The oil must flow (Royal Seleucid and Samantra)

[Markus]

To: His Royal Majesty, King Heydar
From: Her Excellency, President of the Duma Yeva Litvin


I am writing to Your Royal Majesty to set up a meeting between the governments of our two countries. The Emirate of Royal Seleucid is a key commercial partner for the Holy Kingdom of Samantra as our country imports most of its oil and gas and we seek to establish an agreement for preferential prices for oil and gas either via OPEN or directly though bilateral agreements. Furthermore, we are aware of that the Emirate of Royal Seleucid’s contribution to the stability of MidAranye as well as the creation of the Gulf of Auraxis Arrangement which has changed the economic dynamics of the region and I dare say the entire continent.

I would like to express, in the name of the government of Samantra, our interest in being recognized as an associate gulf state as specified by the xiv article of the agreement and we hope we can discuss at length about how we can receive your support for that status.

Before we conclude, I would like to express our openness to approach deep and comprehensive discussions relating to any economic matters as well as any other topics Your Royal Majesty would like to address.   

Should Your Royal Majesty agree to the meeting, I would like to express our availability to send a delegation led by Minister of External Affairs Maria Mikhailov to your great Emirate at a time and venue of your choosing.

I look forward to your reply and hope for great cooperation between our two nations.

With the greatest of respect,
Yeva Litvin
President of the Duma

[DaveIronside]

To:-President Yeva Litvin

I am delighted to receive your message and naturally will be honoured to host your or anyone you deem fit to send.

I would like to invite you to our desert palace where we are currently based in preparation for this years Jewel of the Desert festival. You should aim to arrive in Ipsus where I shall have my staff organise transfers via helicopter to the Palace on the edge of our desert. During these talks I'd be more than happy to see what arrangements we can make to support your acquisition of oil products. I would also appreciate it if we could discuss opportunities for further business interactions.

We shall be ready to meet at your earliest convenience.

Best Regards

King Heydar.

[Markus]

Ever since Maria got confirmation that the meeting would take place she started to prepare for it. Like most Petrograd politicians she was not very knowledgeable of the affairs of the countries outside the Rus' world though in this case being Royal Seleucid, a country vital for Samantra's energy security, she knew a bit. Royal Seleucid was arguably the most influential OPEN country and a founding member and with 65% of Samantra’s oil imports coming from OPEN countries that meant Royal Seleucid was a strategic partner for Samantra.

Her staff got her up to speed on the latest affairs of Royal Seleucid and the Midaranye region. From Samantra's perspective the dispute and at times competition between Clysperis and Royal Seleucid was something that could be advantageous to Samantra since it would not face a united front. That meant that Samantra could negotiate with two camps which Maria hoped could benefit Samantra. And it was not just oil and gas that presented interest for Samantra. Ever since Tamora entered in what seemed like a more isolated period Midaranye moved on and created a Gulf of Auraxis free trade area that encouraged trade and Samantra wanted to become a partner. The countries of Midaranye were often overlooked or isolated by the old powers of Mundus and that presented untapped opportunities for Samantra. Plus the fact that Tamora was not a member of the agreement greatly helped since the issue of slavery would not be so much in the spotlight.

Maria looked at the list of members of her delegation, it included various executives or directors of Samantra's largest companies, economic advisors etc. She was not pleased:

"Natasha" she called for her personal assistant.

"Be a dear and call Stas’ office and invite him to come with us to the Seleucids. Right now our delegation looks like one of a matriarchy, we need more men to represent us in Royal Seleucid."

Maria wanted to make a good impression on the Seleucids and having the Samantran government be represented only by a woman would not be the best approach she figured. Plus Stas Petrov, as Minister for trade, economy and finance, was fairly good at economic stuff which she figured was the focus point of the meeting.

The next task she needed to approach was to decide what gifts she would bring for the hosts. With King Heydar having several wives and a large family that was not an easy task. She initially thought jewelry would do it but she reconsidered thinking that they had hundreds already from all over the place as gifts.

