Author Topic: A Clysperi Message To Lijiang  (Read 1488 times)

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Offline Beatrice

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A Clysperi Message To Lijiang
« on: May 03, 2021, 12:11:42 AM »

To: Dragon Emperor Tielin II of the Majestic Empire of Lijiang

I offer my sincerest of apologies for missing previous opportunities to engage with the Majestic Empire when your doors were made open. As I'm certain you may appreciate the Kingdom has been focused on recovery from the attacks perpetrated by Nekhtou the Disgraced, however, with the completion of our new economic capital, Setri, I wish to open my doors to you. Having witnessed how the Rokkenjimans mistreated and disrespected both yourself and your Empire in front of the MAEA, a development which while disappointing came with little shock in Khemnen, I share your concerns regarding the old order or, as it is known within Midaranye, the Occident. These are powers who, having assumed for themselves leading roles throughout Mundus, have quite often sought to impose their values upon the rest of Mundus in a fashion which takes little regard for the cultures which exist beyond their bubble.

I would wish to establish the bonds of friendship between our ancient nations and peoples and also to extend a formal invitation for yourself, or a delegation entrusted by you, to tour the City of Setri with me to explore options for a solid economic relationship as well. I believe there is much to gain for the businesses of your Empire establishing operation in Setri, not to mention the dynamic economy which is being built all throughout Midaranye.

I shall look forward to your response.

Akasha Di-‘nh-mi-Re, Sovereign of Sovereigns, Divine of Appearance, Beloved of Amun, Chosen of Ra, Lord of the Three Lands, Ruler of Justice like Ra, High Priest of Every Temple, the Eye of Horus, Satisfied is the heart of Ra.

Beatrice Anselmo
Grand Chancellor of the Independent Order
Empress of the First Empire of Rokkenjima

Factbook of the First Empire of Rokkenjima - Kingdom of Clysperis

Offline Lijiang

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Re: A Clysperi Message To Lijiang
« Reply #1 on: May 03, 2021, 10:34:51 PM »

To Pharoah Akasha

We do not share your view of a simple divide between two groupings of this Orient and Occident. Your views on the matter are well documented and while we believe certain nations do hold significant influence over the major institutions of Mundus we do not believe these nations share a common agenda or way of behaving. We believe firmly in establishing relations with each nation in turn on their own merits for friendship. We are therefore delighted to accept your invitation and myself and a small delegation of two of my High Lords shall attend at your earliest convenience. We have already been able to make one friendship with nations from your region and hope this can make two.

Best Regards

Dragon-Emperor Tielin II

Offline Beatrice

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Re: A Clysperi Message To Lijiang
« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2021, 03:47:56 PM »

To: Dragon Emperor Tielin II of the Majestic Empire of Lijiang

I am certain our differing views shall present the opportunity for interesting discussion, hopefully one which we may both learn from each other and expand our views upon such issues.

I shall look forward to welcoming you and your delegation in Nafu, from which we will travel to the city of Setri, showcasing the preservation of Clysperi heritage as we look toward the future.

Akasha Di-‘nh-mi-Re, Sovereign of Sovereigns, Divine of Appearance, Beloved of Amun, Chosen of Ra, Lord of the Three Lands, Ruler of Justice like Ra, High Priest of Every Temple, the Eye of Horus, Satisfied is the heart of Ra.


The Great Pyramid of Nafu

Awaiting the arrival of the Emperor and his delegation was the Pharaoh accompanied by a selection of her most capable guards dressed in traditional attire. Upon their descent her guests would be greeted with a remarkable view of the Great Pyramid of Nafu, perhaps having to squint their eyes somewhat as the sun reflected off its cap. As the Lijiang transport landed and the delegation disembarked the Pharaoh stood straight and walked forward, her Royal Guard following suit and taking up positions opposite of each other on the carpet which would lead the party to their transports to Setri. "Welcome to the Kingdom of Clysperis," she would say as their feet touched upon Clysperi soil.

