Author Topic: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid  (Read 3348 times)

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Offline Lijiang

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Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« on: December 30, 2020, 10:26:29 PM »
Day after the Emperors Coronation

The ride from the Imperial Palace to the Plaza at the centre of the capital Fengtai was one that the new Emperor would make a point of eradicating in the next few days. It was 10km and though he didn't mind the half hour or so in the saddle or in a carriage it did seem rather obsolete and probably not that secure. Being flanked by Imperial Guards with spears either side offered protection of course but it wasn't the same as the bullet proof protection he'd seen other nations leaders use. If Lijiang was going to appear a more modern state then this was one quick fix, replace the horse with a car of some sort. He made a mental note to do exactly that as the Plaza came into view. Already a crowd had gathered and many knelt on the ground and pressed their foreheads to the floor as he passed. In the centre of the Plaza was a three berth gallows and a steady line  of rifle toting soldiers ensured the crowds that had gathered were a good twenty meters or so away from proceedings.

Dragon Emperor Tielin guided his horse to where a group of soldiers formed an entrance way through the crowd and once inside their square slid from the saddle handing the reigns to a waiting Private. Beneath the platform of the gallows three men were kneeling on the ground, heavy chains around their wrists. In front of them stood a young girl dressed in the robes of the Priesthood offering them last minute prayers. The Dragon Emperor ignored them and made his way up to the platform that gave him a view over the assembled crowd. He estimated about 10,000 people had turned up to witness the event and that made him nervous as he couldn't tell if these were people who were angry or happy that these three disloyal men were about to die. A man wearing all black approached Tielin and bowed before telling the Emperor everything had been done and that all he would need to do was throw a switch to initiate the drop and send the men into oblivion.

The appointed hour came and the three men were moved onto the gallows and ropes put around their neck after each was permitted to offer final words. They all opted for asking for prayers from the crowd and regretting their actions but they fell on mostly deaf ears. Around 40,000 people had died in the uprising caused by these people and it seemed many of those people's families were in the crowd. It was now time for the Dragon Emperor who would normally have permitted executions to take place out of the public gaze and by the nations Chief Executioner but this was about sending a message that he was now in charge and wouldn't accept people being disloyal. "You have all caused the nation suffering. You have all failed to uphold the most sacred traditions of our Empire and brought disgrace to your ancestors. You shall die for the damage you have caused and I pray your ancestors shall cast you aside. Your deaths shall mark an end of disharmony in the Empire which I shall now lead to a brighter future." With his words spoken the Emperor pulled the switch and the three men dropped through the floor the sound of snaps making Tielin feel a little uneasy. He had been so clear in his thoughts just seconds ago but now he wondered if he should have at least shown one of them mercy. He resisted temptation to peer down through the trap doors and waited for the three doctors waiting below to confirm the men were dead before he descended the gallows and remounted his horse doing his best to show no emotion but unsure whether he had.

His duty done here the Dragon Emperor headed to the Golden Enclave in order to quickly change from his ceremonial robes into a rather more fitting suit like attire. He spent a few moments with his wife before the duo headed to the airport. Lijiang didn't have many international flights however the size of the nation meant that an internal flight could be as long as an international one and so the cities airport was easily capable of accepting the flight from the Seleucid King. The Dragon Emperor had surprised many people when he identified them as this target for the first visit, the Seleucid were not seen as a major power nor where they neighbours but they did have several things the Dragon Emperor liked. First off they had a developed oil industry and with Lijiang having small by comparison reserves it was still an industry they could profit from. Secondly the Seleucid's had made huge strides in diversifying their economy and if Lijiang was to tap into its potential there were lessons they could learn. Finally Tielin knew the Seleucid had a fragile food supply and that was something Lijiang could never face it was essentially just a vast paddy field in many parts of the nation and so perhaps this would ensure the two nations would meet as more equals than if Lijiang had invited another nation.

The airport was already busy for the day, two flights coming in from the extreme North and South while a horde of green uniformed military were in attendance as a kind of show of strength. Tielin had read that Heydar was a man with military service so assumed this may show respect but now as he took his position alongside Empress Jing. The two held hands while they awaited for the arrival of King Heydar.

Online DaveIronside

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #1 on: December 31, 2020, 12:27:19 AM »
When the invitation to visit Lijang had arrived Heydar had been very surprised. He imagined a nation like Lijang would have tried to invite someone from the more influential nations of Mundus first but he was happy with the honour of being the first head of state in at least 120 years to visit the nation. The fact the Majestic Empire had been so infrequently visited presented a problem because apart from the recent news articles the Seleucid Foreign Office hadn't been able to present Heydar with much in terms of briefing and so the King was going in slightly blind. He was also travelling slightly light compared to normal. Traditionally he would have been accompanied by at least one of his two wives however on this occasion with Chyssa having given birth just over a month ago and Haniyah was due in a few weeks time and as a result the King had wanted them both to say in the capital of Ipsus. In place of the two wives he had brought instead his step mother Wilhom Queen Katerina. She had hosted several international guests back home but had never really accompanied her now deceased husband Akakois overseas and was looking forward to being involved in the expedition. It helped to that she got to spend the flight over with Heydar in the King's office catching up, the pair had been lovers now for three years and since Heydar assumed the throne had not really had much time alone. Having ensured they were not disturbed they had plenty of time to enjoy their privacy under the pretence of planning their strategy for the meeting.

It though was now time to get to work and Heydar ensured that he descended their royal plane first but waited for his step-mother at the bottom with a outstretched hand to help her down. The duo approached their host and introduced themselves. "Emperor Tielin , Empress Jing" Heydar greeted them both. "I would like to congratulate you on your recent coronation and wish you well for a long and happy and reign." The King waited for one of the Air Force staff to appear beside him and hand him a glass box, "As a gift for your coronation please accept this." He handed over the shoe box size case that contained a golden statue of a dragon with precious stones used for decoration.

"And please accept this as a gift for your impending wedding" Katerina accepted a similar size case and presented it, this one a Dragon in silver. "I hope you're blessed with many happy years."

Heydar retook the initiative. "Not to sound in a hurray but I am keen to see more of this nation. If you don't mind me saying your a land that many of us outside Lijiang know much about and getting the chance to be one of the first Heads of State to explore it is exciting. I hope you don't mind me being a bit of a tourist while I'm here."

Offline Lijiang

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2021, 08:12:14 PM »
It was not customary to exchange gifts on an airport tarmac. The process of exchanging gifts was about making gestures in front of those who mattered, the Dragon Emperors subjects. For Tielin receiving gifts was a sign of respect from a noble with the value , beauty and symbolism of the gift being considered by those watching. With these two gifts it would clearly have been perceived in the new Dragon Emperors favour to be presented with these items. There would of course be things presented by the Emperor and his wife but they too would be presented in public and would demonstrate the generosity of the Dragon Emperor to his guests. There were however things in place to remedy things should they have gone wrong here and so the Imperial family fell back to that. "These are most generous gifts" Tielin examined them both and wondered what exactly world leaders did with such things. The Palace was already full of objects like these and Tielin wondered if somewhere they'd have a store full of such gifts ready to be placed somewhere prominent should the guest ever visit again. "We look forward to presenting them to our people" the Emperor had begun to lead Heydar and Katerina to a waiting vehicle. From the outside is appeared to be a military armoured car however the interior was luxury leather and spacious. The national army formed up in a convoy in front and behind with the vehicle the Emperor was in sandwiched between almost identical vehicles. The ride was one which didn't reveal too much of the countryside as the vehicle had only narrow windows giving only the odd flash of the green countryside that seperated the capital from the Imperial Palace.

As they arrived the convoy stopped at the foot of the hill that hosted the Imperial Palace. Behind them was the river that was the lifeblood of the Empire. Once the convoy had stopped black armoured soldiers formed a protective square around the group and moved them up towards the Palace itself. A path wound its way like a snake up the valley side until the squat white Palace came into view. The lower floor was in truth nothing more than a huge meeting hall with a red tile floor. As the four of them prepared to enter the hall the Seleucid King and Whilom Queen would have noticed a long line of black armoured men enter the hall and force a clear passageway. Previously it had been rather narrow but now was wide enough for at least ten people to walk side by side. In the centre of the passageway was now a totally visible yellow series of tiles that marked the part only the Imperials and their guests could walk upon. "If you'd care to follow me" Tielin and Jing took up places either side of their guests and escorted them down the centre. Either side the assembled nobility knelt and bowed their heads.

"BEHOLD" A spearman with red armour walked just off the yellow tiles before the royals. "Show respects to the Majestic Dragon Emperor Tielin II, first Emperor of the Shaohua Dynasty. Show respects to the Majestic Dragon Empress Jing, first Empress of the Shaohua Dynasty. Be respectful to their honoured guest His Majesty King Heydar of the Soter Dynasty welcomed from Royal Seleucid. Be respectful to the Honoured Wilhom Queen Katerina of the Soter Dynasty welcomed from Royal Seleucid." The length introduction given the four had reached the front of the hall way and with a series of ten steps climbed the Emperor seated the group with himself and Heydar in the centre of four seats and his wife next to Heydar and Katerina next to him. The Red soldier faced the crowd. "We present to the people of the Majestic Empire generous gifts given in friendship by the Soter family and people of Royal Seleucid. The two gifts were brought forth and paraded around the room slowly allowing people to see them and a few even stopped the soldiers carrying them to take a closer look. The process continued while the Red Soldier continued with the well rehearsed formalities. "Bring forth the Emperors generosity." A gong was rung and the crowd turned as a young man in a red silk tunic appeared.

