Tyr meets Harby

[RobertAgira]

It had been quiet a long time since the people of Lodja and the people of Bakkermaya had meet officially. To the best of Grand Duke Hugo Lascelles knowledge it had been when in the 16th century an agreement had been signed between the two nations that made Harby, or as it was called at the time Harbagrad an official part of Bakkermaya. In effect it had been since the 12th Century after the Horseman of Jekar had turned up accompanied by a flock of willing missionaries and began converting the island while subduing it by force.

Today's meeting however would be happier or at least that was what Grand Duke Lascelles hoped. He had invited the government of Lodja over to discuss relations. The two hadn't really been at each others throats ever but then again they'd never been friends but with Hugo now pushing to have Bakkermaya part of Albion it was time to start making friends on that continent. It was with that thought in mind he'd gone to the island's Temple of Helus where he'd spent the last hour in contemplation and prayer. As he finished he found sat at the back of the Temple was the island's Duchess, Rhiannon Farmer. Her ancient ancestor had been one of the Horseman of Jekar who had first landed on the island searching for King Paul. Her family still had a line back in East Moreland and that was something the Farmer family was proud of. "Good Morning Hugo" she said as the pair exchanged a greeting series of kisses on the cheek. "The Lord God have any advice?" She asked as the pair turned and headed for the exit into the bright sunlight.

"Nothing beyond not messing up" he replied to the youngest of his nations six leading nobles. She'd inherited the Dukedom of Harby just a year earlier after her father had died and while her mother, Sarah, still did the day to day running of the place it was Rhiannon who was the formal face of the island. "You ready?" Hugo asked her as they climbed into their car.

"Yeah, what is there to be nervous about, meeting a foreign monarch who claims she's some fake Goddess." Rhiannon slid into the seat behind the driver to allow Hugo to sit beside her.

"Well for a start don't say that in front of them." Hugo laughed as the car began its journey to the islands airport which in truth was not the best equipped to deal with international flights but due to serving also as a military airfield was capable of receiving a diplomatic aircraft or two. As they arrived at the airfield the car was meet by outriders from the Horseman of Jekar. The welcoming committee stood ready to greet the representatives of Lodja.

[Libby]

"So Stasya let me see if I have this clear" Klara said as the Lady in Waiting sat behind her plaiting her hair into a long braid. "The Cult of Helus believe that some....demons....almost took over the world and that only Northfort remained untouched by them, and only at the last minute did Helus step in and stop them." Klara knew about Stasya's romance with King David and frequent visits to East Moreland, she also knew she'd learnt Morelandish and studied their culture from a young age.

"Yes Your Divine Majesty" Stasya said as she focused on the hair.

"and only six humans survived this...war? One of them being Ray Unasson, and he's King David's great-great-great whatever grandfather?" Klara asked again checking her knowledge. Klara knew little about Bakkermaya apart from the fact it had been founded by warrior fiercly committed to the Cult of Helus and she wanted to understand the Cult before she meet Duke Hugo.

"That is correct, or at least what Cultists believe" she didn't add "Cultists like me" but deep down she wished she had. Her romance with this mythical warriors descendent may be public now but her faith wasn't. A Lady in Waiting was expected to serve Sessifet and having faith in Helus would mean she would be kicked out the royal court and her family were reaping great rewards from her role.

"So Helus is a bit horrible" Klara concluded, "He allowed all of humanity to get wiped out practically and then turns up at the last minute and still expects everyone to think he's amazing. Well, its a good story I suppose for building a web of lies, but if it helps them sleep better at night so be it." Klara shrugged as Stasya finished her hair and began retrieving the dress. Stasya wondered if Klara had similar thoughts about Sessifet, did she honestly believe that a Goddesses spirit resided in her. Surely that was equally as fabulous a story as that of the Cult. Right on schedule Lady Anna Immich, the senior Lady in Waiting arrived carrying the traditional dark blue and gold dress a Queen always wore on formal occasions. This one bearing carefully embroided golden horses.

