Ask A Moot Point

[Arthos Vizsla]

Another moot.

Arthos didn't like spending his time talking much because he had spent almost the past fifteen years being told that no one wanted to hear him speak his opinion and Moots were nothing but that. A lot of speaking that, generally, didn't actually contain a lot of substance. Even after leaving the clan's oversight, Arthos still spoke when he was certain his words were required or that they would be respected.

Another bloody osik moot wasn't what he had in mind.

Thankfully, at least, this moot wasn't about leadership of a clan or the whole sector. No, thank the gods, this meeting was literally to bully the forgemasters of different clans into putting aside their violent grudges and working together to help supply the Mandalorian people as a whole now that they had a Mand'alor and a crusade to devote themselves to.

Personally, Arthos was against the crusade and the alliance with the Sith but he couldn't help but accept that it was only through them that his people were finally unified under a leader. He and the other vod sent by Mand'alor to arrange the moot of the forgemasters had arrived before the forgemasters themselves at a location Arthos had thought fitting - an actual beskar forge.

He idly played with a small beskar ingot in his hands as he waited.

"We can't be afraid to be tough on them." he spoke his thoughts aloud, "I think we should reserve the right... to cut off the non-compliant from Beskar."

Mand'alor had final say as to the allocation of the precious metal after all - why should those who spit in the face of his call retain access to it?

@Altaris @lizziie

 

[Dalair Solus]

The word 'moot' didn't exactly get the same reaction out of Dalair as those who'd actually gone to the things, but it was still more than a little irritating. He'd never bothered showing up, determining he had better things to do than watch a pile of Mandalorians argue over irrelevant details before going home with nothing to show for it. If they picked something to do, great. If they didn't, whatever. Dalair had armorer shit to do.

This one was slightly different, and without a doubt the new Mand'alor knew it. Armorer grudges could be dangerous things. Aside from the questionable choice of pissing off someone who swings a hammer at metal all day, armorers were often also piritual guides and vital support for all Mandalorians. A crusade wouldn't get anywhere without the people who supplied the warriors. More good, fewer bad. Simple.

Dalair walked into the forge right about the time another Mandalorian was having a serious conversation with an ingot of beskar. He stared for a second and then moved on with his life, boots taking him to a table off to the side. Briefly he judged how dusty the floor was before saying something from behind an heirloom helm.

"Good plan," he began, each word carefully enunciated, the voice that spoke them smooth, sonorous, and slightly dry. "If you want to add a dozen new grudges." Technically Dalair was one of the mixed armorers meant to gather and get shit done. He almost never held grudges, but even he had an issue or two. Still, he was more likely to represent his family or clan.

"Every grudge has a solution." One way, or another. Personally, he'd like to see the majority get over it, particularly the more petty issues he was sure some held on to. At least well enough to coordinate for the crusade. Whether in agreement with circumstances or not, support lines slacking meant warriors on the front died. Things needed to be solved.

@Nefieslab @Altaris @lizziie

 

[Arthos Vizsla]

The vod who entered first was someone who he had been told was an armorer but someone who he could probably count on being somewhat impartial in the feuds and grudges of the others. Someone amongst their people who didn't hold grudges? He doubted it bitterly.

He eyed the other Mandalorian with a small frown beneath his helmet. It wasn't, exactly, a change of pace to have his opinions questioned but he was certain this was meant more as a method of debate than a rebuke. Or he had received so many of the latter that they no longer really phased him as they should.

"And every grudge a Mandalorian has ever held is only satisfied by total victory - compromise is a dirty word to our people." he argued back quietly as he set the beskar ingot down, "I'd like to say that they'd put holding to the Resol'nare before their grudges but if that was the case we wouldn't need to be here."

Obey the Mandalore.

If these feuding forgers continued their pointless grudges then not only were they disobeying a direct command by the Mand'alor but they were, effectively, holding the entire war effort to ransom.

Spoiler: OOC

Just wanted to keep this bubbling

@Mr. Teatime @Altaris @lizziie

 

[Taji Kryze]

"Aye! Bein' tough will be no issue for me at all!" Taiji burst into the room with her hammer held heavy in her hand. The Pantoran mocked the action of thumping someone on the helmet as she strode forward, then dropped the tool back into its spot on her belt. The helmeted woman was an armorer too, though it seemed she was keener to aggressive measures than the other one present.

