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Post by Fleischmann on Aug 5, 2021 11:39:47 GMT
Location: HEMY Conium, Middle of the Ocean
Time: Noon
Whilst the Hauhkuno had been needed back home to resume his governmental duties, Hebithdräkh Drake had been sent along with Gesatja Mikkels to accompany the soon-to-be Queen of the Gankands to her coronation in the Gankands. He would also be responsible for negotiating a marriage with her, as well as just carrying out courtesy visits to Hweituzdas, the Divinian Gankands, and Tanysira. For most others, this would be an absolute party and holiday, but for Drake it represented months away from his proper work and the possibility of his carefully managed projects (namely up and coming government officials) being disturbed in his absence.
That said, duty called for him to do these things and at least one senior government official needed to visit the southern territories to make sure things were going well. There was only so much military men and low level officials could do on their rotations down to the forsaken south. Looking to his left a bit, he could see Mikkels eating liquorice and leaning against the ship's railing, taking in the fresh sea air. He had also noticed that he had begun drinking large quantities of tonic water as well, but was not certain if it would be polite to ask about the man's health.
Thinking it over and deciding that he might as well, Drake turned to the Dane and spoke plainly. 'Why have you been eating and drinking medicine so much recently?' Turning to him, the man continued to chew for a while and raised his hand to tell Drake to wait. When he finished, he answered in an almost bored tone: 'The tonic is for these bloodsucking flies back home. The liquorice is to settle my bowels, for them tonics have made me weakened.' Thanking him for his explanation and apologising to his travel companion and bunk mate, he begged off to get a start on his most important task.
Making sure his appearance was respectable and reviewing his papers and instructions, he set off to find Queen Catherine and begin marriage negotiations with her on behalf of his liege.
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Post by Emperor Florin von Marcum on Aug 5, 2021 11:59:21 GMT
Catherine sat reclined in the drawing room of the Yacht, enjoying a plate of fine-crafted pastries from the kitchens. She sipped Kompot, which had been brewed with Marenese strawberries, and concluded that the fruit was far too sweet to be used in such a manner again. The idea of going to visit her southern state was not her idea, but certainly the ministers were glad to be rid of her. She was sure half of them would rather she be lost at sea than return from a successful voyage. “The bastards. I should have culled the entire council when I had the chance.”
The pounding of a rifle on the floor brought her out of her musings. One of the fusiliers informed her that a delegate from Sadalen had come round looking for her, and instructed to come back later once she was properly dressed. Catherine waved him away, and ordered the guard to fetch the man and send him in anyway. There was no use in playing up the “gentle maiden” here of all places. She smoothed down the front of her tea gown, and debated putting her hair up, but promptly let the notion go. Surely she didn’t need to impress some stodgy old minister with her decorum in her own drawing room, on her own yacht, in the middle of the ocean.
“Well then? Send him in for God’s sake!”
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Post by Fleischmann on Aug 6, 2021 0:36:58 GMT
Coming into a nicely decorated room, the first thing that struck him was the lack of overpowering scent. He was used to coming into drawing rooms and government chambers and being hit by the wall of smoke and alcoholic fumes commonly associated with them. Similarly, he was familiar with olfactory offensive brought about by the perfumes and incense worn by certain priests. This room barely smelled of anything, though there was a light floral hint in the air.
Bringing his attention to the woman before him, he neatly bowed politely to her and then raised his head when she told him to do so. After raising his head, he began to speak as clearly as possible, as he was acutely aware of the fact that his accent was quite heavy. 'Your Majesty, I am here on behalf of my Liege and God to present a proposal to ensure a lasting peace between our realms.' Pulling out a binder from his bag, he opened it and respectfully placed it upon the Queen's desk. 'In order to ensure a lasting peace, we would like to establish a pact through blood, with a marriage between the Hauhkuno and a princess of your realm.'
Stepping back so that she might read the paper, he then took a moment before continuing. 'While the terms are negotiable, we do feel that the only way to properly solidify a non-aggression pact is through blood. We are prepared to pay a large bridge-price and provide hostages if need be.'
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Post by Emperor Florin von Marcum on Aug 6, 2021 1:01:44 GMT
Catherine gestured behind her to the silver tea tray now sitting idly on the table. “Help yourself if you wish.” Rummaging through the desk, she pulled out a flask, skimmed it across the room and onto the desk and continued searching. At last, she found her glasses, whose lenses had been tinted to help her failing eyesight, and perched them on her nose. Once settled at the desk, the young empress turned back to her guest, chuckling at the sight of him sinking slowly into the cushioned sofa.
