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From: President of the Duma Yeva Litvin
To: Chairwoman Francine M. A. Therz
Dear Ms. Francine M. A. Therz,
I am more than a bit surprised to see that your Excellency defends the practice that your Church bans in the harshest of terms*. That furthers our suspicion that your government has indeed fallen prey to the machinations of the prince of darkness.
The Samantran government whether the secular or the spiritual branch does not deny the faithfulness of the Heyran government to the teachings of your Church in the days long gone of the Great War Era and before. Of that you need not convince us, we gladly acknowledge and honor it. It is the current state of affairs that we are extremely concerned about.
The policy of the Samantran government is to never refuse talks as long there is a reasonable chance to foster peace and understanding rather than discord and conflict. It is for the reason that we accept the proposal of your Excellency and invite Consular Diplomat, Governor Maxime Anginer to Novyy Rim, the spiritual capital of the Holy Kingdom of Samantra, for informal talks with Mrs. Maria Mikhailov, the minister of Foreign Affairs.
I pray that they find common ground but until then I have instructed the government to speed up work on the proposed legislative measures since I believe our differences on the matter are hard to reconcile.
Respectfully Yours,
Yeva Litvin
President of the Duma
Holy Kingdom of Samantra
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_response_to_assisted_reproductive_technology#In_vitro_fertilization
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Maria always made sure she had a cross necklace on display every time she went outside.
Maria Mikhailov was less than pleased with the meeting that was about to take place. She was very ambitious and wanted the top job of President of the Duma but lacked the popularity of Yeva Litvin to get elected. She had hoped the position of minister of Foreign Affairs would be chance to increase the popularity among the Samantran people and give her a chance to challenge Yeva at the next primary elections in the Republican Party. What she didn’t anticipate was the Yeva would give her all the unpopular tasks like this one while she kept all the popular visits like the one in Nis or the meeting with the Zaporozhs for herself.
So here she was, outside the park of the Cathedral of the Samantran Armed Forces waiting for Maxime Anginer. Not only was she not pleased to deal with Heyrans but she had to also deal with a religious matter and that was outside her control. It’s not like she could influence the position of the Samantran Orthodox Church even if she wanted to.
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Just outside the park of the Cathedral of the Samantran Armed Forced, inaugurated in 2014, (sixty years after the end of the Sacred War) was where Maria waited for Maxime.
“Oh well, I just hope this won’t take long” she thought to herself while she waited for Maxime to arrive. She was alone since not only was she in Novyy Rim, arguably the safest city in Samantra, but also near the Cathedral. She knew chances for incidents here were limited and people coming here although recognized her nevertheless respected her privacy since people assumed she was here to pray rather than on business.
Once Maxime had arrived just outside the park, moved towards him and greeted him in a good enough Latin with a pronounced Rodianian accent (ooc: Russian) :
"Welcome, Mr. Anginer! I do hope you had a safe trip here. I am Maria Mikhailov, minister of Foreign Affairs for Samantra. Please walk with me to the Cathedral."
As they made their way to the cathedral they entered the park which featured replicas of Great War Era military equipment which visitors enjoyed playing with:
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Maria didn’t want to immediately get down to business since that would be interpreted as rude by Samantran standards so she said to Maxime:
“The Cathedral is dedicated to the Samantran Armed Forces that’s why we have the replicas here. It’s one of the most popular cathedrals in the country.”
While they continued their way to the cathedral, visitors sometimes recognized Maria and gave a short “Hello” to both her and Maxime.
Maria continued: “Is this your first visit to the countries of the Rodinian sea?” she said in an effort to break the ice. They were close to the cathedral so they would get to business soon enough.
“We take great care to teach our children our values and our history. Do you have any children Ms. Anginer ?”
Maria couldn’t know about all the scenarios going on in Maxime’s head so when he asked she assumed he was worried for his personal safety:
“The President of the Duma, my staff and the Church of course know about our meeting” by church she meant the Patriarch and his staff. “It’s an informal visit that is why there is no security staff but you need not be worried about your safety here. Not only is it a safe city but we are on church grounds. And there is plenty of military personal off duty here. Just look” she discreetly pointed to about two dozen young men who were most like cadets at the military academy.
