The Bear and the Fox (Achkaerin)

[hobbes]

State Ministry of Cascadia

Emperor Peter Azurewind,

I am writing you in regards to my wish to schedule a formal meeting. It has been some time since our leaders have met, and as neighbors and guardians of the Great Northern Ocean we share I find it imperative we meet to discuss current and future events with the goal of increased cooperation.

It is with this in mind I invite you or a designated envoy to Harbordale at your earliest convenience.

With well wishes,
Minerva Todd
Premier
States Confederated of Cascadia

[Achkaerin]

Premier Minerva Todd,

I quite agree that our respective nations seem to have been remiss in their relations with each other especially considering our relative geographic closeness. I'm sure as fellow nations of the Northern Ocean there are many topics of mutual interest and I like you share the hope and goal of increased cooperation and stronger relations. Therefore I accept your invitation and will be attending in person along with my niece Cerys, as she begins to learn the diplomatic ropes as it were.

I look forward to meeting you in person

Emperor Peter Azurewind

[hobbes]

Cascadia International Airport

Minerva waited with some staffers, patiently in the private wing of the airport for the Achkaerinese delegation to arrive. Security was of course tight for Cascadian standards - moreso for the visiting head of state than herself.

When she saw the plane touching down in the distance, she readied herself, dusting off her suit as she waited in the terminal.

[Achkaerin]

The length of the flight from Achkaerin to Cascadia had caught Peter by surprise, such was the outlying position of Achkaerin in geographic terms i.e. in the frozen north, that he usually ended up on much longer flights than this one. However that wasn't the case today and it was a welcome change, the Emperor had long wanted to develop relations with neighbours closer to home in addition to those who were further afield, he'd spent a lot of the flight going over what he knew of Cascadia and considering what might be discussed, he knew there were potentially a few areas of common interest but he also knew that he didn't know anything for certain until he was face to face with Premier Todd.

Joining the Emperor on this visit was his niece Cerys, Peter had decided it was time for her to begin taking on some official duties when time permitted it and the Emperor was keen to give the next generation as much experience as possible. Cerys would have more of an observational role this time as it was her first time in such a situation.

After the flight touched down the pair made their way inside the terminal and approached the Premier.

"Premier Todd it is an honour to meet you." Peter said "May I introduce my niece Cerys."

"Pleased to meet Premier Todd." Cerys said "On behalf of Achkaerin may I present you with this gift, a small scale replica of the Cradle Stone[1] the replica was made from glass with the engravings on the stone etched into the glass in minute detail and contained inside a oak box lined on the inside to protect the glass. Peter smiled a little as Cerys handed the gift to the Premier, his niece had managed that one without a problem it would be interesting to see what she learned as the day went on.

1.	OOC- think Rosetta Stone

[hobbes]

"Likewise, Sir", she nodded to Peter before looking to Cerys "Madam." She smiled upon greeting the two - She wasn't quite familiar with what the official title would be for Peter, her staff had spent the last twenty minutes googling and still were divided between "Your Highness" and "Your Excellency." In any case, she'd rather pick a more neutral but respective pronoun rather than get proper protocol wrong.

"Thank you." She smiled lightly, taking the gift before handing it to an aide. "I don't have anything on me, unfortunately, but rest assured we won't let you leave empty handed. Or with a empty stomach." She laughed lightly, allowing aids to collect their bags. "Let's get you out of this stuffy terminal." She led them outside to the waiting convoy of vehicles. It was a crisp fall day, snow lightly falling but not quite accumulating yet - a climate the Achkaerinese were surely used to.

A police officer guided the three to a limousine where they sat down, Minerva sipping a drink of red wine that had been prepared. "I find the wine helps ease the nerves for things like this. You're free to drink up if you want", she nodded, before jokingly looking over at Cerys. "Assuming your uncle lets you."

[Achkaerin]

"You're eighteen Cerys so it's your call." Peter said when Cerys looked at her uncle inquisitively, Peter himself wasn't a wine man preferring other beverages when it came to alcohol, not that he drank a whole lot of it either - he'd been forced by other events in the family almost seven years earlier to throw a whole lot of the stuff out of the Marble Palace, but that said he did from time to time indulge so he took a glass as did Cerys. Peter glanced for a moment at the falling snow, it wasn't as heavy as back home but that was to be expected, in fact moments like this were one of the things Peter enjoyed the most about the duties his position imposed on him - the sitting in a car or other mode of transport and getting the snapshot of a country from moving through it, each one he'd been to had it's own unique beauty, whether it be the Alps of East Moreland, the coasts of Lodja or the rolling hills of Seaforth. Cascadia was no different in this respect.