“Are your people always so serious? Surely I don’t need hostages to guarantee your good behavior?” It was a serious question, but she tried to play it off as lightly as possible.
“I must admit I have to agree with you. The situation between our nations has grown more tense than I would like it to be. With our common foe out of the way, my people seem to have a newfound ire for you. Perhaps a marriage will help them… discover a bit of comradery.? But there must be terms. Anthiese is the closest I have to an heir. I assume we’re discussing her. I want assurances of her position if she were to marry. I’ll not have her treated as a common concubine.”
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Post by Fleischmann on Aug 6, 2021 19:30:05 GMT
'No, "so Serious" would be my cousin. She is always herself.' he quipped. Getting back on track, he mentally noted that his counterpart was not after further guaranties of peace, but would settle for her daughter just being given a stronger position. 'No part of the Raikhsland can go to a woman by means of inheritance' popped into his head, but he did not think it appropriate to offer a false promise in this case. Settling on being more truthful with her, he began.
'Your daughter can be given title, but her lands will not be inheritable by her daughters, as the law does not allow for that. Beyond that though, we can also offer her primacy over the other wives, as well as offering her the ability to open her own temples and run them as she sees fit.' As he said this, he could not help but note that the armchair he was sitting in was rather soft. He idly wondered if the chair had been weighted especially for the boat or not, as it must surely be moved by the sea's more violent movements. It was not bolted down from what he could tell.
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Post by Emperor Florin von Marcum on Aug 6, 2021 19:45:47 GMT
Catherine could see the man eyeing the chair he sat in with confusion. “Magnets. The furniture is magnetized to the floor Sir”. She offered him the flask before continuing.
“Women cannot inherit. Amusing. I hope your people don’t have the same level of thought toward other Royal lineages. Or this meeting would be a great waste of time.”
That was quite alright by her. One more group of loud, angry men doubting her abilities to add to the queue.
“I did not expect my sister to gain some great place in your society, in truth. Her place even in my own Empire isn’t as grand as all that in truth. But she is my blood. I do not need to be assured that she would inherit your nation or some such. Just guarantees that she would be treated with the appropriate amount of respect. I’ve heard… stories about your leader’s wives. Anthiese is the best of them. She should be treated as such.”
“And to reach the ends of securing peace between Sadalen and the Imperium Divinium, I would have to see specific terms of a non-aggression pact. If you’ll allow me to be frank sir, the acquisition of so many states by Sadalen hardly seems ‘non-aggressive’ to me.”
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Post by Fleischmann on Aug 6, 2021 20:09:14 GMT
Unfolding a miniature map from his breast pocket, he quickly drew some lines on it. Roughly speaking, it put bubbles around their respective core territories, not including vassals and protectorates. 'I must point out, we have only actually taken a small part of the Gankands. Our protectorates and vassals are not fully parts of the Raikh and are free to pursue their own agendas. That said, we suggest that unless otherwise consulted, neither side shall take territories within thirty-three leagues of the other.'
'To further add on to this, neither side shall declare war on the other without firstly attempting to discuss the valid grievances (territorial encroachment, dead hostages, or an act of war) with them and secondly trying to have the situation mediated peacefully by a neutral third party that both parties recognise and agree too.'
Thinking about the magic that was magnets for a bit, he took a breath before continuing. 'Naturally, we are also supposed to promise not to declare war on one another, including if our allies go to war. That said, we can go to war with each other's allies if called into a war by our own allies, whilst remaining at peace with each other.'
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Post by Emperor Florin von Marcum on Aug 6, 2021 21:12:05 GMT
The young woman sat adjacent to the man, twisting a lock of hair around her fingers, thinking. Either the Sadalenese were being intentionally misleading, or else were genuinely obtuse in regard to their influence over their protectorates. The former was dangerous, the latter exploitable. As diplomatically as possible, she pressed on.
“The… influence you have over your protectorates, just as my nations influence over the DOC, can often be understated. I’d prefer in future, to avoid wars by proxy as well. In case you’ve forgotten, I have seen war sir.” She brushed back the hair covering her forehead, revealing a thin white scar stretching from hairline to her eyebrow.
“I don’t expect in an official capacity to prevent conflict of that nature by documentation. But at the very least, assurances that Sadalen does not have interest in a proxy war with the Divinians would go a considerable way toward smoothing relations. Our nations could be great together. Or a destabilizing force if opposed to one another.”
With that, Catherine moved from her seat at the desk to sit on the sofa as close to the man as possible. “Oh. And if I may, in an unofficial capacity, request one more thing? A gift if you will?”
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Post by Fleischmann on Aug 6, 2021 22:46:38 GMT
'We can offer you our word that we will not wage proxy wars against you, but I first need to know what your request is before I can answer you on how acceptable it is.'
