Forum on Magic in Kalimdor [16.06.11 20:00]

[Melnerag]

The following invitation has been sent to Draenei and Shen'dralar mages, as well as the draenei and elven priesthoods, Cenarion Circle, Shamans of the Crystal Cavern and a limited amount of copies was sent to Dalaran and Stormwind. All letters are in common.

Magic is at the heart of some societies, while completely shunned by others. Beyond that, every group that practices magic has its own codes, rules and views. There have been several attempts to make the Kaldorei review or reinforce their current stance of magic, while I believe there has been virtually no attempt to simply discuss the topic. Any public debate or a political discussion will always be tainted by ulterior motives, but a forum to listen to different views and opinions and make up your own mind, a forum where no decisions are made, no promises are given and no policies are formulated may yet remain respectful, honest and open.

You are invited to attend such a forum, to be held the 16th of this month, an hour before sunset, in the Vault of Lights within the Exodar. It will proceed as following: attendees will divide in two groups, those who wish to make a speech presenting their views (the participants), and those who don’t (the audience). Following the general introduction, the participants will have a chance to stand up and express their views on the topic. Once they are done, other participants and the audience will get a chance to ask enlightening questions. When all participants have spoken, the official part of the forum will end, and all attendees make break up and continue discussing at their leisure, perhaps at last finding those who support their views, or a worthy opponent to challenge their believes.

I stress once again that this forum is meant to be respectful, and its goal is not victory – but enlightenment, giving all the attendees different perspectives on the same topic, and letting them make up their own mind. You must have noticed that while there is room for questions, there is no room for structured debate – I believe that while a debate in itself is a good way to move forwards, it is not at its place in this forum. After the official part is concluded, you may however seek out an opponent and an audience to debate. By attending this forum you agree to these values: respect, search for enlightenment rather than victory and lack of antagonism.

The speech must meet these requirements:
• It must be about magic in general, use and place of magic in a Kalimdor society, position of magic-users, history of magic, philosophy of magic, ethics of magic or magical education.
• It may not be focused on technical aspects of magic (eg: spell techniques, spell comparison), technical aspects can however be used if they support other topics. Me mindful of non-mage audience.
• It must be respectful towards the parties attending and parties invited, and should not be directed at antagonizing or blaming them. Past and politics may only be brought up if they serve to clear up the present and the future.
• It should not contain reaction or references to previously-given speeches, unless this has been agreed beforehand by all parties. (eg: one speaker focuses on magical education, while his friend takes over to explain the ethical aspects)

The questions following the speech must follow these requirements:
• Questions should either serve to explain unclear parts of the speech, repeat brief parts of the speech, elucidate points that have been given too little detail, ask for example of stated principles or a practical application.
• Questions should not be asked to confront the speaker with a counter-argument or ask him to resolve an inconsistency or to react to any earlier-given speeches.
• Questions must be respectful, stay on topic, and never be about the speaker as a person.

While listening, audience and other participants must be mindful of the following:
• Any view can be expressed during this forum, listen calmly and without disrespect to the listener even if you consider his views obnoxious. If you find the topic is touching you emotionally and you do not wish to listen further, you may walk quietly aside.
• Do not interrupt the speaker, unless he said beforehand that audience is allowed to ask him questions during the speech.

I would also request of the speakers to consider giving a warning before the speech begins, if they think they may touch on any exceptionally emotional topics, giving the listeners who may be affected by them a chance to consider leaving without interruption. (eg: an account of atrocities committed by demon-worshippers)

Please note that the official language of this forum is common, all speeches should be given in common and all questions should be asked in common. If you think you are not fluent enough, you may bring your own interpreter. Any unofficial conversation after the forum ends can be in any language desired, but common is preferred. Due to the ongoing war, races not affiliated with the alliance are regrettably not permitted.

If you have any questions, or wish to ask for a tour of the Exodar during your stay or inquire about food, travel or lodging, do not hesitate to write to Exaythe in the Ere Argus commune-hall in the Exodar. You do not have to announce the topic of your speech beforehand, but doing so will result in a smoother, better-paced forum.

