Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves (Dragovah and Izhitsa)

[Izhitsa]

The letter arrived without much fanfare. It must have looked ratty, next to all of those fancy letters with their envelopes and their printed lettering. The sheer weight of the stamps attached to the thing would have made a philatelist gasp in envy. Sending international mail in Izhitsa is expensive, especially when they know you can afford it. And if you’re a High Lord, well, would you like to look at our premium options?

Imperator Magnus Aurelius,

As a fellow re-emerging power, we understand how much of a struggle it can be to find friends in the international community, especially long after all of your former friends have abandoned you. You are no doubt keenly aware of the power of having faithful allies on the world stage.
We believe that Dragovah and Izhitsa would mutually benefit from open and friendly diplomatic communications, not just as military allies, but as trading partners and associates on the world stage.
We would like to prove to you that Izhitsa will be a valuable ally to Dragovah through the coming decades. We propose to send a delegation to Drovah which will properly explain the benefits of a blossoming friendship and a permanent embassy with a rising power such as Izhitsa.

With High Regards,
High Lord Antek Dzhavid
Chairman Matvey Karamovo
Izhitsan Provisional Government


Looking at it now, it’s rather a short letter to be using so many stamps, but since the value of the revna is so low, maybe the provisional government was just trying to get rid of their spare low-value stamps. Or perhaps the mail courier was just a really smooth talker. After all, one doesn’t simply walk into Dragovah. You have to declare your cheeses first.

[Cool101jr]

Magnus eyed the letter at first, looking up at his secretary multiple times before asking for the sixth time to make sure it was actually from a World leader and not some practical joke from some kid on the street. After assurances he finally opened it and began reading. After a bit of contemplation and advice he wrote back his response.

High Lord Antek Dzhavid,

I would be honored to host your delegation in Drovah, it'll be the perfect chance to test out the Dragovan hospitality that has been without practice for so long. It has been far too long since our nations interacted, but our colorful history is something that has never been forgotten. We will be eagerly awaiting your arrival so that we may begin expanding on that history.

V/r,
Imperator Magnus Aurelius.

For the following weeks the Imperial Palace in Drovah was a bustle as the it was prepared for the arrival of the first foreign delegation to set foot in Dragovah since it had surrendered during The Great War.

Magnus and Minerva stood at the front door as the escort arrived with the Izhitsan delegation arrived. They both nodded respectfully to them as they came in.

"Welcome to Dragovah, my name is Imperator Magnus Aurelius and this is my wife Imperatrix Minerva Aurelius." He said, smiling.

[Izhitsa]

Bartolomey Hatsek and Dushan Ondrevich bowed slightly. A real imperator! thought Dushan. I told Mum all those classes would come in handy someday.
When he’d been called to Matvey Karamovo’s office, the last thing he thought was that he’d be appointed a foreign minister! And to be sent on a diplomatic mission to Izhitsa’s most terrifying neighbour as well! Of course, he had all the necessary qualifications. This included a mostly finished degree in International Relations—not his fault the nationalists closed down Hrada University—and, most importantly, being one of the few Izhitska Ednota members with any command of English.
As was explained to him, the delegation to Dragovah would consist of two members: one from the Yach Governate, and one from Izhitska Ednota. Something about fair representation of the provisional government.
Bartolomey initially had been somewhat perturbed by his colleague’s… shall we say… attitude. Yes, that sums it up rather nicely. Surely, any man who reaches this far into his thirties and remains that cheerful must be out of his mind. And what qualifications did he have for the highest possible rank of foreign service? 10 years toiling in embassies sucking up to infirm Izhitsan ambassadors? 15 years moving from country to country stroking the egos of the doddering diplomats of Mid-Aranye? Surely not! To be fair, Izhitska Ednota, unlike Yach, suffered from something of a skilled manpower problem. Somehow, Yach had managed to claim Izhitsa’s most populous and wealthiest parts for its administrative zone.
Bartolomey was rather proud of that deal.
“We thank you for your kind welcome,” said Bartolomey. “These past few weeks have been hectic for all of us. My name is Bartolomey Hatsek, and my colleague here…” He gave Dushan a slight nudge.
“Dushan Ondrevich. Uh. Sir. Um. Lord Dzhavid and Mr. Karamovo apologise for their absence."

