126: The Council Continues

The impromptu snowball fight released much of the tensions which were straining emotions among the various groups of elves attending the Council. Morcocáno proved a canny general for his ‘team’ and earned even Finrod’s respect by the ingenuity of his battle plans. The day ended in high spirits as Ingwë invited everyone back to the townhouse for the evening feast. The feasthall was not large enough to accommodate everyone, so Ingwë had the ballroom opened and tables were set up there instead. Some of the Tol Eressëans were not sanguine about returning to their accommodations in the mansions of the Valar, wondering if they would be locked in again, but Ingwë assured them that he doubted that would be the case.

"I think the Valar gave us this time to... um... cool off," he told them blandly and there was much laughter among them, though it was somewhat rueful as the import of the High King’s words sank in. Still, there was a noticeable reluctance on the part of many of the Tol Eressëans to depart for Valmar until Eönwë himself appeared, announcing that the Council would resume on the morrow at Lord Tulkas and Lady Nessa’s mansion.

"Hey, maybe that means we’ll get to the council chamber first for a change before the Reborn delegation," Gilvagor exclaimed, winking at Brethorn, who muttered something in Sindarin that had the entire hall breaking up in laughter, though most of the Amanians had no idea what had been said and even when Brethorn’s words were translated, still didn’t get the joke. Eönwë was seen to smile even as he faded from their view and the Tol Eressëans departed for Valmar with easier minds.

Thus, when Isilya dawned, the Council resumed. The Warriors under Gilvagor and the Reborn under Brethorn arrived at the same time, both groups practically running to reach the doors first, much to the amusement of the three kings. The two ellyn laughingly agreed to reach into the copper bowl at the same time and were pleasantly surprised to find that they would be seated next to one another. Morcocáno and the Avallóneans returned with that lord apologizing to everyone else for storming out as he had. Uinendilmë also made a formal apology for her part in the debacle and it was accepted in good grace. Ingwë then asked Morcocáno if he had any thoughts about the direction towards which the Tol Eressëans should lean. "For we would hear what Avallónë thinks about this so that a complete record is had," he ended.

Morcocáno nodded. "It has always been the opinion of we of Avallónë that the seat of government should be in that city, for it is the island’s first and oldest inhabitation." He raised a hand to forestall any protests from Galadhwen and some others. "That has been our contention, though we know that not everyone agrees with this. Regardless, it is the desire of the citizens of Avallónë that we should have a two-tier structure with each community retaining its own council but with another, shall we say, island-wide council consisting of members chosen from all the communities to address only those problems which affect us all, while the councils of the individual communities would deal with local situations. We of Avallónë do not wish to cede all our autonomy to a king or governor or whatever. We wish to retain some control over local matters."

"A two-tier government consisting of local councils to deal with local concerns but another council that would deal only with those situations that might have island-wide repercussions, is that what you are saying?" Ingwë enquired.

Morcocáno nodded. "Essentially. There is a concern among many in Avallónë that if the present system of autonomous councils is disbanded in favor of a more centralized government under the rule of a single person, however he might style himself, it would be detrimental to us and we will lose all power to decide our futures."

"It is a concern for others, as well," Dúlinn spoke up, "though perhaps not in the same degree as you intimate for Avallónë, Lord Morcocáno. I don’t think that even if we agree on a king to rule us that the city councils will become redundant. I think it will be necessary for them to continue to exist, if not in the same manner as they do now, simply because we need local governance. It would be foolish to run to the king or whoever with every little problem that crops up." He turned his attention to the three High Kings. "Or is that how it works with you? Are all problems resolved at the highest level?"

Ingwë shook his head as did Olwë and Arafinwë. "While there are no city councils as you have developed them on Tol Eressëa, we have divided our cities into districts where magistrates are assigned to hear whatever problems need to be addressed. If a person is unhappy with the decision made at the local level, they have the right to petition to the king for his ruling, which is final. More often than not, the original ruling by the magistrate is upheld. I can think of only a few cases where it was not." Olwë and Arafinwë both nodded.

"What about grievances that affect all the people, though?" Mereneth asked. "How are they handled?"

"By our Privy Councils," Ingwë replied. "Once a year at the New Year petitions are collected by way of our magistrates. These are sorted out by subject matter, with similar petitions grouped together even if they do not deal exactly with the same situation. If there appears to be a consensus among the populace that a particular situation needs to be addressed, based on these petitions, then I and my Privy Council look into the merits of the complaints and promulgate laws if we feel it necessary. These laws are voted on by the people and if there is at least a two-thirds majority in favor of the law, it goes into effect on the following New Year’s Day. Other matters that we feel are not as important are referred back to the magistrates who handle the cases at their level. No petition goes unheard, though it may not be addressed by me and my own council. That pretty much is how it is handled in Tirion and Alqualondë."