"These damn moots never go anywhere," she added with a grumble and a tap of her palm against the forehead of her helmet. Moots, moots, moots. Taji had never attended one herself, but she could imagine how frustrating they could be. When everyone complained about them and simultaneously called for them, you get a bit tired of hearing about it. "We gonna just knock some sense into them or do we got a plan?"

tags: @Altaris @Mr. Teatime @Nefieslab

 

[Raya Kryze]

Rayyan strolled into the room alongside his vod, trailing behind Taiji by just a few steps. Truth be told, the Kryze was not the slightest bit enthusiastic about the prospect of yet another moot - not after what felt like dozens of them had resulted in nothing but back-and-forth bittering with little to show for it in the end. Especially now, when his people were more-or-less finally united, the last thing Rayyan wanted to do was debate.

As per usual, the Mandalorian was fully equip in his generations-old beskar'gam - that striking bronze color standing in stark contrast to what was worn by the rest of the Mandalorian's who surrounded him. He carried a pair of matching Peacemakers on his hips, alongside a vibroknife tucked against his waist. He was fully prepared for this all to go to shit and end in an all out brawl.

Honestly, a part of Rayyan was hoping that it did. Cracking a few skulls together was so much easier than trying to convince a congregation of uptight geezers. Or atleast, that is what the Kryze told himself.

"Agreed. Waste of time," He said, adding his voice to Taji's own. His arms crossed over his chest, helmet ever-so-slightly tilting in the direction of the others as his eyes moved between them. "Knocking some sense into them sounds like a plan to me. Any objections?"

@Nefieslab @Mr. Teatime @lizziie

 

[Dalair Solus]

Dalair chuckled shortly at Arthos' quiet counter-argument, finding humour in that tidbit of truth. Mandalorians were stubborn beings, on the whole, this was so. Then again, it turned out rather well when such force of will was given direction.

"The armorers have answered Mand'alor's call," Dalair asserted back. "They're not yet coordinated between themselves. This isn't impossible to remedy." Else this would be a much more serious situation. And yet, still, two more showed up. At least Arthos had said something productive with the goal of unifying the armorers other than 'Let's just hit them!'

These two seemed to think every problem was a nail and their only option was a hammer. Literally, in the case of Kryze's own armorer. Dalair, for his part, didn't look fondly on the idea of one showing up to start trouble inside a forge. His visor turned to look fully at the bronze-plated Mandalorian, briefly judging how well-maintained it appeared to be. Excellently, from the look of things. Points to them.

"A waste of time?" he asked dryly, cool as a proverbial cucumber. His tone wasn't aggressive, but rather quite calm. "You two fighting a small army of armorers would be entertaining, but not the kind of unifying Mand'alor meant." Especially if clan Kryze didn't want to piss off the other clans by attacking their vital support lines without a second thought. Besides which, Rayyan wasn't the only one here armed. Dalair was as well- hammers and his Python- and no doubt so would every armorer soon to walk through that door. That armour of Rayyan's wouldn't be so well-shined after the caress of a dozen or more hammers.

They were Mandalorians after all, each and every one. Thus need of an actual plan. "We arbitrate to settle their grudges, as asked. They can drop them, recompense, or 'knock sense' into each other. This is our way." Then, a small shrug. "As needs be, apply force," a gesture toward the two Kryze, "or supply restriction." Here he gestured toward Arthos. Good cards to pull if they needed to, but not options Dalair thought were a smart Step One. His visor moved between the other three, arms slowly moving to cross loosely in front of him, settling again on Rayyan.

"Will that plan do?"

The armorers in question would be arriving soon. Best to get this behind-the-scenes talk handled and all be on the same page before they could overhear. Even if just 'knocking some sense' into them worked short-term, it wouldn't last nor solve the actual problems they were tasked with fixing.

@Nefieslab @lizziie @Altaris

 

[Arthos Vizsla]

It seemed that their time to discuss ahead of the appearance of the forgers had come to an end as the doors at the far side of the room were all-but thrown open. Representatives of the various forgers and clans had been elected to try and settle their grudges here today, narrowing the numbers down to four representatives.

As Arthos knew, there weren’t that many more Mandalorian forgemasters left in the Galaxy so seeing even four of them together was an oddity. Each of them had their different armour styles and colours, of course, but each of them was defined by the golden colour to their helmets and the smithing tools that hung to their waists.

Of the four, there appeared to be three humanoids and one far larger – a Mandillian Giant of indeterminable gender by the looks of the exposed skin. Alongside them were two humans (perhaps, it was hard to tell with the helmets) and a Kel-Dor Mandalorian.

Truly theirs was a diverse peoples.

