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I will be voting against this if it goes to the Overhusen. Again, it's nothing against Pengu, I just feel that Paragonhood should retain its original purpose, and there are plenty of other ways to honour Pengu and other active Citizens.

What is the exact wording of the law regarding paragon status in its current state?

EDIT: Found it.

3. Recognition of Paragons
    3.1 The Storing shall have the authority to recognize any previous or current Citizen as a Paragon of Wintreath if it feels the individual was
an essential of member of the regional community, or performed invaluable service to the region, and/or otherwise embodied the principles, values, culture, or honour of the region.
    3.2 Paragons shall be exempt from the requirements of Section 2 of this Act and shall enjoy all the rights and privileges of Citizenship.

Why was it written like that (with the words "current" Citizen) instead of perhaps "previously active?"

This is just for clarification, and removed from the actual debate of whether Pengu deserves it.

3. Recognition of Paragons
    3.1 The Storing shall have the authority to recognize any previous or current Citizen as a Paragon of Wintreath if it feels the individual was an essential of member of the regional community, or performed invaluable service to the region, and/or otherwise embodied the principles, values, culture, or honour of the region.
    3.2 Paragons shall be exempt from the requirements of Section 2 of this Act and shall enjoy all the rights and privileges of Citizenship.
    3.3 The Storting shall have the authority to revoke recognition of Paragon status.

And I know what it says about current Citizens, but as the original original version did only apply to previous Citizens.

Actually, the original amendment isn't on the law page. Can someone please make sure the law page is up to date this term?

Well, for better or worse, the law currently implies a currently active person can hold it too.

Well, for better or worse, the law currently implies a currently active person can hold it too.

It does, which makes it entirely legal to elevate Pengu to Paragon status. Mootles raises valid points in regards to other commendations being perhaps more suitable, but I've rarely if ever seen them used aside from the case which they were created for. Paragon status I think does more to honour Pengu's contributions than any of the others would.

Just because it can doesn't mean that it should. I'm not entirely sure why I included that in, since I'm the author of the proposal...it could be that Honorary Citizenship wasn't the institution that it is now, since I think at the time only Charax and Insenjar had been made honorary Citizens. At the end of the day, I now think that Paragonhood should be reserved for memorializing those that are no longer with us, just as Commendations are a good route for those that are still with us, but that's just my opinion.

Just because it can doesn't mean that it should. I'm not entirely sure why I included that in, since I'm the author of the proposal...it could be that Honorary Citizenship wasn't the institution that it is now, since I think at the time only Charax and Insenjar had been made honorary Citizens. At the end of the day, I now think that Paragonhood should be reserved for memorializing those that are no longer with us, just as Commendations are a good route for those that are still with us, but that's just my opinion.

So we have the Honourary Citizenship commendation (which is kind of moot in this situation as he has citizenship already), the Wintreath Commendation (which would work in this situation quite well, although it's rarely been used) and Paragon status.

I guess it's up to the UH, but I see where you're coming from with your arguments re: Paragonhood. I guess I am a little bias as I am one myself and currently active, but there you are. I'll support Pengu being awarded the Wintreath Commendation (which, IIRC, I was also awarded - who else holds that honour? Chanku? Or was it one of the other old timers?).

Eh, at the end of the day, what constitutes enough reason to elevate someone to Paragon is entirely subjective, and so Wintermoot is perfectly within his rights to vote nay, while the reverse is also true.

In addition to yourself, Charax, Insenjar, and Amalya have been made Paragons.

In addition to yourself, Charax, Insenjar, and Amalya have been made Paragons.

And what of the Wintreath Commendation?

It appears that just you and Charax received commendations, and Charax received his in the same Act that gave him Paragon status.

Interestingly, in Dragon Age: Origins, the game which you based it off of, the dwarves named someone a paragon to begin venerating them as living ancestors, which implies a use similar to what we would wish done with Pengu.

I suppose if it's decided to not give Pengu the elevation to Paragon, then we'd give him the Wintreath Commendation, then alter the wording of the law so that only those who CTE/become inactive can become Paragons, preventing something like this from happening again.

I think the reasoning for wanting to give Pengu the Paragon status is that the Commendation doesn't seem deserving of the work that Pengu has done for the region. Perhaps the Commendation should be brought back and made a sort of active members' version of the Paragon status award? If not, I'd still support Pengu being made a Paragon.

I think the word Paragon was used incorrectly for the job it was created for.

But yeah, anything that can allow us to give Pengu the practical benefit (namely that he is exempt from the requirements that govern normal citizens) would get my support. I don't like ceremony much, which is why I didn't go for the Commendation to begin with. It feels cheap to me, and I'd rather see people like Weissreich and Pengu receive a practical reward for their services, not just a shiny title.

Anyway, that's just the way I think about things. I'm aware other people are fine with the ceremony alone.

Allow me to elaborate on my opinions. Wintreath's Finest allows one person to win a month. While theoretically the same person could be voted twice I've only seen that once and honestly believe some people in Wintreath deserve more.

I did not even know the Wintreath Commendations thing existed and only 2 people have ever gotten it. So... yeah.

So I personally think that the Paragon award should be expanded past its original meaning to honour outstanding citizens, and perhaps more importantly, give them permanent citizenship. One of the reasons that Laurentus original argument for this move was the citizenship scare Pengu had. So if it's legal I see no reason for me not to proceed. I respect your position on this matter, Wintermoot, and the position of everyone else. Thank you for the honest discussion.