The man walked on the yellow tiles symbolising he was a member of nobility or in his case royalty. Prince Chun stopped at the foot of the steps and bowed to his father before ascending. "Your Majesty" he addressed Heydar. "On behalf of my father accept this lion as a gesture of friendship between our lands." The Lion was the size of a small dog and carved from Jade, "While your lands are famed for precious jewels we pride ourselves on our jade, we hope it is worthy enough to come to your Festival of Jewels soon." He bowed to Heydar and laid the Lion at his feet and the crowd politely clapped.

Next a young girl appeared on the tiled walkway dressed in a long flowing red dress with yellow flowers in her hair. The girl was mindful of not stepping on the dresses long hem and so shuffled awkwardly the length of the hall before stopping in much the same way as her brother had. Princess Wenjun bowed and approached the Whilhom Queen. "Your Majesty" she addressed Katerina "One behalf of my mother accept this Lotus flower as a gesture of friendship between the women of our lands." The 12 year old Princess handed over a silver lotus flower with the petals made out of jade and silk. "We hope its craftsmanship pleases you." She bowed and joined her brother at the side of the platform while the crowd once more applauded.

Then a child appeared. The 7 year old Prince Daoming appeared and followed the pattern established by his elder sibling except he approached King Heydar and presented some silken clothing. Daoming looked at his mother for reassurance and seeing her give an encouraging smile he continued, "One behalf of my father accept this" he looked down at what he was carrying, "This suit as a gesture of friendly between the boys.....I mean men of our lands." Daoming was blushing and half passed half threw the jacket and trousers at the King "We hope you like them." He almost ran to join his siblings and wondered whether he would be in trouble as the crowd clapped a bit more nervously than before.

"I know you have children yourself. We want to try and expose them to their duties as soon as we can and I hope you think their first public performance wasn't too bad." Tielin spoke to Heydar. "We're expected to allow the nobility to think they've been a part of state meetings. So I'm sorry for the delay in getting to talks." The presentation gone there was another gong sounded and a group of four girls appeared in the open space in front of the platform and the crowd. For the next ten minutes they performed a series of acrobatic and juggling routines before being replaced by a group of eight dancing women before the entertainment concluded with musician singing while costumed Dragon dancers performed. The music finished and the Emperor stood. "I thank you for coming to our meeting today but myself and our guests require some privacy." The room promptly began to clear and once empty servants carried in four comfortable low couches, cushions and a table along with tea and plates of sweets. "Please lets become more comfortable" Tielin lead them to the seats which seemed dwarfed by the size of the hall. "I am delighted you accepted my invitation. When I became Emperor I draw up a list of prioritise for the nation. We have three main ones, make the nation richer by using our resources wisely, develop more skilled labour opportunities and become less isolated. We believe you are in a position to help us. You have made great strides in diversifying your economy away from oil and some of those have been rather inventive. We also think you could offer us advice on the oil industry and while there are oil producers on our border we think the fact we have something to offer you that you will see as equally essential means a fair deal can be made which will see neither party taken advantage of. I know you had an issue with locus last year and struggled to feed your nation. I was sorry to hear it but we had no way of being able to help. We can though do so in the future. You see our nation is blessed by the river you saw earlier. It ensures we produce a vast amount of food, more than our nation will ever need. What I propose is a little agreement where we make your nation a priority for food exports from our nation and we place a reserve of food aside should you experience another crisis. In return your nation makes us a preferential arrangement in acquiring equipment to establish our own oil industry. Is this something we can work towards?" Tielin asked hopefully.

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2021, 02:48:03 PM »
Heydar was impressed by the ceremonial aspect of Lijiang's welcome to him and his step-mother. He had particularly liked to see the young royals being involved. He had missed out on such experiences when younger his elder brother Hadi being their father's favourite for it was him who would have one day inherited the throne had Heydar not taken steps to make himself King.  As the Prince practically threw the clothing at him Heydar thankfully caught them thus sparing the young boy and embarassment. "Thank you for letting us meet your family." Heydar addressed Tielin. "And thank you for the gifts" he spoke loud enough for the room to hear him. "We would always welcome you and your people to our Jewel of the Desert festival and if these are a reflection of your nations craftsman I know Jade may become a popular item there." He suspected the ceremony had been as much about the people seeing their own Emperor in a manner of someone valued by outsiders and so he hoped he was doing the right thing. The King enjoyed the performance of the various groups and ensured he applauded politely as each finished their segment.

Heydar was surprised that the meeting didn't move to some more intimate setting as the hall was much too big for such a small gathering but Heydar was impressed with the homework it seemed the new monarch had undertaken. "You're right that we've a great understanding of the oil industry. We've liked to see ourselves as a leading player in that market and naturally under the correct conditions we would be able to support your nation entering that arena. We've an industry not just getting the stuff out the group but also making the stuff to do that. As a result I think us being able to do some kind of deal will be easily achievable. As for the food security issue it is one we are working on and naturally seeking to be self sufficent however having a huge desert in our nation does not help. We have got creative though using shipping containers at sea for vegetable products but having some kind of an agreement that helps us out there would be a good one. Perhaps as a starting point for negotiations we could consider a kind of food for oil equipment type deal. We would provide a set amount of equipment to get you started on the condition that we get a set amount of food per year in return. Our nation would foot the bill for the initial establishment of the equipment in your nation. It could once a fixed term having been reached transition into perhaps us doing the upkeep of the equipment or providing advisers in return for a set quota of food stuffs. Is this the direction you viewed things going in?"

Offline Lijiang

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2021, 11:01:11 AM »
Tielin considered the words of Heydar for a while contemplating what to say before replying. "I personally do not think an agreement based on a set amount of food per year is necessarily one way to go. Simply saying things like we get an oil drill in return for say 10,000kg of rice is simplifying the situation. If you permit me to explain." He inched his chair closer to the King, "Let us imagine for the sake of argument that an oil drill is $100,000. A bag of rice is $1, so we simply ship you 100,000 bags of rice and we have ourselves an oil drill. Now the problem then comes the next year when we have a poor harvest or some natural disaster globally impacts the price of rice. You're own recent disaster would have done this, the price of our rice would increase because of the simple mechanics of supply and demand, therefore this 2nd year may see us ship you 100,000 bags of rice for an oil drill however we would then likely have paid £200,000 for the same product. The opposite can also be true, we may have an over abundance of rice and this could see us paying just $50,000 for the oil drill in effect. This process of course works both ways. What I suggest therefore is that we nominate a recognisable price for goods. OPEN for example seem to know a lot about oil so perhaps the average cost of materials we would pay from their membership could be used to fix the prices we would pay. You could use the international market prices for food stuffs to fix ours if this is possible. When we need an oil drill I would contact OPEN and discover the average price is $100,000. I would then go out and buy $100,000 worth of food from our farmers ensuring they get paid. This would then be transferred to you and in the meantime you will have purchased me an oil drill. Now I think this way both our nations producers get money for their hard work but we as a nation fulfil our objectives. Now obviously we must consider means of how the goods arrive at their destination and I would therefore suggest we make that the responsibility or the buyer. This then moves me to my second desire, I would like to see Lijiang ships able to access your ports hassle free. I would of course extend the same invitation to your own ships. I suspect we both have carriers capable of shifting these goods, you oil tankers and us various container ships. We can boost each others merchant naval economies by thus employing ships from each others nations to deliver the cargos."

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2021, 08:52:01 PM »
Heydar perhaps had misjudged how naive of the world of Mundus the Emperor may have been. His scheme seemed well thought out and seemed to make sense. "I can see the sense in what you're suggesting." Heydar nodded, " I like the idea of pegging prices via the international mechanisms you've mentioned. My one concern however is that if you say Lijiang is planning on joining the oil industry then I would hope you'd look at joining OPEN. It is not that I don't trust you but if we are fixing the prices of the machinary on average OPEN prices then it could be manipulated as its a rather narrow group of nation. The global food market is very difficult if not impossible for us to manipulate. Might I suggest then that we say as the government of Royal Seleucid we will price match the lowest price of any business based in Royal Seleucid, Tamora, Altromine or Lodja producing oil extraction machinery. This way you get three members of OPEN and one outside to get the best prices from. I think that should be fair. Perhaps though before going too much further I could get a breakdown of exactly what types and how much food you could provide us with. We may not be able to store the produce you make without preparing some things back home."


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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2021, 10:08:00 PM »
It was hard for Tielin to remember at times that many of those beyond the Majestic Empire wouldn't have much knowledge of his own nation and so he perhaps shouldn't be surprised that a King from across Mundus didn't know much about the farming practices of Lijiang. "Well our nation doesn't have much in the way of a huge livestock industry. Our nation relies heavily on the rivers for fish but the small livestock industry focuses on pigs and chickens, things that will eat the scraps from our tables and can be kept in small areas. We have huge reserves of fields for rice. This is obviously going to be great for your needs as in the right conditions you can stockpile the rice for decades if not further. We have lots of soybeans, leafy green vegetables, even citrus fruit. I suspect any type of crop you want we could find in Lijiang or we probably have the conditions somewhere that we could. Now naturally there are non food crops we grow as well which I wonder what your interest in would be, our tea, cotton and silk are all heavily traded within our borders. Now while you have asked for food security supplies I can envisage a situation where down the line we have packed your storehouses with long life products like rice and soybeans and you may lack the need for more supplies. Perhaps then you would consider an exchange of these cash crops as well?" Tielin hoped to ensure those industries were as protected as possible however he also had no intention of missing out on a secure long term arrangement with the Seleucid, his plan for an oil industry would be decades in the making and ensuring they had access to equipment would be vital.

