Chistopol and Clysperis

[Chistopol]

Darijus Laine had been rather annoyed when he had heard what Pharaoh  had said to her own media, she spoke with a lack of apparent knowledge of Chistopols own conflict but when you had the arrogance to call yourself "Sovereign of Sovereigns" perhaps it was permissable to not know much of other nations. That hadn't stopped the First Minister extending an invitation. His dislike of royalty was well known, he didn't believe anyone who just so happened to have popped out the correct vagina should be entitled to rule over people's lives. It was bad enough having to negotiate day to day business with the family of King Kārlis IV, but at least the King was content to act in a mere role as a figurehead with only seemingly small trappings of power. It was Crown Prince Kārlis who was the thorn in his side and so the First Minister was pleased when at Tartu airport the King had arrived.

King Kārlis IV was soon to turn 90 years of age and having spent all but three months of his life as King of his nation he had known a life of service. Today he was a man smaller than he had been in his prime but even after his knees had stiffened, his back begun to bend he still insisted on climbing out his car unaided except for the polished black wood walking stick. "Good morning Darijus" The King extended an arthritic hand to his First Minister.

"Good Morning Your Majesty" Darijus responded with politeness but no bow. "I wasn't sure whether you or your son would come today."

"I think it important if a monarch is visiting I dust off my diplomatic skills." The King smiled. "Beside I'm not letting him have all the diplomatic adventures. I felt rather sad I missed Waddan."

"It was different to say the least" Darijus had to admit the meeting had gone better than expected. "Has anyone used that saddle yet?" The Minister asked in regards to the Royal Families gift from the Sultan.

"Young  Princess Jana has been casting envious eyes on it." The Kings eight year old grand-daughter was turning into somewhat of a horse-woman and no doubt would take over the royal stables at some point. "It seems the day is about to begin." The King added as he spotted the visitors aircraft arriving. As if by some process of magic the King seemed to grow a few inches as his ancient spine seemed to stretch as his posture miracously improved and it seemed almost as though his cane was not needed.

[Beatrice]

After approaching their hosts Akasha and Seti dipped their heads, though they did not bow. "I thank you for your invitation," Akasha would say in Russian, "I am Pharaoh Akasha Di-‘nh-mi-Re and this is my husband, Pharaoh Seti Di-‘nh-mi-Re. Before we proceed I feel we must dispel some misunderstandings," Akasha continued. "As I'm certain you're familiar with there are, at times, content in national medias which are designed with domestic consumption in mind. Certainly, with the Clysperi victory over Nekhtou's terrorists, we're presently seeing something of a resurgence amongst the Clysperi People in the pride held in the pride held toward our military forces, so much so that members of the Assembly of Gnomes said a response to this "snub" was necessary. At times we must calm those in our governments through actions with which to placate them; my remarks certainly met the domestic needs which they were designed for. Sadly, in the context and setting, I was precluded from delving into the history of your own national experience with the Godless Soviets. Indeed, to stand in the presence of a hero," she said, bowing with full respect to King Kārlis IV, "known in my lands as Bomani Heqa-Maat-Re, or "warrior, ruler of justice like re", is truly an honour. So much had his actions impressed upon my father that he wished to honour him in our lands with a Clysperi name, that his life and deeds to be taught to all generations to follow. I am only saddened that the only connection between our lands and peoples, to date, must be our joint suffering at the hands of the Soviets, but I hope that we may take the first steps today toward something most wonderful."

[Chistopol]

Darijus was savvy enough to know that in the 21st Century and thanks to social media and the like there was no longer such thing as "Domestic news". Every word , every action a nations leader took was poured over not just at home but by people across the world. It would, or at least should, have crossed the Phraroahs mind that her words would be heard in Chistopol and across the region, but he suspected that was the point. By speaking the way she had it had earned her a meeting here and perhaps a foot in the door. Not a delicate foot but more a huge boot that in Darijus' mind was largely unwelcome.

Likewise Karlis was not naive enough to accept at face value that flattery was in fact statement of fact. As a hopefully good host though the King merely smiled. "Well it is nice to know that that our actions got someones attention. Thank You" The King responded as Darijus for once was content to let royals dominate the discussion for he knew later that it would be him who would handle the vast majority of talking for Chistopol. "For our part you must understand there was no snub. The conference was determined by geography, as your nation lays some 1000km[1] to the West you were outside what I suppose you could consider a buffer zone between the Soviets and the rest of Aranye. The conference was a mere first step towards keeping the Soviets were they are."