I pray to see you in the Exodar, and hope to hear your opinions on this complicated topic.
Light be with you,
Exaythe the Abjurer

OOC: this is a sort of event I wanted to do for a while now. Please mind although so much attention is given ICly to keeping it respectful and calm, OOCly I do not enforce any of these rules. As long as you let me know beforehand, you can stage some protest or do some provocation, but be mindful of IC consequences!

It is focused on Draenei and Elves, but other races are allowed to attend. Mind that in case of too many speakers, Draenei and Elves may get precedence.

Situation changes, so I cannot force you to prepare a speech beforehand, but preparing it (macros) or just thinking very well on what and how you want to say may save us more time for role-play instead of waiting!

I cannot force you to inform me before hand that you want to speak, or what you want to speak about, but if you do I may be able to plan the event in a smoother way!

For now, estimated time per speech plus questions is twenty-ish minutes. (Roughly 10 full macros, plus three to four questions)

If you have never given IC speeches before, you can use the following tip when using macroes: after posting your line, reread it two times before posting next one. This way even slower reader has a chance to keep up. If you know you are a slow reader, one time should be enough.

And at last, can Nature’s Grasp and Winterblades repost it to their guild-forums? And say if they have done so. Otherwise I will harass you in-game until you do!

For OOC questions, post here – for IC questions, send an IC letter to Exaythe (or just do an IC letter in this thread)
And at last, I will keep the chatlog running; In-character, edited account of the proceedings will appear shortly after.

[Drustai]

Will be speaking as a participant.

[Uatan/Puaar]

I wonder if shamans counts as magic.

[Melnerag]

Not if it comes to topic, in such contexts magic refers to arcane magic.

[Uatan/Puaar]

Thought so. Well it'll still be fun enough to observe.

[Shaelyssa]

Sounds like a lot of fun!!! I can't wait.

[Drustai]

I'd like to see this repeated so, hopefully, the elves can actually show up next time.

[Arodeesa]

The timing could hardly have been worse for me, and I would have loved to be able to be present. It's a topic that my character has very strong opinions on (which hopefully got represented by the letter I sent, who Exaythe was really nice to read up). I'm sure there were people there that disagreed with it, and I would have loved to be able to have been there to answer questions and all. So I'm adding my voice to Drustai's comment; I'd like to see this repeated.

Thanks, Exaythe.

[Drustai]

The timing could hardly have been worse for me, and I would have loved to be able to be present. It's a topic that my character has very strong opinions on (which hopefully got represented by the letter I sent, who Exaythe was really nice to read up). I'm sure there were people there that disagreed with it, and I would have loved to be able to have been there to answer questions and all. So I'm adding my voice to Drustai's comment; I'd like to see this repeated.

My character wanted so badly to respond to your letter... to the point she even interrupted Exaythe while she was reading it to ask why Arodeesa had the audacity to send the letter and ask for it to be read yet have no one in person for whom to listen to counterarguments. "Why should we listen to their arguments if they won't even be here for ours?"

So would definitely love the opportunity to 'get back at you'.

[Shaelyssa]

I feel terrible! I'm so sorry for not coming, I thought it was on the 20th! I've been a bit busy with rl stuff so I've been sort of distracted. I'm really sorry again, I wish I could've been there!

[Melnerag]

It should be repeated. This time in the middle of Darnassus, with big signs across the city saying "Arcane Meeting That Way ----->"

And the texts of speeches coming up soon, after I've done the OOC work for it and solved some IC issues!

[Arodeesa]

The timing could hardly have been worse for me, and I would have loved to be able to be present. It's a topic that my character has very strong opinions on (which hopefully got represented by the letter I sent, who Exaythe was really nice to read up). I'm sure there were people there that disagreed with it, and I would have loved to be able to have been there to answer questions and all. So I'm adding my voice to Drustai's comment; I'd like to see this repeated.

My character wanted so badly to respond to your letter... to the point she even interrupted Exaythe while she was reading it to ask why Arodeesa had the audacity to send the letter and ask for it to be read yet have no one in person for whom to listen to counterarguments. "Why should we listen to their arguments if they won't even be here for ours?"

So would definitely love the opportunity to 'get back at you'.

If nothing else fits, we'll just have to get together more privately and have a go at each other. Because I would love to hear the counterarguments, consider them, and respond properly to them.

[Drustai]

I was considering having Dru send a letter in response. Perhaps I'll go ahead with that, then they could arrange a meeting.

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