[Cool101jr]

Magnus and Minerva both chuckled a bit. Magnus stretched his hand out to the men shaking each of theirs.

"Breathe Lord Ondrevich." He said with another chuckle before addressing both men. "I understand that it is a bit strange for the Emperor to address the foreign ministers himself on the very first meeting, but we are just beginning our foreign relations and have to fully set up our foreign affairs office, so the job falls to me."

He motioned for them to follow him and he led them through the palace complex, through massive ancient vaulted hallways with art on every wall. They entered the Great Hall, a 70 meter long room, the walls painted and chandeliers hanging along the length. A large table sat at one end with a place for all 4 of them to sit. As they sat a servant brought out a tray with tea, bread, and cheeses. Magnus took a slice of bread and a glass of tea, held it up then took a bite and drank the tea.

"As is tradition, I have been the first to taste of the refreshments to prove to my guests that there is no poison. Please eat to your fill there is plenty, and let us discuss this embassy and any other treaties you have in mind." Magnus said.

[Izhitsa]

Dushan was uncomfortable being referred to as a Lord. For most of his life, Lords, always referred to with Capital Letters, were people who made the rules for him. Izhitsa’s feudal system, with all its inane complexities, had somehow managed to stay mostly intact after the 1824 unification. Of course, since 2013, most of these posts had become elected, but Dushan had only just gotten used to the idea of voting when the civil war began.
Bartolomey was equally uncomfortable with the Imperator’s turn of phrase, largely because if the Imperator thought Dushan was a member of Izhitsan nobility, then he was unlikely to have much confidence in the rest of the Izhitsan people.
Neither of them thought it was a good idea to bring up the Imperator’s mistake.
Dushan took a cup of tea and held it without drinking. “Put simply, we are here to establish friendly, normalised relations between Izhitsa and Dragovah,” he said, as Bartolomey picked up a slice of bread. “Since the Great War, we have had barely any contact with each other, even though we are like next-door neighbours.” Dushan sipped at his drink.
“In pursuit of this goal,” said Bartolomey, “we believe it would be beneficial for our two nations to have open trade relations, visa-free travel for tourists, and, most importantly, a mutual exchange of embassies, to allow quick communication between our two governments.” He took a bite of bread.
“It would, after all, be a shame for two countries so close together to not be, uh, close together, as it were,” said Dushan.

[Cool101jr]

Magnus nodded as both men talked, knowing the importance of having someone so close as an ally, though he was having trouble not shaking the feeling that if he signed an agreement with them that he'd be forced to help one side or the other gain the whole nation.

"Izhitsa would make a grand ally for Dragovah, the benefits of free travel and free trade are undeniable, my only issue is stability, which to my opinion is something Izhitsa is sorely lacking, forgive my offence,  how do I know that another civil war won't break out in the next few years? One that Dragovah would be pulled into." Magnus inquired, eating a piece of bread. "I'm not saying your trip was a waste of time, I'm not against signing an agreement for the things you ask, I'm just worried about having to evacuate this new embassy this time next year because of something happening."

[Izhitsa]

“Oh, Imperator, surely, you jest!” said Bartolomey. “While our two benefactors have not been entirely… aligned with each other in the past, they are both committed to a peaceful transition to Izhitsan unity.”

“Oh, yes,” said Dushan. “Izhitska Ednota and Yach have been working together on a number of things: repairing roads, removing landmines, capturing war criminals, you know the lot. While our ideological differences do make some things difficult, we are hardly two different countries. We share blood. Kinship.” Oh Lord, thought Bartolomey, I hope I don’t share any with you.

“In fact, each half of the country cannot survive without the cooperation of the other," said Dushan, fidgeting his hands a little. "Yach’s half produces most of the nation’s food, and IE’s half contains most of the nation’s fuel. If there were some sort of irresolvable dispute between us, thousands of people could die from cold or starvation. No leader who really cares for their people, and I can assure you that Lord Dzhavid and Mr. Karamovo care deeply for their people, would allow that to happen.”