"Now as for the arrangement of Tamora, Royal Seleucid, Lodja and Altromine being used to determine a price for the oil equipment I am happy to accept that. I think perhaps if you are happy with what our crops are we discuss the idea of the ports being capable. For ourselves we have the Dragon Spine river which runs almost the full length of our nation. We can therefore pick up crops from the riverbanks and we're putting in place a system of new larger ports meaning we can pick up crops quickly from the fields. The ships should be able to go from mid Lijiang to Ipsus if that is what you require. Our coastal province of Lóngzui has a decent deep sea port but I hope to expand this as soon as possible as our new river ports come online. I assume Ipsus is where you would like the food shipping if we conclude a deal."

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2021, 10:14:28 PM »
It was certainly an evolving arrangement that was being put before him, at first Heydar had hoped to acquire a few agreements to help provide enough food but now the Dragon Emperor was thinking even more long term. It was something that would appeal. The idea of being able to bring what sounded like a variety of raw materials into Royal Seleucid would also help with the diversification of the nations economy. Add to that the fact that it seemed a programme of port building would enable the Seleucid to get their manufactured items into the heart of Lijiang. "Ipsus is one of several ports we have in Royal Seleucid. It is more than capable of dealing with imports from your nation and we can also showcase your nation to several others in the region through two of our projects. We have Blue which is a beautiful artificial island just a few hundred yards off the coast of Ipsus. Its a combination of a lesuire facility but also hosts several pods dedicated to allowing Midaranye nations to showcase their businesses and goods. It also allows you to easily market yourself to them and make connections. Add to that we have an economic platform for small businesses aboard an old cruise liner repurposed into a floating economic city. I think Ipsus could be a good first step as your economy seeks to make connections as we have facilities in place already to help you make inroads to other nations. As such we would be willing to consider an exchange of cash crops once we have our stockpile in place ready for when the next locust plague hits our land. Sadly this is something that happens every few generations and I'd like to think that when another hits whether it be during my reign or that of Golzar we can cope." He mused for a moment or two. " You speak of your need for a deep water port and I hope this isn't disrespectful because it certainly is not meant that way. I'm extremely proud of Seleucid engineering, we've built the Palm, Blue, KHELPS, a huge highway across a desert, possibly Mundus largest battery factory and an airport in Waddan, if you need it we would be happy to either construct or support the port building programme your nation is looking at."

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #8 on: January 16, 2021, 10:08:28 AM »
Tielin sat back in his chair musing on what Heydar was suggesting, "I appreciate the offer. We are not a nation unaccustomed to great engineering, although we have not put our skills to the test in the same sense as Royal Seleucid has. I have no concern though that we can handle the construction on our own. As for your concern about being disrespectful it was not all you were doing is offering someone help and that is not an issue. I do though like the sound of Ipsus and hope that we can have a return visit in the future. Perhaps when you welcome the first shipment of food from our nation?" Tielin knew a time would come that he must be seen to go and explore Mundus a bit more rather than expect the world to come to Lijiang. "We though must I suspect put things down in writing. The ancient ancestors of Lijiang were obsessive record keepers and it will be expected that we keep such matters going so may I suggest this."

Quote from: Proposal

Here in the Imperial Halls of the Imperial Palace of the Majestic Empire of Lijiang two monarchs have met. The Dragon Emperor Tielin II,  First Emperor of the Shaohua Dynasty has agreed the following with His Majesty King Heydar of the Soter Dynasty of Royal Seleucid. May this agreement stand firm through the ages.

1. Each year the Majestic Empire shall provide Royal Seleucid with supplies of food stuffs on a priority basis.

2. Each year Royal Seleucid shall provide the Majestic Empire with oil extraction machinery on a priority basis.

3. The monarch of each nation shall purchase the requirement of the other to facilitate the trade. Effectively the agreement shall be food for machinary exchange.

4. King Heydar may at any point change his requirement from food stuffs to cash crops with the foundation of the deal staying true in spirit.

5. Food Price equivalents for the exchange shall be determined by the global market for such products.

6. Oil Machinery price equivalents for the exchange shall be determined by the lowest price the item is available for in Royal Seleucid, Tamora, Altromine or Lodja.

7. Nations may land their products covered by this agreement in the other nation with no fees or taxes.

8. Neither nation shall carry out any act against the spirit of this agreement.

May this agreement stand on record as a reminder of this days honourable agreement.


"Now there are other things I would wish to discuss with you but they are on a less formal matter. So if this is an agreement that you find agreeable perhaps we can sign this and move onto less business like matters." Tielin handed a document over hoping for the Seleucid monarchs approval.

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #9 on: January 16, 2021, 02:10:03 PM »
Heydar rotated the document so that he could see it clearly. He didn't even bother showing it his Mother-in-law and instead removed a pen from the inside of his jacket pocket. "I'm very happy to sign this. I think we've achieved some long term security for both our nations." With a flourish Heydar affixed his name and then handed both the pen and paper to the Dragon Emperor. "I think you'll see some very relieved Seleucid citizens. While we're pretty confident there won't be a food crisis for many years it doesn't help to be prepared. I just look forward to announcing it now." While he waited for Tielin to sign it he wondered what else Tielin wished to discuss and once the document was done he extended a hand as to seal the deal.

"You spoke of less business related talks. I'm all ears." Heydar retrieved his pen and awaited the Dragon Emperors words.

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #10 on: January 17, 2021, 12:19:13 AM »
Tielin picked up the pen and added his own signature in the Lijiang characters that formed his name and title. It was the first time he'd seen it on paper by his own hand and the writing of it felt good if he was honest. He slid the cap back onto Heydar's pen and accepted his handshake. "I'm excited to get our oil industry up and running. I hope that before you leave us I can have given you our first order of machinery. The sooner we begin the sooner we can make some money." The Dragon Emperor stood and stretched his legs after the hours of talks. "Perhaps you'd like to see some more of the complex" The Dragon-Emperor took Heydar outside and headed into the gardens where trees and pristinely cultivated hedges made pathways across the valleyside. "I would ask for a bit of a favour. It will sound though rather odd." They had reached a series of terraces down the hillside where groups of farmers were tending various crops. The Emperor perched on the wall admiring the view. "I would like Royal Seleucid to invade us" he noted the puzzled expression on the Seleucid King's face before laughing, "In a manner of speaking." He smiled hoping the King had a sense of humour. "Our military has spent quiet a few years in combat fighting the various rebellions under the Dragon-Priestess however our military is not exactly equipped with the most modern of equipment. You see any military procurement must have Imperial approval, the 120 year mourning period means that fell to the Imperial Council and seeing as it was those individuals causing the problems it means that since the early 1980's our military hasn't really developed much. I would like to see how they would do against a modern military. I therefore would like a few war-games to be fought between our forces in the beaches of our Northern Provinces. I expect us to show good discipline and determination but I suspect we'd find the technology gap rather significant. Following the exercise I'd like to show your soldiers some hospitality for a week, allow them to experience some of our Empire as a way of testing whether we can handle tourists from outside of our Empire. I understand this is a big ask but would it be something you would be willing to do?"

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #11 on: January 17, 2021, 10:26:21 PM »
The King was happy that the Dragon-Emperor had signed the document and that he could be assured that the Food Crisis that had marked his nations recent history would never happen again, at least if they managed things correctly. Upon his return he would order the construction of silo's across the nation that could keep the long life food stocks such as rice and tofu. This would be one of the first announcements he would make when he returned home and it would mark yet another significant engineering project and perhaps a simpler one than some of those that they had undertaken.

As they headed outside the King was pleased to be outdoors. He was not a man who enjoyed being sat behind a desk and paperwork was not a strength of his. If the Lijiang custom of recording everything was transported back home he would probably go insane. The King admired the view of the terreaced fields and wondered if any of this food grown within the Imperial Palace would make its way back to Royal Seleucid. The Dragon-Emperors new direction for the talks though caught the King by surprise. At first he wondered whether this would some scheme but when the Dragon-Emperor explained his proposition in more detail it made sense to the King. "I think we could certainly make that happen. There is however a major stumbling block and that is the Unified Iwi, as you are no doubt aware our nations shared a rather violent history. To reach you're nation our forces would have to either risk a trip through the Matilda Canals or alternatively take the longer route through the Mhorish. I think at this moment I may be leaning towards the longer route so it may take us a week longer than you may have anticipated but we'll make it work. It will also give us a chance to test the new F-21 against something other than our own aircraft. We also have some rather inventive vehicles that could do with some testing outside of our desert environment. So if you're happy waiting a little while then I will be happy to send our forces and I am sure they'll enjoy seeing more of your nation. I would though appreciate this not being mentioned publically until our ships are well under way. The last thing I want is the Maori trying to intervene. That is if you still wish us to invade you."

