Author Topic: Festival of Sail 2020  (Read 6244 times)

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Offline DaveIronside

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Festival of Sail 2020
« on: July 05, 2020, 10:36:55 PM »

As a nation that lacked a real naval heritage the East Moreland Festival of Sail was established in the 1980's to try and promote all things maritime in the Kingdom. Since 2014 this event has seen nations from across Mundus invited. The Festival lasts a week and features activities across the largest city in East Moreland, Portworth. This sees the nations military naval base, its dockyards and marinas turned into showgrounds. It is an oppurtunity for nations to celebrate and share their own naval heritage, historical vessels and future developments. The festival combines opportunities for celebrating naval endeavour, showcasing the future and conducting sales business. The festival will begin this year on Friday 10th July with the traditional opening flotilla and the presentation of the King's sword.

As usual we invite nations, businesses, museums and interested individuals to attend. We ask nations wishing to have quayside access to please inform us in advance of their needs. In the past we have seen examples of historical vessels from Nya Aland establish a "Living Village", while vessels from various navies across Mundus have carried out tours of their vessels. We look forward to seeing you soon in Portworth for our annual celebration.

Should any diplomatic / business visit wish to take place during this festival His Majesty King David has confirmed that a representative from the East Moreland government can be made available.

May The Gods Watch Over You and The Seas Be Calm

Jack Whitley
Mayor of Portworth

Offline Beatrice

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2020, 08:30:39 PM »

Festival of Sail 2020

This year the First Empire will be pleased to honour the past of the Imperial Rokkenjiman Navy by dispatching the ceremonial flagship of the IRN, IRN Cecelia Anselmo along with the operational flagship of the IRN, IRN Enterprise to the Festival of Sail. Cecelia Anselmo, despite being removed from frontline service in the Imperial Rokkenjiman Navy, remains a commissioned vessel and is manned by a crew chosen by the Empress and Grand Marshal. Cecelia Anselmo now serves in a largely educational capacity and it is my understanding that a live-fire demonstration is to be provided of her main armament, 46 cm (18 in) guns. This exercise will be conducted along with tours of this historic battleship, which saw Anderson and Kyne Shipyards in collaboration with East Moreland's SmartWar develop a naval variant of SmartWar's armour tiles, allowing Cecelia Anselmo and her Reverence Class sisters the capability of changing their appearance to infrared devices.

With the attention paid to the Reverence Class's infrared and radar profiles, modern fire control systems (with Cecelia Anselmo receiving the latest ICON upgrade packages) she remains the most modernized example of a battleship still commissioned. We are pleased to extend her educational mission into the Festival of Sail.

Representing the storied heritage of the Rokkenjiman liner service Blue Star Lines will be dispatching IMS United States, which was restored to active service by Empress Emerita Beatrice, and IMS Poseidon, the newest liner built by the Blue Star Line, to the Festival. Tours of both vessels will be offered to the public.

Empress Evanthe, Crown Princess Adriana and Vicegerent Ravenswood will be arriving upon the Imperial Yacht Austrana, a former ocean liner which was saved from scrapping and repurposed as the first Imperial Yacht of the modern era. Austrana will be available for guided tours as well as offering a full lunch service to all guests who visit her.

In friendship;


Empress of Rokkenjima
Princess of Arovium

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 Dijel

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2020, 11:02:49 PM »


Republic of Kaedwen
Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Office of Media Relations



We would like to confirm that the museum ship RoKS Vendetta shall be in attendance at the Festival of Sail this year, having previously been withdrawn due to concerns over her seaworthiness in 2018, and laid up undergoing repairs the following year. She remains under Commander Louis Tas (Ret), and crewed largely by former ROKN seamen. She will offer insight into live aboard small warships in the early 20th Century, and the history of the Kaedweni navy in particular. She will be accompanied by an example of her contemporary counterpart, the Koyuga-Class frigate RoKN Finke.

The Kaedweni ambassador to East Moreland, Harold van der Stel, has also confirmed his attendance at the event, and has arranged to take questions from the public aboard the Finke during the opening afternoon.

Online Daitō

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2020, 11:39:46 PM »
Festival of Sail 2020

 While the Empire of Ikhan may have not taken part in the past festivals held by East Moreland, we haven't ignored the idea of taking part. In the last few months, although somewhat interrupted by the recent attempt on my life, we have come to the conclusion that it is best that the Empire of Ikhan participate in the... festivities. As such, we have selected a few vessels to represent the nation, headed up by the current flagship of the Imperial Navy, the INS Arkan Vakhet, an Aircraft Carrier of the Eshai-class. It shall be accompanied by three other vessels of the Imperial Navy, both active-duty and retired, as well as any number of privately-owned vessels whose participation has as of yet not been made aware of to us.

Alongside the Arkan Vakhet, the INS Feltas, a Nikra-class destroyer, shall be sent as it's escort. It is the intention of the Imperial Navy that it will perform a live-fire exercise alongside two other vessels in this flotilla. Due to safety concerns, as well as due to it being an active-duty vessel of the Imperial Navy, the Arkan Vakhet and the Feltas shall not be open to tours for the public without permission.

The aforementioned vessels that will be taking part in this exercise hold a sort of legendary status in the Imperial Navy, performing many exploits in their own rights. The first of these, the INS Khiras, is a battleship of the Imperial Navy, although it has been mothballed since 1991. The ship was build in the late 40's and served for nearly forty-four years straight before being transferred to the reserve fleet. It will, provided it is able to get authorization from the necessary authorities in East Moreland, take part in said exercise. It will be open for tours to those who wish to take them.

The Khiras will not be the only "relic", although I hate to use the term for such important vessels, that will accompany the Arkan Vakhet and the Feltas, as the INS Khasatai, a protected cruiser built in 1906, has recently undergone refurbishment in preparation for it being converted into a museum ship after languishing in port for many, many years. It is planned that, should the exercise be permitted, the vessel will take part in it alongside the other vessels. As with the Khiras, the Khasatai will be open to tours for the general public.

Beyond these vessels, the SS Nikra, owned by yours truly, shall make its way to Portworth, aboard which I, alongside my family and a few select guests, shall arrive. I look forwards to this event and anticipate many great things to come from it.

Yours;

Emperor of the Murai

(Attached are images of the vessels mentioned)
Spoiler: Arkan Vakhet • show

Spoiler: Nikra • show

Spoiler: Khiras • show

Spoiler: Khasatai • show

Spoiler: Nikra • show

Online Achkaerin

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2020, 12:24:10 AM »

The Achkaerinese contingent for the 2020 edition of the Festival of Sail will comprise the following vessels:

Firstly the INS Sharingan, an Amaterasu class and frequent attender of this event having only missed the 2018 festival since it began attending in 2015. Also in attendance will be the INS Stardust and the flagship of the Achkaerinese Navy the INS Intrepid, the vessels will be open for tours as per previous years however as always sensitive areas of the vessels will be off limits.

In addition the Royal Yacht the Blue Fox will be in attendance and for the duration of the festival shall act as a floating café and restaurant. CORAL (Centre for Oceanic Research And Learning) will be in attendance with the Orca one of their research vessels, they will host a variety of seminars and discussion groups on matters within their expertise. The last surface vessel in attendance, if one can call it a surface vessel, will be the Insignia a prototype GEV private yacht designed to only produce water as a waste product and the first venture of Stella Campbell who sees the concept as one element of the future of transport, she will be on hand to show people around the Insignia.