She eventually settled for something different. She called Mihail Umarov the largest shareholder of the Umarov Real Estate Trust and basically her de facto boss (considering how much in she was indebted to him and how much dirt on her he had) and arranged for a whole floor of the Rus’ Tower to be leased for free to the Royal Seleucid government. In the case of Royal Seleucid that actually meant the Soter family. She figured that way she could offer a significant gift but not appear as a bribe and create issues back home or in Royal Seleucid. Would it work? She did know exactly but she made contingency plans in case the hosts were offended.

The day of the meeting had arrived and the relatively large Samantran delegation arrived in Ipsus on schedule.From there they took the helicopter under the instruction and guidance of their hosts. They arrived at the Palace and waited to see what their hosts intended them to do next.

OOC: I left in open so that you can skip or not the greetings at the airport or palace entry and get straight to the meeting.

[DaveIronside]

Heydar had been enjoying the last few days at the desert palace. It was one of his favourite places to stay and he felt much more at home here than he did in the other Soter residences, his wives however preferred other homes, Chyrssa loved Ipsus while Haniyah would choose the Lake Palace. Heydar had spent the last few days with surveyors keen to get things arranged for the Jewel of the Desert festival later that year but largely Heydar was confident that the event would, as always, go without a hitch. He'd managed to get some camel racing in with Golzar and even indulge in some falconry. He was almost disappointed that the talks had to take place but business needed to be conducted. Seyed Jamshidi, the Minister for the Development of Ipsus had been given the job of welcoming the Samantra delegation and he was rather pleased to have such a role today. He picked the group up at the airport with all the usual pomp and ceremony before, perhaps to their surprise, taking them away from the airport and heading down the coast road. Soon they passed into what some called "New Ipsus" the new developments that saw the Palm Hotel raise above the surrounding skyline. They passed the entrance to that and turned into the rather upscale marina that had been developed around the Blue Project. A series of "Pods" designed to be given to the Midaranye nations to help foster trade and cultural links. It boasted a helicopter pad and a military badged chopper was sat waiting.

"First though before you leave to see His Majesty I have been asked to show you this." Seyed removed a key from his pocket and opened a door that had been covered with posters of various upcoming events in Ipsus. Inside was a vast hall empty and a modern looking steel spiral stair case heading to a second and third floor. "This pod was designated for Clysperis, however you can see that it was never utilised. His Majesty is keen for that to change. So for the next six months he'd like you to consider moving something in here. It can be shops selling products from your nation, entertainment events, why we even have a museum in the one from Tamora. It could be used as a base for promoting investment in your homeland or even helping find investment money here. As the first nation to visit Blue from outside the region in a while His Majesty wants you to have first option on it. At the end of six months we can reasses how the arrangement has worked and either shake hands and end the arrangement or explore deeper arrangements perhaps." Seyed slipped the key into Maria's hand,  "when you are ready the helicopter outside will take you to your meeting, but there is no rush so feel free to explore Blue as much as you like." Seyed gave a small bow and left to go and hang out with the helicopter crew.