Beatrice Anselmo
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Empress of the First Empire of Rokkenjima

Factbook of the First Empire of Rokkenjima - Kingdom of Clysperis

Offline Lijiang

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Re: A Clysperi Message To Lijiang
« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2021, 11:30:52 PM »
High Lord Huan Chang had been surprised to be selected to undertake this visit with the Dragon-Emperor. His province of Gāodì was one of the Empire's initial heartlands and he was rightfully proud of his families long heritage as the Horse-Masters of the Empire. His smart black "western"[1] suit had silver buttons showing a prancing horse while his silver tie pin was the shape of a horses head. Despite attending several Grand Council meetings Huan had not found himself with much time in the prescence of the Dragon-Emperor alone and when news had broken of this trip he had assumed that either the High Councillor Lexing or the new favourite of High Lord Jiang Guangtai would be granted the honour. Jiang Guangtai had just returned from East Moreland loaded up with art works returned to their ancestoral home from the private collection of King David. The Dragon-Emperor had told the council he would consider it a success if Jiang returned home without offending the Morelanders but the young nobleman had returned not just with several pieces of art but had also secured Lijiang the support of the Morelanders to join CETO and as yet another bonus an agreement that the Morelander King would come to Lijiang in person. It was clear in the days that followed that Jiang had earned the praise and respect of Tielin II and so was probably being groomed to succeed the aging Lexing. When Tielin had announced it would be Huan who would accompany the visit the man who preferred to call himself the "Horse-Lord" rather than "High-Lord" had felt some excitement and now as he flew across Mundus that accelerated.

Across the aisle from him the Dragon-Emperor had slept a good deal of the flight while to his side he had brought with him the young Queen Dandan. Tielin had contemplated bringing the Dragon-Empress but with several events coming up soon in the Golden Enclave, including the Morelander state visit, she had opted to turn her attention to her own small domain and ensuring everything was perfect. Tielin was convinced his first wife was ruling the Enclave with more strictness than the people there had seen for a long time.

The final member of the entourage was more accustomed to events such as this, Jin Odinsson was an old hand at foreign visits as both a host and as a guest. As the former Allsherjargoði he had effectively lead the Alanders for a while and witnessed more turmoil than most world leaders. He had recently returned to his ancestoral home and found himself first as a tutor to Prince Chun and now as an adviser to the Dragon-Emperor. He too was dressed in a style you would expect of an Alander complete with a small torque around his neck bearing the dragons head at each end. The Torque was a sign worn by the Allsherjargoði, in gold while in office and silver for formal occasions during the rest of his life. He had expected it to sit in a draw for a long time since returning to Lijiang but Tielin had insisted he both embrace publically his Odinist faith but also his former position. Tielin had told him he would be a visible symbol of Lijiang accepting all while giving people pride in the achievements of one of their countryman.
 The two other men were dressed in stark contrast to Tielin who was still snoozing in his black and red Hanfu suit. Dandan was the first to spot the pyramid from the air and her words to Jin woke her husband. He moved so he could see and was impressed by the engineering. Perhaps the huge reflective surface though wasn't too useful to pilots but he put that thought aside as they touched down. He took his young wife by the hand and headed for the exit of the flight. It was a requisitioned aircraft from the nations Imperial Airlines which was more used to carrying out internal flights with the odd business flight overseas but now that was becoming more and more frequent. Tielin was meet at the exit by the staff of the airline who bowed deeply as he approached.

"Thank you for your care" Tielin returned their bow and shook each by the hand. "I hope while we are aware you have a chance to sight see, but please remember you are as much our ambassadors here as Mr.Odinsson and High Lord Huan." The Dragon-Emperor removed from his waistband pocket several envelopes. "Please enjoy your time." He handed each a red envelope with some local currency in that he had his staff arrange. "We shall see you in good time." Tielin bowed again and headed down to meet the approaching Pharoah.

"Thank you for meeting us" Tielin bowed respectfully as Dandan, Huan and Jin did so too but deeper. "This is my wife the Azure Dragon Queen" Dandan kept her eyes at the ground and spoke softly barely loud enough for Tielin to hear.

"It is a pleasure to be here" Dandan said still nervous of being so publically on show.

"This is one of the 13 High Lords that make up my Grand Council. High Lord Huan is essentially the great-great-grand cousin several hundred times removed of our nations first Dragon-Emperor Ah Hsu, he is my eyes and ears in the very South of the Empire."

Huan smiled, "The First Dragon-Emperor had so many children I think a little of his blood flows in all of us" he joked unsure whether the Pharoah would understand the reference after all it was not that well known a history outside of the Empire. "I look forward to seeing your nation." He added.