Finally the Blue Mermaids, the Achkaerinese Navy's display team will be in attendance and with permission would like to put on several displays across the festival. The team pilot what they call Tempests, this is also a type of craft that CORAL use in scientific study and CORAL themselves are bringing several additional Tempests so the opportunity for ridealongs will be present.
 

Offline Tytor

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2020, 02:10:33 AM »
OOC: This is a placeholder post representing a formal reply announcing the attendance of HTMS St. Joseph, HTMS Christian II, HTMS Archer, and Tall Ship St. Linus.

St. Joseph will host guided tours and daily reenactments of the ship's shakedown cruise.  Archer will be set up similarly to its appearances on its round-the-world goodwill tour, with non-sensitive parts of the vessel open for guided tours.  St. Linus will be arranged as a museum detailing Tytorian naval history.  Christian II will be off limits to tourists for national security reasons.  The crews of St. Joseph and Archer will each hold public church services onboard their ships on Sunday.  After the Festival, Archer will part company with the other ships for a second goodwill tour visiting ports in the northern hemisphere.

Tours of St. Joseph and Archer will be undertaken by personnel of the Tytorian Royal Navy.  St. Linus will be manner by volunteers and staff of the HTMS St. Linus Foundation.

I may or may not replace this with an actual formal reply, but this at least makes Tytor's participation canon.
His Majesty Michael the First, by the Grace of God, King of Tytor and her Colonies, and Lord Protector of Floodwater

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Offline KrisNord

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #6 on: July 09, 2020, 10:22:13 PM »

To:- Mayor Whitley

The Ríocht de Uí Ceinnselaig always look forward to the Festival of Sail. I will be attending in person this year and will be joined by the members of my estates fishing club. We shall be bringing our traditional Lightweight fishing boats some of which we would like to take part in the Festival. We would be delighted to offer classes in fishing from these types of boat in traditional Celtic ways. Additionally as HMS Oengarb is due to receive refitting as a ship for the Cenneg Space Programme with SmartWar we would like to have it take part prior to its change in use.

I look forward to celebrating the occasion with you and our Morelander friends.

Best Regards

King Finley




Greetings Mayor Whitley

Nya Åland have always attended the Festival since invites were extended to those beyond your own borders. As usual we will, for fear of upsetting the future Queen of East Moreland, be sending the Drakken Living Museum ship. This will as always like to provide a Viking village experience for any who wish to visit. In addition this year the HSS Hygelac II will be attending. This vessel was on duty during the proposed Toshikawan missile tests designed for Hygelac and refused to leave the region thus halting the tests. We have now an exhibition of Hygelac onboard and would like to share this with the people at the Festival of Sail.

Odin's Blessings

Head Gothi Stein Ulfsson

Offline Aosta

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #7 on: July 10, 2020, 10:16:09 PM »

Dear Mayor Whitley

The Empire of Aosta would like to bring two boats to your celebration. The first is the Bayon Class Landing Dock. While in port we would be willing to host on its deck a traditional Aostan Masquerda Ball every evening and a during the day hold taster sessions for dance. When the boat arrives in Portworth it will be transporting a ceremonial barge used during Royal events in our capital of Ovado. This barge will be able to be toured by the general public. During the visit however we would like to host a meeting onboard between King David or if time does not permit one of your nations representatives and myself. As of yet we have never had a formal meeting between our two crowns and we would greatly appreciate the chance to do so.

Best Regards

Princess Brigida Tornincasa

Offline fuwapanzer

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #8 on: July 11, 2020, 10:07:33 AM »
This is a placeholder post to announce that the NDRS Wissen, lead ship of the Wissen Class of Research/Ice-breaking ships of the New Derusmian Unified Maritime Defense Forces, will be attending this year's Festival of Sail. Konteradmiral Gerhan Rehn of the 1st Forschung Division will be attendance, representing New Derusmia at the festival. I will most likely replace this post with a proper response later on.

Offline Libby

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #9 on: July 11, 2020, 03:37:09 PM »

The Queendom of Lodja always looks forward to the annual Festival of Sail. This year we will be sending the Royal Yacht Sessifet along with Minister of Defence Lubos Kubik. We would also like to send the destroyer Nept which will remain in East Moreland following the festival for upgrade work to be carried out. We look forward to seeing the work once completed.

Sessifets Blessings

Queen Klara

Offline DaveIronside

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #10 on: July 11, 2020, 09:03:29 PM »
The last two days Portworth had been a little grey and overcast however Helus was seemingly smiling upon the Festival as today the sun had come out and the temperature was climbing. King David and Queen Stasya had arrived two days ago, just as the bad weather had, they'd been able to give Princess Rhiannon time to spend with her mother Matilda Osman and her step brother Oliver. The royal couple had been staying in the officers mess at the Portworth Naval HQ and had been able to see the massive efforts gone into setting up for the day. They had seen a giant funfair being built between display stands, makeshift kitchens being brought in to allow food stalls to operate and of course the huge temporary seats that would make up a large part of the three sides of the quayside where the opening ceremony would take place. Behind that sat a large white mess tent set up as a kitchen for the various VIP's, it acted as a kind of refuge away from the crowds if they needed it. The King and Queen had arrived twenty minutes early causing panic among the Royal East Moreland Naval Service (REMNS) stewards who were working in the tent. The Queen was busy checking e-mails while David sat running over the routine for the day once more with his Chief of Household Quinn Germaine she would effectively today be the gate-keeper to anyone wanting to speak to the King on business affairs. "So far Your Majesty only has Princess Brigida of Aosta lined up for official business, but as we've seen previous years you should expect that to perhaps change on the fly."

"Of course" David replied as he half listened to Quinn and half watched the REMNS chefs busying away to prepare breakfast.

"You're breakfast guests are here." Quinn pointed with her pen as the Marines on guard at the tents door stepped aside to let those the King hoped would help portray the Kingdom in the best light. First up was Olivia Cole no doubt her day would be spent dealing with various companies wanting to demonstrate what they could do. Sir Harry Samuelson wasn't too far behind, he'd be both trying to act as a kind of salesman for East Moreland's technology while also sneaking a peek at what other nations had to offer. The King had also invited a couple of business minds, Sir Alan Maybury was more accustomed to things that flew but as of late the Morelanders had been utilising ground-effect vehicles for rapid troops deployment in the Mhroish and Illumic regions and so that had seen EMAC branch out from just the skies. Sitting next to him would be the king of geeks, Martin Dawson of SmartWar, his company had several contracts already to look at improvements to existing ships that would be attending the day. The King enjoyed having a catch up with them as he waited for his smoked salmon and scrambled egg to arrive, naturally all accompanied by some hearty granary bread.

"You've too much butter on that. Its bad for your health" Sir Alan pointed out to the King with a cheeky grin. The King just looked at him and simply added more butter as though being defiant. "Hey don't blame me when you don't fit into those trousers". The group enjoyed a lesuirely breakfast until Princess Rhiannon exploded in running up to her Dad for a hug. She'd been dropped off at the tent by her Mother the former Queen. David spotted her at the tent entrance and headed over.