"And now we face an issue of the second step being a little trickier" the First Minister added.

"Now , now Darijus I'm sure we can overcome." The King had begun heading towards the waiting car, the gentle tap of his cane on concrete accompanying them. "Beside we can't start off with bad thoughts, we need to give you congratulations on your recent marriage." The King smiled as he waved one of his courtiers forward with a cloth covered item. "On behalf of our people we wish you a long and happy marriage." The King motioned for the lady to hand Seti the item but she kept hold of the cloth unveiling it with a kind of magicians flourish. "In our faith we believe three children were born to the Sun and Moon. Each child established rules for our life, we though think Dievas was the most righteous. The statue shows him as the largest but intertwined with his siblings, Triglav and Dodola. On happy occasions such as yours a statue like this is presented to show love, be it in marriage, a parent for a child, or brother for a sister has no start and no end."

Darijus was no spiritual man. He occasionally said prayers to Deivas but rarely, he was respectful of religion though and envied anyone who had the passion and commitment to such things. "If you'd care to board the car." He invited the guests as he himself took a seat. The ride from the airport was a in Darijus' eyes a little of a disgrace for his nation. The city of Tartu was still full of neglected high raises and ramshackle flats of glass monstrosities, still very much a Soviet city. However as you got closer to the heart of the city more modernisation had taken place. "I hope you approve of our choice of venue." Darijus couldn't help but look out the window as they neared. The Sisterhood's Library came into view. "We thought we would use our own pyramid, not as large perhaps as your own. It was originally built to house the Soviet Ministry of Defence and Security. It was recently opened as a library and education centre after the Bene Gesserit asked for permission to take it over. With a significant Bene Gesserit population we saw it as no different to a temple or church being built and its become a favourite building of mine." Children played in the pools that surrounded the pyramid shaped building, splashing in the inch or so deep water that recycled through fountains. The trees had long since lost their leaves with only a few dark red ones hanging on valiantly. Several blue jacketed members of the Bene Gesserit Missionara that ran the library could be seen and a group of security staff moved to make a path through for the King and his foreign guests.

Once inside an elevator took them to the top floor which overlooked one of the capitals many parks. That was perhaps the only positive of soviet occupation, upon their exit they had destroyed large parts of the city which had given the nations urban planners a chance to create a city with leisure space at its heart. At the top of the pyramid was a round conference room where normally academic talks would be held but today would be different. Once the door had been shut Darijius pulled out the chair of Akasha and allowed her to take a seat before moving to his own chair 90 degrees to her right. "I suppose a decent place to start Your Majesty would be to look at what you think of our arrangement with the Theocracy and Waddan?"

1.	Approx 1 DT

[Beatrice]

"I've taken no personal offense and understand that," Akasha would respond, "and while not under the greatest of circumstances I'm thankful for the opportunity to visit. With recent developments I'm hopeful that the threats we've seen in the past from the Soviets may be well behind us, and that efforts such as your own may dissuade such ambitions from ever being pursued again." Akasha smiled as the King spoke, "Thank you," she said as she admired the statue, even more the significance behind it.

As the views passed by her window Akasha recognized the unmistakable Soviet architecture. "There are parts of Clysperis which look similar," she said, "we've even a nuclear power station which slumbers next to one of our largest cities, a sleeping dragon which I hope to soon see slain." With the Sisterhood's Library coming into view the elation could be seen on Akasha's face. "A construct of the Godless Soviets being inhabited and utilized by the Bene Gesserit, it is the perfect venue," Akasha said.

Once inside and sitting Akasha briefly returend to the prior conversation, "I remember when Clysperis recognized the Theocracy of Kaitaine, and the joy we felt in their victories over the Soviets, they are a people well respected in Clysperis," "As well as Tamora," Seti would add. "the Tamoran Empire has long valued its friendship with the Bene Gesserit, seeing their fight as noble and just. "I hope you won't mistake my previous words for disapproval," Akasha would interject, "the Treaty you signed is something worthy of commendation. I've long believed that nations cooperating together can defeat any threat they face, whether it be the Soviets or any of the great powers that throw their weight where it isn't needed or wanted. It is through cooperation and mutual understanding that we build a better future for our people and their children after all, and I think that is certainly one area where both our governments are in alignment. The agreement you've reached with the Theocracy and Waddan is something each of your nations should certainly be proud of."

