohiki]

"Look at me. You won't read anything, the golden one may confirm, and even if i let you in, i can still hide what you don't need to see well enough for you not to notice anything." said the ice dragon. "Plus, it often happens that the power corrupts the person AFTER it is given the power. You can be full of ideals, but only time can determine whether the subject is trustworthy." added Sol'Lux. "Maybe we can leave the military to be in hands of one general that will be in military command of the leaders, who will respond only to their armies, and such general will be set only in the war time. When there is none, the control principle you described before may still apply." said another speaker in the crowd.

[Morty]

"Well of course I wouldn't be the one to do it. But I'm sure one highly skilled in mental probing could get the job done." said the fire dragon. "I think a highly centralized form of government is due. Having too-many-leaders leads to factions, and then it won't be clan versus clan, it will be faction versus faction."
"Might I suggest neutering the dragons of their element before inauguration? That way no one will be preferential to their element." piped Asmodeus from the wings. "Maybe I shouldn't have used the word "neutering"." he laughed.

[Midnightmoon]

"Of course same results would go for some one deliberately blocking a part of their mind." Starlight expanded. "If they have the ability to block their thoughts, good for them, but if their not willing to share to prove their sincerity of a good rule then that won't do. I would think they would need a anual check up too considering they might get drunk on power."

[Morty]

"Precisely what I'm trying to say, madame." said, bowing.

[Nohiki]

"But as we said, if one faction even begins to think about taking over, the others would ally and stop it before it even begins." (OOC: Seldon crisis. Read the Foundation ) reminded Sol'Lux. "And there is no need for too many leaders. Au contraire, I do not think that there will be much volunteers. Six will do pretty well, and the parts should be split to even parts of land. And I wouldn't worry about preffering ne of the elements, because such a leader would be quickly recalled by the mentioned majority of the population." Explained the Ice dragon. "It does seem foolproof, but no matter, everything we can come up with is just a theory and if we decide for anything, it will be a test. So my point is, let's take what sounds good, put it into practice, and modify it on the run." said another speaker. In the shadow covering the ice dragon's head, you could see a small headnod.

[Morty]

"Well, six leaders sounds like plenty. As long as we can ensure cohesion between the military and the government, you have my vote." The fire dragon settled his head on his chest as if to settle the matter itself.
"All right! Let's wing it!" Asmodeus clapped and floated up through the ceiling.

[Nohiki]

"Who's the rainbow guy?" whispered Sol'Lux to Starlight. "Well, as Elder Maranell said, we won't see until we have a look. I agree." she said. "Hm." frowned the Ice dragon, "Some will have hard time getting used to it but... I'm going for it too."

[Midnightmoon]

"How should I know? I've been the one out in the middle of no where for the past year." Starlight whispered back. "I actually thought that meating would take longer. So when do you think these candidates are going to be selected or stepping forward?"

[Nohiki]

"the two hours was not enough for you? Well you can stay here then, i've had enough. As for the elections - up to them. Probably just after the games, which still have a week to run. You wouldn't bore the crowd with politics on their biggest festival, would you?" Smiled the light dragoness and stood up, stretching her overrested body. She took off, flying high into the tree, where the snow used to be until today's noon. She sat there and looked at the stars on the clear night sky. Just return safely, my boy. She thought, still looking.

[redwaller66]

Attoro tried to pick up the book with his snout. Suddenly the green mist in the room turned to blue mist and started choking him. Attoro ran out of the room and the crevice in the tree shut. The blue mist started coming through the small cracks though, slowely, but surely.

Suddenly Attoro heard a knocking on the tree and Attoro heard Iskander.
"Help me before it gets me!" Attoro shouted back to him.