By Popular Demand...We should LOVE the Kobold not hate him

[Firestormalpha]

Baggins, Kerraptism, I could have sworn I F.o.D.'d you two. Anyways you can guess that since I have a trophy room full of some very fine kobold skull torch holders that my vote is Nay.

[ryaldin]

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. The little good that a kobold could do, is interred with it's bones; the evil will live long after. You cannot distinguish between the actions of the kobold that ring through the annals of time, forever placing it among the other "abused" races of the sword coast. The hobgoblin, Xvarts, tasloi, gibberlings (diseased and healthy)...need i go on? Friends, this is a call to arms, to prevent the descent of the civilized world, into chaos!
nay, Nay, NAY!!!

[Lord Brass]

So this is how it starts Underhill! Changing the link to the forum to prevent me from assuaging my (all too vocal) wrath against the absurdity that is BYOB. I'll have none of it, and neither will the right-minded members of this community. Hark to me brethren, do not fall foul of Underhill's underhanded tactics. Who has not espied the doppleganger masquerading as a loved one, or close comrade? How can we be certain of Underhill's claims of mental efficacy, just because some loony fringe cultist says so? How do we know that this "gentlemen/gentlelady" of our choosing isn't some evil changeling in league with an extremist religion that covets and arms the kobold menace?

Debate good people. We must not lose sight of our intent: the good of the Sword Coast. We must not make rash and judgemental decisions before a select committe has approved or denied such a radical departure from mainstream geo-political doctrine. Think of your actions and the consequences they may have. Possibly not now, and not for our generation, but mayhap for our children's. Or our children's children. Chaos through benevolence or chaos through malice leads down the same path: chaos. We must not go off half-drawn from the bow.

[Keraptisdm]

My dear, esteemed colleague Lord Brass. You cannot filabuster a bill once the roll has been called and a vote is being taken. That is simply out of the Rules of Order. So, you were voting YAY, I take it?

[I wish my name was Baggins]

I find that it is here that I must praise the values of the forum and our ability to speak both freely and openly about those matters that plauge the Sword Coast. Of course there does seem to be a difference of opinion as to what those matters are. For example, Lord Brass and others who tend to hold to his closeminded approach to the ethnic and racial equity of the Sword Coast believe that the problem is not what to do with Kobolds but that there actually ARE Kobolds and extermination is the only solution. However, rightous, intelligent and right-minded citizens such as Keraptisdm and myself, along with the throngs of members flocking to the meetings with BYOB attached to the invitatons, see the problem as one of racial outrage and an attempted genocide of biblical proportions. Do we as members of the forum necessarily agree on things? Nay. Is it a wonderful world however that allows us to express our views freely to one another under such protections as to keep us from turning into a fine pink mist upon the uttering of a powerful finger of death spell? Aye. And finally, do I believe that there is enough room and civilization in and around the Sword Coast to bring our Kobold brethern into the fold? To this I vote AYE AYE AYE AYE AYE.

[Lord Brass]

As my esteemed colleague Keraptisdm has stated, one cannot attempt to debase a motion once a vote has begun on that bill. However, if you check the articles of conduct for parliamentary members, you will see that the statute of process for a draft of this nature must, and I say must undergo thorough scrutiny by the Second House as according to Article 17. Page 29. Section 12. Subsection 4. Paragraph 3 on₁. And I quote:

Once commencement of a draft for recommendation to the Second House has begun, the bill (and the good gentle folk that have produced the article hereafter referred to as the Bill Sticker) have the wherewithal to proceed following the articles of faith, as outlined in Art. 16, Page. 12, Sect. 4, Subsect. 11. the monitoring and ambulation of that bill via the reading, draft, re-draft and adumberation to the floor of the First House.

Whereupon, the plaintiffs against the motion as presented by the Bill Stickers, may have justifiable and legal claim to pursue a thorough and digestible recommencment of that bill if, and only if, there is just cause to gainsay the legality, if not the morality, of any bill as passed before the First House.

Apropos to this, any bill which has fallen into the categorical necessity of Art. 16, Page. 12, Sect. 4, Subsect. 11, the Second House may attmept a redefinition of that bill with the support, adulation, moral failure or critical debasement (legal or otherwise) of the pursuants of the bill id est: the Bill Stickers.

So you see good Keraptisdm, there will be no short, quick fix to victory for you and the specious arguments of your BYOB lot. There is due process in this forum, and by gad I'll see it carried out! So help me Mystra. And before you argue that Art. 16, Page. 12, Sect. 4, Subsect. 11 is a mere travesty of the code of conduct of the forum, all I can say is this: if you, like so many others, wish to see reform in Faerûn, then let us start with the political machine that ensnares us all.

₁ Extract from Aristae's "Political agenda, dogma and Dichotomy as laid down by Sinjen of Waterdeep c. 1173" (Baldur's Press Print Estd. 1017)

[Firestormalpha]

Lord Brass, might I ask what BYOB stands for when broken down properly? I can think of many possible meanings behind the acronym, but I would rather have the meaning come straight from the source.

[Lord Brass]

Certainly sir. BYOB stands for 'Becoming Your Own Benefactor'. It is a pseudo-political group that proselytizes the advancement of other species, and kobolds in particular, into mainstream Faerûn politics. There aim is to make changes for themselves, rather than wait for a third-party to manifest itself with sufficient political or economic clout to make such changes for them.

Do not let the (apparent) benificence of the above explanation dissuade you from understanding their real aim, which is to tear down the power blocs of our fair land and establish a satrap of their own. The kobold, so oft protected by their diatribe, is nothing but a pawn in their game. Such gerrymandering will not wash with the broad-based support for the KAK (Kin Against Kobolds) organisation.

Voices on the forum will ask you to vote YAY or NAY to the proposal as outlined by Underhill and supported by Keraptisdm. I will do no such thing, and merely ask you to retain a stance of reason and sanity.

[I wish my name was Baggins]

The simple thing that Lord Brass refuses to admit to is the rampant popularity of BYOB. Let me offer this simple test that any of you can perform in your own home or hovel whichever the case may be. Send out invitations to an event of your chosing to be held at your own home, be it a festival, or a dinner, or a night of pin the tail on the ogre. But when you send out these invitations to the masses simply affix the acronym B.Y.O.B. to the bottom and you will see that not only will thongs show up but they, in the spirit of Being their Own Benefactor, will bring large amounts of festival supplies and refreshing beverages and libations. This proves that not only is the popularity of the B.Y.O.B. movement strong but that we are a happening group of cats.

[Grimslade]

I have been standing in the congregation, listening to these two auditors have their intriguing debate, and I deem this to be one of the best threads at Ironworks.