"I would suggest Your Divine Majesty" Stasya continued "That you pay close regard to the Code of Canley, its huge in East Moreland and I suspect it will be here too, although I am not 100% sure about Bakkermayan culture. Remember if they are like the Morelanders what you do is equally, if not maybe more, important than what you say." Stasya offered the advice as Anna helped the Queen into the dress. Anna then held up a pair of dark blue high heeled shoes.

"Lady Anna you know me better than that" Klara opened the wardrobe in the planes bedroom and removed a pair of flat trainers, the dress was so long it swept the floor the idea being that it made the Queen appear to float when walking however Klara shunned the footwear that her Ladies in Waiting had tried to convince her helped give a more "feminine figure" , Klara's logic being if she was going to be stood she would be comfortable and so now attired they made their way out of the aircraft and over to greet their hosts.

As was usually the case Anna took the lead and spoke first. "Duke Hugo, Duchess Rhiannon" Anna bowed to each slightly before standing perpandictular to her own Queen and the welcoming committe, "It is my deep honour to introduce Her Divine Majesty, Queen Klara II of the Queendom of Lodja, Guardian of Sessifet" her task done she returned to her position a step behind and to the right of Klara with Stasya on the opposite side.

"Duke Hugo" Klara smiled as she meet the Head of State, "Duchess Rhiannon" she added as she elegantly turned to face her. "I thank you both for your invite, its been a long time since our nations did anything meaningful and now hopefully you'll be a TUNA member like us. Very exciting" she added. "As a mark of our new friendship I hope you will accept this" Stasya presented a box, "Lady Stasya informs me this is something highly valued by members of the Cult of Helus" She opened the lid, a scroll on parchment sat inside kept rolled up by a gold and emerald band. "It's a copy of the Code of Canley written at the Temple of Helus at Northfort in I believe the 16th Century?" Klara turned addressing Stasya who had contacted her father to find something fitting and send it over.

"17th Your Divine Majesty. Hand written by Sir Thomas Walcroft, a member of the Court of Canley" she added hoping the extra information made it even more impressive.

"Thank you. Lady Stasya is my Cult expert" Klara added. "I hope she can help me bridge the gaps between our two nations."

[RobertAgira]

Hugo saw the document and his eyes widened as a child seeing their birthday presents. "This is a very generous gift, it's beautiful" he said as he held the document delicately. He'd have loved to have had it framed and on his wall in his office but it wasn't truly a gift to him it was a gift to the country and so it would probably end up forgotten about gathering dust on the wall of a museum.

"May I see." Duchess Rhiannon asked and Hugo handed the document over, "Wow" she said without thinking of where she was or the company they were keeping. "Forgive me" she blushed and looked at her feet. "Its just such a pretty and thoughtful gift. Thank you Your Divine Majesty" Rhiannon hoped she'd dug herself out of the hole she felt she'd put herself in.

"As for your Majesty" Hugo took over "We understand you're a former dancer, so we thought a musical gift being best" He handed over a small silver box that when opened a ballet dancer shot upright and began twirling while music played. "We have also arranged a trip to the ballet tonight, hopefully celebrating progress we've made in our talks." Hugo hoped the Queen appreciated the gesture that they'd looked into her background a little. The gift exchanges done the group made their way into various cars and where whisked into the city of Harby. As they wound through the narrow city streets they came to the Ducal Palace.

The Palace was more of a fortress that had been built initially by the Lodjains. It was now Rhiannon had to take a lead, "Your Divine Majesty this is my home now and I must admit its beautiful but it was built by your people. It's far wall was the scene of a rather bloody battle that saw many on both sides die" The car had stopped in the courtyard now and Rhiannon walked alongside Klara, "I think it is here the two of our nations should unite and show the past is the past. We have had a small memorial stone placed on the wall, dedicated to the dead of both sides. I would like to invite you to join myself and Duke Hugo up there and offer a prayer. If you wish to not do so that is fine, it was just an idea for a symbolic burying of old issues." Rhiannon stood at the bottom of the steps hopeful that Klara would accept.