[Chistopol]

Liane was forced to consider however whether the agreement with Waddan and the Theocracy would truly last long enough to reap any benefit. With the Sultan ill and the nature of Waddan it was likely they may need to do it all over again if anything were to happen to the Sultan. The Pharoah hadn't given anything away with her assessment of the arrangement at the tri-nation conferences outcome and this put Laine at somewhat of a cross roads as to which way to go. He could of course make an offer of some kind of agreement between the two, or on the other hand see what the Pharoah wanted. "The agreement with those nations stands of course alongside our commitment to the charter of the Sovereign Union of Nations, an arrangement that will see four of us, ourselves, Paracambi, Drenovia and Cassiopeia work together to resist pressures when applied by what you've described as "great powers". To be truthful though we suspect there will not be a challenge from the Soviets for a great time if ever at all. They are fewer in number in terms of states than previously. They've just escaped a messy Civil War in Kaitaine that shows even among their own ranks they have enemies and they now face a unified buffer area. I think in months to come we will be casting our eyes Northwards towards the Sea to our North," he purposely refused to use the word Rodinian Sea, "where our ethnic cousins live. So perhaps we should begin discussing where you would like the relationship between our two nations to head."

[Beatrice]

"We're two nations kissed by the Soviets," Akasha would respond, "both bearing our own scars and injuries to our societies and cultures. Our experiences, however shared, are inherently incomparable. We would have to begin at a point which is uniquely shared between our nations and cultures, not something which can be comparable to other circumstances which have transpired beyond us. To those ends I must ask you what you would see in that regard?"

[Chistopol]

Laine thought for a moment, "Beyond our, lets say interactions, with the Soviets I don't think there is a great deal that connects our nations. We see our future in a split between closer ties with those sharing our Rus heritage around the sea, additionally we believe that for too long a handful of nations have dictated the future of Mundus geo-politics. We see that being where SUN comes in. If we're honest we see your situation as confusing. On one hand you've a tie my marriage to Tamora but the recent aid from Achkaerin suggests a tie to those powers we established SUN to protect ourselves from. We would therefore not want to tie ourselves to anything too prescriptive at this point as we wish to gain a better insight into what you think your long term future is. So we'd be comfortable extending a statement of mutual friendship, the establishment of a network of some kind to share intelligence about Soviet activities and perhaps potentially an invitation to have access to jointly developed SUN military projects."

[Beatrice]

"It's not confusing at all," Akasha replied, "the Ackhaerinese are a different breed from the powers you speak of. I could point to countless incidents in which the Achkaerinese applied values and fairness to their allies with zeal and without prejudice or bias," Akasha continued. "They are true to their word and reflect that which they believe in their actions, something which is sorely missing in the world of today. Though I am curious, just what is it that SUN wishes to protect itself against? The Kingdom is confident in the friendship it has found with the Achkaerinese, one which my father pursued, and in truth I've found some misgivings about the true extent of Tamoran generosity. It is why my Kingdom finds itself opposed to Royal Seleucid and increasingly in disagreement with Tamora: Midaranye states must be sovereign but, just as much as they should not be beholden to a power outside of our region, not one Midaranye state should have any measure of power over a fellow Midaranye state. You must respect that I am a woman, leading a nation in a region where most faiths view the ideal woman as being subservient to her husband and men in general. I suspect this plays a role in the calculations both Djerb and Ispus take toward Clysperis, and it's one thing I promise I'm going to change."

"I do like your proposals," she continued, "though if you would wish we could discuss some economic opportunities as well. Setri is well positioned to be a port into Clysperis and the region and has many benefits for foreign businesses. Is there anything you would wish to discuss there?"

[Chistopol]

The membership of SUN was down to Laine and he was confident in the organisations future. "We founded SUN to ensure that nations who wished their own systems to be sovereign over their own people could. We've seen too many of these so called international organisations be used by the larger powers of the world to benefit themselves. Be it Achkaerin taking years to bring Cartier to justice, nations signing the MAEA only to negotiate deals contrary to it or even the FSC being a political football. It is hard for smaller nations to be protected against such over-reach and hopefully the SUN gives nations with similar beliefs a chance to join together and stand against such things. In addition it allows us to form co-operative projects without being beholden to these so called world powers."

It seemed like Akasha was about to make a sales pitch for Setri. It was something that would largely not be of use to Laine. "I've read about Setri, I think its an interesting project. Tartu is a similar attempt by ourselves. We're trying to modernise the city and remove the strench of the Soviets. For now our efforts are directed there much as yours are at Setri." 