Offline Lijiang

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2021, 10:27:39 PM »
The Dragon Emperor was not that familiar with the recent standing of the Commonwealth of the Iwi and the Royal Seleucid government. He obviously knew of the past occupation and therefore suspected that hostility would exist but he had not counted on the idea that the Iwi would stop an unrelated military exercise between two nations. Tielin was hoping at some point in the future to become friends with all nations in his neighbourhood and the last thing he wanted was to to have to start picking sides in a war or skirmish. "Perhaps then it may be best for you to take the long way round if it is likely to be safer. I have no desire for your help of us to lead to problems elsewhere for you." Tielin considered things for a moment, "Perhaps we can meet you somewhere in the Sovereignty Bay area and conduct a brief series of naval manoeuvres although that would probably require us informing nations around us. The last thing I want is to see is us interfering in the trade of the region." He would leave the final decisions up to the Seleucid King after all it would be Heydar who would assume the greatest risk in terms of having to send forces while Lijiang would merely sit and wait.

The Dragon Emperor continued to walk down the hill a little way while leaving his wife and Heydar's step-mother in their own conversation. "I would ask your advice on a more personal matter. You see with the exception of perhaps Tamora and Drenovia you are the only nation that has its monarch practice polygamy. Here in the Majestic Empire I am the only person permitted to have multiple wives and it is also expected that I have a house full of concubines. There is the expectation that our Dynasty has lots of children to build a closer connection between the government and the Two Dragons that we worship as the creators of everything." He hoped that Heydar knew about their faith but suspected it was not on many nations common syllabuses for study and therefore hoped Heydar didn't mind the brief theology lesson. "I was wondering how do you manage it? Two wives, a growing family and running a nation,  does it not feel like doing the impossible?" Tielin was due to marry a second wife in a week or so and already had acquired a concubine whom despite what everyone else thought he had yet to actually utilise beyond pleasant conversation over a nice meal and a sleep on a sofa. It still didn't feel right for him however perhaps getting some advice from a person who had been through what he would be expected to go through would help his transition.

Online DaveIronside

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #13 on: January 19, 2021, 09:40:08 PM »
"A naval exercise could be useful for both our nations then." Heydar was not a huge fan of Naval bits and bobs. He'd served his military career in the Air Force and much prefered to be zooming through the skies than bobbing along on the waves. He did though recognise the importance of being able to ensure that his nations military was well prepared in all branches of service and so this could be a promising scenario. "We'll put together a fleet for the exercise and have it leave port shortly, we'll notify you of what we're sending and then it will give you a chance to test your preparedness as you will be able to put together a comparable fleet to meet us however you'll be against the clock. We'll inform the neighbourhood the day we leave port, it should give them several days notice."

Heydar couldn't help but laugh when Tielin asked the question about polygamy. "It seems that while I thought our two cultures were vastly different we have some similarities. While here only you are permitted to take extra wives its more common back home in Royal Seleucid. "My father had four wives, my brother Hadi had two, I was kind of the poor man in terms of love in our family" Heydar paused for a moment, "Being the youngest son and in the military I was away a lot and with me never expecting to inherit the throne I was kind of lost in the shuffle of our family politics, I also think I enjoyed the freedom to be with who I wanted." Heydar glanced over at Katerina and remembered always being jealous of his father's 3rd wife. "But now I have a responsibility like you to build a family dynasty. You see while many nations have Ministers and the like we have always liked whenever possible someone with the surname Soter, or at least someone married to a Soter to hold positions of influence and authority. They are far more trustworthy." He paused once more almost finding his hypocrisy too much. His father had become weak in his old age and so Heydar had ensured his demise before then swinging into action to have his own brother, sisters in law, nephews and nieces eliminated to make himself King. He was the reason for the Soter family now being much smaller than it had been just over two years ago when he inherited the throne and now he was planning on rebuilding and hoped none of the others had his devious streak. "My problem is I have very few of those to choose from. My son Golzar is about ten years away really from such positions and my cousin Danyaal is not the most steady of hands on the rudder so to speak. So that means wives, as many as reasonable. Our culture tells us we may only take further wives if it is to help the family be more prosperous and that you can support them fairly. As King I have no problem with those so perhaps I'll take more than my father who knows. We though do not have the concept of Concubines in Seleucid, though there are many Seleucid King's who have taken mistresses and fathered children with them. Currently Chyrssa and Haniyah, my two wives, make me happy. Chyrssa is a much more politically minded woman and acts almost as my household manager. Haniyah is much younger and I suppose you could say she is the more adventurous of the two, more aware perhaps of the lives of the people of the nation. Between them they are a great help and of course it doesn't hurt that they are beautiful. As for how do I manage to fit everything in? Well its about ensuring that you fulfil the duties of the husband, protecting them, loving them and of course giving them children. You find managing your diary to ensure you see both as equally as possible helps. My best piece of advice....." he mused for a moment or two, "For the love of Anahita....or even your Two Dragons.....don't ever get both your wives pregnant at the same time. Its like a hormonal time bomb." He hoped Tielin understood the joke and while he was delighted to have had two more children in the family the 11 months of the women in his life being pregnant had been a nightmare he vowed not to repeat.

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #14 on: January 19, 2021, 11:05:46 PM »
Tielin liked the idea of a rapid deployment style thing, "I will await your word on the Seleucid Navy leaving port. We will then give a message to the media about the naval exercise. That I would hope should give the neighbours plenty of time to warn merchant shipping. I don't think it would be much of a problem as there is likely to be plenty of space to avoid shopping lanes. I'll inform my naval officers as well only when I recieve word of your ships leaving port. It will be a true test of their skills to act quickly if the Empire ever felt a threat." Tielin was keen to see how his men and vessels would go against the Seleucid and planned to be able to somehow observe the event. Short of raising his own militia which he immediately handed over to the Dragon-Priestess he had no military experience in his own right so by showing an interest in the military he could perhaps win the respect of some of his senior men by spending a few days at sea.

Tielin was pleased to hear that the Seleucid shared the ideas of filling key positions with family to ensure loyalty. Tielin was already blessed with three children and hadn't expected anymore. It now seemed his duty would be to have more. The Dragon-Emperor could appreciate the idea of having different wives to fulfil different tasks, his 41 year old wife Jing would clearly be the Mother of the Nation while his future wife Dandan would perhaps be similar to Heydar's Haniyah, someone in touch with the younger generation although Lijiang didn't quiet have the openness of the Seleucid idea where nobles seemed to mix more with commoners. Most young noble girls would spend a lot of time in the Golden Enclave and so perhaps the idea of a young wife helping connect with the general public wouldn't work here. His thoughts on the Golden Enclave moved his ideas forward. "We have a meal arranged at my wife's residency in the Golden Enclave, a chance to show you some of our nations food that will soon be sailing its way to you. I am though aware that until now I've set the agenda for our meeting. Before we depart the Palace is there anything that you wish to raise with me?" Tielin realised that by dominating the agenda he may be a poor host and hoped he hadn't marginalised his guests own agenda for their meeting.

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #15 on: January 20, 2021, 08:44:22 PM »
Heydar was excited for the exercises now and might even try and pop in himself during them as a kind of visit to his men. "I'll only be giving my forces a week to get to sea, I'm hoping to keep them on their toes. "As for my agenda I came here with the wish of ensuring the future of my nations food supplies and thankfully we have that in hand. Beyond that I simply hoped to leave here with more knowledge of your nation and a sense that there is a chance of a future relationship that makes us ever closer friends. I think we seem to be doing exactly that. Perhaps then as we move to the Golden Enclave you could tell me more about that part of your nation?"

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #16 on: January 22, 2021, 11:37:50 PM »
When the conversation turned to the Golden Enclave Tielin waved his wife Jing over. "His Majesty here wishes to know more about the Golden Enclave" Tielin turned the conversation over to his wife.

"The Golden Enclave is technically my private little domain. It was built to be seperate from the Palace around 1800 years ago. At that point the Dragon-Emperor was said to have ten wives, twenty Concubines and countless children with just a few mistresses thrown in. Having them here at the Palace meant that he was unable to carry out his day to day duties so it was determined that a separate Palace should be built. The problem was each of these wives would need their own quarters, as would the Concubines, there would need to be schoolrooms for the children and all the other various things a royal would need. It meant that the idea of a Palace became redundant rather quickly and so instead a small town sprang up. Then concerned that the outside world would target his women the Dragon-Emperor threw up thick defensive walls around it and it became a place were access was strictly controlled and rules on etiquette and the like were determined by the Dragon-Empress. It became her territory within the Empire and her rules applied. I've already had problems with some nobles marrying their daughters off at a very young age and changed the rules there to take any noble girl who enters under the age of 16 as being a member of my household. Therefore they can not get married without my say so. The Enclave is like a small town, our servants live there, we have schools for the little ones, we have recreation facilities, even our own market. The entry of anyone from outside is strictly controlled and even my husband must have permission to enter in theory. Not that I would ever deny him such. As my husband takes more wives they will live in the Enclave and visit the Palace here regularly, as he takes Concubines he will visit them in their own apartments within the Enclave. The region I suspect is best described as the Queen's domain and the place where visitors of the State are best entertained......speaking of which we should be going."