"Thanks for dropping her off" David said to Matilda and then spotted three year old Oliver clinging to his mothers hand, the King knelt down, "Good Morning Oliver" he smiled at the boy seeing so much of his own deceased son Caspian in the boy. Oliver was now 6 months older than Caspian when he had died and the King imagined what Caspian would have been like if his medical condition hadn't claimed him. "Are you seeing the boats today." David asked the boy mumbled and David struggled to hear him say he was. David stood back up, the small of his back twinging as he did so from his old injury. "You're more than welcome to use the tent" David told her and his ex-wife thanked him. It was hard keeping Oliver out at the festival all day especially when it was so loud the tent at least gave some respite.

"It's time Your Majesty" Quinn appeared at his shoulder and the King bid Matilda and Oliver goodbye as Stasya joined him. The pair headed outside and by now the grounds of the docks were packed with visitors keen to see the opening ceremony. A group of Marines  lead by Lt-Col Ramsey formed up around David, Stasya and Rhiannon as they headed through the crowd to the grandstand where many of the days VIP's would join them.

Out at sea what appeared to be organised chaos was going on. It may have seemed odd but Marine Corps Regimental Sergeant Major Masterson was in charge of proceedings of over 300 ships from many countries. It was just like organising a giant military parade and the RSM was busy watching various feeds onboard the King Robert which as always was the first ship in line of the parade. They would sail down the coast and make the turn into the bay Portworth occupied, from there the majority of the ships would sail around the bay and anchor up for now while several being selected would make their way into the dock itself. It was down to timing this year as the ships were expected to form a timeline, at the front just behind, and in fact being discreetly towed by the King Robert was the Red sailed Viking longboat from Nya Aland called the Drakken. "Vikings Daddy" Rhiannon pointed excited that her favourite group had turned up. Behind them came a progression of various other ships featuring first the glistening gold of the ceremonial barge from Aosta before the  Tall Ship St. Linus with a group of the Cenneg corracle ships being tugged along. It was then more or less into the 20th Century as Khasatai of The Empire of Ikhan rounded the headland followed by a group of other ships including Rokkenjima's pride and joy of IMS United States, It was rather ironic as the timeline reached the late 20th Century several polar exploration vessels came in together including the Hygelac II of Nya Aland, NDRS Wissen and East Morelands own EMSS Matilda. Then it was the big hitters the military vessels of the late 20th and early 21st century being lead by  Koyuga-Class frigate  from Kaedwen. The ships of the various guests turned towards the docks and began being manoeuvred into position in a giant horseshoe formation giving anyone on deck a view of the forth side of the U shaped dock. A small 50 meter wide gap was reserved for the entrance of the King's sword. The last boats were making their way into position and the Ekrabadger appeared in the bay and at low speed positioned itself with its rear doors facing the docks. As they opened the roar of what sounded like a jet engine filled the air and in a burst of grey the EMAC Waterbadger sprang from the rear, roared about half way towards shore and then cut the engines by the time it entered the docks it was bobbing along nicely lined up for the dockside. As it got close to shore the pilots cockpit slid back and Danny Jules its pilot was able to loft the Kings sword vertically as he made his way into the docks. As he reached the quayside a band began playing the National Anthem at this everyone stood as a Marine and his escort appeared at the top of the slipway and marched down. It was clear the man in the centre was walking a little uneasy.

The loudspeeker system cut in as the anthem finished, "Please welcome this years sword bearer for the King, Royal Marine Reserve Corporal Simon Gatland. Corporal Gatland lost his leg in the Seaforth conflict and was part of the Legionnaire Legacy's Fight Back programme. In 2019 he became the first East Moreland serviceman to have suffered such an injury to rejoin the service where he now serves as part of the Royal Marine logistics detachment." The Corporal took the sword from Jules and affixed it to his own belt, about turned nervously on the slippery stone and made his way back up to the top of the ramp where King David had moved to meet him.

In a loud booming voice the Corporal greeted the King. "Your Majesty" he saluted the King "May I present you with your blade."

"You may Corporal." The King replied and watched as the Corporal expertly unhooked the blade and unsheathing it presented it the King pommel first. The King took the long straight cavalry sword and saluted the soldier with it before accepting in his other hand the sheath and sliding the polished metal back into it. "Corporal while you're here." The King watched the confusion on Gatland's face, he hadn't been briefed about this part of the ceremony. "On behalf of myself and the Kingdom of East Moreland I wish to present you with this." Princess Rhiannon appeared beside her father and handed up the small blue box. David flicked the top open and removed the item inside "Please accept The Moreland Cross as a token of appreciation for your continued service to the nation. Many would have said your service was more than fulfilled in Seaforth but I am proud and honoured to welcome you back into my Royal Marines." The King pinned the medal given for "acts considered inspirational to Morelanders" on the man's chest and then as tradition dictated saluted the Marine first. "In addition" the King continued once the salute had been returned, "After reviewing your superb service record it was determined that rather than restart your service you should retain your old rank. Congratulations Sergeant" the King handed the man a new set of stripes shaking his hand. "Thank you once again." The King said smiling at the rather surprised but happy soldier.

"Thank you" Rhiannon said with a smile as she took her fathers hand and followed him back to the grandstand. The ceremony was almost at an end but the King now needed to officially open things. "Honoured guests from across Mundus, Ladies and Gentleman." David began, "This years festival of sail began with the Waterbadger a design that in 2015 set a world record for the water speed record. It takes its place in the great technological advancements seen on the seas, some of which we have seen before us today and we shall see more of over the next few days. We are honoured to welcome back old friends such as those from Nya Aland, Achkaerin and Tytor, and I am excited to see new faces from such lands as Aosta and Ikhan. The sword this year was carried by a man I find inspirational, a man who has been able to regain his old profession alongside his old comrades thanks to advancements in technology and a whole load of guts and determination. This idea of technology helping us achieve more than we think we are capable of is a theme I wish to revisit this year. East Moreland over the next 12 months will be leaving a lot of our space exploration projects to CNN operations, meanwhile we are going to focus on using technology to achieve great things in the waters. I have in mind that this year shall see East Moreland utilise technology to explore the deep, help clean the oceans and I can announce that EMAC will be looking to extend their water-speed record as they plan Waterbadger II. It is my hope this time next year I will be receiving my sword from something that has materialised in the coming 12 months and I look forward to marvelling at what that is. For now however we will all have the chance to explore the wonders on display from many different lands and I wish everyone here a fantastic few days. Now I hope the Drakken is ready for I am about to unleash a Princess upon them. May The Gods Watch Over You and Your Seas Be Calm." David finished and following polite applause left the VIP area to head to see his daughter's favourites before later meeting up with the Aostans.


Offline Libby

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #11 on: July 13, 2020, 09:36:23 PM »
Lubos Kubik had spent his military career flitting from one regiment to the next as he had purchased ever higher rank. In all his time in the military however he had never really liked the idea of serving onboard a naval vessel. He had been a little concerned then when Queen Klara had instructed him to attend the festival he had been aprehensive as he feared a week long voyage tucked away on  a military warship and at his size he didn't think it would be the most comfortable of journeys. That had changed however when the Queen had donated him the Royal Yacht Sessifet a 130meter long luxury motor yacht meant that it had been a rather enjoyable journey. As they arrived in Portworth the evening before the Minister of Defence had taken to shore via the motor launch and enjoyed a night in Portworth with Duke Tobias Pelagiya , King David's father in law.

