Coucil of Maginsula

While Duke Eadburg Linnington effectively holds absolute political power over the human side of Maginsula, he always listens to his council members and has them vote on issues. While he could veto any decision made by them, he prefers to implement policies based on popular vote, wanting to keep peace and maintain popularity as much as possible between all council members.
The council members include one patriarch or matriarch of each of the 16 wealthy aristocratic families in town, who each own some towns within the Linnington Duchy, as follows...
Astria: Patrizio Astria is the patriarch of one particularly wealthy family. He owns a decent-sized selection of land within the market district of Maginsula itself, from which he gains a good income by renting out buildings to tenants and shopkeepers. The Astrias also own a town about 25 miles to the west of Maginsula, in a forested territory; the town has been overseen by Patrizio's daughter, Giaccia, for the past 26 years. Patrizio feels some sympathy towards orcs, as they are fleeing their homes due to a serious crisis. He believes orcs would make as good of tenants as anyone else, and there are properties in the market area he owns which are empty. There's plenty of work available for them to get jobs, he feels. So why all the restrictions on how many can come in?
Bhaskara: Orion Bhaskara is the patriarch of the Bhaskara family, and leader of a little town along the coastline. It is a beautiful little town, which he believes Sidik herself painted just to be enjoyed by people like him. He often spends his time walking and thinking, and has come to the epiphany that everyone in this world was made to love each other and take care of each other. He thus puts this into practice, taking good care of those within his little seaside village. Occasionally, he goes into Maginsula and discusses with the other nobles about his thoughts on this matter. They always provide stimulating intellectual arguments to the contrary, and Orion appreciates the mental exercise of trying to see things their way; but when it comes down to it, no argument they can bring can shake his all-encompassing love of humanoids - love for the other nobles, love for those poor orcs some of them so desperately want to kick out of the Duchy (how unfortunate, Orion believes orcs can provide a new and beautiful perspective from which they can all learn!), and love for everyone in between.
Douglas: Aeron Douglas owns a little town in the middle of the Duchy of Linnington, right at the point where two streams merge. His community is mostly farmers and fishermen, and the location is very prosperous - or it would be, anyway, if those stupid orcs would cut down on the raiding! He's also not a fan of the nearby shifters - a lot of those in the area, and they tend to pull pranks on his people and just generally not get along. He'd like to kick all non-humans out of Maginsula if he could, but seeing as that option isn't really on the table, he'll settle for getting vengeance against the orcs as much as possible.
Eadwig: Audhilda Eadwig is the widowed matriarch of a very wealthy family. They own land within Maginsula, as well as a farming town not 10 miles outside of Maginsula. Audhilda tends to vote very conservatively. She does not approve of all the orcs streaming into the area lately, believing them to all be part of the cult of Apatii. She believes that the budget for the soldiers in town ought to be increased, that the presence of an army of well-trained soldiers is vital for protecting Maginsula against a coming military invasion by orcs. Also, could we outlaw prostitution and gambling, because those "taverns" along the docks get awfully rowdy, and it's unsightly.
Guerrero: Turtko Guerrero is a Maginsula-based nobleman; he owns a lot of land within the city itself, but no towns outside. He is a wealthy merchant who has bought up property as his finances have increased, and he eventually earned enough to qualify for a position on the council. Some of the other nobility disapprove of him, as he didn't inherit the position and probably shouldn't "really" count as nobility, but he's still allowed to join. He is very much for trade, particularly with dwarves, as they produce what he believes are quality goods. He makes trips to Fjelsmidt frequently to import goods. He distrusts magic, and believes a lot more restrictions ought to be placed on the Arcane Tower (not that Duke Linnington has any power or say over what takes place on the island, as it is independent). He also distrusts orcs, as they were the cause of all the destruction that took place generations ago, and they'll likely bring anarchy back to Maginsula if they're allowed to keep coming here in such great numbers!
Inaba: George Inaba owns a plantation towards the southern portion of the Duchy of Linnington, and had owned slaves his family personally captured in warfare against the orcs. The orcs proved very useful in building up a financially productive plantation, and George's family basked in the income. However, changing laws 15 years ago meant that they had to release the slaves, which greatly annoyed them. Fortunately, they had saved up enough income to work with for the time being, and ended up hiring a fresh batch of orcs and humans, all of whom were fleeing problems in other areas and looking for whatever job they could find. At this point, orcs are fleeing into town particularly fast, and George appreciates the leverage he has over them as a noble, promising passports to get into town as a perk to working for him, in addition to a very low salary. George's good friend Dominus Sudworth takes a similar approach, and the two of them generally vote together in meetings.
Klein: Rochelle Klein is a matriarch. She owns a little town near the center of the Duchy of Linnington. While she is technically a landed noble, she and her family have always worked hard alongside the residents of her village, and they bring the proceeds to town themselves to sell for profit. Rochelle herself has had both good and bad experiences with orcs - they have had to physically fight off invading orcs from their territories at times. On the other hand, she has met and traded with some very nice orcs. She found herself having to compete with wealthier landowners who owned orkish slaves, and decided it was an unfair advantage - orcs shouldn't be enslaved, but besides that it was an economic unfairness to let some people employ them. It was wrong! That said, Rochelle knows better than many how dangerous orcs can be, so she was sure to vote for the passport requirement - one must protect Maginsula from just any band of orcs strolling in for a raid!
Linnington: As the duke, Eadburg Linnington oversees the council, but does not sit on it. However, he has given his son, Barclay, a seat on the the council so as to listen to his vote as well. While Eadburg tends to simply parrot what he believes to be the most popular opinion, Barclay has more distinct opinions of his own. He wishes to eliminate all restrictions on how many passports a given noble family can give out. He believes he's had enough positive interactions with orcs via hiring them as gladiators for his entertainment ring, and sees no reason not to trust them entirely.