Once the Samantran's arrived at the helicopter a rather cheerful corporal began strapping them in all the while humming and singing. Once he was satisfied everything was in good order he gave them a thumbs up and a broad smile before taking his own seat and talking to the pilot. The engine hummed into life and soon they headed out first across the bay before turning North and flying low over the old city of Ipsus, its white washed buildings zipping underneath. In no time at all the white gave way to the dusty yellow of the desert and after about 40 minutes the helicopter was touching down. The smiling corporal hadn't even managed to finish unstrapping the guests when the helicopters side door was pulled open by King Heydar. He offered a hand up to help Maria down and then waited for everyone else to exit greeting each with a warm handshake. As the engines ticked down he waved for them to follow him into the Palace which was in truth a series of semi buried high tension tents with various tunnels and chambers dug into the rocks connecting them. It was cool inside and Heydar ushered people into what looked like a giant bell tent made of a rainbow of fabrics. There were no chairs as such just huge cushions on the floor and several low tables. "Please take a seat" Heydar lowered himself onto one of the cushions fluffing it up a bit as he did. A young boy dressed in a smart white jacket and trousers poured strong minted tea for everyone as Heydar began to speak. "I'm delighted you have come to visit and I hope you are now safely in possession of a key to Blue. I'm hopeful you will bring something exciting that myself and Golzar can come and see soon. As for the floor of the Rus Tower that is a very generous gesture to a people you hardly know. I will need to consider carefully what we shall do with it that will benefit all of us but rest assured it will be put to good use. At present I am inclined to perhaps establishing an office there to promote our gigafactory products. Do you think we'd find a market for high quality rechargeable batteries in your homeland?" Heydar enquired. "Now as well as a key I hope that you will accept a 2nd item from me." Heydar beckoned someone at the door to come closer and a young girl in a white dress approached and laid a wooden box down. It was open at the top and featured a variety of different coloured stones. "As you perhaps know we are fortunate enough here to sit on some rather nice gem mines and ores of gold and silver. Every year we have a festival giving thanks for this bounty but also promoting the work of our craftsman. Its quiet a few days of celebration and entertainment. These gemstones are for you and we would hope that perhaps during the festival you would consider coming back and trusting our craftsman to make something for you." Heydar paused for a moment, had he perhaps made an error, Samantra were after all a democracy and giving such a lavish gift to an elected leader may not be seen as the most politically correct thing to do. "I though do not wish to force you Mrs.Mikhailov, not everyone finds the desert as appealing as us." he tried to give her an easy out, "If the sands are not to your liking perhaps you could use them for a project back home, fund some hospital maybe. I understand you're a nation of devout Christians, maybe as some embellishment in a Cathedral or something." Heydar shrugged to indicate that he didn't mind if that was the case.

"Now it is my understanding that you need oil and gas. We have oil and gas. Such a thing is a foundation for a good friendship but some of my best friendships are where there is a two way street. Take Lijiang, we have a wonderful arrangement in place of us trading them oil and gas extraction machinery, something we have and they need, in return they send us food products, something we need and they have. Its a perfect relationship of two nations offering each other mutual support and both of us benefit. It is my hope that we can leave here today with as strong and beneficial arrangement in place. So is there a particular need you have in mind, such as quantities, certain products, I'll do whatever I can to be helpful."

[Markus]

Maria was more than pleasantly surprised with the lease of pod. She wasn’t much of an expert of real estate or anything relating to economic matters but she knew an opportunity when she saw one. And in her case it was a way for her to pay back some of the political debt she owed to Mihail Umarov of the Umarov Real Estate Trust(URET) if she could somehow convince the Samantran government to sublease it to the URET. Such a piece of real estate, even rented, was something that URET would love to have in their real estate portfolio.

Stas on the other hand started exploring the pod and already started imagining how the pod could be used to further Samantra’s business interests. He had a corporate background and knew the great potential of the Seleucid market. If Samantran businesses played their cards well there could be lots of business opportunities to be made in Royal Seleucid he figured.

OOC: I hope I am not breaking any rules but I am RPing with the assumption that Samantra is already importing oil from Royal Seleucid but that no formal agreement was ever signed and the trades never involved either governments.

Maria greatly appreciated that King Heydar welcomed them personally at the Palace and that he helped her get out of the helicopter. Such signs of gallantry where greatly appreciated by Samantran women.
Once she was seated along with the rest of the Samantran delegation she replied:

 “Thank you for being such great host. Mr. Seyed Jamshidi has been a great guide in showing us what is being described as the “New Ipsus” as well as explaining the massive investments done not just in the real estate but also in the infrastructure. It impressive how much care and thought has been given to the long term planning of the area” Maria exaggerated a bit the role of Seyed Jamshidi with the hope of earning some bonus points with him. She figured that if the talks went well today having a cabinet minister that is sympathetic never hurts even if she knew that the executive power rested with King Heydar.   