"My final adviser is Mr.Jin Odinsson, as I am sure you are aware the former Allsherjargoði of Nya Aland. He agreed to help tutor my heir Prince Chun, sadly I inflicted that thankless task on him and then made him suffer further by having to tutor me in some of the finer details of Mundus beyond our border. We have high hopes he will return to be a proper Lijiangian once more but until then his punishment is to accompany me on such meetings, but today I believe it will be a privledge for him rather than a punishment."

Jin was the most accustomed to meetings such as this and admired the fact the Dragon-Emperor was trying to appear relaxed despite Jin knowing the man would be feeling his heart racing with every word. "Its always a privilege to go somewhere new. I look forward to the day."

The introductions done Tielin returned to the Pharoah. "We are in your hands."
 1. Essentially think European business man style attire, couldn't think what the Mundus equivalent would be
« Last Edit: May 16, 2021, 07:48:22 PM by Lijiang »

Offline Beatrice

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Re: A Clysperi Message To Lijiang
« Reply #4 on: May 08, 2021, 07:02:02 AM »
"My thanks are to you for accepting my invitation on such short notice," Akasha said with a smile. "I am pleased to welcome you and your delegation to the Kingdom, it is rare for us to receive Ardian visitors to our shores as I am sure you can appreciate," she said, in a not so subtle reference to powers such as Rokkenjima and her CSTO cohort. "I hope your time amongst us is productive and profitable, and that we leave this day with a spirit of friendship firmly established between us. High Lord Huan, Mr. Jin Odinsson, I am equally pleased to make your acquaintances. Please, enjoy the sights and sounds of the Kingdom and take home with you your experiences of our culture."

Noticing the nervousness of Dandan Akasha would intervene, "I must say I am quite honoured to meet you,  Azure Dragon Queen Dandan. Please, while you are in my company, my staff is at your command. Make yourself most at home and, should any necessary comfort arise, or even unnecessary, my staff shall see that they are equally met I assure you. Your name sounds proud to me, speak with that pride and always have confidence, not only in yourself, but that which you offer your People. I am the first female Pharaoh in over a generation, that meekness I recognize, I would only ask that you do not allow it to define you ultimately and your voice," she paused, "shall be one to remembered for generations to come." Returning her attention to Tielin Akasha continued, "To our escorts, then? I trust that Setri shall be as marvelous an experience for you as it was my first time visiting it."

An advisor brought her two chests as they walked to their vehicles, "Yes, I know," she said pausing her steps. "To commemorate our meeting a gift which is in the traditional vein of Pharaohs who preceded before, gold and gemstones. In the second, however," she said with a clearly more joyful tone, "a selection of my choosing; a voucher for two shipments of emmer wheat, two bottles of water from the river Ḥ'pī, the very lifeblood of Clysperis, and a painting which dates back centuries of the dragon-god Aker, who presides over the point where the Eastern and Western horizons of the Underworld meet. As a god which aids the force of light allowing the passage of Ra through the underworld, it is a special part of my family's personal collection, one which has been passed down from Pharaoh to Pharaoh, and one which I am pleased to pass to you as symbolic of my true and honest intentions in the future of our diplomatic relations."

As the vehicles began to move the Pharaoh would remark on the Pyramids which passed before them, "A symbol of our past engineering might, to soon be joined by a symbol of our modern engineering capacity, I cannot think of a better reflection of what Clysperis is. Ancient, true to her values, but looking to the future. Tell me, Emperor, of your lands, of your history, of what you would seek for our Peoples to work towards in unison? I have high hopes for what our Peoples may accomplish together, but, without knowing what is within your heart, those ideas would be worth naught prior to being even presented to you."