This morning however rather than rejoin the Sessifet for the parade of ships entering the harbour he had elected to come ashore and watch from the dockside. He was rather impressed with the way the King had honoured the Marine but now things were all about business. He was here to see Martin Dawson who would be having his company undertake some work on behalf of the Navy. He'd invited him to the yacht for a drink to discuss how things were going and now as the ceremonial part of the day was over the Lodjain made his way towards the Morelander. "Mr.Dawson" he extended a hand "Lubos Kubik. I think we should have an appointment to discuss some work about our ships. If now is a conveniant time perhaps you'd care for a cocktail on the Sessifet." He pointed to the royal yacht which once Kubik had concluded the discussion would be open for limited tours to the public.

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #12 on: July 13, 2020, 11:20:35 PM »
Normally the Achkaerinese Emperor had a tradition of sailing in to Portworth for this Festival aboard the INS Sharingan and today was no exception the Achkaerinese destroyer made its berth at the dockside and on the bridge of the ship the captain Yuki Tyler smiled and turned to Emperor Peter and his wife Renee.

"Your Majesty we have docked." Yuki said
"Very good Captain." Peter said smiling, Yuki being the daughter of his defence advisor made her like a daughter to the Emperor. "Carry on."
"Yes sir." Yuki said

Peter and Renee left the bridge and headed off down onto the dock they'd do a little touring around, speak to some friends if they saw them and all that, plus with the royal yacht participating their accommodation was sorted out, after the festival they traditionally had a couple of days at Highwick Manor before heading home. Having been a captain himself in the navy Peter always enjoyed the festival so he was looking forward to discovering new things over the next few days of the festival. First things first though say hello to the hosts.


On the Blue Fox, the Achkaerinese royal yacht, it was a rather fun experience being set up, the deck had been transformed into a cafe with everything from sandwiches to pastries in it. Running the show was the royal chef Anezaki Mellor, ably assisted by her daughter Becky, the pair finishing working behind the counter on the preparation looking out at the prepared tables the whole deck serving as their dining area so to speak. Becky finished putting the latest tray of her flapjacks on the shelf and smiled at her mother.

"So that's the whole first batch of food." Anezaki said, she was more the savory cook, when it came to the sweet stuff that was Becky's realm.
"I think we can open up." Becky said
"Yep." Anezaki said "Let's do it." she looked towards the bow of the vessel where someone was doing a final double check "Your Highness we can open up."

The comment was directed to Crown Princess Serenity, the Emperor's daughter, she hadn't been to the festival for a couple of years due to various commitments back home. She'd grinned a little when she'd heard the announcement about Simon Gatland, now there was a good man and actually a damn fine rugby player as she'd found out slightly to her cost during her time up at Silverhills with Legionnaire Legacy. However perhaps more interesting was that Serenity hadn't come alone joining her was James Chase, he was a couple of years older than Serenity but more importantly he was the first 'unexpected male' that she'd been seen with since her husbands death in a terrorist attack a few months earlier. James being a Medieval MMA fighter was quite fascinated to be in East Moreland, though this was supposed to be a working thing - Serenity was finalising her latest Legacy Sports idea and wanted his input on some aspects of his sport and its potential adaptability, somehow this had led to him being invited along to discuss it during the festival.

Serenity smiled and made her way down the yachts boarding ramp and opened it for the public before she and James, along with Serenity's two daughters, made their way down the dockside looking at the different ships as they went, first order of business get some ice cream.


Perhaps the busiest of the Achkaerinese vessels though was the frigate INS Stardust, docked alongside the CORAL research vessel Orca, the Achkaerinese frigate wasted no time in unloading the equipment related to the Blue Mermaids - the Achkaerinese Navy's display team, they piloted fish shaped submersibles and had a berth with easy access specifically for this. The type of submersible was also used by CORAL and so the two groups would be taking people out on rides over the course of the festival, the Blue Mermaids would also be doing a few displays. Standing on the dockside supervising the group was Lt Commander Hermione Bennett, as the Blue Mermaid CO she was along with the other Mermaids entitled to wear a cerulean blue uniform rather than the normal Achkaerinese naval uniform. CORAL had agreed to take the first shift when it came to people wanting a ride so as to give the Blue Mermaids time to go over their display routine one more time before their first run.


Perhaps the most nervous person in Portworth though was Stella Campbell, she was showing off her companies first venture, the Insignia. It was perhaps quite amusing to bring a GEV to the home of the Ekrabadger but that was what she'd done and as far as she was concerned this was just the start, the future required advancements in travel in different areas and even if planes continued to be used for long haul travel there would inevitably be a need, especially as resources ran thin for other approach's in the area of medium and short haul. The Insignia, despite being a private yacht was a proof of this concept.   
« Last Edit: July 13, 2020, 11:33:02 PM by Achkaerin »

Offline KrisNord

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #13 on: July 16, 2020, 11:25:23 PM »
King Finley did not look very regal. He wasn't like his friend King David who had to be on show, he was here to enjoy himself and in particular spend time with his son Keane. The boy was now 14 and was beginning to grow into the tall and broad shouldered young man his father had been at that age. The two royals had shunned breakfast with the Morelanders in favour of taking in a mess hall breakfast with the crew of the HMS Oengarb on what would be their final voyage. The ship was remaining in Cenneg service but was being fitted out for a new life with the Cenneg Space Programme and as a result many of this crew would be heading off to new ships in the coming week or so. They'd stay on in East Moreland for three weeks while the work was being carried out and then help prepare the ship for its return voyage to Claith before bidding her an official farewell. Keane was rather surprised to find that morning that rather than having breakfast fetched for them they were standing on the serving line helping dish plates of bacon, eggs and haggis up to the sailors. His father had been adament that Keane join him. "One day these men and women will be your's the command, trusting you with their lives, how does it look if you won't even spoon up some bacon for them." His father had explained and so dutifully Keane had put on the apron and stood beside his father. He found the first few rather awkward but soon it was rather enjoyable, his father had a way of sharing a few words with each man be it asking what clan they were from and then having some joke with them or asking where they were from and discussing the local hunting and fishing. Soon Keane found himself doing the same but his choice of topic was his beloved Gaelic Sports. Once the last man had collected their food the King piled his son's plate high and then his own before joining the men.

They'd watched the opening ceremony from the deck of the HMS Oengarb before disembarking as the sailors began setting up displays and pieces of interest from the Cenneg space programme that they'd be showcasing on board. Finley and Keane however had other things in mind and as they disembarked a group of around 20 burly men with varied coloured kilts, bushy beards and wild hair were clambering out of the flat bottomed Coracle boats and slinging them like rucksacks on their back. "We ain't catching so much as a sardine out there" one of the men could be overheard as the royals approached.

