All of your pardons I beg, as I endeavour to respond to the
various posts, at various levels of intellect, with due
thoughtfulness.

To Elysian Justiciar Shearr Tigran-Gothfraidh:

Yes, I have repeatedly expressed our official regrets over Thera.
We are going to "amend the situation" by building something. At
first we were not sure what, but our current idea is to submit
that to the cities of Sapience who have not currently condemned
us out of hand. I believe that still includes, just barely,
Shallam, Cyrene, Eleusis, and Hashan.

We intend to build a structure of the size proper to your own
races, including Trolls and Dragons, not to our own rather
larger Vertani size. We would like some portion of this
to permit our access - perhaps only one room, or an atrium -
but solicit the input of the cities mentioned heretofore.

We are well aware that Achaeans don't act as a unit. What
remains puzzling is that you yourselves FORM into these units
(cities, guilds, etc). Then you elect leaders. And these leaders
exercise powers quite consistent with what we too would call
leadership indeed, to wit: the power to unilaterally confiscate
property, the power to remove people from the organisation
or to bring them in, the power to impose taxes, the power
to create and enforce laws, the power to designate enemies
and allies of the organisation (and that designation
applies to all citizens/members) and the power to declare
a state of hostilities which applies to ALL citizens/members.

In short, your organisations seem to have all the hallmarks
of units. They have appropriate powers. They use them. They
make treaties, and wars, on behalf of all their members.

So we do find it oddly contradictory when, for example,
Ashtan declares a state of hostilities which applies to
ALL of its citizens. Then Ashtani citizens complain when
Vertani forces meet them in combat. May they not simply
withdraw from their city? If they support their city, fine,
support it. And if not, leave it (as apparently MANY have
done of late).

I see this is growing too long. I shall post my next answer
separately.

Penned by my hand on the 7th of Miraman, in the year 386 AF.