Stas intervened “And thank you Your Majesty for the wonderful opportunity with the pod. I can assure you that many Samantran companies will be interested to have a presence there.

As for the floor of the Rus’ tower, I am glad it is to your liking Your Majesty. While there has been perhaps not much formal contact between our governments our two nations have definitely cooperated in matters such as trade. The Emirate is a major supplier of oil and gas to Samantra and the gift is a also symbolic in that regard since it gives you a place in Samantra’s financial heart.

Your gigafactory could find a market in Samantra. Our economy has been mostly dezindustrialized and moved to mostly services but one of the industries that have survived and prospered is the automotive industry. Our auto industry has been slow to embrace the change to electric vehicles and that could be an opportunity for the giga factory since our industry has not entered in any partnership for batteries that I know of. “

Stas was amused at Maria’s predicament. He knew full how much she loved anything to do with jewelry and gemstones but at the same time he knew she couldn’t accept. So when Maria declined saying that it will be used to embellish one of Samantra’s great cathedrals he knew full how hard was for her to say it. He also was not surprised that she was quick to agree that she will visit the craftsmen during the festival, no doubt with the hope that in an informal setting she could take advantage of a deal by using her position as Minister of Extern Affairs. Back in the day Stas was a corporate lobby in Petrograd while Maria was mayor and she knew full well the greed the woman had.

Stas continued and addressed the oil issue which was one of the key points of the meeting as far as Samantra was concerned:

“Your majesty, right now about a third our oil comes from OPEN countries and of that OPEN oil Royal Seleucid, Clysperis and Tamora have about an equal share. There are no formal government agreements for oil so far and everything that was done did not involve the Samantran government. We would like to change in light of recent concerns. We are looking to reduce our dependence on Tamoran oil since the country has international sanctions and has recently entered a period of isolation. Secondly, the geopolitics of MidAranye are beginning to worry us. The Kingdom of Clyperis seems to be entering the sphere of influence of  the not so holy Empire of Achkaerin, a country with which he have no good relations. We will try to see if we can reach some sort of an agreement with the Clysperi that will address our concerns but the energy security is paramount for us. No matter what happens the oil must flow to Samantra. So thirst we want from Your Majesty the guarantee that your Emirate will continue to supply us with oil and gas regardless of any political turbulences that might appear such as the recent sanctions placed on us by the Rokkenjimans (and the cancelled).

The second issue point we would like to discuss is a total exclusion of any payments for oil and gas in the currencies of Achkaerin and Rokkenjima. We do not trust their governments and we do not want anything to do with their financial system. I naturally propose that you accept our currency, the rouble, in exchange for oil and gas. We have a solid financial system, we are an important customer for oil and gas and we are a country that has no contentions with Midaranye. Of course we are flexible and we can discuss other means of payment.”

Stas realized he may have talked too much without answering the information request of King Heydar:

“I think I may have skipped telling you the details of Samantra’s oil trade.  Our country consumes 6 million barrels per day and all of it is imported. So that means roughly 2 million per day comes from non OPEN countries and 4 million comes from OPEN with Royal Seleucid, Tamora and Clysperis each accounting for roughly  1.3 million barrels per day. That means every year we pay just for oil about 47 billion roubles/USD to the Emirate alone (ooc: assuming the price is 100 USD per barrel, you guys decide what the price is, I am not OPEN) every year. I thank that makes us a good customer I would say.”

[DaveIronside]

Heydar was pleased that Seyed hadn't messed up. He was a relatively minor minister in the grand scheme but his portfolio was one that Heydar followed with interest for as the fortunes of Ipsus went so would the rest of the nation. Upon hearing about the gigafactory and the lack of electrification of the Samantran motor industry there was an oppurtunity. "I know you came here to speak of oil but I think we may have a two fold opportunity here. You are not self sufficient in oil at the moment so obviously in decades to come you're nation may find it difficult to find sufficient supplies. Meanwhile we're looking for opportunities for our battery sales.  You're nation has reasonably high wage levels so my hope is your people may be in a position to be buying cars at a steady rate. If I was in a position to offer your car industry a steady supply of electrical batteries suitable for electric cars I'm hoping that they may find a way into your nation exempt from tariffs or taxes, so long of course as being sold to companies making vehicles in your nation. That way your car industry gets a quality product at a low price and you might find you're in a position to compete in the market globally especially if I was to ensure that you're companies got priority on them?" It would secure a large number of jobs moving forward and make a tidy income for the nation.

