Brand sighed with relief as he listened to the king took charge of the meeting and proposed his ideas.  Arex had started out as a much better king than Logain had finished, and Brand was glad to see that even after the Crawler attack, Arex was still continuing to rule fairly and wisely.  A reduction on the taxes for the poor would do a lot to help their situation, and a happier general populace would be less likely to revolt.  It might even yield other unexpected benefits as well, though Brand didn't know enough about economics to comment.  That the positions to the Royal Guard would be expanded from its original roles as favours from the king to being one of actual merit was unexpected, and Brand had to bow his head towards the king.  Brand had warmed up to Arex a bit when the to-be king had first met with Major Swift, and now Brand's esteem for the king was rising.<br/><br/>When he heard just how the expanded Royal Guard was to be funded, Brand howled with laughter, rocking back so much into his chair that it nearly toppled over.  Seizing Reaver's personal assets?  Declaring his actions treasonous?  Brand wiped tears from his eyes as he regained his composure, taking slow, deep breaths in order to stifle ragged laughter.<br/>"You... have...  my full support!" Brand wheezed between subdued laughs.  "I'll personally kick down that bastard's door if you want.  Whatever you need to have this done, I'll do it, and follow it through.  I'm been looking for a reason to pin that man's ass to a wall with a firing squad, but I feared that because you seemed to tolerate his business, I wouldn't ever be able to remove him.  The people of Bowerstone Industrial will sing your praises and raise toasts to you once they find out.  And I wouldn't worry about whoever will replace Reaver: either the Crown can seize the business and run it itself, or I'll just intimidate whoever runs it next into behaving.  You have my word on that."<br/><br/>"As for the situation in Mistpeak, I've avoided comment on so far but I think I need to raise one critical flaw in your idea Akara: assuming you do manage to have it so that any soldiers inside do not use firearms, and assuming you do have it so that your community is left free to develop in its intended direction: what about travelers and bandits?  Are travelers who decide to visit Mistpeaks or traveling through it required to turn in any firearms before entering?  What if that's their only method of defense?  Who's going to collect from them and after being disarmed, will there be anyone to escort them through?  As for bandits: the fact is that while you have more will users appearing, because of how recent it is, they are very much unlikely to be skilled.  How many of them are able to defend a town?  Bandits won't respect your decision to have no guns in Mistpeak, and once they get word about your sensitivities to the loud noises, they'll bring as many as they can alongside cannons and bombs to keep you disoriented.  Will the soldiers there have to compete against such armed bandits with bows and crossbows?  Hell, I'm willing to go as far as to say that once we oust Reaver, who may escape our attempts to capture him, would be a likely candidate to raid your area."<br/><br/>"Just something to consider."<br/>Turning to the king, Brand raised a questioning eyebrow.<br/>"So a reduction of taxes on the poorer citizens and the opening up of the Royal Guard to the populace.  We seize Reaver's resources and declare him the treasonous weasel that he is.  I think that satisfies the two important things we needed to discuss at this time.  Does Hobson have anything left?"