Senate Session 168 of 1022PC (Post Catastrophe)

The 168th senate session of the year 1022PC was called upon word of the Prince of Estria’s actions towards the cult of Calsyniacus. A rather grave situation was delivered by a messenger dispatched from the 7th Legion the other day. The message was read by consul Albanus Cato Victor and the news relayed to me and the rest of the senate soon after that a session would now be put in session.

While Consul Eutychus Zeno Brutus was absent, a good portion of the senate was in attendance. Notably most of the Plebeian, Neo Equites and Temple factions were present along with their respective leaders Nonus Axius, Sertor Bruttius Urbicus and Paullus Iccius.

Firstly, the message was read out by myself as given to me by Victor. I noted that Paullus was particularly concerned by this news, though Nonus and Sertor seemed to be already informed on the matter. I presume this was due to their connections to the local families that are allied to them.

Paullus was given the first right to speak and started with the obvious statement that this was a move that would clearly anger the gods. This was met with positive cheers from the Plebeian faction. He continued by saying that if this was to continue, this may threaten the good standing with the gods that had protected the republic over nearly the last one and a half thousand years after the imperial catastrophe. Hence if this action had not already angered Calsyniacus into action, the senate standing back and not intervening would, potentially spreading his wrath across the state.

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Nonus was next to speak, with him praising the words of Paullus. Then he explained that Calsyniacus was a popular god amongst the regular citizens and of great importance, especially to the rural folk. Hence, he blamed this, as in his usual manner, at the feet of the upper houses and families along with the Princely nature of the province of Estria’s governance. That brought some outroar from the Neo Equities faction, with it taking a minute for the consul to return to order.

However, to many people’s surprise, Victor allowed Hadrius Axius, one of the few members of the Patrician faction in attendance to speak before Sertor. He commented shortly that not only was this a potential theological issue, but also a business and security one. Sections of the local militia had been pulled from patrol to enforce this. Reports are now citing bandits and wild monsters entering the territory, causing issues for the local merchants and border towns, along with being a potential threat to the republic in the region.

With all that said, Sertor’s words seemed to have lost their momentum. Their points that the mysteries of Calsyniacus’s cult were uncivilised falling on deaf ears. His words were booed by all but the other Neo Equites, who cheered in support to no avail.

Ultimately, when the vote came, it was decided that the 7th Legion would be ordered to move to the Prince’s residence and deliver him an ultimatum to have him stop the repression. However, Nonus’s proposal to strip the Prince of his authority was rejected once again.

With that, the senate moved on to the next issue of…