"You can never catch anything anyway." Finley told him as he approached him from behind and placed a brotherly arm around his friend. "Anyway since when has the fishing ever been about the catching of the fish." From his canvas duffle bag he produced a bottle of whiskey to the cheer of the men. They were all people who lived on his estate and they regularly meet up for fishing trips however this was the first time Keane had been on one of the "Away Days" as the group called them. It was almost a rite of passage and now as the whiskey bottle was being passed around he waited for one of the men to take a swig and then held it out and from within the group he took hold of the bottle wondering if anyone would notice.

"Sneaky" one of the men laughed as he spotted the young Prince taking the bottle he watched in horror as his father turned to face him and was ready to pass the bottle on.

"A small bit" Finley told his son allowing him a small nip of the liquor which made him shudder a little. "You'll grow into it" Finley told him as he watched his son cough a little as the warmth of the dram passed through him. He took the bottle back and placed it in his bag. "Now lets get these boats in the water and go catch some fish."

Offline Aosta

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #14 on: July 19, 2020, 10:22:47 PM »
Princess Brigida was a little conflicted about attending the Festival. One one hand she was looking forward to seeing a new city, experiencing a new culture and she had enjoyed her own time in the military, although in her case the semi-elite Imperial Carabinieri so to be back around a military base even a naval one brought back some memories. She had declined coming ashore on the ceremonial barge instead opting to sit in the Royal box area a few rows behind King David whom she would be meeting later on. Much of what she'd been briefed made sense, clearly a family man and a little like her proud of the military of his nation. She was rather surprised that the King's speech seemed to almost be an advertisement for some private company, ironically an aircraft manufacturer at a naval event but she wondered if that had a purpose she simply didn't understand. Once the ceremony had ended she noticed the King head away with his daughter, he wasn't too sure what he meant about unleashing the Princess but she followed along a little before attracting the King's attention. "Your Majesty" she spoke loudly and waited for him to allow her to approach. "I am Princess Brigida, Royal Regent of Aosta" she introduced herself with a respectful nodding bow. "I am hoping that we may still meet later. If you are available I would like to invite you to our barge I'd be honored to show you around it and we can discuss several matters my nation wish to go over with the Kingdom of East Moreland." The Princess handed over a golden enveloped invitation. "If once you have finished with the Drakken we could also provide your daughter with a taste of Aosta's traditional pastry the Sfogliatella while we talk business. If that is acceptable." She had heard the devotion of King David to his daughter and what young child didn't have a sweet tooth. "I hope to see you later Your Majesty." She said and made her way over to the barge.

The barge itself was one used during the coronation of Brigida's brother Franco. A new one would be built ready for when her nephew Franco Jnr came of age at 18. This one though was glorious. It was 35 meters long and had two tiers of rowers, a total of 180 men would propel it and a further 30 would man it during its journey down the river of the nations capital. The wood was decorated to be bright reds and blue with gold making the whole thing shimmer in the sunlight. On the top tier was a small canopy area where during the voyage the future Emperor would host guests while the remaining part of the upper deck could be used as an open air lounge to view the crowds that would line the river banks. Today though the lower decks featured various stations to showcase Aosta including the sweet aroma of a Navy chef cooking batch after batch of Sfogliatella for the gathering crowd. The Princess had ensured the canopy was off limits for her meeting with the King whenever he showed hope but in the mean time she was content to sit and watch the festival go by.

Offline DaveIronside

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #15 on: July 22, 2020, 04:22:00 PM »
King David had his security bubble lead them through the crowds until they got down near the Drakken. It was getting a little predictable that the Princess always went here as the media scrum was already being managed by Malcolm Tucker as the Vikings had already begun coming ashore in their reconstuction war gear. The Princess knew many of them by name and merrily went up chatting asking about weapons and things and keen to once more hear some stories. She probably already knew them but loved hearing them being told anyway. It was similar with her father when he would tell her stories of the Gods or famous knights from East Moreland's past. As the Princess was merrily enjoying exploring the boat and taking to the Vikings David spotted his ex-wife Matilda and knowing he was due over to see the Aostan's he had planned on leaving Rhiannon with his cousin Lily for a few hours however he now went to speak with the former Queen. "Hi Matilda" the King greeted her, even though divorced they were still, at least in public, amicable even if just for the sake of Rhiannon. "I'm supposed to be meeting someone for a discussion soon. Lily is meant to be looking after Rhiannon, unless of course you'd like to?" It wasn't the time Matilda was allocated for visiting their daughter but David didn't mind, as good as Lily was with Rhiannon she wasn't her mother and naturally Matilda agreed leaving David free to head off towards the Aostans.

David made his way through the ever moving crowd of festival goers until he reached the large ceremonial barge of the Aostans, it was rather impressive and unlike anything he'd seen here in the past. He made his way towards the entrance ramp and introduced himself before waiting to meet the visiting Princess.



The day had started off slowly for Princess Freya and her husband Alex Redfern, they'd stayed on base overnight and it meant that they could have a lie in getting up just in enough time to be in the VIP stand for the opening ceremony and the King's speech. It wasn't quiet how she'd imagine she would be spending the day but now she made her way into the Officers Mess, thankfully the station commander had granted them the use of his suite for the meeting with the Lakhzovian delegation. Freya had a bit of time before whoever they sent arrived and so went over a few last minute things with Alex who would also be sitting in on the meeting.

Downstairs the Royal Marines were providing the ceremonial guards for the day and as the Lakhzovians arrived a smartly dressed black tunic wearing soldier greeted them and walked them upstairs before knocking smartly on the door and waiting stood at attention for instructions to enter. The Marine opened the door, saluted and then introduced the guests.

"Welcome to East Moreland" Freya stood and greeted the Lakhzovians with an extended hand. "May I introduce my husband Alex". Redfern had been in Lakhzovia during the crisis there and his position as the former Chief of Royal Household meant he was familiar with diplomatic dealings when he had to be. "Please take a seat." She gestured to one of the large armed chairs that were arranged around a coffee table the top of which was inlaid with a pattern showing an old sail boat. "I'm sorry my brother couldn't meet you. He's in a meeting himself but he does intend to see you before the end of the Festival so hopefully we can have some good news for him. So what did you wish to discuss?"

Offline Lakhzovia

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #16 on: July 22, 2020, 08:50:00 PM »
The Lakhzov delegation was headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Arad Irdan and Tzipa Halviy the Minister of Trade, also a part of the party were representatives of MarKo Defence Systems. The delegation exchanged niceties before filing into the suit with the two Ministers taking a seat in the armchairs.

"First we must thank you for receiving us and for allowing our participation in the festival of sail, we appreciate that our two nations have a somewhat chequered history and a lack of warm relations, it is our hope that the recent cooperation between our governments in resolving the Utman refugee crisis presents a new opportunity for a future of warmer relations. To that end we are seeking to engage with East Moreland in an effort to foster stronger bonds of friendship.

Now on the topic of the festival itself we have unfortunately not been able to make a strong showing or participate in the opening flotilla, however we are able to offer a showcase of Lakhzov innovation in the area of coastal defence. Our representatives from MarKo Defence System will be better placed to explain the details, but to provide you with a brief outline Lakhzovia pursued a programme of developing an unmanned patrol boat able to carry out patrol and enforcement actions against light vessels. It was initiated to counter the threat of terror attacks on shipping lines in the Nakim and Peniche Bays that had been a regular occurrence in the period before the Civil War, allowing for speedy deployment without putting human lives at risk from explosives laden vessels.