[Libby]

It was clear to Klara that the Bakkermayans had clearly done their research, although with the amount printed about her in the Lodjain media that probably wouldn't take much effort, it seemed almost every day some media outlet came up with a new story on her, be it having spoke to a former classmate, someone having found an old video of a school performance online or some spurious rumour started by ragsheets like Gossip Daily. The musical box was pretty, its craftsmanship of course was nowhere up to the standards produced back home but then Klara was bias. "Thank You" Klara said having let the merry little melody play through. "It's very sweet" she added as she passed the gift to Lady Anna. The trip to the ballet sounded nice, she hadn't had the chance to go and see her former friends performing despite the intake having had auditions for the new seasons performances and several of them getting good roles. It would have been nice to support them and for a while simply be Tatiana Kohut again rather than the Queen, but the chances of that ever happening now where nil.

She knew that during the visit the old conflicts of hundreds of years ago would come up and that any future between the two nations was only possible if they could move past them. "Yes" she said as the Duchess explained about the Ducal Palace. The Queen agreed that the photo oppurtunity at the stone was a good idea and she followed the Duchess up to the stone. She placed a hand delicately on the stone. "The Goddess thanks you for your duty and your sacrifice. May my blessings follow you all of your days no matter which banner you fought under." she said as way of a loud public prayer. She stood and waited for the chance for the media to do their thing before turning to Lascelles, "I believe now would be a useful time to begin discussions about a shared future now we have spoken of the shared past."

[RobertAgira]

Hugo offered his own prayer at the wall and left a token of the Horseman of Jekar, his beloved unit which was in effect the grandchild of the men buried close to this wall. He was certain that a fair few of the current islanders would be able to trace their family tree back to these souls and so in his mind at least knowing that the Horseman still protected the island would make them happy.  "I believe Duchess Rhiannon has some rooms ready for our talks" They ventured into the depths of the Palace to where a pretty drawing room had been prepared.

"Please Your Divine Majesty, take a seat. Ladies" Hugo gestured to the Queen's huge entourage to be seated and waited for everyone to be sat down before taking his own seat. "Now For my part I have three things on our agenda, the first is there is no formal recognition of the lands we each own in the Alucard, now while we are considering joining TUNA that only essentially draws recognition of the FSC and not the fact of who is sovreign over which piece of land. While we've never had a Mhorish Islands mess on our plates this would be useful in case either a future Grand Duke or a future Queen of Lodja has an axe to grind."

"The second point is Tyr and Harby are reasonably close together I believe that presents a unique oppurtunity for some kind of trade zone allowing each other easier access to each others markets. It also presents a challenge as the shortish distance is a big attraction to anyone wishing to smuggle between our two nations. So in this regard we need to close that gap."

"My final point I would like to discuss is one of security. Forgive me for being blunt but you sit on our flank and in the war against smuggling and piracy and the like your a vital link, yet your military is in trouble by the sounds of it. We need to discuss how I can be confident that flank isn't exposed, be that us beefing up patrols, sharing them or us possibly supporting your military directly. "

[Libby]

Klara thought carefully over the points that Hugo had raised. "One your first point I think that is a wise idea. I know we have seen issues with the islands in the Mhorish and putting into place something that would make sure no future Queen can cause a similar issue is a wise move. We also have no movement trying to pressure me to claim this island so I see there being no opposition."

"In terms of trade that could be an issue. For you to be able to trade in Lodja you must have the support of a patrician, now in the past Queen Viktoria allowed people of other nations to use the Tar name, I'm a little reluctant to follow the same path as it does little to help others in the nation who don't owe patronage to my own family. I think though we can perhaps make a deal exclusive to the two islands, at least from our part but the exact nature of that I'm not sure of."

"As for the final point I must sadly conceed our military is not to the standard my people deserve but we are beginning to make strides towards sorting that. I would however not wish to send a message that I don't think our navy can keep us safe. I think joint patrols could be a useful measure and is something that I can sell to my own military as a form of joint operations or even a training exercise. We have the Morelanders conjuring up plans for the future development of our military and we have a new submarine being designed which should help bring our Navy into the 20th Century" she chuckled nervously. "As for myself I think what I'd like to discuss is how we can get you into TUNA."