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Cadets from the Samantran military academy
Maria remembered that Maxime said it was his first visit to the countries of the Rodinian sea and that Heyran diplomatic corps were often understaffed by Samantran standards and that might make Maxime not aware of how Samantrans viewed Heyra so she invited Maxime to go inside.
“Please let’s go inside. I want to show you something” as she said that she took out of her purse and expensive scarf and covered her hair in order to get ready to go inside.
“I do, I have two boys, ages 9 and 6. They truly are a blessing.”
Maria made the sign of the cross as the entered the church and led Maxime inside. As it was a working day and no religious service was planned, the cathedral was mostly empty giving them enough privacy for a conservation.
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The interior of the cathedral was full of murals.
Maria guided Maxime to one of the murals of the cathedral:
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The mural presented Ardian and Heyran soldiers alongside Samantran ones.
“If you look closely you can see Heyran and Ardian soldiers alongside our men in uniform. This part of the wall is dedicated to the Great War Era. And as you can see, Samantra has not forgotten its allies. “
Since Maria didn’t want to bore Maxime she got to the point:
“This cathedral was consecrated in 2014, it is one of the most important places of worship in the entire country and it gives honor also to the Heyrans for fighting alongside our armed forces in the Great War. That means the respect for your nation runs deep in Samantra and to a man of your standing in the Heyran hierarchy we would never have sent a low ranking diplomat to greet you.”
Before Maxime had a chance to answer, she continued:
“Truth be told, what most Samantrans do not realize is that mural features three countries that no longer exist: the Kingdom of Samantra, the Ardian Empire and the Heyran Restoration if I remember correctly your historical name at that time. Those countries have been transformed and just like Samantra and the Ardian Empire changed I guess so did Heyra. We in the secular government are more aware that Heyra of today is no longer that of Great War but quite a few in the Church and many regular Samantrans still see the Heyra of the past and were shocked by Heyra’s recent Human Enhancement Act.”
“Mr. Anginer, now that I explained where we are coming from, let’s get down to business. What can Samantra do to dissuade Heyra from continuing the Human Enhancement Act and other such legislation?”
Maria was pleased to see that Maxime showed respect in the cathedral. Like many Samantrans she was extremely proud of Samantra’s cathedrals and was very careful about such matters.
She listened carefully to what Maxime had to say and resonated with the plight of the Heyran people. She was not very religious despite the public image she projected but as an Orthodox Christian she had a deep connection to the idea of nation and understood why immigration was not an option for Heyra so she didn’t bring that up.
“The President was the best candidate at the time but Gopd has blessed the Samantran nation with many great contenders for the next election which are willing to serve the public interest” her ambition not letting her pass on the opportunity to comment.
Some Samantrans would have felt shame to hear someone speak of such machinations in the house of the Lord but Maria had no such qualms. She knew what politics was about and she did many questionable deals to get where she was without any regret.
“I understand what the Heyran nation is going though and I am sorry for that. I blame it on the Great War which robbed our nations of their future and their place in Mundus” she said bitterly since she had feelings of revanche about the Great War and felt Samantra lost so much of what was rightfully hers because of the war.
“I am not going to enter a religious debate. You seem to be convinced that whatever options you have, all of them are acceptable to God. The Church ”not wanting to offend she added “our Church disagrees and will sanction you for it. The economic sanctions are being drafted as we speak. I know that your government is not worried about them and thinks that you can avoid them but more nations might follow. Heyra already has an adversary in Rokkenjima and their puppet states. Is Heyra prepared to face more economic troubles?” she said knowing how great the rivalry between Heyra and Rokkenjima was. She couldn’t help but picture it as a David vs Goliath struggle when thinking of the two nations.
“I can’t find a solution to your demographic problem. I am sure more qualified experts have tried but nor can we let your actions go without condemnation for they might spread thought Mundus.”
In order to give Maxime some time to think about what to reply, she went and lit a candle for the souls of the dead.
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Maria lit a candle and said in a quiet voice but enough for Maxime to hear: “For the souls of those that perished in the Mhorish Campaign. May God forgive their sins!”
She then continued: “So if there is any chance for this to work, you have to meet me half way. I can’t return to Petrograd empty handed and plead your case to the Church without any sign of good faith from the Republic” she said appearing genuine in wanting to strike a deal. But that was of course mostly because she knew such a deal would help her political career.