Unfortunately development of this system came too late for useful deployment for policing purposes, yet it still retains value for situations where rapid response policing against volatile light craft is necessary. The system would be ideal for protection of offshore oil infrastructure in high risk regions or in anti-piracy operations. As such we wish to showcase this to Mundus and could think of no better way to do so than to bring it to the worlds greatest celebration of naval security."

Offline DaveIronside

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #17 on: July 25, 2020, 02:24:31 PM »
Freya understood exactly what Irdan was getting at. "If I may our concerns with Lakhzovia were the perceived disregard for the refugees futures. Our nation has a history of judging others by their actions and not their words. As a result the door between us is not closed. You're deal to bring the refugees home means we have a foundation upon to build but naturally its going to take a while before things strengthen as we watch to see how well these people are integrated. I know though there are likely to be people in East Moreland carefully watching developments between yourself and Tamora. Like many nations we've taken an anti-slavery stance. Ours focuses on hopefully permitting the companies operating without slavery to prosper while stopping the slave owners from having markets in East Moreland. I'm hoping you've heard of the Freestone Mark. We hope to bring about a situation where the business people of Tamora see the benefit of ending slavery even if the government don't. I'd hope we could see your nation take some similar kind of stance in your relations with Tamora." Freya knew that her brother had taken a great personal interest in ensuring the Morelander government supported the project initially set up by Tim Carpenter and hoped to promote further than it had been already.

"As for showcasing anything you are more than welcome, within sensible limits of course. We've a decent sized harbour here in Portworth capable of easilly accomodating most sized vessels, beyond that we have a huge bay that people like Achkaerin are planning on using for displays and the like. It sounds very similar to the ground based Robo-Guard project we have, just floating so we'll be interested to see the comparisons."

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #18 on: July 30, 2020, 02:24:07 PM »
Out in the bay the nine Tempest vessels belonging to the Blue Mermaids were making their way into position to begin their first display, the vessels were all configured to look like blue dolphins. It was a tricky exercise to do a display like this relying on communication between the display pilots led by Maria Harper as Blue One, Hermione who was watching from the rear deck of the Stardust and also in this instance the Stardust's CO Captain Lindsay Gibson.

"Ok everybody set?" Hermione asked over the radio
"Aye boss." Maria answered
"We're set." Lindsay said

"Ladies and Gentlemen." the festival's PA system sounded out a couple of minutes later, the voice belonging to the squad's commentator "Please welcome in their first overseas display the Blue Mermaid display team of the Achkaerinese Navy." there was a cheer which made Hermione grin.
"You've got quite the audience team." Hermione said "Don't let them down."
"Never." Maria said
"Good luck." Hermione said looking at her watch "Go."

The nine Tempest's sped forwards in a line getting up to speed, Maria was in the centre position a quick glance left and right and she smiled.
"Ok let's go." Maria said over her radio "V formation." the craft formed up into the classic formation and after turning to the left did a lap of the bay, splashing a few spectators along the way but that was all par for the course. "And Trident." this order was the order for the nine to split up into three groups of three each group of three racing around the bay before the next order came in "Hurdles" This was the first really tricky aspect of the display eight of the Tempests pulled up nose to nose in four rows of two in a column with space between each row, Maria had pulled away and was lining up to take a run at this, she was glad the Tempest was as agile as it was. Her craft leapt over the first row before diving under the second re-emerging from the water to jump over the third row and then diving under the fourth row until emerging again from the water and going airborne to appreciation from the watching crowd. Maria smiled "Ok V formation and transition to odds and evens on the leapfrog." she said

As the display team formed up and executed the order which meant that while the craft in slots 1,3,5,7 and 9 (looking from left right) were in the air, those in slots 2,4,6 and 8 were underwater and vice versa on the deck of the Stardust Hermione nodded to Lindsay.
"Ok Aehallh's now." Lindsay said, what this meant was that while the Tempest's went on their lap around the bay while leapfrogging ten Aehallh type vessels in their unmanned form made their way into the middle of the display area and held themselves in a line formation almost like gates. "And smoke." now each of the Aehallh's started up the smoke machines they were carrying so that the nine gates were from left to right violet, indigo, blue, blue, green, green, yellow, orange, red the colours of the rainbow, the smoke masking each of the gates hide the display team from view. Until the nine Tempest's leapt through the smoke, the Aehallh's firing off their rapid obscuring systems like fireworks to accompany the moment that signified the end of the display.

"Heck of a show people." Hermione said over the radio "Absolutely first rate."
"Thanks boss." Maria said "We're coming in."

Offline Lakhzovia

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #19 on: July 30, 2020, 02:51:14 PM »
"It is most reassuring to hear of the opportunities to further improve relations with East Moreland and of your continued interest in the rehabilitation of relations in Lakhzovia between the Lakhzov majority and our Utman cousins.

On the matter of Tamora our government has reassessed our existing sanctions regime and have decided that our end goal of seeing the end of institutionalised slavery is better served through economic, diplomatic and cultural incentives rather than punitive measures. In part our change in approach was informed by the entrenchment and militarisation of Tamora that was occurring in response to the sanctions regime; it is our concern that further pursuing the path of confrontation would lead to a highly damaging military conflict.

Our new approach was inspired in part by the work done by your own country which demonstrated that there are creative solutions that allow engagement with Tamora in such a way as to allow access to economic levers without participating ourselves in the moral bankruptcy of the slave system. This is something we would of course be happy to coordinate with East Moreland on in the future in order to exchange best practice and ensure a maximally effective approach.

As for demonstration, the bay would be fine for our purposes and look forward to being able to put on a display for you."

Offline DaveIronside

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #20 on: August 01, 2020, 11:34:31 PM »
Alex leaned over a whispered quietly in his wife's ear before sitting back upright. Freya seemed to be musing what had been said turned and fixed Alex with a stare for a moment before returning her attention to Irdan. " To date East Moreland has in place only economic incentives, short of the Tamorans having facilities for an embassy in Northfort just like every other nation we have very little contact with them. You however say you plan for, or have in place economic, diplomatic and cultural incentives. Would you perhaps mind briefing us on what those are, as much as your remit permits of course. Now as for things between East Moreland and Lakhzovia we'd like to begin putting in place some building blocks between our nations, creates a foundation for things down the road. Sadly anything we agree my brother will need to rubber stamp but I don't see that being an issue." She paused for a moment as the sound of the Achkaerin vessels in the bay outside distracted her for a moment.

"Now I understand at the refugee conference a deal was reached where measures were put in place for Utman students to access education and university. My brother is a big believer in education being a tool for breaking down barriers. I'm not sure if you're aware but about five years ago Tim Carpenter established a programme called More and Mundus which was aimed at giving East Moreland students an opportunity to experience other cultures and other nations. We've sent thousands of students aged between 16-18 across the globe since. We partner schools with schools in other nations and once a year a selection of students spend two weeks in the other nation living with a host family and attending a school there. Ideally we'd like all nations on Mundus to sign up for exchanges. Would Lakhzovia be in a position to accept Morelanders from this programme, naturally we'd welcome an equal number of Lakhzovians in return. Sadly my knowledge of Lakhzovian educational systems is not good."