Conversation naturally would need to turn to oil and gas as that was why his guests were here in the first place. When talk turned to the impact of global politics Heydar understood the concerns. "Let me be clear, we've faced what could be called an occupation by Celts for the last few years, we've faced a food shortage that saw large scale riots and panic. During that time you'll have noted that we kept our taps open and it is my hope that you won't have noticed a difference in your supplies from us. If we are able to ensure supplies in such turmoil happening on our soil then you can be confident that the actions of Achkaerin to our north and sanctions on our friends in the east will have no impact on things. You place an order with us and you'll get your barrels. You've been using it for years and my hope is you'll still be ordering it from us when we're pumping the final drops a long time from now. We're a reliable supply for the long term and that is exactly why you came to me. Now if you prefer an agreement between me and you rather than between our oil companies and your companies then that is fine too. You then ask about payments, we have exchange rates and the like for that and while I would prefer to get paid in Drachmaes I am not entirely against accepting any other currency so long as its is worked out using a fair exchange rate. Maybe we could say one that uses an average of our central bank, your central bank and perhaps a neutral party like Heyra's banks rates. In terms of preferred currency we had quiet a lot of business in recent years in Ui Cenneslaigs Punt, so if you want a totally neutral currency that is one we've become accustomed to and with it being linked to the CNN it has some economic power behind it. I believe this answer should reassure you that you won't be handling Rokkenjiman or Achkaerin based currency?"

"Now as for your oil and gas supplies might I make a suggestion and I'd be willing to help with this. Our neighbouring Emirite of Rayyu also has significant oil and a low population. While I am not yet successful in persuading them to join OPEN we have become good friends, if you don't already I would like the chance of introducing you to them in terms of them becoming your preferred non-OPEN supplier. This would help both of us, it might help me get them to join OPEN and it might also help you find another suitable source for your needs. Now naturally we want to keep as much of your good custom as possible but I also appreciate for security reasons you'd likely want to cast your net wide. Now if you wish to push for associate Gulf State then perhaps this link with Rayyu could be useful moving forward?"

[Markus]

Stas realized how to the point was Heydar in the talks. It must have been less than an hour since they got off the helicopter and they were already find new ways to cooperate besides oil. He appreciated the merchant attitude of Heydar. As far as Stas knew most heads of state or government were not that interested in economic affairs and left such matters to cabinet members or just prepared really well and had advisors in the meeting with them. That was not the case here, as far as he could tell Heydar seized opportunities as soon as he saw them. Furthermore, he suspected the Giga factory was one of Heydar 's favorite investments though  whether that was because of his ego or his belief that the factory could be one of the Emirate's best assets in the distant post oil economy was impossible for Stas to know.

"Would Your Majesty be willing to give exemptions on tariffs or taxes of Samantran cars using those batteries? Because if that is so I believe we have a deal." Stas didn't know much about the Seleucid market and he assumed that gas prices for the population were low, far lower than in Samantra so the need for electric cars would not be that great. Still if Heydar agreed the Samantran car manufacturers would have an advantage over other imports of electric cars. And in time who knows how the Samantran car manufacturers could take advantage of this.

Stas was pleased with the assurances given by Heydar. He knew that the Seleucid king did not have a track record of sanctioning other countries and he likely won't start now.

"Your Majesty, your word is as good as gold to me and Samantran companies are satisfied with how things are going but we are looking to have some sort of agreement in writing between our two governments mentioning this. These are turbulent times and we want to assure the public back home and the business environment that our supply of energy is secure.

