And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by - an Age of Sail quest

"It is a lovely time, you simply must come," Sarah had said over breakfast whilst you picked diffidently at your food and wished for the thousandth time that the letter stamped with the seal of the Admirals' House would come bearing orders that might take you away from this place. It wasn't that you disliked your family, or that you disliked Sarah. Far from it. It's just that being on shore felt frightfully dull and the pay was frightfully bad. The company of the well-to-do in Inoborgh was… fine. You had made no particular connections as of yet, and found yourself beginning to despair of any such things being in your future. You had met officers, officers' spouses, aristocrats of varying ranks and duties, merchants… all of them perfectly pleasant but none of them terribly interested in a young naval officer with pitiful prospects for doing much else than rotting on the dockside.

All the same, you'd agreed with the hope that this might be a bit more diverting that another concert, another dinner party, another late-night game of cards. Maybe a robust political discussion would do something interesting.

You had debated on whether or not it would be best to wear a uniform to this thing, but the urge to remember where it was you were trying to get (the sea) won out with the desire to perhaps blend in to a more fashionable or radical (ha, radical) crowd in this bustling city. You accompanied Sarah in the coach, which took you through the winding streets of Inoborgh and down towards the salon--a coffee house located in the intellectual heart of the city.

"I'm certain you'll enjoy it. These discussions are always stimulating, when I've gone before," Sarah was saying as she glanced out the window of the coach.
"I'm sure they will be," you murmured, slouched against the opposite side. "I just… haven't really been much interested in politics, you know?"

"Really? Whatever do you discuss out on the ocean, then? I'd have thought you'd all have plenty of opinions."

"Oh, we do, but I avoided political talk like the plague," you insisted. "No quicker way to have rotten feelings between shipmates. And when you're a junior officer, it doesn't do to disagree with the captain, or the first lieutenant for that matter."

"Pish! You need some free thinking then. All the more reason for you to attend."

So it was that in the midst of early autumn afternoon, you headed inside the salon with your cousin eagerly hanging off your arm. Inside the coffee shop, an attendant greets you briefly, and ushered you into the sitting room and you soon found yourself nestled onto a sofa with your cousin on your left arm and tall, slender, pale-faced neighbor on your left with short-cropped blonde hair that managed to almost match the paleness of his skin. He smiled, awkwardly, as a pot of coffee was on the low coffee table before you and cups poured. So far, no one had begun discussion and so there was still a murmur of conversation as people filtered in and talked amongst themselves. Sarah had apparently immediately seen someone she'd known across from her and was chatting away.
You were not the most comfortable in political situations. It always meant someone got a bit unhappy in the end, but the conversation soon bubbled around you, chatter over the national debt, what the king meant to do about it and everything else that buzzed about the politics of the day.

Your neighbor made an awkward nod as he retrieved his cup of coffee.

"How do y'do?" He asked with a polite nod.

"I'm well, thank you," you answered with a sort of stiff politeness. Then added in a moment. "Lieutenant Romanitza Stanciu, late of the king's ship Hazardous." It would not be obvious, since you wore civilian clothes to most social events that were not specifically naval in nature. You sipped your coffee, grateful for the brew and for something to do with your hands.

"Ah, yes, of course. Eduard Tillens. I am a man of laws and books--an attorney." You bit back a witty remark about attorneys and devils and smiled, not wanting to offend.

"Is this your first time at one of these?" He asked a moment later when you could not find a reply.

"I'm afraid so," you answered. "I am not much a political personality."

"Well, if you listen I'm sure you'll gain something of an education--it is imperative to be well informed in these things, lieutenant," Eduard insists with a fervent nod over his cop of coffee. "We must seize the moment. I assume you haven't read Willem's treatise on the rights of man?"

"I can't say that I have, no." The title did sound familiar, at least a little? There'd been something in the papers about it being delayed in publication due to royal concerns or something. That had been years ago, though.

"A most edifying and well-thought out argument, you must read it, I am sure. It will change your view of things entirely!" He began to expound to you at length about political theories, the rights of the people, property, libery, pursuit of happiness and so on. It wasn't hard to follow, but it did seem like a dreary topic. Not one you'd had much time to consider, anyway.

The conversation began to pick up properly and soon there was a lively discussion flowing around you. You sat as a rock in the stream of words, content to sip at your coffee and listen, offering polite nods, 'hms' and 'yes, of course' once in a while when someone made a point that seemed sound. Soon though the conversation got rather more… animated. A discussion about the elderly institution known as the national council (usually called to help raise funds for the king). There was some debate about whether His Majesty Michael Augustus IX would call the national council by the end of the year, as it was well-known that the kingdom's funds were in a dire condition.

The king and his ministers had been struggling for years to bring the national finances into a more reliable condition, but it seemed impossible without the authorization of new taxes--something only the national council could do. However the king seemed reluctant to call the national council, considering it a troublesome institution that might cause more problems than it helped solve if allowed a free hand.

Of course there was the problem that a great many of the national council, especially those belonging to the class of burghers, merchants, attorneys, and so forth would want greater representation and greater authority over the royal purse strings as a condition of raising those funds--but then the nobility might be counted on to weigh against such a motion.

There was a great deal of discussion of natural rights, the consent of the governed and so on, which made you feel a little uneasy considering how downright vehement some of the personalities. Eduard himself gave a lengthy harangue on the rights of the people to have a part in their governance. Sarah was more moderate, but did voice her support of the national council's prerogative to place restrictions on the monarchy in some small fashion--this seemed to be a prevailing view throughout the salon.

Before you knew it, someone had fixed you with a question that you found yourself forced to give an answer to:

"Well, Lieutenant, what do you think of all this?"

[ ] God did place the King on the throne and anoint him with all the temporal power necessary to govern. It seems rather foolish to think that he could be restricted by something like the national council. He is the king and there can only be one of those. The country cannot serve two masters and I have taken an oath to the King, after all.
[ ] It would be best if the king allowed the national council full control of finances, and perhaps even allowed them to pick ministers for the government. It would be wise to allow the learned and educated people of certain property to have a say, at least in how funds raised by their assent are to be used. There are limits, of course, but a wise king knows when to listen to his people and this might be just such a moment.
[ ]They should allow everyone a voice, commoners too. Even those who don't own property and are without an education. Why not? Such people live in the country as well and if being ruled without consent is an issue, then they who compose the vast majority of people deserve to be heard more than anyone.

I'm alive. Trying to get back into the habit of writing a bit every week again. Holidays and then being sick and then life just destroyed me for a bit.