The group made their way back to the foot of the hillside where the Palace sat and a fleet of vehicles were waiting for them. Thankfully it was a short drive to the Enclave, just a ten minute cruise down the valley and there the imposing site of the thick grey walls came into view. It was rather ironic that the place was called the Golden Enclave when to most casual observers it was a place of greyness however very few other than the nobles got to see inside the place. A huge red double door marked one of four gatehouses at the cardinal points that gave access to the Enclave and men in ceremonial guards armour stood either side with spears held upright, brightly coloured pendants streaming from the ends. Seeing the Dragon-Empress emerge from the vehicle they snapped to attention and the gate slowly swung open on huge hinges that squeaked slightly in the early evening quiet. Tielin stood next to Heydar, "It is custom that the women enter first, after all it is there home." He began explaining. "You'll notice the doorway has a raised entrance, its only an inch or so but its taken me by surprise a few times be careful of it." He warned the King after all the last thing he'd want to see is photos of a foreign dignitary falling on their face. "Also, and this is up to you when we enter it is customary to bring good luck for men to enter with their left foot and women with the right. Its simple to remember this rule." A slight grin spread across Tielin's face, "Just as in life women are always right" he had heard and told the joke countless times in his life but he still found it amusing. "Please follow my wife and your step-mother"

Ahead Jing had linked arms with the Whilom Queen and passed on the same information only omitting the silly joke that had brought her husband his amusement. She stepped into the Enclave her right foot crossing the threashold first as was custom for women and then waited for Katerina to join her. The Enclave inside was like stepping back into a semi-time warp. The buildings were all made of wood and white plaster. The wood painted a deep red colour. The streets themselves were cobblestoned and it was easy to see why cars did not enter. A kind of road ran around the perimeter inside the wall, this would have been wide enough for a car or even a lorry however once off this it was into streets barely wide enough for a horse and cart. Even the perimeter was grey cobblestone. They headed into one of the streets the Empress leading the way but flanked by armoured guardsman. People were out on the streets going about their business some socialising, some heading to the small stores that existed within selling everything from gorgeous silk robes to fresh fruit while others sat outside their homes in the small gardens three or four homes shared playing games like chess or Mahjong. Many were dressed in traditional attire however the younger folk seemed more attired for the 20th Century rather than the 16th. The street crowd parted to allow the Dragon-Empress and her group through and bowed deeply waiting for her to pass before resuming their business. After passing by eight or so houses the street opened up into a square where six of seven market stalls were set up. "Each day we allow trusted traders into the various squares through the enclave like this. They are permitted to sell to the nobility for the day. Some come once a week, some a few times a year. Its an honour to be invited in and two nobles must sponsor you're entrance, or of course I can have whoever I wish." She stopped at one stall where they were selling jade jewellrey. Jing looked down and spoke quickly to the stall holder who bowed and removed two ear-rings from off a cushion and popped them into a small leather bag before passing them to a guard of the Dragon-Empress. Without another word Jing lead them off again, "It is important we be seen to take an interest" she explained to Katerina before turning to the Guardsman, "Please have those delivered to my daughter" she said loud enough for those watching her to hear. Now as they left the square the street had narrowed again but not so much as before and trees lined the road. "In spring when the blossom is out this road is so pretty." she explained. Ahead of them about 100 meters away was a series of three terreaces which lead up to a single floor building. It was golden in colour its plaster painted to resemble the metal. It was from here that the Enclave took its name as this was the ancient central hub. "That is my own home away from my husband" Jing explained, "While it has only a single story unlike his Palace it does have several underground floors meaning I have ample space. I have my own ballroom, my own banquet hall and a throne room similar to the one in the Palace." By now they had reached the first of the steps and the guests would have noticed they were once more in a huge square with only two buildings inside of it, the Dragon-Empresses palace and a ground level sprawling building off to the right. "That there is the Concubines Quarter" Jing lead the way up the stairs. "It is the only place within the Enclave I am not permitted to go. It is said to have space for a huge number of girls to live. I have heard it is like a Palace and a Barracks combined."

"Perhaps an apt way of describing it." Tielin said to Heydar as they followed the women up the steps. "It is though probably a lot more comfortable than a barracks" he shrugged. By now they had reached the top terreace and the huge open archway of the Dragon-Empresses home gave a view inside. Hundreds of people sank to their knees and bowed their heads each of them dressed in old traditional garments. The only person to not bow in such a manner was a young woman dressed in a red robe and she simply bowed from the waist. "That is the Lady Dandan." Tielin announced to Heydar, "I will be marrying her at the next full moon, as such she is treated almost as important as the Dragon-Empress, she will become Queen and recieve some title connected to our nations stories of the Dragons." Tielin bowed to her and motioned for her to follow the Dragon-Empress so that they now advanced as a group down a path cleared in the hallway much like there had been at the start of their tour at the Palace. Even the line of yellow tiles marking a "Royal Only" path through the entrance hall was there. They walked along it now, Jing and Katerina leading the way with Dandan two steps behind, meanwhile Heydar and Tielin brought up the rear. As they passed the kneeling subjects of the Dragon-Emperor they stood but remained bowing from the waist until the group had passed through a doorway and into the banquet hall. Ten long tables ran the length of the room connecting to a table running the width of the room that marked the high table. At the centre was a raised platform which had six seats upon it. "You shall sit here" Tielin motioned to Katerina to take a seat in the left central of the six seats and then waited for his wife to take the right hand one. Tielin could see a crowd gathering at the door to see inside as the guests for the banquet massed. "And Your Majesty here" Tielin motioned for Heydar to take the seat next to Jing while he himself sat to the left of Katerina. The two outermost seats were so far empty and Jing then spoke to Dandan.

"Lady Dandan of Hohot, future Queen of the Empire, please be seated." The young girl bowed to Jing having been invited to take the seat on the extreme left next to her future husband. The act of being invited by Jing showing the assembled crowd that the youngster was being accepted by the Dragon-Empress which was a good sign for the upcoming marriage. Once Dandan was seated a noise at the doorway attracted everyones attention as another figure stood there dressed in all blue. Infront of her knelt an older lady who waited for the sound to ease before speaking loudly.

"Your Imperial Majesty Dragon-Empress Jing" the kneeling woman began, "I am Shai, Keeper of the Concubine's Lodge" Jing knew this already but formalities had to be observed, "As instructed I have brought Huian, Imperial Lady of the Emperors Chamber. May she approach the Majestic Dragon-Empress?" The girl standing behind the kneeling woman looked nervous, all the eyes of the waiting guests were on her and she was standing largely alone in the huge hall dwarfed by its huge red columns and long tables.

"She may approach" Jing announced and Shai stood and took Huian by the hand leading her to a point about twenty paces away from Jing's table before kneeling again. Huian meanwhile stood standing but with her eyes on the floor.

"If it pleases your Imperial Majesty" Huian spoke softly her words barely audiable to those at the door. Jing gave a small gesture to get her attention and placing her hand at her throat extended her fingers up towards her jaw and extended the fingers outwards hinting that Huian should speak more loudly. The girl nodded obediently. "If it please your Imperial Majesty" the words now carried to the doorway and the Dragon-Empress smiled approvingly. "I would be honoured to accept your kind invitation if you would allow me." She stood waiting for a response still nervous that despite this being a pantomime Jing would now say no. In truth Huian didn't really want to be here and was still finding this new role confusing and embarassing. She had once been a young noble girl destined for a good marriage and a wealthy family. Now she was essentially a glorified prostitute for the Dragon-Emperor destined to be a mother for his children at some point. Until now Tielin had only given those in the Golden Enclave the impression that they shared a bed instead spending those evenings sleeping in her suite's lounge on the sofa. She suspected though at some point he may demand she fulfil her duties for real but as of yet he had been kind to her, as had Jing and so she was more than willing to do her ceremonial duties such as tonight.

"Imperial Lady of the Emperors Chamber you are welcome to sit at my table." She gestured to the seat next to King Heydar on the extreme right of the high table. Huian walked and sat down after giving the Seleucid monarch a deep bow. Jing now took her own seat as Shai retreated from the hall her role done. Once she had left a band began playing some relaxing music as the various nobles entered the room. Huain sat silently while Jing addressed Heydar. "I hope that this is acceptable. Perhaps we should have asked. In some cultures they may see Huian as a mistress or even worse but in Lijiang she is doing an honourable duty. She will perhaps one day help us have a large Imperial Family. I know you have placed great weight on family in your own lands we do so here too." She hoped she was making sense. " Now for tonight you will I hope experience our cuisine for the first time. We shall then dance, enjoy music and celebrate our nations new friendships. How have you found my little mini Kingdom so far?" she asked the Seleucid monarch.

Over on the opposite side Tielin spoke first to a plainly timid Dandan, "You look pretty tonight" he reassured her before taking hold of her hand and resting them both on the arms of the chair between them thus showing the nobles now taking their seat that he was looking forward to his marriage. He then turned to Katerina. "Now I do hope you will forgive me." he addressed the Whilom Queen, "The title, Whilom Queen, I known it means literally Former Queen but it is a rather unique title, does it carry any specific duties or responsibilities or is it merely an honourary thing. How does the Whilom Queen of Royal Seleucid fill her time?"

« Last Edit: January 24, 2021, 08:52:21 PM by Lijiang »

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #17 on: January 23, 2021, 11:25:21 PM »
Heydar found it rather refreshing to see the Dragon-Emperor in a more relaxed frame of mind and had himself a small laugh at the joke of women always being right, "My wife Chyrssa always seems to be" he responded. Meanwhile Katerina was rather impressed by the idea of the Golden Enclave, it would never work back home in Royal Seleucid of course because to them a womans place was by her husbands side or in his home however Katerina couldn't help but feel jealous that it seemed here Dragon-Empress Jing seemed to have some power beyond what she had ever experienced back home.