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Post by Emperor Florin von Marcum on Aug 7, 2021 1:00:45 GMT
'We can offer you our word that we will not wage proxy wars against you, but I first need to know what your request is before I can answer you on how acceptable it is.' “I’m being accompanied to Gankands by a minister in the provisional government. Bertran Harnau. You’ve seen him I assume? Rotund, middle aged man, reddish beard? He’s going to administer to some of the districts were forming there. And he supported my brother in the succession. And is a staunch opponent to friendly relations with Sadalen. I can’t very well dismiss him from my service. If he were to go missing, or meet his unfortunate end at the hand of some disgruntled Gankandsian or other, that would be a tragedy.” |
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Post by Fleischmann on Aug 7, 2021 8:44:23 GMT
'We can offer you our word that we will not wage proxy wars against you, but I first need to know what your request is before I can answer you on how acceptable it is.' “I’m being accompanied to Gankands by a minister in the provisional government. Bertran Harnau. You’ve seen him I assume? Rotund, middle aged man, reddish beard? He’s going to administer to some of the districts were forming there. And he supported my brother in the succession. And is a staunch opponent to friendly relations with Sadalen. I can’t very well dismiss him from my service. If he were to go missing, or meet his unfortunate end at the hand of some disgruntled Gankandsian or other, that would be a tragedy.” Understanding the situation and the request, Hebithdräkh Drake simply assented to it and then excused himself from the room. While he was not very good at such things, he did have one man with him that was. Finding that the Gesatja Mikkels had not moved since they had spoken, he quickly sidled up to him and spoke directly and quietly into his ear in a particularly, grasping his head to make sure he did not move away. 'I heard the Queen say, "Won't someone rid me of that pesky minister." after Minister Harnau insulted the Raikh and the Hauhkuno.' He let go of the Frijbuitonds' head and stepped back a bit, giving the man his space. A tad bewildered at first, it took the Dane a bit to decipher the reference and to process the request. He almost looked offended at it, but quickly schooled his features and then simply asked 'Are you sure?' Once he received a nod, he broke off and went to his work. The Hebithdräkh then returned to the Queen's drawing room and sat back down once the he was allowed back in. He then informed her in a matter of fact way 'I hear that the sea can be quite choppy around here, people should avoid standing too close to the railing.' |
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Post by Fleischmann on Aug 8, 2021 0:38:02 GMT
Mikkels' Work:
First he was dragged up to deal with some foreign nations, then he had to deal with the representatives squabbling like children, and now he was being treated like a hired thug. He understood it was for the good of the Raikh, but he had come to start to like being treated like someone of worth. Slowly strolling around the ship, he took note of people around, the portholes, the doors, and the escape routes. He was fairly certain that it would only take him a second or two to push a man to his death around here and it would not be too hard to make it look like an accident.
As he noted these things down in his head, his target came out with what appeared to be a secretary. Quickly squeezing himself into a cranny with a life preserver and some tools, he took out a compact mirror and observed them for a bit. It looked like they were taking the opportunity to get a bit personal and some marines who had previously been nearby moved away, probably wanting to be discrete. Sensing his opportunity, he came out of his cranny and moved quickly, grabbing a mallet.
As he came to them, he simply rapped the minister over the head and then threw him and the girl overboard before she could properly process what had happened. Putting the mallet in his coat, he then cried out loudly 'Man o'er board!' and raced back to his cranny to grab the life preserver and drop the mallet, before then throwing it over the ship's side in the general area of where the two had gone in. Given the speed at which the ship was moving, the roughness of the sea, and the good tumble they had taken, he was confident that neither of them would be recovered and if they were, they would not be alive.
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Post by Emperor Florin von Marcum on Aug 8, 2021 6:13:59 GMT
Upon hearing the commotion outside on deck, Catherine stood sighing. “i’hieren stel Sud Aera,” she muttered, walking toward the door. After a brief moment, a guard knocked on the door, informing her that Councilor Harnau and his secretary had fallen overboard and were very likely not able to be located. She burst into tears, clutching the soldiers uniform, and thanked him.
When the door closed, the woman turned, dry eyed back to the man sitting on her couch once again. “Odious man. I only hope he knew what was happening as he drowned. You have my thanks. More than you realize. Very well sir, you’ll have your marriage and your non-aggression pact. I trust your...” she struggled to find the word in their shared language,”Emperor won’t mind at least one ceremony in the Aerali’i tradition? And I do pray he can handle my sister. Truly. She’s much more intense than I am.” Finally, she broke into a smirk. “Now, would you care for a drink?”
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