Offline fuwapanzer

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #21 on: August 07, 2020, 03:46:22 PM »
Konteradmiral Gerhan Rehn stepped out onto deck of the NDRS Wissen, which had 'parked' alongside the more popular icebreaker in attendance, the HSS Hygelac II of Nya Aland. The warm sun was pleasant on his face, and was a nice change compared to the usual blistering cold winds of Hygelac. He had let the sailors go to experience the wonders of the Festival of Sail for their first time. He thought of it as a nice pleasure break before the crew went back to the South Pole for more research activities. After about 30 minutes, almost everyone onboard had dispersed into Portworth, except for him and a few crew sitting about that were meant to greet tourists wanting to explore the ship. "They've got historic warships, water shows, and the vessels of the future. Who'd want to visit some random icebreaker?" he thought to himself as he walked below deck. Eventually growing bored of the empty interiors of the ship, he exited, adjusting his cap and donning his dapper NDUMDF Konteradmiral uniform.

He mixed with the crowds, and began looking for a place to go for a relaxing lunch by the water, for he had grown weary of the 'food' served in the cafeteria onboard the NDRS Wissen.

Offline Lakhzovia

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #22 on: August 07, 2020, 11:10:05 PM »
"More than happy. It is our belief that the institutionalised slavery in Tamora will not be overcome through punitive measures. Rather it is our assessment that the best way to remove this blight is through the application of pressure in the economic, cultural and diplomatic spheres.

It is our assessment that any approach to the issue needs to be multifaceted, thus we will use economic incentivisation that rewards businesses that do not participate in slavery, while also opening ourselves to cultural exchange. It is our belief that allowing Tamoran citizens the opportunity to experience and have contact with those societies that do not share their acceptance of slavery can only serve to sow seeds of doubt among them. Finally it is our feeling that strengthening diplomatic ties with the state will provide an avenue by which to nudge the state in the direction of modernity; people are more accustomed to accept advice from a friend than a foe after all.

On the topic of cultural exchanges we are of course aware of the Carpenter programme. It is of course our sincere desire to ensure that a our young people are afforded the greatest opportunity to expand their horizons, as such I can confidently say that Lakhzovia would have no objection to participation in the scheme, and would be delighted to host foreign students at our universities as well as send our own abroad."

Offline Aosta

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #23 on: August 08, 2020, 09:16:11 PM »
Princess Brigida noticed that King David had come alone not taking their offer of sweet pasty for Princess Rhiannon. The Regent of Aosta was actually rather glad as it meant less chance of having to coo over the child. She wasn't the most maternal of mothers and in fact had often heard the people around the Palace back home whisper they were amazed she hadn't eaten her own young if it meant getting ahead. "Your Majesty please step up." Brigida extended a hand to half welcome the King and half to help him up the entrance ramp. "Welcome to our barge." she said proudly as she escorted the King along the bottom deck. "This barge is used on State occasions in the capital Ovado, a wide river winds its way through the city and on those days it is rowed through the city in much the same way other nations utilise horse drawn carriages. It was last used two years ago for my nephew, the Emperors coronation, however at the age of just 3 months I suspect he did not really sense the grandeur of the moment. We will however be having another ceremony to coronate him again in 18 years or so. I hope you will join us." she smiled wondering whether her rather dry sense of humour translated into the Morelander culture.

"Now I did promise you Sfogliatella." By now they had reached the top deck which was arranged like a large outdoor lounge and overlooked the whole of the festival area. She picked up a small silver tray with sea-shell shaped pastry. "These are filled with almond paste, these with lemon cream and these final ones are full with orange flavored ricotta, those are my favourite." She waited for the King to make a selection as a man wearing traditional Aostan dress was busy pouring some wine. "Now as we are keen to establish international connections we thought an invite to the Festival may present a perfect oppurtunity however I am sure you would prefer to be enjoying your nations gala event and so we wouldn't wish to keep you too long. I hope therefore that we can begin discussing building a relationship beyond the embassies we have already. I would be excited to see some kind of free trade deal and a formation of easing travel. Is this possible?" the Princess asked.

Offline DaveIronside

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #24 on: August 12, 2020, 08:12:38 PM »
Princess Freya was pleased that Arad Irdan and Tzipa Halviy seemed to be saying the right kind of things. "I'm releeved to hear it" the Princess responded, "Our big concern is any system though being manipulated. If I can give you an example. I know they have a Deere company there making farm machinery. For the sake of arguement lets say they make a tractor and sell it in East Moreland, currently as long as Deere don't use slaves the product is allowed in. Our concern is though what if Deere is just the final step in a long process and all Deere do is paint it and put the tires on. As Deere are the last hands to touch it they can claim its "slave free" when 99% of the process has been utilising slaves. I would like to see if we are agreed on the theory of how to deal with slaves how we can prevent such practices happening and taking advantage of things like the Freestone Mark." Freya hoped she'd been clear with the pair of ministers. "As for the More and Mundus project I'd be excited to add yet another nation to the list."

The Morelanders paused for a moment and then Alex spoke, "I also wonder if perhaps a little problem I have is something that can spark another way our nations can support each other. As you'll be aware Joshua Rhodes has once again vanished off the face of the planet. King David has been keen to find out what's happened as it naturally kind of a foretelling of a problem in Seaforth down the line. As your neighbours I'm sure you want to see them nice and stable, likewise as we share the Illumic with them we have a similar desire. I'm first off wondering if your intelligence services had heard anything? Even if they haven't I perhaps wonder if you'd be willing to agree to share details of potential threats, we've seen before people from Lakhzovia target East Moreland and we all know the Borlanders aren't above selling arms to dissident groups across Mundus. We could both down the line be in a situation where we could be useful to each other in that regard. What do you think?" Alex asked.



David couldn't help but think Princess Brigidia was a little no nonsense and in some way he admired that even though he preferred to build personal relationships with other leaders especially if they were fellow monarchies. "I'm always delighted to find people wanting to build better working relationships with East Moreland. In terms of the two points you've picked on, one is not possible as such, the other we can certainly work towards. The Free Trade Deal, although I believe removing barriers for trade is important I also believe keeping certain nations on a preferential basis compared to others is important. We have Free Trade Deals with our CNN partners, our geographic neighbours and the CSU. At present I'd not be willing to stick Aosta in the same category. I would however agree to lowering tariffs to a point where they match the lowest tariff paying nation. Additionally we'd have no limits on what could be imported as long as it complies with our local laws. Naturally in return I'd like to see the same conditions imposed on East Moreland exports to Aosta. Perhaps in five or so years we can revisit tariff levels and then maybe remove them, who knows?"

The King stopped and took a bite of the pastry and thought that perhaps it was something Rhiannon would enjoy, perhaps he'd have to see if he could take some back for her. "As for your second point I think allowing people to travel easily helps trade, it helps cultural understanding and it helps improve relations. I usually say visa's aren't needed if a person books their trip at least three weeks in advance, this gives our security services a chance to vet the person, they must be able to fund their stay without working, stay no longer than 21 days and have a return ticket. If you're happy with hat then we can make it happen."


