Almost in unison Siora and Vivian reached for bracelets that were on their wrists, these were holy symbols to their faith akin to what a crucifix was for Christians, the pair muttered something in their native tongue, in truth this was a prayer not for themselves but for what they'd just heard, words that suggested the table was likely not entirely familiar with the post 1880 situation, and then the Grand Duke redefining long established geographic boundaries was just plain shocking.
"While it's true the 1880 treaty prevented either Vaguzia or Achkaerin from claiming sovereignty over Awhaele it did other things as well and I'll get to that in a moment." Siora said slowly "But first you need to understand where the Faejeon were in 1880, those that had fought in the war and survived returned to their villages, those that had been evacuated during the height of the conflict were in a refugee camp in Achkaerin. Cyalona a city that is to the Faejeon what the Isle of the Goddess is to the Lodjans had been sacked and largely ruined by the Vaguzian's, relics stolen, temples burned, the guild buildings destroyed, the palace itself a hollow shell of what it had been and only a single guild leader, the High Priestess, surviving." she took a breath "The treaty in 1880 didn't just end a war in put in place a system of government that I'm sure we're all familiar with - a Parliament with a first past the post constituency based vote, that system still governs the island day to day happenings today. Between 1880 and 2010 that Parliament was governed by a Vaguzian party that basically implemented and enforced a set of policies that discriminated against the Faejeon, we weren't allowed to worship openly, we couldn't conduct guild examinations, we couldn't even learn our own heritage because of the curriculum put in the schools, we were having Izra shoved down our throats, the first minister here was barred from going to university because she is a Faejeon woman. In fairness it wasn't that much better up north but that was to be expected, when in a foreign land you expect to learn their curriculum, we were however able to practice our faith albeit in what was best described as a stone hut. In 2010 the government on Awhaele shifted and things started to open up, refugees were able to return home as they perceived it to be safer, although many didn't until three years ago with my coronation, we started the long process of rebuilding and it may not finish for a while but we're on the journey, we've seen some temples restored, we've seen the Palace rebuilt, Cyalona reopened to its people but there's still a lot to do, part of the reason I came here was to get assistance in some of those efforts.
What I'm trying to explain here is a little of our more recent history, we've not had one hundred and forty two years to shake this we've had technically seven but in truth more like three. These kind of wounds take a lot of time to heal but here I am sitting at the same table as Vaguzia, the nation that greatly wronged us, and I don't believe it's the same Vaguzia. You're all understandably concerned about who makes decisions, in truth Achkaerin doesn't need the admission into MICA it has bilateral treaties with some of the MICA membership that cover pretty much everything in the charter and has a very strong track record of cooperation in this region, if it was Valtheim that wanted this I wouldn't be sat here, you'd have an Achkaerinese minister in front of you, instead I'm here with the first minister because I believe it's in the interests of my island to forge closer relations with its Illumic and Mhorish brethren this is our home region as much as it yours, the reason it's Achkaerin your having to consider for admission and not Awhaele is because when myself and King David previously met we couldn't find a way of firewalling Achkaerin out and keeping Awhaele in, the most glaring reason for that being the 3RA's, it's a defence related matter and that's the one area covered under the MICA charter that doesn't fall within the Awhaele governments powers under the devolution agreement. This has been overcome before in this region and I believe it can do so again in a way that satisfies King Rutger's concerns in that area, but for that you would need an outside agreement between MICA and Achkaerin to underpin it. We're all Mhorish or Illumic natives here, we all want the same thing, greater cooperation and a stable region to everyone's satisfaction and that's achievable, we've got some of the most experienced negotiators on Mundus here after all. Awhaele can alone satisfy over 90% of this charter all I'm asking for is the chance to make that 100%.
You don't have to admit us as full members either, you can always do something like probationary membership, test it out over time before full admission, considering that several of the concerns are to do with things that have not happened and may not happen giving us a chance to show you who we are, that we can work cooperatively together and to alleviate the concerns you have without you risking an outside influence."
OOC note: The 2015 date has been changed to 2010 to avoid issues with EM/Vaguzia relations.