The walls were rather imposing and to Katerina it seemed more of what she would expect to see at a prison rather than a kind of Palace but once inside it seemed very impressive and truly did resemble a small town. The Dragon-Empresses interaction at the market stall reminded her a great deal of the Jewel of the Desert Festival back home and so realising the little show that was being put on she was more than happy to partake in it herself. "I wonder" she engaged one of the stall keepers in conversation, "Jade is something we don't see very often back in Royal Seleucid, could you perhaps make two of these." She removed her own gold necklace and showed it to the stall keeper. The pendant on it was a symbol of her faith combined with the Seleucid symbol of the lion. "I would like it as a gift for my new grand-children" It seemed odd saying that again being just 35 years of age. She was 5 years younger than King Heydar whom in theory was her step-son, just more confusion in the Royal Seleucid royal family. "If you can please have it delivered to our embassy....." she turned to Heydar, "We are having an embassy aren't we?" she asked

"Of course" Heydar nodded.

"Then will that be possible?" she asked the stall keeper again and concluded the deal before rejoining Jing on their journey towards her own little Palace. While it lacked the sheer size of their Palace in Ipsus, or the tranquility of the Lake Palace it was a rather incredible place. She wasn't sure though about how to react to the Concubines place of residence. She herself was the "other" woman in a marriage but so blatant infidelity in marriage was in her mind practically Lodjain in its attitude. She kept her mouth shut though and just enjoyed experiencing the customs of Lijiang as they made their way into the banquet hall. She would have liked to take a seat next to Heydar but she had so far found the Dragon-Emperor a charming man and so was more than happy to engage in conversation. "A Whilom Queen is just someone to be wheeled out from time to time at state occasions. Someone to fill in for family duties as and when the need requires. Usually they are not as young as me and so they tend to see out their life engaging in charity work and being good grand-mothers. I'm a little different being so young and so I intend to use my position to ensure Heydar's half brother Shahin grows up to be a useful member of the Soter family. He's only seven so has a long way to go but seeing as he now spends so much time at boarding school now I'll devote my time to trying to make our family look good and support charities when I can. I'll find things to keep busy" she chuckled.

Heydar meanwhile was torn between who he should engage with in conversation. He knew he shouldn't ignore the Dragon-Empress as this was her home but on the other hand was he expected to engage this young woman in conversation as well. This concubine was clearly important to the Dragon-Emperor but Heydar was even unsure how he should even address her. Heydar therefore was for now going to focus on the Dragon-Empresses question. "Lijiang seems a very interesting nation. From what we saw flying over it it also seems very beautiful, a contrast to back home where we hardly ever see so much green. I love the way you've managed to keep so many of your traditions and your old buildings in tact, sadly we've not always done the same back home. I suspect some of my own projects like The Palm and Blue have also erroded some of that but I think we can still ensure we hold many of our traditions to heart. What I would like to see someday is more of Lijiang, your countryside and see where the food we'll soon be enjoying comes from. So what would a typical Lijiang meal involve?"

Katerina over the opposite side leaned forward so she could see Lady Dandan more clearly. "Lady Dandan are you excited for your wedding. I hardly remember mine, it was such a whirlwind. Will you have a coronation of sorts. Back home mine was 7 days after I married Akakois, that I remember much more clearly." She turned to the Dragon Emperor who was sat between them, "Is there many rules about the wives a Dragon-Emperor can take?" she enquired.

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #18 on: January 24, 2021, 11:28:34 PM »
As the monarchs chatted with their guests the various nobles invited entered and bowed to the high table before assuming their own seats. Occasionally either Tielin or Jing would recognise a friend or particularly important noble and would give them a signal of recognition either a raised hand or a slight nod of the head all the while making sure they listened carefully to what the Seleucid royals were saying. Servants moved back and forth between tables pouring a milk white liquid into people's small drinking beakers. "Choujiu?" A servant appeared beside King Heydar who had just finished speaking to Dragon-Empress Jing, "Its an alcholic beverage made from fermented rice. It is commonly drunk at banquets such as this. Although if you prefer we can find water, we even have some wine, we have Huangjiu too which I understand is like an ale, although here it is considered a mans drink so I am no expert." Jing explained allowing the King to make his decision before turning back to the conversation they had been having. "The countryside here is vast and green, the hillside around the Palace this morning is typical except in many places the landscape is much much flatter. The further south the more hilly the nation and there are some beautiful spots. Naturally any time you wish to come back I'd love to help you explore. I would recommend coming back in Spring and visiting the Province of Rizhao, it translates as Sunshine Valley and is amazingly colourful at that time of year. It is home to vast forests of sunflowers too some freakishly tall. My family have a Palace on the lakeside there and would be honoured to have you visit if you wished." Her brother was married to the grand-daughter of the High Lord of the province and had been gifted the place as a wedding gift. "As for tonights meal you can expect it to be a kind of buffet in a way. Here we tend to have small portions of a great many dishes. Once people are seated expect the servants to arrange dishes before us and we can take pieces of each. There will be many vegetables, much of our cuisine is vegetable based, our rivers though are blessed with a great many fish so they'll be things like that. Meat is more for the wealthy and we tend to focus on pigs and chickens. We have a great many farmers now using paddy fields as a way of also cultivating prawns so we'll be having those too. All the food from tonight comes from our own estates." The Dragon-Empress would proud of that. She had read about nations across Mundus being concerned about food miles and looking at the dishes they'd have tonight she suspected nothing had come more than 10km. "I do recommend the dumplings though. It was one of the things I learned to cook as a girl, mainly as I loved sneaking into our families kitchen and watching our kitchen girls make them. As a little six year old I would stand on a bucket and help them make them until my mother would catch me and tell me it was no place for a noble girl. While I may not have become the great master of making them I have become a master of eating them." It was then a sudden thought occurred to her, she looked at the place settings and where many nations would have had cutlery there were several beautifully carved chopsticks. "Have you ever used chopsticks before?" she asked wondering if it was too late for the staff to find some more Seleucid friendly eating utensils.

At the opposite end of the table Tielin liked the sound of how Katerina seemed to spend her time. She seemed a woman of duty who utilised her position for others. That was the expectation in his mind of royalty and the nobility. They were blessed with position not to enjoy the luxuries of which they were granted but the luxuries were to ensure they could focus on bettering the nation and the fate of its people. "How is the young Prince Shahin faring, I've read much about his nephew Prince Golzar and of course the two new arrivals but sadly I know little of your young boy. How does a young Seleucid Prince fill their time?" The food began to arrive and there were bowls of various types, steaming dark green brocolli with toasted almonds, oyster mushrooms in a dark rich sauce, it seemed like a never ending convoy of plates was arriving. "Ah Mǎyǐshàngshù" Tielin said proudly before turning to Katerina again, "Sorry, its one of my favourites. It translates as "Ants climbing a tree"" He thrust a pair of chopsticks into the bowl and snared a single strang of a noddle before raising it vertically showing it to be covered in lumps and bumps within its thick red sauce. "Its extremely finely diced meat cooked with the noodles, it gives the impression of ants crawling along a twing apparently. Do not worry though, the ants come for dessert." he winked playfully at Katerina as he expertly arranged a serving of the dish in her bowl.

While the Dragon-Emperor was busy carefully dealing with the "Ants Climbing a Tree" his future wife Dandan nervously spoke to Katerina. "The days to my wedding can not pass fast enough" she seemed to be looking more at the ground than at Katerina. "To be honoured to be a Queen in the Majestic Empire and mother to Princes is every noble girls dream. On the day I become the Dragon-Emperors wife the Dragon-Priestess will spend the hours following our joining in meditation and one of the many Dragons who have lived in our lands will speak with her and give me the blessings, I shall become Queen of that Dragon. Once she has the blessing she will attend the wedding party and name the Dragon I am attached to. From that point I will be Queen Dandan. All will then be complete once we have..." she began to blush and looked even more at the floor. "...it is neccessary that..."

Tielin could see her awkwardness and having finished with the noodles stepped in to help. "The Dragon-Priestess must witness us consummate the marriage" it was not something Tielin was particularly looking forward to but was a tradition. "Hopefully blessing us with a child soon." he wasn't so sure that was what he really wanted with Dandan just yet, she was still very young and Tielin would wait and see if she was ready to be a mother before even considering that. "As for wives I can take as many as I wish on two conditions, first they must be of noble birth and the second is the Dragon-Priestess must agree to carry out the wedding ceremony. Our nation has a very long history that at times mixes myth with reality" he spoke this part quietly, to have the Dragon-Emperor state some of the nations history was myth perhaps may have caused some of the more elder nobles to spit their Hoi-sin sauce everywhere, "One former Dragon-Emperor had 176 wives, I personally wouldn't have a clue where you'd keep them all. Add to that he had is supposed to have had 300 Concubines and having been in their Lodge there is nowhere near enough space. I think though I will keep my numbers in single figures." he nodded confidently on that one, "I understand you're sadly departed husband had four wives? What was that like if you don't mind me asking?"

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #19 on: January 26, 2021, 10:52:20 PM »
Heydar accepted the Choujiu despite the colouring seeming a little weird to him. "The Seleucid aren't well known for alcoholic drinks, the odd glass of wine at celebrations, we've a growing number of whiskey drinkers thanks to the Cenneg being in the country but frankly I'm not someone who enjoys it, especially the morning after. I think though I will stick to this, how do you say it.....Chow...joo..." Heydar attempted to pronounce the drinks name correctly but was sure he had just butchered it. "For ale though its something I'm not really familiar with. Back home in Ipsus its seen as a drink of the lower classes, I think mainly because we don't really drink so when we do its a real occasion." The sound of the Sunshine Valley seemed rather pleasant and a stark contrast to the sandiness of Royal Seleucid, "Perhaps our people have more in common than we thought" Heydar took a sip of the Choujiu and found its taste not as unpleasant as how he had percieved it. He still couldn't imagine himself consuming much of it but at least he would be able to get through this glass without discomfort. "We're a nation with our own lake Palace, perhaps some kind of holiday swap is in the cards." He chuckled as he watched the food arrive. "We have a further Palace out in the middle of the desert, its designed to look like a tent much like those used by our nomadic ancestors. We have our Jewel of the Desert festival there every year and I hope people like that stall owner may feel that they're welcome to attend. Naturally you too as it would be our honour to show you the same hospitality you've given us." Heydar looked down at the two wooden sticks he had read about the custom before arriving however he had never used them. "I have no idea how to use them, however hunger is a great motivator I'm sure when I see the fine food and the fact it seems like a long time since breakfast I'll soon pick up the art." He at least hoped that would be the case.