Offline Aosta

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #25 on: August 17, 2020, 10:12:05 PM »
Brigida was a not surprised the Morelanders had shot down tariffs removal but it was worth a chance. "Perphas then some status as a preferred trading nation could be reached. A friendship needs to begin at some point and trust built up, making trading arrangements between us easier is a way of doing that. Then maybe a few years down the line we can look at the situation and move forward. I suggest then that we make an arrangement that any goods reaching a minimum standard be reduced so for example we would insist that any meat products brought into Aosta would be free from growth hormones, sadly my knowledge of your nations agricultural policy doesn't give me that knowledge but I suspect in many ways we would find alignment with safety standards. I think an offer therefore to reduce tariffs to levels equal to your lowest non-treaty nation is fair, whatever level of tariff that is we would set the same on East Moreland products."

"In terms of visas I'm happy to go along with your recommendations however I would like to ask if this visa arrangement would allow those entering your nation to conduct business or are we talking just about tourist visas. You say it helps trade and I agree so I would like to see for example if an Aostan business believed East Moreland was a great potential market they could send someone over for three weeks to meet with potential clients, customers and suppliers and the like without having to worry about gaining a visa. They'd also need to bring with them samples and the like and I wonder if we could exempt bringing say demonstration models, samples and the like in from tariffs or taxes. So I know we have an excellent cheese industry. As things stand I suspect the amount of paperwork a Aostan cheese producer would need to complete to get to Northfort with a crate of cheese could be tricky, and a similar stress for a Morelander coming to Ovado. What do you think?" She asked the King.

Offline DaveIronside

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #26 on: August 21, 2020, 05:40:24 PM »
David was pleased that Brigida didn't seem too annoyed at the refusal to remove tariffs, "Trust me I'm no expert on every in and out of our own food standards." David laughed, "We do eat a lot of game so unless the deer are sourcing their own steroids I think we'll be largely safe, but yes I think an arrangement where each nation produces a kind of check list of standards and all exports ensure they comply with checks as and when required would work fine. We can extend that to almost any field I would imagine. We tend not to have the status of preferred trading nation but I would certainly be happy to make your tariffs equally as low as any other non treaty nation and reciprocation I think is again more than fair."

As things moved onto the visa question David took another bite of the pastry treat. "I would see us having three broad reasons for visiting each others nations, leisure, study and business. For lesuire I think the idea of a 21 day limit is fine, anyone staying longer can simply set an end date and it can be sorted quick enough. For study we would naturally need more checks, I therefore don't think this sits naturally as visa free travel but perhaps that could be something we discuss. In terms of business I think it shouldn't just be a blanket 21 days but bring whatever samples you like in. There would be nothing to stop this becoming a way of trading high value but small numbers of items tariff free. I would however think this would work if say we said that demonstration models, samples etc could be brought in without tarrifs or taxes so long as the value of the items was $20,000 or less. If an item is say $30,000 we would then only charge a tariff or tax on £10,000. We could also perhaps set up a scheme that should the visitor prove they are taking the item, so say a laptop manufacturer, back out the country with them we could refund the tax. How does this sound>"

Offline Aosta

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #27 on: August 22, 2020, 01:34:53 PM »
Brigida was happy enough to get the deal they'd agreed with the Morelander King. In many ways the fact that the Kingdom didn't use terms like "preffered partner" was probably because they had a much more extensive trade agreement network than the Empire but the Princess hoped to bring them up to speed as soon as possible. "In terms of trade I wonder would there be the opportunity to extend this arrangement between us to all of the CNN?" The CNN alliance was not one the Empire wished to join at the moment but with 320 million Cenneg, some 100 million Morelanders, 150million or so Lodjains and the Iwi it was a useful base to have connection to.

"In terms of the movement of samples and demonstration models I can agree to what you suggest." The Princess explained.

"As for study visas I believe 21 days could be useful, it allows for short term exchanges, research visits and some intensive language courses. I think we should permit it as a reason for entry. I have also heard of a programme of school exchanges or partnerships, is that a project we could become part of?"

Offline DaveIronside

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #28 on: August 24, 2020, 06:09:46 PM »
OOC- Anything with the CNN in terms of membership or deals etc we won't be able to address for the time being as Ben is on a looooooong LOA.



"The CNN" David began to explain, "Is not a total free trade zone like perhaps the CSU is but we do ensure tariffs are non-existant and limits don't exist. We however unlike the CSU don't as of yet have the same standards across the four nations, it is incumbant on the exporter to prove they have complied with the local conditions within the nation they are sending goods to, much like how we would expect Aostan cheese to comply with our standards to be permitted to be sold in East Moreland. At this moment therefore a CNN wide agreement would not be possible, however I'm sure that if you complete this arrangement with us then the others would see it as a positive step."

David wasn't aware of my study courses of such a short duration but then again he wasn't fully aware of every course going in East Moreland. "If people can find a course by a registered provider for a study course lasting less than 21 days then we will allow the travel. As for being part of a school exchange programme we'd welcome including you in the programme we call More and Mundus. I look forward to hosting your students as soon as feasibly possible. Is there much else you'd like to discuss?"


Offline Aosta

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Re: Festival of Sail 2020
« Reply #29 on: August 25, 2020, 10:44:09 PM »
Brigida was pleased with how things had gone. "So if I may summarise the arrangements we have agreed upon."

Quote from: Aosta and EM agreement

1. Tariffs lowered on all goods and services so inline with lowest non-treaty nation.

2. No limits on exports so long as they meet local standards

3. Visa free travel for 21 days so long as trip booked in advance by 3 weeks, visitor doesn't work while staying and has a return ticket.

4. For business travel no taxes or tariffs on goods brought as samples or for demonstration so long as valued less than $20,000. Taxes paid on anything above the initial $20,000 will be refunded if proof is given that samples or demonstration models are removed from the hosting nation.

5. Students may have visa free access to education courses lasting 21 days or less.

6. Aosta and East Moreland will partner in school exchanges through More and Mundus.


"If this is a fair summary then I am delighted with our progress." The Princess was keen to show they had the ability to successfully negotiate deals with nations across Mundus and East Moreland were a nation that many experts claimed had fingers in many metaphorical pies. It was for this reason Birgida was going to chance one last throw of her negotiating dice. "I have a final but rather sensitive matter to request. Our nation has several small royal families and tradition dictates that the Emperor marries royalty. I look back at our families bloodline and I'm rather worried about the small gene pool in some ways especially if the stories of insanity in some monarchies across Mundus that kept similar narrow bloodlines is to be believed. I have a two year old nephew who will one day be Emperor of Aosta, an Empire proud of its history, its culture but open to allowing freedoms for its people in terms of their faith, their traditions and the like. I therefore would like to propose a future marriage between our Emperor and I understand your daughter Princess Rhiannon is six and unattached in terms of future marriage. Imagine the idea of East Moreland and Aosta connected through royal blood. It would also mean your daughter would become an Empress. Naturally this wouldn't take place for a good 16 years but it would give your daughter time to complete her sword ritual important to your people. She would also have a chance to almost practice being a monarch before, and I pray this is many many many years ahead, inheriting your crown. It would mean East Moreland would then have an experienced and wiser ruler to lead them forward. Perhaps this is something we could consider?"