There were thoughtful looks on many faces. Ingwë gave them a moment or two to digest what he had said before continuing. "So we have heard from each of the delegates as to their views and the views of those whom they represent. It is now time to decide in what manner we will tackle the problem of deciding which course is the best for your people to take."

"Perhaps this is a good time for you Children to break up into small groups and discuss what you have heard," Lord Manwë suggested. "Have two members from each delegation meet to talk things over. That will give you seven groups of forty-two people each. We Valar will abstain from joining you at this time. Discuss among yourselves the merits of each delegation’s suggestions and come to a consensus among you as to what you think will work best. Then bring the seven groups together and have each group give a summary of what they’ve decided. It may turn out that most of the groups will decide along similar lines. Then you need only concentrate on that particular aspect and begin working out details from there."

"That sounds like an excellent suggestion, lord, and we thank you," Ingwë said with a short bow. "If we are all agreed, then let us do as the Elder King has suggested. Perhaps to make it fair, we can have everyone draw lots to determine the groups."

"There are a sufficient number of gemstones of seven types in the bowl you use to determine seating," Manwë said benignly as he nodded towards the copper bowl that stood before the chamber doors. "Let everyone chose a gemstone. Conference rooms will be made available for each of the groups. The doors will have embedded in them one of the gemstones that are drawn so you know to which room your group should adjourn."

There were nods all around. Ingwë decided the easiest way was to have the delegations leave one at a time. He collected the gemstones that each had taken to determine where they would sit for this session and placed them in the small copper bowl before him. One by one, as Ingwë selected a gemstone, the delegations departed, each person stopping long enough to select a gemstone from the larger bowl on the way out. Maiar then directed people to the appropriate conference room. Finally, only the three kings and the Valar remained.

"So, how long should we allow these small group discussions to meet, do you think?" Arafinwë asked.

"As long as necessary, I suppose," Ingwë replied with an uncertain shrug, glancing at Manwë still seated at the table.

"I think you can give them the rest of today and perhaps tomorrow to allow everyone to have a chance to speak," Manwë said. "Reconvene the council again on Menelya."

"How do you think it will go?" Olwë asked. "What sort of consensus will they arrive at, do you suppose?"

The Elder King shrugged as he stood. "That is hard to say at this point, but I think Morcocáno’s suggestion might win the day."

"Oh?" Ingwë said, looking surprised.

"You did not see how people’s eyes lit up as they listened to him?" Varda asked as she joined her spouse. "Of all the options offered by the various delegates, that one seemed to catch the imaginations of most."

"Well, we’ll have to see, won’t we?" Ingwë replied with a thin smile.

"Indeed we will," Manwë said as he and the other Valar made their way out of the chamber with the three kings. "In the meantime, why don’t you three join us? We have other matters concerning Eldamar that should be addressed as long as you are free."

"Yes," Ingwë said. "It’s rare enough that the three of us are together to so discuss such matters." Olwë and Arafinwë nodded in agreement.

"Then let us adjourn to our mansion," Varda said, "and you may lunch with us."

"I hope these small discussion groups prove fruitful," Arafinwë said as they made their way across the central courtyard of Tulkas and Nessa’s mansion and headed up the Landamallë towards Manwë and Varda’s mansion.

"Násië," Ingwë responded fervently. "Otherwise, we may end up with another snowstorm on our front doorsteps." He gave Manwë a wink and the other two kings chuckled. Manwë rewarded them with an innocent look that fooled no one and there were amused chuckles among the other Valar.

****

That evening, Finrod and the other Amanian delegates reported to the three kings on what progress had been made.

"I can’t speak for the other groups," Lindarion said, "but in mine one of the scribes was called in to give us a summary of all that had been said before. There was a great deal of discussion about the merits of each delegate’s suggestion and I was pleasantly surprised that no one made any disparaging remarks about what this or that person said. All suggestions and concerns were treated seriously. I was quite impressed."

Others acknowledged that their groups also consulted with the scribes and took all that had been said quite seriously.

"I didn’t say much myself," Beleg told them, "but I listened very carefully. The people in my group seemed genuinely to want to make this Council a success and were very careful to take each suggestion seriously, though that is not to say there weren’t some lively... um... discussions among them." He flashed them a bright smile and the others all chuckled.