“Forgemasters.” Arthos greeted them, standing when he did so to nod his head to them respectfully, “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us.”

As the forgemasters moved to different areas of the room, they seemed intent on glaring holes into those they were aggrieved with. The Kel-Dor seemed to glare at both of the humans, the humans each other and the Mandillian Giant seemed content to glare at everyone in the room equally.

However, when Arthos greeted them to try and get them back on track, it was only the Kel-Dor who refused to settle down. Instead the Kel-Dor Mandalorian, clearly a former Foundling, seemed to scoff at him.

“Called to answer to a barely armoured child. This is a poor omen of things to come.”

@lizziie @Altaris @Mr. Teatime

 

[Taji Kryze]

Taji stood quietly with crossed arms as the Forgemasters entered the room. Arthos greeted them, but it didn't seem like any of those entering were in good enough of a mood to greet him back. They all looked grumpy as hell, and frankly, Taji wasn't looking forward to getting them to get along. She never was a good arbitrator. If anything, she'd be willing to throw down if things went South.

For now, she didn't say anything, though she scowled underneath her helmet at the Kel-Dor's snarky comment.

tags: @Nefieslab @Mr. Teatime @Altaris

 

[Dalair Solus]

The two from Kryze seemed to have either lost their bravado or seen sense. Dalair didn't much care which it was after the Forgemasters arrived, his visor turning to look over each of them. Amber-red eyes went from one to the next, watching each closely. It wasn't so much their eyes he saw over how they moved and where those who wore helmets were facing.

"Welcome, Forgemasters."

Not that it was impressive in the least to notice who hated who in this group of four. They made it very obvious. The Giant got Dal's attention for a moment, considering how rare they were among the Mando'ade in the present day. Arthos greeted them all first. Most seemed more occupied with their interpersonal issues than their hosts, but one, in particular, was generally on edge. Dalair stepped forward from the surface he'd been leaning against as the Kel'dor gave his biting complaint.

"Called to answer to Mand'alor and your peers,," he calmly corrected, fixing the Kel'dor in his sight. "Them being here is a sign they deserve respect," Arthos had been front-line at Lothal and fought the enemy face to face. Age was irrelevant to deeds and Dalair would not accept such nonsense. His gaze swept over the four Forgemasters.

"Verd ori'shya beskar'gam." Spoken with absolute certainty, as if it was simply an obvious rule of the universe. Wearing a flak vest and bracers that just barely scraped by as functional armour this one had run helm first into war and come out not only alive but victorious. This was the essence of Mando'ade.

"If armorers of every clan were inter-coordinated we would not have warriors in scavenged gear. Things must be settled." Now, did these Forgemasters appreciate being spoken to with such words? Not at all. Did Dalair's calm, matter-of-fact, no-bullshit way of speaking get them to actually listen to him long enough to consider? At least a little bit, yes. There were mumblings, but the four still refused to agree with one another.

"If you would, speak your troubles."

@Nefieslab @lizziie @Altaris

OOC: Dice for to chill out, 13/20

 

[Arthos Vizsla]

This was already threatening to turn into an argument as the Kel-Dor had been cowed by Dalair, only for the two humans to look like they were about to speak up. As was typical of the giants, the Mandillan seemed content to just wait and watch but Arthos wasn’t. Stepping forward, he caught the attention of the room.

“All of you: Shut up.”

He knew that he had gotten their attention and, more importantly, their ire.

No one liked being told to shut up, Mandalorians even less so. Added to that was that these Mandalorians were forgemasters – they were accustomed to being listened to as though they were the true leaders of clans and Mandalore. They were not, Mand’alor was, but they wanted to believe in their own importance so he leaned into it.

“You’re forgemasters one and all – squabbling like children is beneath you. The first Mand’alor in generations calls out to you because he recognizes your worth! Unlike the Empire or the attempted rulers of the past, he doesn’t wish to see any part of the forging process be automated; he wants you.”

He looked around at the assembled forgemasters.

“Am I to go back to Mand’alor and tell him that machine men with machine hearts and machine minds would be better suited for handling sacred beskar because you cannot see past the inside of your own helmets?”

Even the giant bristled at the insinuation that they would use machines rather than true Mandalorian smiths. It would be an incredibly unpopular decision to do so but it would be a decision Arthos would suggest to Mand’alor should the smiths of the people fail to act like their were true vod.

There was a moment’s silence before the giant spoke.

“How would beskar be distributed amongst the smiths? Will I and the Kel-Dor be denied as former foundlings?”

@lizziie @Altaris @Mr. Teatime