Beatrice Anselmo
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Empress of the First Empire of Rokkenjima

Factbook of the First Empire of Rokkenjima - Kingdom of Clysperis

Offline Lijiang

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Re: A Clysperi Message To Lijiang
« Reply #5 on: May 16, 2021, 10:57:07 PM »
Tielin was rather taken aback by the gifts. He thanked the Pharoah and then motioned for his own aide. He carried a large flat square object encased in a red silk cloth which Tielin removed with a flourish. It revealed a dark wooden picture frame that made the aide have to stretch his arms wide open to display. In the centre was a brightly coloured image of a falcon in flight, the bright colours had been painted onto what at close inspection looked like tissue paper which had been carefully mounted on a thick canvas. It was a traditional paper cut which had been made by one of the artists over at the Sanctuary of the Two Dragons. It was not as an elaborate a gift as the hosts but in Lijiang culture such gestures were reserved for full state visits not just diplomatic talks. He felt though slightly annoyed at the Pharaoh imagining Dandan's quietness indicated she had no voice. Her word was practically law in the Golden Enclave, only the Dragon-Empress could overrule her and inside those walls even Tielin would not question her word.

Dandan merely nodded as the Pharoah spoke to her and then glanced at Tielin who gave her a reassuring smile. The Pharoah was probably not aware that Dandan was something of a trail blazer for the Empire, she was the first Queen to be given an education beyond the duties expected of a woman. Dandan had sat in on lessons with Prince Chun on matters such as Marine Biology from Matilda Osman, History from Marcus Merriman and even media studies from Tamora's Samira Hanifnejad. By the time she was Queen  a year she would be more educated than his wife Jing.

Tielin had not enjoyed the talk hinting at a divide in the world, Tielin believed that such things could be overcome after all had the "Two" not formed all of Mundus and everything on it, therefore with time man made concepts such as borders and race would be overcome, somehow. "Our own lands are ones that stemmed from the interior of Ardia. A place called Gāodì, a high plateau, as close to the Dragons as you can get in Lijiang without wings. It was a place others of our race revered even if they did not fall within its borders and then nearly 3,000 years ago a King of Gāodì, Ah Hsu, was told by the "Two" to unite us all and so headed South with his mass of horseman and their superior smithing. Soon Ah Hsu had added  Hézhun, Rizhao and Huācodiàn to his collection becoming the first Dragon-Emperor. His descendants spent the next 200 years following the river we call the Dragon Spine North to ever more fertile lands until Ah Hsu's descendant Ah Wu Xinghan walked into the Krimeon signifiying all Lijiangians had been brought into the Empire. We are an Empire where service to the "Two" is important and as such we have hierachies that many outside the Empire do not understand. But it is a place where for each right a person is blessed with they also have a duty. Peasants have the right to work the land in peace, but that peace is provided by the High Lords and so peasants have a duty to equip the High Lords with what they need, it is an ancient symbotic system that has largely kept the Empire peaceful for thousands of years, until recently. Sadly some traditions hold us back. The previous Dragon-Emperor died in 1900 and tradition dictates that his spirit is so tied to the Empire that it takes 120 years to leave, or until the Dragon-Priestess says otherwise. Sadly this leads to some High Lords seeking to position themselves so as to leave the Dragon-Priestess with no choice, other High Lords like myself attempted to stand against them and thankfully we allowed the process of mourning to be concluded. I was then honoured with the crown. My right is to now rule the Empire and hand it to my son and so on, my duty though is to ensure that the Empire is left in a better position than I found it and it is for that reason I am here. You see if this is to be the case we can no longer look inwards. People at home still see the Provinces as a kind of mini-Mundus, nations with which to interact, to some extent Jiayun an extension, the rest of Mundus a place that has too much difference. We've begun breaking that down, first with the Seleucid, then with several nations visiting for our wedding." Tielin squeezed Dandan's hand gently. " and now a visit such as this will help my people look beyond the Empire for their oppurtunities, every successful Lijiangian makes the Empire stronger and I am pleased a few who had family believing the mourning was holding us back and left are now returning. It will be people like Jin that help guide us to make the most of what we have. It is my ambition to have within the next ten years every person in the Empire able to read and write for example. So coming here I search for ways of ensuring more prosperity for my people, opportunities for trade, for enrichment and co-operation. I believe though with projects such as this city you are on a different trajectory, its almost like a fresh start. Meanwhile back home we are expanding and modernising what we already have. Showcasing ourselves so when such projects as the new port system is completed our people can jump onto the chances it comes. It would be my hope to see Lijiangian silk being loaded from the satellite ports in Gāodì deep within Ardia ending up gracing the markets of Clysperis. So for that to happen I suppose the question is what do you want from these discussions."