"I suspect that Brethorn’s little speech rattled them a bit and made them think," Sador offered. "That and what happened with Lord Morcocáno, not to mention the blizzard. We all know that was not natural."

Everyone nodded at that.

Finrod then spoke. "In my group, those of us not from Tol Eressëa also did more listening than speaking. In fact, only when someone specifically asked me for my opinion did I say anything."

"And what did you say?" Arafinwë asked.

"Most of the Tol Eressëans seemed to like the idea of a two-tier government," Finrod replied, carefully choosing his words and he did not miss the significant looks that passed between his atar and the other kings. "I pointed out that even with such a structure, it still would be better if there was someone leading the, what did that Master Potter call it? Oh yes, ‘the Island Privy Council’. Someone not drawn from the council itself but chosen separately."

"More like a governor rather than a king," Ingwion said with a nod. "Most of those in my group had similar thoughts. They seemed to like the idea of having local councils and then someone above them with his own council dealing with island-wide issues. They agreed that trying to find someone to be their king was hopeless, but if someone acted simply as a governor, perhaps for a term of years before stepping down for someone else, that might work."

"One person even suggested that the governor or whatever you want to call him should act more as a regent until such time as the kings of Beleriand were released from Mandos and one of them agreed to rule on Tol Eressëa," Alassiel added, for she had been in the same discussion group as Ingwion.

"Hmm.... that has possibilities," Olwë said musingly. "So you think the other groups are leaning towards the idea of the two-tier structure Lord Morcocáno suggested?"

Most of the delegates nodded, though a few shrugged, not willing to commit themselves that far.

"Do you think they will want to continue their discussions tomorrow?" Ingwë asked. "Or have they all come to a consensus already?"

"My group wishes to meet again, at least during the morning, to hash out details before presenting them to the rest of the Council," Finrod stated and there were nods from the others as well.

"Then we will give them the morning to continue their discussions," Ingwë said. "They may have the entire day, if they wish, and we will reconvene on Menelya."

"I will tell those in my group," Finrod said, "though, really, I think they will be ready to share their decision with the rest by the afternoon."

"If that is true with the other groups then we will reconvene the Council in the afternoon," Ingwë said. "I’ll inform Lord Manwë so he has plenty of time to... er... reconstruct the council chamber wherever he wishes."

There were amused chuckles all around. Then Olwë asked if there had been any upsets among the groups.

"Well, there was a great deal of shouting and banging on the table, but nothing acrimonious, if that’s what you mean," Finrod said with a smile.

"What about those farming communities who joined with the miners from Angobel?" Sador asked. "Did we ever find out why they did so?"

"I spoke to one of them," Finrod said. "It turns out that the three farming communities who went to Angobel were all from the northeastern part of the island and nominally looked to Avallónë for governance. When they learned of what happened between Angobel and Avallónë, they were disturbed that Lord Morcocáno would blatantly ignore the pronouncements of three Valar, particularly when one of them was Lord Námo. The ellon told me, and I quote, ‘The thought of defying the dread Lord of Mandos did not sit well with us, and we were afraid that the Doom of the Noldor would fall upon us again if we continued to associate with those of Avallónë’."

He gave them a sour grin and there were uneasy glances among them all, especially among the Noldor, for, save Finrod, none of them had gone into exile.

"Interesting," Ingwë said musingly after a moment or two. "Yes, most interesting." Then the matter was dropped and other topics of conversation arose.

****

The morning was indeed devoted to small group discussions but representatives from each group let Ingwë know that extending these discussions into the afternoon would not be necessary, so the High King informed Manwë, who stated that the Council would still meet at Tulkas and Nessa’s mansion.

"We haven’t the time to move the chamber to Nienna’s today," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. "We’ll do that tomorrow."

Ingwë forbore to comment on that but simply nodded and excused himself. He, Arafinwë and Olwë had decided to spend the morning drilling the elflings and Vorondil on proper etiquette and the duties of pages and, in Vorondil’s case, squires. That did not take up the entire morning, so once the kings were satisfied that the children’s education was progressing well, they and Aldundil, who had no other duties until the Council reconvened, took them to one of the markets where they wandered about buying small trinkets for themselves — "And something for Uncle Vondo, because he was feeling left out" — and then treating them to lunch at the Laughing Vala before returning for the afternoon Council session.

As the delegates arrived, Ingwë told them to take the same seats as before and soon everyone was settled. Ingwë then took the seven gemstones that had been used to determine the discussion groups, placing them in the small copper bowl before him.

"I am assuming each group has chosen someone to speak for them," he said. "Please limit yourself to stating what your final conclusions were. Once everyone has been heard then we will decide on our next step." He then reached into the bowl and pulled out a ruby.