[RobertAgira]

Hugo was pleased that the first point was accepted but a little confused with the second, he knew Lodja was highly hierachical but didn't understand the complexities. "Joint operations and training are fine with me and I'd be happy to start them as soon as conveniant with you." he responded to the last point. "Now as for us joining TUNA the issue there is not really about it offering anything in particular, its about the manner of our membership. We are essentially six nations in one in many ways and perhaps it may be more appropriate for those Duchies in the Alucard to become members while our mainland doesn't, but this could cause issues. I have foreign policy oversight so I could theoretically push us into the organisation but then each Duchy has the right to set some of their own tax rates, this treaty could impact that. So what would you suggest with that regard?" He asked openly.

"As for trade I have a suggestion. What about Tyr and Harby each allocate a port as a "Trade Zone" and find some land nearby. That land is given a special status and we come up with some rules specially that apply to both zones. So for example there are no tariffs charged on products manufactured there that use a certain percent of local labour, or that contain a certain percent of the manufacturing process. So for example imagine it like a flat pack piece of furniture, the wardrobe has 10 steps to make and if say 7 of those are completed in Lodja its considered made in Lodja even if the company is one owned in Bakkermaya? Any suggestions" Hugo asked wondering if he had perhaps found a way round the awkward law.

[Libby]

These were difficult issues and Klara began trying to think about what someone like Besarian Ivanov would do, she wasn't sure really but now she had to start somewhere. "Well whether they apply as a single unit, or as seperate we would support their inclusion. I think personally however it would be best to apply as a single nation and therefore it would give us more strength in TUNA but at the same time give you more sway in the organisation."

As for the second point it was a tough one, there was an oppurtunity here to help the Lodjain economy but at the same time it set a precident of the royals giving up their control over industry. "I would need to insist that the companies use only local workers, it would look very bad for us if all of a sudden Bakkermayans came and set up as workers in our nation as they have no ties to our various systems. Now I would be open to allowing the senior officials and managers to come from your nation and they would first have to register as operating under the patronage of the royal family. You see every company is either owned by a noble or under the patronage of a noble. I can offer my own name as one but I would still need to ensure that they operated within the expectations of the Lodjain culture. This is something that may make your suggestion difficult or impossible even. If you have any suggestions as to a way forward I am very interested." Klara concluded.

[RobertAgira]

"Well once the area is set up I suspect Bakkermayan companies would be thrilled to hire local staff, it makes sense as they'd know the market and vice versa. Shall we say that at least 75% of the workforce must be recruited locally?" Hugo asked, "Now as for you patronage idea I suppose a counter-balance to that could be that Lodjain companies coming to our zone would require some kind of invite by one of the Six Dukedoms. That way both of our nations companies face the same barriers to business. Does that sound like a way forward?"

[Libby]

"I believe that is something we can work towards" Klara responded. "I believe we have a solid deal in place that added to our TUNA connection will esnure a brighter path ahead for both nation. Is there anything else you wish to discuss or shall we arrange a formal signing?"

[RobertAgira]

OOC- Agreed with Libby

Hugo and the Queen went for a bite to eat while lawyers wrote down what had been agreed. The two leaders enjoying some coffee and cake on the walls of the Ducal Palace making the most of the pleasant last throws of summer. As the evening began to descend things were ready and the two leaders gathered once more to sign the document. Both were introduced to the watching media and Hugo was joined by Duchess Rhiannon, her first official duty as Lead Sword of Bakkermaya. The pair took seats at one side of the table, two large parchments comedic really by their size sat in the centre of the table.

The Following Treaty is between the Six Dukedoms of Bakkermaya and the Queendoms of Lodja. Both nations freely and willingly enter into the agreement in order to ensure a future of friendship, co-operation and mutual support. With this in mind the nations agree to abide by the following conditions.

1. Both nations shall recognize the sovereign control of each nation over the territory controlled by them as on 21st September 2018.

2. The two nations agree that they shall conduct joint naval patrols in the Alucard where the EEZ's of their islands meet.

3. The two nations agree to an annual amphibious exercise to be hosted by each in turn commencing in 2019 with Bakkermaya.

