220 / 11 / 20 - Challenge to status of Warforged

Following the treasonous actions of the most famous of the warforged, a challenge has been brought to the council about whether the warforged are in fact people. While an agreement was made with the founders of the current democratic government, this challenge alleges this was done under duress and that an objective assessment of the nature of the warforged shows them to be no more than complex golems and therefore property of the city. The challenge has been brought by the Movement for Natural Workers (MNW) who claim that the warforged have unfairly taken jobs from real people. The leader of the movement, Eskevar of Braledon, had this to say while lodging the challenge, "While the warforged were a vital part of the Niltun shelter defences, we are no longer reliant on them for our protection. Like the good constructs they are they have sought to remain useful, but this has cost many people the chance of a job. We don't deny that the warforged protected our ancestors, nor do we deny that they helped the rebellion succeed. But what we do want is an acknowledgement from the council that the decision to class them as people was based on a need for an armed force during the rebellion rather than a rational assessment of whether they are people."
Speaking to us after receiving the formal letter of challenge Councillor Bramble Merryweather had this to say, "These challenges are a key part of our democratic system, allowing the populace to raise things that concern them with the council. I'm sure this topic will lead to more than a few heated discussion, and I must stress that accepting this formal challenge to a council ruling does not indicate the council is for or against the subject under discussion. As the legal forms have been met we are obliged to review the previous council decision. We will be organising debates and seeking opinions and evidence on this matter over the next 3 weeks, but ultimately i suspect that this will be put to the people of Chirin in a referendum."
In addition to the challenge over the status of warforged, the NWM have brought a contingent challenge that demands that the assets currently held by warforged be redistributed amongst those who have lost out to the warforged on jobs. A contingent challenge is a variation on the formal challenge process which will only be discussed if a separate challenge succeeds.