At the opposite end of the table Katerina was speaking with the Dragon-Emperor and his future wife. "Prince Shahin is doing well. He's enjoying school and the time away from his family will make him more independent. While we want him to love his family he will also need to be able to fend for himself one day. We try and keep him out of the media glare while he's still young. Golzar meanwhile is quickly growing up and now that he has become heir to the throne its inevitable our people are going to want to know him better and see him more." As the food arrived Katerina noted the manner of eating banquet style was familiar as back home it would be the same thing just with more lamb, a change in vegetables and the sauces thicker and she guessed spicier. She did though find the name of the dish "Mǎyǐshàngshù" both impossible to say and a little off-putting. She knew of dishes in Royal Seleucid that featured insects but the thought always made her a little queasy now to hear of the dish resembling that she feared the worse. Seeing the Dragon-Emperor plate it up for her though she felt a little better and and was willing to try it. She wrapped a strand of the noodles around her chop stick only for it to unravel itself sending a splash of the sauce across the table making her blush. She did her best to carefully reposition things and this time guide it correctly into her mouth. "It certainly easy to see why its a favourite. I like it" She smiled hoping the sauce hadn't got onto her dress.

Dandan seemed either nervous or well coached and Katerina wondered if she had been like that before marrying Akakois. Her marriage though had been different, while Akakois' first marriages had been political and so it seemed was Dandan and Tielin's her own marriage had been for lust. Akakois had perused her having seen photographs of her and naturally as a minor nobleman's daughter the King had got his desire. Akakois had been much older than her like Tielin was for Dandan however he had been kind and generous to her and Katerina sensed that perhaps Dandan would experience something similar. "Well Lady Dandan I wish you a very long and happy marriage. Are there any particular Dragon's you're hoping to get omens from? I don't really know much about them other than Shahin likes that Tytorian film "How to Train Your Dragon" but those stories seem more Alander than Lijiangian."

As Tielin explained the more awkward situation Katerina wondered if anyone would take the time to prepare this seemingly naïve girl for the evening. Katerina had been 22 when she meet and married Akakois and at least felt like she had seen some of the world. It seemed to her that many of the Lijiangians would have a great deal to learn about the world beyond her borders. "I hope Lady Dandan you will come and visit us once you become Queen. I'd be thrilled to show you round Ipsus"  As Tielin asked about being one of Akakois multiple wives he had mentioned the forth, a woman that Heydar had tried to ensure history would not recognise as a Queen of Royal Seleucid but sadly it seemed unsuccessful here, legally speaking yes she had been a "Sister-Wife" but Katerina would never recognise the Lodjain Whore as one. "Being in a polygamous marriage has its good and bad points. The good is that you share the responsibilities, we raise children as a unit meaning the child gets plenty of loving care, Shahin had me, Yanna and Samira helping him grow. It makes that much easier. It also helps ensure that you can keep your husband happy. After all my husband had more to concern himself with than just our family business, he was father to a nation. The downside is you share your husbands attention. My advice to you would be once you take more wives, or even concubines ensure that no favouritism is shown. Make sure you tend to each equally as their needs require." She knew Akakois had his favourite and that for a long time it had been her. She was the one taken to most events where the King knew photos would be seen the next day after all which King wouldn't want a young beautiful Queen on his arm. She had though been concerned when the Lodjain had been introduced to the family but Heydar's plot made sure that wasn't a concern for long. "Will there be pressure to take even more wives?" Katerina enquired.

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #20 on: January 28, 2021, 10:56:51 PM »
As the King of Royal Seleucid attempted to pronounce the name of the beverage Jing couldn't help but laugh a little as his pronounciation was so bad. She did though admire the fact that he had tried. As the food was now on the table she proceeded to give Heydar a quick spot of tuition in the use of chopsticks showing how with prcision she could pick up one of the steamed vegetable dumplings and eat it. "I think like many women I enjoy jewels, I think there is a song saying diamonds are a girls best friend and its probably not untrue. I've never seen a festival dedicated to jewels though so to see such an event would be very interesting but I think if my husband was to make it an official visit that would mean any wives he has would be with him and potentially any concubines, we could perhaps bankrupt the Empire." she joked with her guest. "What would be good for the Seleucid economy could be bad for the Lijiang one." She popped another dumpling into her mouth.

Dandan wondered whether she should offer advice on training Dragons, it seemed cruel and she had no knowledge of this Tytorian film that she assumed must be some instructional video. Many Lijiang nobles didn't really know a huge amount about the world beyond the Empire and at times it was hard to know the difference between History and myth. The future Queen though made the decision she would ignore the Whilom Queen's knowledge of Dragons from Tytor but then ask her tutors about them later. "Here we believe that the cosmos is the playground of Dragons. There are the two main Dragons who are Gods and created everything else. The Dragons though belong to families, in total we speak of around 100 different Dragons in four families. When I become Queen the Dragon-Priestess will meditate and seek a message from the heavens for which Dragon wishes to help guide me as Queen. We have the Azure Dragons who are in charge of the Spring, the Red Dragons who look after us during the summer, we next have the White Dragons for Autumn and then comes the Black Dragon for Winter. I pray that the Azure Dragons will speak to the Dragon-Priestess as Spring Time in the Empire is my favourite, everything is so full of life and colourful I could live forever in the days of the blossoms coming through and the smells of the fresh flowers." Dandan noticed she was letting her mouth become more free and was sounding not so calm as would be expected. She then saw Tielin though seeming to find her amusing and hoped she had not embarrassed herself in truth Tielin was admiring her and how much more alive she seemed compared to when she seemed to be speaking how she had been trained by the tutors that would have surrounded her all her life. She took a breath and composed herself, "It is though an honour for any dragon to accept me and serve my Emperor." She averted her gaze back to the floor a little showing her subservience to her future husband.

Tielin felt a little disappointed that Dandan had gone back into her shell, perhaps she would be the Queen of Lóngguī, or the Dragon Turtle, famed for promoting courage and fertility among other things, perhaps that would not be a bad thing however the Dragon-Emperor hoped she was named for one of the families rather than one of its members as that would show greater influence. With his future bride now quietly making herself a small portion of food he resumed the conversation with Katerina. "It is my intention to take wives only while I have the capacity to be a good father. I'm 43 years of age, I think I perhaps have maybe 15 years or so left where I can be a father who is able to play games with his children without his knees giving in, or his back locking. Jing is slightly younger and perhaps now moving beyond her child baring years so if we are to increase the Imperial Family, something the nation sees as vital then I will be forced to. I think though much of that decision will be made by the Dragon-Priestess as she is in touch with the Gods more than me, she will guide me in that matter."

While the conversation was going on several performers began shows to the extreme left and right of the hall. On one side acrobats performed feats such as human pyramids, contortion or even forming human trapeezes. On the opposite flank musicians played soft music with someone on a Huqin surrounded by three or four other instrumentalists. A girl of about ten years of age sat cross legged on a cushion singing softly her voice fading into background noise which sadly hid the beauty of her voice. Several nobleman nearby had even turned in their seat to watch her performance and clapped quietly in appreciation when she finished one song and began the next.

Tielin leaned forward so he could see Heydar down the row of the table. "We shall finish the meal and then it will be expected that we enjoy the entertainment. I have a favour to ask. The nobles here will expect to see me dance with my future wife here however it would look very poor for my wife not to dance, could I perhaps ask that you join her. She is far more talented than me in dancing so I can assure you she'll help you out."

"It is Lady Dandan I feel sorry for because despite the old myths saying the Dragon-Emperor practically floats on air I have danced with him many times and now his feet are made from concrete." The Imperial couple laughed a little. "Perhaps then I can ask a final favour from you?"


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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #21 on: January 30, 2021, 10:30:50 PM »
Heydar and Katerina both enjoyed sampling the new foods but neither of them was entirely comfortable with the chop sticks and frankly Heydar felt a constant fear that he was about to get something down his shirt. Katerina experienced similar worries and was sure the various sauces had probably now smeared her make up. Katerina found Dandan a little timid. While Seleucid Queen's were expected to be subservient to their husbands, something that was true of most Seleucid marriages. Dandan though seemed a little too timid, perhaps it was just her age. "Well I hope you get to be the Queen of whichever Dragon makes you happy" she added once the girl went quiet.

Heydar had become fascinated by the musical performance and was trying his best to juggle the conversation with Jing, enjoy the food and listen to the singer. As she finished her song he joined in the gentle applause. "She is a talented young lady." Heydar said to the Dragon-Empress. "Does the Enclave have royal entertainers or something. I know back home we try and act as patrons to the arts but we don't have anyone living in a situation like here, they're just parts of local schools and universities or Royal institutes. As the Dragon-Emperor asked him to dance with his wife Jing it was clear Heydar felt a little awkward. He was like Tielin and not much of a dancer, especially in a style that he would be unfamiliar with but needs must and so he said "I'll be thrilled." He did though feel a little sorry for Huian who seemed largely ignored by now but as he was unsure how him interacting with her would be viewed he kept his attention on the Dragon-Empress.