[Beatrice]

"You've several narratives at play, though there are two sides to every story. While I am no friend of the Tytorians one only need to look to how Bakkermaya handled the MAEA affair in such a manner that a once solid addition to the Agency is now firmly opposed to signing it due to the Bakkermayans using it as a cudgel. The exchange we see on the Fair Seas Concordat, a Treaty which has long been uncontroversial, is another disappointment, yet it can also be said that the approach taken by Queen Atlanta leaves much to be desired. Do forgive me, but as someone who spoke out against many of these same powers for years, I do not see the boogeymen that SUN wishes to see."

"I would be pleased to hear more of Tartu," Akasha continued, "and perhaps we may share notes as to things we find that work for each city. A bit of a collaborative approach, if we should reach some form of agreement between our nations."

[Chistopol]

The latest comments from Akasha highlighted the distance in world view that had changed in Clysperis. Neither of her points made sense to Laine, Bakkermaya had pointed out a proposal as being a violation of a treaty formulated by Rokkenjima meanwhile their friend Atlanta had submitted a formal letter of protest in the way embassies were designed to be used for. It perhaps signalled that Clysperis was not going to be the nation they had expected. Not that they had intended to but it was clear that Clysperis wouldn't be getting an invite to the SUN BBQ's anytime soon.

Instead Laine turned his answer to Tartu. "In Tartu we have a city that the Soviets attempted to cripple as they left, soil damaged, infastructure neglected and in some cases destroyed. It took us many years to ensure that the plumbing worked, the electric came on and trains ran on time. The problem is we've still got homes designed round the prospect of packing people in like sardines. Add to that the fact the cities industry was rather on the heavy side, doing the jobs the Soviets didn't want messing up their own cities. Those industries are today unwanted within a city itself but we've little choice. We're going to diversify, create green spaces and aim to create a green city. We're fortunate that our friends in Cassiopeia have good experience with such things, as does Drenovia. We're hopefully soon seeing further moves within SUN that will create more modern jobs here." he concluded.

[Beatrice]

"We've utilized, and are utilizing, a multitude of methods to position Setri and the Kingdom for a greener, smarter future. I've been looking toward solar energy and generation through desalination. Now the Soviets had other ideas for power generation in Clysperis, leaving behind the Nemphis Nuclear Station as a most unfortunate reminder of their time in the Kingdom. My architects have enjoyed the opportunities when former Soviet buildings, mostly in the Southern Lands, are demolished to make way for constructs native to Clysperi culture. I suppose, though, that being a desert has in many ways been a blessing in that regard; they built to a lesser extent as we've seen in other states and instead exploited Clysperis for its oil, and to generate nuclear power."

"I do hope you understand," she paused as she considered her next words, "I do see that there are issues facing the international community and we've a few nations who act nonchalant in their approach toward nations outside of their spheres, and those who aim to expand their spheres and, at times, this results in double standards. Seeing a more equitable international community is something I have long believed must happen, so I would be interested in your opinions on how that can be realized."

[Chistopol]

It was obvious there was a gulf still between them. It was perhaps a gulf formed by their similarities of being nations undergoing change. Laine had the impression the Pharoah had come looking for a Chistopolian presence in Setri but any funds the nation had would be ploughed into their own interests for now. "It would appear that we are left then with an agreement to share intelligence about potential Soviet threats. I will however need to go on the record saying that while we have similar agreements with our SUN friends, Waddan and the Bene Gesserit we will only share that with their consent. Beyond that can you think of any other arrangements that we can bring about today?"

[Beatrice]

"We represent two nations emerging from the shadow of the Godless Soviets, similar yet different in some ways. Our paths will likewise be similar and different, yet I believe that each society which has been touched by an occupying force such as theirs have some obligations to each other. I would hope that we could see some sort of friendship agreement in addition to this intelligence sharing you've proposed, as well as the establishment of a Post-Soviet Pact. I'd be willing to take 5% of Clysperi oil earnings and direct it toward the PSP, which would assist states impacted by the USR in reclaiming their lands and restoring them to as much of a pre-Soviet existence as is possible. What are your thoughts on such a Pact? Naturally, it could also be a vehicle to deepening friendship and ties between the post-Soviet sphere as well, and I don't intend for Clysperis to be the sole donor."