[House Satele Shan] Compass of Reason: Reflections

During the open forum, all Jedi are given the ability to speak freely on their thoughts and reflections regarding the matters at hand. As such, you have been given your moment to openly state your reflections regarding the Sith Slaves within the City - What do you say? What solution do you propose, if any? Do you consider Seherob traditions?

Each post should be presented by: writing the post from your character’s point of view, showing a thought-out and structured argument with a clear conclusion. Having your character offer a solution is not necessary, as long as a point is made.

Entries graded according to realism, clear points, good structure and good reasoning.

Limit of One post per person.

Starts on Monday 13th please do not post until then.

Loud and angry mixed with calm and measured voices were amplified by the acoustics of the forum chamber. They swirled about Aaleeshah’s ears conjuring a growing feeling of agitation that slowly consumed the Togruta. She had been sitting silently at one of rows of desks, listening to the discussion hoping to be enlightened by the dialogue but was only gaining annoyance.

With closed eyes and a face contorted with irritation, a small whisper escaped from her small, parted plump lips, “Enough.”

Her eyes opened quickly revealing fierce purple orbs, she slammed her fist onto the desk in front her as she swiftly rose from her seat and onto her bare feet.

“Enough of this! Are we not Jedi?! Are we not Jedi?!”, she bellowed thunderously. Her words instantly silencing the incessant ruckus of the forum.

"I understand the difficult position that this council is in. You have to maintain a delicate balance with the Seherob as well as our newfound Sith allies. Their alliance is of the utmost importance. They also have their own traditions that they ask us to abide by in the spirit of this alliance. And normally, I would wholeheartedly agree that we should respect the culture and traditions of the people. After all, the culture is the people, if we do not respect it, how can we ever hope to respect and understand them. And by the same token, if we do not respect them as a people, how can we deal with them civilly and peacefully. However, this is not to say that we should abandon our own principles and values that makes us who we are in pursuit of another. There must be a limit, a line, a boundary that must be drawn, by us, and held firmly. With that being said, I believe it is clear what we must do. Our allies may hate us for it but it is better to lose them as an ally than lose ourselves. We are Jedi and as such we cannot turn a blind eye to this “tradition” of slavery. We cannot allow this act of cruelty to continue.
I mean no disrespect or offense to our Sith brethren but you are not exactly known for your kindness towards your slaves. You wield cruel and despicable tactics in order to maintain obedience amongst your servants. You twist the wonderful gift of the Force into a dark, sadistic tool to bend or break a beautiful, vibrant, and sentient being to your will, sometimes even for the sake of pure entertainment.
And I know there are those who say but not all masters are cruel. What if you treat your subject well? Couldn’t you allow for slavery then? I would still have to strongly disagree. No being has the right to forcibly remove another’s freedom. All sentient beings have the right to live freely and no one or nothing has the right to infringe upon this right.
It is because of this that I respectfully ask the Council to abolish this tradition and set the slaves free. Allow them to live their lives freely and with dignity. Is it what’s best, not just for the slaves but for all of us. This decision will make us all better as a people and hope that we can grow from this and forge an even stronger bond.”
As the last of her words flowed from her, a calmness seemed to wash over her. She turned on her heels and began to walk out of the forum chamber. As she walked she pondered if her words made any impression on the Council, hoping that they might turn them to the right decision.

“Excuse me!” shouted Samael, a new individual amongst the Jedi. His heart radiated darkness, mind screamed terror, but his intentions he claimed were noble. Time would tell if the Umbaran would keep to his promise of remaining in the graces of the Light.

"I am somewhat of a student of all things, among the subjects I have perused in my travels is history. The Jedi, as I understood them, often let many things occur that they should otherwise have stopped. War, violence, death en masse, to name a few crimes that the Jedi had turned a blind eye towards. You all may not be of that Order anymore, but who are you to say what traditions are acceptable and what are not?