"So Premier what is it you have in mind for today?" Peter asked curious to hear what their host had planned.

[hobbes]

"A few things, but primarily on my agenda would be the Rokkenjiman military base about five or ten miles from here." she said, guesstimating as the convoy zipped through downtown Harbordale. "If you don't know the history, the base predates Cascadia as a independent country, and it's been on the forefront of our foreign agenda since then. Obviously asking nicely has been tried in the past to no avail, but we're also smarter than picking a fight with the largest superpower on Mundus." She took a sip of the drink, relaxing somewhat in her coat. "And obviously your thoughts on the matter would mean a lot to us, but that's something we can get into detail with as the evening goes on." She smiled as the limo pulled into the Premiers Estate - It was rather small, particularly for a world leader, being only a two story Victorian era house. A officer opened the door for them to depart, leading them inside. She gave them a brief tour of the executive section of the building before moving upstairs to her living room, "Dinner's in a half hour, but I figured we'd relax for a bit free of the formalities and the press."

A man entered the room shortly there after, speaking. "Oh, almost forgot we had company tonight.", causing Minerva to look over. "Oh, this is my husband, James." she smiled, "Our daughter is-..well-..somewhere-.." she said, looking over at James. "In her room, presumably breaking something. She'll be out sooner or later." her husband laughed

[Achkaerin]

Peter smiled at the mention of the daughter breaking things, he could easily remember the days when his own children had behaved like that, or at least tried to, he'd also heard the stories from his sister about Cerys and her other child Jack. He exchanged pleasantries with James and then introduced Cerys who did the same.

"There's nothing quite like being a parent, they make you want to tear your hair out growing up but you wouldn't trade it for anything." Peter said "Though being a grandfather's just as stressful I'm finding especially considering how much my son's twin girls like playing practical jokes." he paused for a few seconds "May I ask what's for dinner?"

 

[hobbes]

She shrugged, reclining into the couch. "To be blunt I don't quite know yet, but I'd assume there's something in mind for everyone." She laughed lightly, "I'll send someone downstairs to find out." She sipped her wine again, "So, anything of note happening up north?"

[Achkaerin]

"Surprisingly it's quieter than I've become accustomed to in recent years." Peter said "Usually there's some crisis somewhere on Mundus that demands my attention, that doesn't appear to be the case at the moment. The good news is that such calm circumstances enable me to do things that tend to get pushed to the side lines and pursue projects that have been in mind for a while but for one reason or another haven't been suggested, things such as broader continental cooperation and dialogue come to mind. Away from that sort of thing it's coming up on the festive season so we've got the Christmas shows at the Royal Theatre. All in all it's a lot more easy going than has been the case for a while. So let me return the question, anything of note happening in the Gulf of Liberty?"

[hobbes]

(Sorry holidays killed me)

"Nothing particularly of note, the usual drama, not to mention a certain Rokkenjiman base 'bout ten miles from here we've been trying to get rid of" She sipped her drink, looking over at her daughter who had now come outside. "Millie, say hello to our friends." She commented, the girl shaking the twos hands.

"That and it's budget season, and the hawks are trying to get us to buy new planes...Again." She sighed, "It's a headache down here, and we're rather small a country. I can only imagine what it must be like for you."

[Achkaerin]

"Nice to meet you Millie." Peter said when the daughter joined them
"Hello." Cerys said when she greeted the girl.

"Trust me it's pretty much the same on a larger scale." Peter said turning back to their host "Like you I've got the Air Force telling me that we've got to buy some new planes so we can phase out ones that are past their prime so I sympathise with you there, the usual influx of letters asking for all manner of things from the reasonable to the ridiculous and that's without mentioning events overseas that end up on my desk."

Peter had chosen not to comment on the matter of Rokkenjima's base in Cascadia yet, it was clearly a subject that mattered to Cascadia and would therefore be better discussed at a time of their choosing rather than his.