Brethorn stood up, smiling shyly. "I don’t know why everyone insisted I be the speaker for the group, but there’s no accounting for taste." That won a few chuckles. "At any rate, after careful deliberation, it was decided that Lord Morcocáno’s suggestion of a two-tier structure was the most viable and the one that would most likely win the approval of the rest of the island. We did have some concern about the... uh... island-wide council — we couldn’t seem to come up with an appropriate name for it."

"And what concern would that be?" Ingwë asked.

"We were somewhat undecided about the ultimate leadership, should the head of the — let’s call it the Privy Council for lack of a better term in relation to the local councils — should the head of the Privy Council be one of the council members chosen by the other members or should he be a separate entity altogether, chosen by some other means? Also, if that is the case, would he then choose his Privy Council the way you kings choose yours or would the people choose and he would have to live with that choice?"

He then sat down and Ingwë thanked him even as he pulled out an emerald. The Healer Elríen then stood and said pretty much the same thing, though she admitted that her group had not addressed the problem of who would ultimately lead. "We felt that was something that should be discussed in full council," she ended before sitting.

One gemstone after another was withdrawn from the bowl and a speaker for that particular group rose and told them what had been decided. When all seven groups had been heard, Ingwë opened the floor to additional comments and suggestions. For a long moment, no one ventured to say anything, then Manwë rose, his smile beatific.

"You have all done well," he said. "You have put aside your differences and prejudices to listen carefully to one another. It appears from what we have heard today that the majority consensus is that a two-tier government will work best for you. I agree. I noticed there was a great deal of fumbling for the proper words to describe the councils so they could be differentiated. May I suggest that we refer to any community’s council as a local council but we will refer to what some of you were calling the island-wide Privy Council as simply the Assembly."

Everyone nodded and Manwë continued. "Good. Then some of you voiced concern about how the Assembly would be structured. How would its members be chosen? Should the person with the final say be chosen from out of the Assembly or come from elsewhere? Should that person be allowed to rule as a king or a regent or a governor and for how long? These are all important questions and I think they are the ones that need to be addressed now. The local councils I think can remain as they are, though I would like to see every community with their own council, or failing that, then some means of addressing local problems even if there is no council."

One of the farmers sitting with the miners raised his hand and Manwë acknowledged him. "Some of the farming communities are quite small, with fewer than fifty adults. In such cases we’ve followed the example of the Mortals with whom we interacted in Beleriand where a headman was chosen to oversee the community and perhaps once a month everyone would meet to discuss whatever needed to be discussed."

There were nods among many of the delegates and Manwë smiled at the ellon, who sat down, looking slightly embarrassed at having spoken. "Yes, that is precisely what I meant," Manwë said. "At any rate I would suggest then that you address the problems I enumerated concerning the Assembly and how it should relate to the individual local councils."

"Perhaps we can adjourn until tomorrow, then," Ingwë suggested, "to give everyone time to mull over Lord Manwë’s words." He paused for a second and then gave them a sly smile. "And if we’re lucky, we will resolve all of this to everyone’s satisfaction before the council chamber is moved to Lord Námo’s mansion, unless of course you let us in by a side door, my lord," he added, turning to the Lord of Mandos.

Námo raised an eyebrow. "What would be the fun of that?" he asked, giving them a miffed look.

Not everyone was sure how to react to that, though some noticed the amused smile on Finrod’s face. Brethorn then made a gesturing motion, as if inviting everyone in on a secret. "Don’t worry," he said in a loud whisper which everyone could hear, "my people and I will sneak you all in by the side door."

"Spoil-sport," Námo said with a sniff and now there was actual laughter as Ingwë dismissed the Council for the day.

"Well, that went well enough," Arafinwë said as he stood up.

"Much better than I thought it would," Olwë said in agreement.

"They do seem to have decided to act with more maturity," Ingwë averred. "If they continue to do so, we may see this Council ending sooner rather than later."

"It would be a relief to know that nothing will go wrong with the rest of the Council," Finrod said as he joined his atar and the other two kings. "I find I’m actually enjoying myself now that people aren’t shouting invectives at one another."

"Huh! From your lips to the Valar’s ears," Sador said flippantly as they made their way out of the chamber, quite forgetting that the same Valar were sitting there listening to the banter.

When the chamber was empty of all but the Valar, Námo rose, his amaranthine eyes glowing with grim amusement. "Oh yes," he said softly. "Yes, indeed." The rest of them smiled knowingly as one by one they shed their fanar and went their separate ways.