Morana: Seth Morana is a relatively young patriarch, only 30 years old. He inherited the position only 3 years ago, after the unfortunate death of his father. He owns a mining town in the hills on the edge of Linnington Duchy, as well as some land just to the north of the walls of Maginsula. While his parents did use orcs as slaves in their time, and were annoyed when they had to release them, Seth takes a different approach. Having made connections with orcs who live near his family's mining town, he has brought a sympathetic view of them to the political table, arguing for increased rights for the orkish refugees who are fleeing to Maginsula because of famine in their land. He has invited them to settle on the land he owns to the north (charging no rent to do so), and is currently trying to gain funds to build a wall around that section in order to better protect them. A shantytown has popped up, which most of the other nobles find a sore sight.
Portenza: Agatha Portenza is a relatively young heiress, only 22 years of age. The only daughter of her parents, they owned a little property in Maginsula, a little place along the beach, a little place in the woods, and even a little place in the Republic of Malitika (the gnomish country). Agatha's parents were determined to give her every possible experience, and she has extensively traveled through elvish lands, gnomish lands, and the human lands. She even studied abroad, at the Gnomish Institute of Magic. Her parents were also interested in the study of magic, but were tragically killed in their own mansion when they accidentally summoned a dangerous creature that destroyed the entire building and everyone in it. Fortunately, they had plenty of funds laid aside, and Agatha has used these to rebuild. Having developed a fascination with all the other cultures she's experienced, she feels compassion for the orcs as well, and wishes to encourage more of them to come to Maginsula, so that she might learn more about their interesting culture! For that matter, having observed the republic style of government in the gnomish lands, she feels the humans ought to reform their country and give voting rights to all educated persons as well.
Ryba: Mitchell Ryba has a mansion in Maginsula, but he spends little time there, preferring his mansion along the shore, just 6 miles south of Maginsula. He owns a fishing town, and has generally earned a good income from his business there. Unfortunately, in recent months the waters have been suspiciously stormy, making fishing a dangerous activity, and he's lost a number of good fishermen to the waves. Finding the bad luck of the seas to coincide in timing with a lot of orkish refugees coming to the area, he superstitiously believes the orcs must be bad luck, and ought to be removed from the Linnington Duchy if he is to get his fishing business back.
Schirmen: Wilhelm Schirmen is the patriarch of a moderately wealthy family. He owns a town on the outskirts of the Linnington Duchy, in the southwest hilly region near the orcs, and does not own land in Maginsula except for a small mansion. His town has been caught up in the wars between the human lands to the south and the orcs to the west, and he does NOT approve of Linnington's decisions to be more lenient and accepting of orcs. He believes that the defenses of Maginsula ought to be increased, and scholarships provided for more people to attend the Arcane University and study defensive and offensive magic, with the scholarshipped individuals then required to serve a number of years in the military to defend Linnington Duchy against orkish invaders. He does not believe orcs should be allowed within Maginsula at all, or at least that passports ought to be a lot more difficult for them to acquire.
Storstrand: Gwendal Storstrand is an older matriarch. She owns land along the beach which is quite a ways south of Maginsula - it is actually closer to Torenviri (the capital of Terastios) than it is to Maginsula, but it is still technically part of Linnington Duchy. Gwendal finds it quite a bother to travel all the way to Maginsula for council meetings - and they all seem to be about orcs these days. Why do we need to bother with those hideous creatures, either spending money to raise armies against them or money to help them? Just kick them all out of town and spend that money on better roads, thank you very much!
Sudworth: Dominus Sudworth is an older patriarch. He owns a large plantation town in the southern part of the Linnington Duchy. He used to own a lot of orkish slaves, who worked on the plantation, and was very annoyed when about 15 years ago, Linnington Duchy decided to abolish slavery entirely, and he was forced to let a lot of his slaves go. He ended up compensating for this by hiring orcs and humans at very meager wages, mostly people desperate for work, and they are made to sign some highly suspicious contracts in the process. At this point, he's content to keep the status quo as far as politics go, as they allow orcs into Linnington Duchy, but make life difficult enough for them to keep them desperate enough to be easy to hire. He is enjoying the famine in the Orkish Wilds that is causing so many orcs to flee into the area. He and George Inaba live near each other and are friends.
von Brandt: Joash von Brandt is an old man - no one is quite certain how old, exactly - he claims to be about 150, claiming that a bit of elf blood in his ancestry keeps him going for a long time (though his physical appearance is entirely human). He owns an island to the north of Maginsula, which has a small town that mainly focuses on farming and fishing, but he spends most of his time in Maginsula, where he also owns a fair bit of property. He is a major supporter of the Arcane University, and a firm believer in Vignosa. He owns an extensive library, though the books he has deemed most important he donated to the library of Vignosa, so that everyone might have access to read them (and his grandson, Taiko, is a cleric of Vignosa and works there, encouraging everyone to read and learn). Joash believes that Vignosa would want everyone to live together peacefully, so that everyone might focus on knowledge and learning rather than fighting. He voted 15 years ago to give orcs their freedom, so that they might have the chance to pursue knowledge as well. He also voted against requiring passports of orcs. Humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes and halflings can all come to the Arcane Tower to study without impediment, so why shouldn't orcs?
Weller: Nerida Weller is the matriarch of a wealthy family who owns a town in the northwest corner of the Duchy of Linnington, just up a hill where a spring of water flows, and right on the border with the orcs. The Wellers have managed to form good relations with their orkish neighbors, working together to build up their small community. One of her children even married an orc. That said, she has a tendency to vote very strongly in favor of orkish rights, believing them to be essentially equal to humans.