4. The two nations agree that travel between them shall be visa free for those booking their journey at least 7 working days in advance. This applies to all people travelling who fulfil the following criteria

a) Hold a full passport issued by either nation.
b) Have a return ticket of travel for a date no later than 30 days from arrival.
c) Have sufficent funds to support their stay.
d) Have no criminal record
e) Are not considered a threat to national security.

5. Nations agree to the creation of a Special Trade Zone (STZ), Lodja shall build theirs on Grand Alucard in the city of Iskor, meanwhile Bakkermaya shall build theirs on Harby in the city of the same name.

6. The STZ shall be a zone designated as being open for companies from the other nation to establish themselves so long as they have secured patronage from a host noble.

7. Companies opening in the STZ shall be exempt import duties so long as 75% of their workforce is recruited from local citizens and 70% of the manufacturing process is carried out in the host nation.

8. Companies based in the STZ may send profits back to their nation of origin without additional taxes once paid at local rates.

9. Companies based in the STZ agree to abide by all local laws concerning their field of business.

10. Workers of companies based in an STZ shall require no visa for travel deemed essential for business so long as not deemed a threat to national security.

11. No arms manufacturing is permitted within the STZ.

12. The two nations agree to an annual meeting between representatives of the nation to take place at Iskor and Harby alternatively.

Signed:- Grand Duke Hugo Lascelles of Bakkermaya.

Hugo affixed his signature on both documents and then stood. "Many centuries ago the people of Lodja and Bakkermaya fought over this very land that today we sit upon. Today the talks between myself and Her Divine Majesty have been friendly and productive. They will bring about a series of great oppurtunities for both nations. The signing of this goes to show the horrors of the past are gone, today a new brighter future begins as we have both placed our trust in each other. I wish her Divine Majesty and her people well as we formally become friends."

[Libby]

Klara stood and smiled, Lady Anna handed her a pen and then stood back. "No one around this table was born the day the fighting between our two nations ended, no one on Mundus' Great-Great Grandfathers were even alive when that happened. It should not have taken close to 500 years for two nations so close to each other geographically to become close to each other diplomatically. Today everything changes as we become neighbours sharing a bright future together." She signed the document posing for a few moments for the media.

The Following Treaty is between the Six Dukedoms of Bakkermaya and the Queendoms of Lodja. Both nations freely and willingly enter into the agreement in order to ensure a future of friendship, co-operation and mutual support. With this in mind the nations agree to abide by the following conditions.

1. Both nations shall recognize the sovereign control of each nation over the territory controlled by them as on 21st September 2018.

2. The two nations agree that they shall conduct joint naval patrols in the Alucard where the EEZ's of their islands meet.

3. The two nations agree to an annual amphibious exercise to be hosted by each in turn commencing in 2019 with Bakkermaya.

4. The two nations agree that travel between them shall be visa free for those booking their journey at least 7 working days in advance. This applies to all people travelling who fulfil the following criteria

a) Hold a full passport issued by either nation.
b) Have a return ticket of travel for a date no later than 30 days from arrival.
c) Have sufficent funds to support their stay.
d) Have no criminal record
e) Are not considered a threat to national security.

5. Nations agree to the creation of a Special Trade Zone (STZ), Lodja shall build theirs on Grand Alucard in the city of Iskor, meanwhile Bakkermaya shall build theirs on Harby in the city of the same name.

6. The STZ shall be a zone designated as being open for companies from the other nation to establish themselves so long as they have secured patronage from a host noble.

7. Companies opening in the STZ shall be exempt import duties so long as 75% of their workforce is recruited from local citizens and 70% of the manufacturing process is carried out in the host nation.

8. Companies based in the STZ may send profits back to their nation of origin without additional taxes once paid at local rates.

9. Companies based in the STZ agree to abide by all local laws concerning their field of business.

10. Workers of companies based in an STZ shall require no visa for travel deemed essential for business so long as not deemed a threat to national security.

11. No arms manufacturing is permitted within the STZ.

12. The two nations agree to an annual meeting between representatives of the nation to take place at Iskor and Harby alternatively.

Signed:- Grand Duke Hugo Lascelles of Bakkermaya.

Signed:- Her Divine Majesty Queen Klara II of Lodja, Guardian of Sessifet.