In regards to the currency for payments allow me to make a different proposition. As Your Majesty has said there was an occupation by the Celts not long ago and there is also the wish that the Emirate be paid in drachmaes while we naturally would like to pay in roubles. Why don't we go for 50-50 drachmas - roubles approach using the Heyran exchange rate or a combination as Your Majesty suggested? Cenneslaigs Punt is a fine currency backed by Mundus largest economy. I would be lying if I said it would not be a good choice but is it really in our national interest to use it? Shouldn't we use the tens of billions of roubles in energy trade between us as a way to boost our financial sectors? If we reach an agreement on the giga factory we already have one more reason to encourage our financial sectors to get used more with each other’s currencies."


Stas was well connected with Samantra's financial sector and was a former lobbyist for them. In fact as a minister he was their man in the government so for him national interest of Samantra and the interest of Samantra’s financial sector often meant the same thing.

“We will would be interested in meeting the Emirite of Rayyu especially if you recommend them. If I may ask, Your Majesty, have they given any reason for refusing to join OPEN?”

[DaveIronside]

The Seleucid had a DNA for bargaining and haggling, if they could convince the Mundus Games Committee to include it in the Summer Games they'd be odds on favourites for gold medals. Everyone knew that prices were more like suggestions in Royal Seleucid and it was only in big supermarkets that prices were totally fixed there you paid for your bread exactly what it said on the shelf, go twenty meters down the road though to the small bakery and deals and haggling would be the order of the day. Heydar rather enjoyed the sport and was always careful to make sure he "allowed" himself to be taken advantage of once the crowds gathered, it was a way of showing the families wealth and supporting local craftsman but when it came to his nation that would be a different matter. Here though he didn't have the feeling that Stas was trying to take advantage of him.

"Removal of tariffs on cars is something I can concede, we have no auto industry of note here so it wouldn't do our people any harm to allow cars in with no tariff. I do wonder though if perhaps we could extend this beyond cars, would you for example be able to provide trucks. We've completed our trans-desert highway and now its becoming easier to transport things by road rather than rail we would have need for heavy goods vehicles but at present electric ones are not really efficient."

"As for putting things on paper generally such a thing would not be needed between leaders but perhaps that's our custom and not yours. If a paper deal makes you sleep easier at night then of course we can facilitate that. Perhaps we make an arrangement that we sell you 1.3million barrels a day at a slight discount, say 10% that we're permitted to give from OPEN, we then put a reserve aside of 700,000 barrels at a 5% discount. This will mean should you need to increase your order we're not scrambling around looking for extra and should find it easy to fulfil your order. Once we hit 2million barrels in a day the price becomes the OPEN going rate. I think this arrangement would see you fulfil your need, gives you some flexibility about increasing your orders and puts in place a formal agreement. As for the arrangement of payment half and half using the Heyran exchange rate as a fair measure I will accept that. As for Rayyu I believe they are yet to join as they in some ways wish to try and maintain themselves away from some of the reputation some of our region has developed. While they are happy to work with us I think they want to avoid being seen by the international community as tied to the perception of ill will that many have against ourselves and Tamora. Its a blessing and a curse being neighbours and friends with Tamora" Heydar smiled, "They are the strongest of friends but they have a rather stubborn streak that some don't like."

[Markus]

“Then we have an agreement on both the cars and trucks and oil agreement” said Stas while Maria nodded in agreement discreetly.

Stas knew that such an agreement will be well received by Samantra’s automotive industry and its financial sector so that would help him earn more connections and capital with them. Maria on the other was more interested in the oil agreement and the agreement of not using the Rokkenjiman and Achkaerin currencies. Such a deal would be popular back home and she intended to assume all the credit for the deal.

Tamora was an issue both Stas and Maria wanted to avoid, at least for now, so they smiled when Heydar mentioned them but did not say anything.

“Now that you mentioned it, Your Majesty. Can Samantra count on your vote for us to become an associate Gulf State? “ asked Stas opening the other major point on the Samantran agenda: Gulf of Auraxis Arrangement.