"When I arrived here, I quickly secluded myself from the rest of you. I left your Praxeum, left your borders, and let the wilderness of this world engulf me. It was then I discovered members of the Iwu Krouh, who have a very interesting tradition. They, willingly and with great euphoric pleasure, unleash whole nests of spiders on their young. The children, some as young as three, allow the highly venomous spiders to crawl over them and bite them numerous times. The result is visions and nightmares that plague the children. Some even die from the bites, yet the tradition still holds. Is that not one we should put a stop to?

“Furthermore, you claim Sith are vile because we, I mean they, twist the Force in a dark and unnatural way, using it for whatever evil they wish. That is a matter of perspective, as the Force has many forms and even more applications. Some, myself among them, might find the use of the Force to protect those not strong enough to protect themselves as an unnatural application.

“But I digress, as that is a tangent for another time. Should we allow for the use of slaves? Should we slap these people in the face and tell them that the traditions they lived with for so long, the ones that helped them flourish and survive, are no longer ones they can hold dear? I think not. The Jedi have turned their backs on far worse, I think you can stand to do it again. If you let one egregious injustice slide, you can let a minor one slide as well. If, however, the notion of slavery still leaves a sour taste in your mouth, perhaps set up regulations in the treaty for proper treatment and the eventual release of the slave. Indentured servitude, I’ve noticed, is far more palatable.”

With that, Samael sat back down and bathed in the angry stares and disgusted looks that came towards him. It’s just what happened when he walked by.

The fully armored Mandalorian typically knew how to draw attention and often times was the center of it. Today, however, there was the resounding chorus of democracy being performed in the forum and to Voden, it was sickening. He chuckled at the political demagoguery and recalled something riduur had told him, ‘Capitalism is the exploitation of men by men, and socialism is the exact opposite’. The Mandalorians were inherently skeptical of politics and the people it bred, and rightly so considering their culture. Today though, Voden planned to amend that.

Standing tall he shouted, “Oi, aruetii! I got something to say and I demand silence while I say it!”

He glanced around the assembly upon each individual face, scrutinizing their feelings towards him with that brand of intuition specific to Voden himself. When it was completely quiet and it seemed some were growing impatient as their own thoughts on the matter surfaced, he raised a hand, sighed, and began the only way he could think of, “I have always thought that all of us should be free; but if any must be slaves then I believe first it should be the ones who desire it for themselves and secondly, those who desire it for others.”

He heard some chuckles and felt an oppression amusement emanating from his audience. Voden, his Mandalorians on New Tython, were going to be a part of this world and grow with it from a solid foundation of honor and principles. These tedious processions were merely a small part of that. He raised his hand once more, drawing back the bemused expressions into stoic stares of curiosity at the Mandalorian Jedi before them.

“Most people might have not realized the importance of what I am trying to say, unless they or their family members have a special kind of understanding with slavery: experience. However, I am strongly going for a complete restriction of slavery due to the increase of crimes, intolerable abuses to women and children, and how morally unacceptable it is. It might not be obvious that human trafficking occurs if you just see children as beggars beside the street or on the pathway, but who knows whether those children are actually begging and asking for money for their own living, or are forced by the higher authorities. As a result, there must be something done to stop the process behind that. Slavery is an abomination with more consequences than benefits. Therefore, all forms of slavery should be prohibited and like all of our other laws. they need to be strictly controlled.”

Voden glanced down as his eyes grew damp. “That’s all I have to say about that. Thank you, I guess.”

For you see, on his birth planet of Dantooine, shortly after being effectively orphaned, Voden had himself served as a servant for a rich, powerful Baron on the planet. You could almost say he had a stake in such a tedious matter. He would never admit this though, as honor and strength were the backbone of his beliefs and he would bristle upon receiving the pity of another, or using such pity to his own advantage while pushing an agenda. When he glanced back up, he saw approving looks and subtle nods being directed towards him.

We may all have evil in us, but deep down, everyone all wants the same thing.