As Tielin leaned forward Heydar did likewise. "Ask away, if I can help then I'll help."

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #22 on: February 02, 2021, 10:16:16 PM »
Dandan raised her eyes briefly from the food on her plate, "Thank you Your Majesty" she nodded politely before once more lowering her gaze as though the dumplings in her bowl where the only thing that existed in the world.

Meanwhile Jing and Heydar conversed about the music. "The young girl is Jingyi. She is the daughter of one of the officers in the Imperial Guard and attends school here in the enclave. Since I became Dragon-Empress I've tried to have some form of entertainment daily around the Enclave, whether it be musicians in the squares, jugglers walking the streets or girls like Jingyi performing with classmates. I'd like to think that while we don't have official entertainers as such we have enough talented people living here that we've a rich cultural life. It helps that we have many artists and musicians who request to come and perform here in my home, while others get invited to the homes of the nobles. It is hard to walk far in the Enclave without hearing music during the day."

It was then that Tielin motioned for Heydar to join him as he walked away from the table to stand behind the head table to give them some privacy. "I'll be blunt for 120 years many nobles....all nobles here" he corrected himself, "We have been rather inward looking. For example I know I've received some of the best education in the Empire. I know what the internet is, I can use modern technology, I can even Tweet if I needed to. The problem is that all this has swept past many nobles who when given a choice between learning the names of a thousand damn Dragons or learning the politics of something like the CNN, Ardian Assembly or even reading the Uppsala Convention opted for the Dragons. We've a nobility well educated but only in the traditional style of the Empire in the main. Thousands of years ago a philosophy from our nation said to be considered an educated man you must undertake a trip at least 100miles away from home, hold conversations with over 100 people and read over 100 books. Sadly many still cling to that as a bench mark. I like the idea of the phrase but it needs to be updated and could easily be in the modern age." Tielin paused for a moment, "It must be changed for the modern age" he corrected himself. "As such I intend to recruit a team of tutors for the noble children both here and at the Palace we visited earlier. It is my hope that we can recruit scholars of a great standard to make the education these people receive the envy not just of Lijiang but of Mundus. I want me children and future children to be tutored by people respected deeply in their field. With that in mind I would like to ask if you could recommend two Selecuid scholars , one male and one female, who could kick start this attempt? If you can I would appreciate you helping us recruiting them. Is this possible?"

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #23 on: February 02, 2021, 10:42:01 PM »
Heydar thanked the Dragon-Empress for her company before turning to  Huian, "I hope to meet again" he gave a small polite but not obvious bow to the concubine before following Tielin. He listened carefully to what the Dragon-Emperor outlined, "Travel 100miles, 100 conversations and 100 books." Heydar summarised the old saying out load and chuckled, "I suppose two out of three isn't bad." He explained, "I've travelled more or less every inch of Royal Seleucid so I suspect by whatever metric you'd set it I'd meet that one, 100 conversations is I think achieved weekly, sadly I was never a man engrossed by books unless forced and I think now as I get older and see my son Golzar enjoying reading it makes me think I missed out. I agree though education and experience of the whole of Mundus is important and naturally we'd like to help out. I can think of several tutors that could be ideal but I can't force them. I will though put a good word in for you and I'm sure the prospect of working in such an interesting place should appeal to them. I wonder though if rather than book learning the idea of experiencing the world is a better idea. You son is only two years older than my own. I think perhaps Golzar and Prince Chun could learn a great deal from each other and so perhaps we could look at arranging visits between the pair of them. I've found my time here interesting and I would like to think when you finally visit us you'd find us interesting too. Perhaps we can make our son's pen pals and if we're serious about our nations becoming friends we lay the foundations ensuring Golzar and Chun carry it on for future generations. Once you've created this core of scholars perhaps you'd permit Golzar to come and spend a summer here and learn from them......ensuring he has many conversations and reads many books while here." Heydar was pleased to be in conversation as he sensed the alternative would be dancing and that held very little interest for him.

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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #24 on: February 03, 2021, 12:34:24 PM »
OOC- From my point of view I've achieved everything I'd planned out in my head. I'm gonna set the scene that allows things to be concluded or alternatively if Heydar wants to have things continue they can.



Tielin liked the idea of the two Princes becoming friends. The Empire couldn't afford another period of 120 years of ineffective government where no one was able to really interact on behalf of the nation with others. He had two sons but lots could happen. It was also necessary for the Empire to have other royals to act once more as reliable ambassadors, ministers, even civil servants. It wasn't just important that there was a Prince to succeed him that Prince needed to be better equipped than he was to become Dragon-Emperor. Having connections with young royals of a similar age would be useful and so Tielin gladly accepted. "I think a long term friendship can have to seeds planted and naturally I'd be excited to have my son come and visit along with hosting your son." With the future of his son's education seemingly in hand Tielin could turn his hand now to the matters of the evening. It was important now to be seen by his nobles, to be seen as a good host and leader.  "For my part of things I've completed all the business I had in mind. Obviously should you have anything else you wish to discuss then we can make time for it. Now though I think it is sadly time to dance." The various tables on the floor where now being pushed back from the long rows to the side of the room making a large open space which was easy to imagine would become the dance floor. Such was the size of the hall that there was still space around the edge for people to mingle and the pleasant weather saw several spill out onto the terraces to socialise.

Tielin guided Heydar back towards Jing. "It is expected that the royals have the floor to begin with" the Dragon-Empress stated and motioned to the vast empty space before them. Meanwhile Tielin had retrieved Dandan and made their way down a few steps to the floor. A large number of the guests had gathered around the edge and at the far end of the room opposite to where the Royals had been based moments earlier the musicians had now relocated themselves and sat with bows and fingers poised ready to begin the music. Tielin and Jing did their best to mimic to Heydar the dance steps with Tielin and Dandan just a beat ahead of the Seluecid monarch who was being guided expertly by Jing. It felt to Tielin like an age of awkwardness with both the eyes of the gathered nobles and the nervous Dandan. When the first piece of music, which in reality was only a few minutes long finished the Dragon-Emperor believed that it had been an hour or so. He bowed to his future wife, turned and bowed to the other couple and then thankfully could return to his seat.

"I do hope you'll enjoy the evening. We have rooms here for the pair of you and when you're ready to retire. I do hope though you'll spend some time enjoying the evening." Tielin now sat next to his wife allowing Heydar to sit with his Mother-in-law. A long line of nobles extended down the room with their wives as they prepared for the next dance. It was perhaps typical of the strict organisation of the Empire that dances seemed so regimented with strictly controlled steps and ettiqute expected. The nobles had been equipped with the musical list for the event and no doubt many of them had been practicing for days before hand ensuring that each of the steps taken in the songs were engrained in their memory. Some nobles appeared at the side of the high table and wished to give messages to the Dragon-Emperor or Empress, some wishing him well for his impending wedding. Dandan was speaking with several of the younger girls who she had been educated with and seemed more at ease there. All this left Huain sat almost on her own like window dressing.

The event would drag on into the early hours of the morning but much as expected Tielin would excuse himself at the stroke of midnight and accompanied by his wife, future wife and concubine would leave the hall and leave it up to the Palace gossip over where he spent the evening. He was thrilled with how his first foray into foreign diplomacy had gone and was pleased his nation had taken successful baby steps towards a more prosperous future.




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Re: Talks between Lijiang and Royal Seleucid
« Reply #25 on: February 05, 2021, 10:45:28 PM »
Heydar nervously followed Jing out towards the dancefloor. He had no idea what he was doing and could see a rather amused Katerina watching him from the high table. Heydar was relieved when things had finished and took some time to meet some of the other nobles from Lijiang before returning to take a seat next to his Mother-in-law. "I'm pretty pleased with how this has gone." Heydar declared as he tried some more of the local Choujiu. He had by now got over the odd colour of the beverage and while he perhaps wouldn't be ordering bottles of it to take back to Royal Seleucid he didn't mind its taste. "What have you made of the trip?" He knew Katerina had never really had the chance to accompany her deceased husband on many trips what with being his third wife.

"I've enjoyed it. They're a nation very different to us but with lots to offer. We've thankfully ensured we never have another food crisis so you're sure to have pleased the people back home. They also seem a nation happy to open themselves up to the world and you've got your foot in the door now. We just need to make sure that no other nation walks through it ahead of us. Getting the Prince's to be friends would be a huge step forward." The pair sat and chatted for a while before Heydar took his Mother-in-law for a dance. She rather enjoyed it and when Heydar had enough she accepted the offers of some of the Lijiang nobles before as the clock swept to midnight making her excuses and retiring. Heydar made sure to find Tielin just before he departed. "Well Your Imperial Majesty I can say I have been amazed by your hospitality and the honour you've given us during the visit" Heydar extended a hand, "I wish you good luck for your up coming marriage and I thank you for the agreements we've made. I'll bid you a good night." He waited for the Dragon-Emperor to leave before making his way to his own room which being next door to Katerina's gave him the perfect oppurtunity to hop over the balcony and spend the evening with her leaving the hosts completely unaware of his little secret.

In the morning Heydar made the return trip over the balcony before the pair headed off for a last explorative walk around the Enclave before boarding their return flight back to Ipsus.