[DaveIronside]

"I think you're likely to find yourself with a great deal of support in the G.A.A." Heydar began, "My understanding is that you've got some religious friendship with Kodima and with Rayyu over some connection to Ibrahim. I think this may be enough to get their vote meanwhile we now have a very satisfactory contract between ourselves so obviously you'll have my vote. That would just leave that of Waddan but I'm confident you could persuade them." Heydar hoped he'd reassured his guests of their potential success. "However should your application not get past the Waddan hurdle I wish to propose a back up plan." Heydar stood and crossed the room to where his tablet was kept and began to tap away on its screen. "Each year a respected institute[1] collects import and export data about nations on Mundus. As you can see  they produce a breakdown of a nations exports and imports as a percentage of overall trade. Clearly if a product is less than 1% of your exports it is likely an indicator of a small industry or something you don't produce much in. For example you'd likely find things like paper are pretty low down on our export list as we lack the trees for traditional manufacture. What I propose is that on the publication of this data each year any field seen as being less than 1% of our exports triggers a removal of tariffs for the other. As an example paper accounts for 0.036% of our exports, this would mean any Samantran company may export paper to use tariff free. I think such an agreement will protect our own industries but boost trade between us."

1.	https://oec.world/en/resources/about - going to see if Heyra will be the venue for such a data collection

[Markus]

Heydar sensed where Samantra might struggle in getting the support to associate with G.A.A.

“Thank you for your statement support Your Majesty as well as the backup plan. If I am not too bold I would ask a favor of Your Majesty. Your Emirate is the closest friend of Waddan and your nation knows them best. I will be frank and admit we struggle to approach them:  their infrastructure is lacking, we don’t have much information regarding their customs and we have few commercial ties. Would Your Majesty be willing to make the case on our behalf? Your Majesty has offered medical help to their Sultan, their nation trust Your Majesty’s world.”

Stas didn’t want to publicly express that his government wanted access to G.A.A. relatively fast and with Waddan it could take months and there was of course the slavery issue. Samantra was reluctant to approach Tamora, which was a huge market and had some influence in the region, because of slavery with Waddan being that small and underdeveloped Samantra’s interest was nonexistent. It was true that Samantra could have waited for the Desert festival to take place and have the talks with Waddan there but the Samantran government wanted access to G.A.A. sooner.

Maria, which up until then content to let Stas do the negotiations while she taught about how could the trade deal be better sold back home so that it benefits her political career, decided to approach another matter:
   
“Your Majesty, it gives me great pleasure to see that out two nations have can cooperate so well on economic matters and I want to see if we can extend that to cultural issues.  The Holy Kingdom is a nation that honors and respects its history and its legacy. The Samantran people care a lot about the history of the Great War Era and our country’s contribution to the defense of the Ardian Empire and its contributions to humanity. Royal Seleucid was among those that a played a key role in helping the Ardian Coalition throughout the war (ooc: I purposely left it vague since that role is more complex) and we would like for that contribution to be better known in Samantra and beyond. I propose we initiate an exchange program where university professors of history from Samantra teach in Royal Seleucid and vice versa on the subject of the Great War Era. I think it would be valuable for our students to understand each other’s point of view and contributions in the Great War Era. Samantra also plans to fund aboard a series of exhibitions about the Ardian Coalition perspective in the Great War and we would love if we could reach some sort of agreement where Your Emirate’s museums could contribute alongside Samantran ones to this exhibitions. We plan on also inviting the Allied States of Ardia in the effort and the Heyran Republic. I believe it would beneficial for the nations of Mundus to learn more about the Ardian Coalition perspective’s in the Great War Era.”

Maria proposals were meant to help sell the deal to the Samantran people and the Duma. The Samantran people were very passionate about Samantra’s contribution to the Ardian Coalition in the Great War and had a great deal of sympathy for the nations that comprised the Ardian Coalition. With today’s agreement having a clause reminding them of Royal Seleucid’s contribution to the Ardian Coalition that would help block criticism back home that Samantra was getting too close with a nation that had human rights issues.