The weeks prior to the meeting
Ever since Tamora emerged from isolation quite a few foreign heads of state or government visited Tamora, they did that despite criticism in some foreign capitals over the perpetuation of slavery in empire. And while the number of such high profile guests was not large compared to the popular “destinations” such as East Moreland it was large enough to offer diversity ranging from King Lapu of Quintelia to Empress Beatrice of Rokkenjima to Pope Peter II of the Ecclesiastical State or its Midaranye neighbors. Despite tensions existing between Tamora and their home countries to date the Tamoran public received well the foreign visitors even when they had some issues with them.
However, the imperial government was extremely concerned that this time it would no longer be the case. The Tamoran media offered ample coverage to what it described as the racist views of Hassfurt and its government. And just like with all issues in Tamora it quickly turned into one related to religion. One of the most prominent Ayatollahs of Tamora started a public campaign condemning Hassfurt and any attempt of normalizing relations with the Diarchy as betraying the Prophet Mani stating numerous times that Hassfurt considers the Prophet Mani as the lowest class of human, the fifth strata. His sermons were joined by similar condemnations from other high profile members of the Church of Mani and numerous imams. Tensions rose by the day, the local authorities in Djerb decided to add extra police to protect the Hassfurt embassy in Djerb following some graffiti attacks. That however only further angered regular Tamorans. With less than a week before the Hassfurt delegation was set to arrive in Djerb there were daily clashes with the police defending the embassy. In one day alone three hundred protesters were arrested including two imams but protests only grew in number. Each day calls from imams to disrupt the state visit intensified and the imperial government received credible reports that there were great security risks for the visit in Djerb.
Emperor Abbas was faced with few options, one was to send in the army to pacify the protests but that was not only not guaranteed to work but also carried a heavy price, one which Abbas was not willing to pay. Another option was to make a personal appeal behind closed doors to the Supreme Ayatollah, the leader of the Church, to calm his clergy and the people which Abbas did but was refused. That left him with only one option: change the location where they would be meeting the foreign guests.
Spoiler: images from the protests in Djerb • show A new location for the state visit
The Tamoran Foreign Office informed the Hassfurt counterpart five days prior to the visit taking place that there would be a change of schedule regarding the visit following “urgent and unexpected commitments” of the Tamoran Imperial couple. Such excuses could not hid the truth to anyone watching the events in Djerb but they were necessary to preserve a appearance that the visit not only did not create tensions in Tamoran society but also hide that the Imperial government could not control the people.
The new location where the visit would take place was Delfan, the capital city of the
federated kingdom of Akkar. The six component kingdoms of Tamora maintained not just much of their original culture and native religions but also their own government with large degree of autonomy. Traditionally, foreign state visits were done in Djerb, the Imperial capital, but the exceptional circumstances required exceptional solutions. The federated kingdom was selected because of its seclusion and generally its relative lack of concerns to national affairs. But more important than that, unlike all other federated kingdoms that had large cities as their capital, Akkar has a small town as capital preserving its rural tradition that its people were so proud of. This way, the imperial authorities could take the Hassfurst delegation to a small town where they could easily control all security risks and do it in a matter that did not create much diplomatic issues. The imagine they would be trying to promote is that they didn’t take the guests far from the Tamoran people in a secluded village but rather invited them to visit Delfan the ancient capital of the federated kingdom of Akkar. How much of that would the Hassfurt delegation believe and whether the foreign guests would take offence was to be seen.
The Imperial authorities took draconian measures in terms of security. They asked the monarch of Akkar to temporary stop nonresidents of Akkar from entering the federated kingdom in order to avoid having people from other federated kingdoms come in for protests or other nefarious activities. The capital of Delfan was already a restricted town which made it perfect for security reasons as all the residents could be checked and monitored. Many of them were high nobles with their personal servants and slaves so that made the town very safe. While the intelligence services were fairly confident no security incidents would take place they also asked for the district where the Delfan was located to be closed off until the meeting was over. That meant nobody without express security clearence could get in. Fortunately, the district was sparsely populated and the restriction did not burden residents that much.
Delfan, the capital city of the federated kingdom of Akkar
Map of Tamora showing the location of Akkar, Delfan and Djerb among others
The day of the visit
Since Delfan did not have an airport, the foreign guests were brought by helicopter from the nearest international airport in the federated kingdom of Akkar. The Imperial couple, Emperor Abbas and his First Wife, Lady Alya, where present at the helipad to greet the foreign guests.
“Welcome to Tamora, Your Majesties” Emperor Abbas greeted the royal couple, the Oracle and any other important guests of the delegation. He introduced his First Wife, Alya Safavid to the guests and asked how the trip went. Both he and Alya were very brief and exchanged the minimum of words, not only were the guests not friends but the landing pad was not a proper place to have a conversation.
The helipad was within walking distance of their destination, which was an open field at the base of a hill where hundreds of people were gathered to see the Tamoran Imperial couple and the foreign guests. Abbas had not being to Akkar in decades so a visit from the Emperor was a major event for the people.
As the convoy with the two royal couples got close to the crowd the people bowed their hands in respect. Abbas made no motion acknowledging their presence but Alya discreetly waved at them. The convoy got to a lavish tent that was set up for them. There (among others) waiting for them was Ayatollah Najid Bolandian, Head of Interfaith Relations. Since the visit would also feature matters relating to faith, having a high representative of the Church of Mani was a must for Tamora.
The Tamoran Imperial couple invited the Hassfurt royal couple to take seats next to them in the front row while Ayatollah Najid Bolandian invited the Oracle to take a seat next to him in the row just behind the royals. As soon as the imperial couple and their guests were settled an equitation show started for them.
The speaker would announce the riders, all of them where various daughters of the noble families of the federated kingdoms of Akkar.
Spoiler: Highlights of the equitation show • show Abbas was not particularly thrilled with the show or him being in Akkar. He disliked the informal and rather unsophisticated nature of the kingdom. He would have preferred a military parade in the streets of a major city or at least an airshow of his Imperial Airforce but that was not the way things were done in Akkar and in Tamora local traditions were respected. Abbas used the show as an opportunity to make some small talk with the guests:
“This equitation show has a tradition dating back centuries. It is a way for the ladies to become noticed in the kingdom and find suitors. This region of our empire has always maintained strong rural roots. “
He then changed subject:
“Thank you for accepting our invitation to engage in dialogue and for coming to Tamora. Except for our Zimalian friends we haven’t had the pleasure of having guests from the Alba Karinya continent. “ He made no mention of the protests in Djerb that were still taking place.
“I think there are many things that Tamora and Hassfurt do differently but one thing we seem to have in common is our reluctance to join international organizations. I am interested to hear your opinion on why you have decided to not join the AKO” he said looking at the two royals. He understood from his staff that Hassfurt’s system of government meant that both of them were in effect sovereigns of their country so he looked at both of them when asking them to comment.
