Abbas listened to Maxime as he presented his arguments. To Maxime it seemed that everything revolved around contracts or treaties. If something wasn't written there then it didn't exist. Everything war purely transactional. That was totally opposed to how Tamorans did business which was based on trust. Even Abbas when he met with the King of Royal Seleucid and agreed on something, they didn't need to sign anything. With Maxime, or better said with the Heyran Consortium which represented "the Heyran republic alongside private interests", anything that wasn't in a treaty wasn't an obligation to them. While Abbas didn't like that he figured that was the reason you could work with Heyra (or was it the Heyran Consortium) since they would work with anyone as long as you can agree on a contract and once a contract is signed they seems reluctant to break. Of course contract can easily be weaponised Abbas thought, you could easily miss to put a clause and once you sign it you can be at a great disadvantage.
"I understand your perspective" said Abbas. "Also rest assured our conversation will remain confidential. It isn't just that we are discrete, it's also that we have little reason to share things with outsiders.".
"In order for it to work, as I said, we need to take into consideration religion. So let me propose the following articles" as he said that Azita handed over to Maxime the tablet with the proposed articles. One would wonder how did Azita know what the Emperor intended to suggest:
"The Heyran Conglomerate, acknowledging the importance of religion present in the Empire of Tamora, will give free of charge 10 ha of land in Elysium to the Manist Church for the construction of a temple complex. The location of the set land will chosen by the Church. Furthermore, the Heyran will fund the construction of the said temple complex up 150 million dinars/USD. The Manist Church will have full liberty in terms of construction on the 10 ha mentioned and the Heyran Consortium agrees to exempt the temple complex from any zoning laws of any other construction regulations. "
"The Heyran Congromerate agrees to preserve tombs, archeological sites and any artifacts discovered during construction in Elysium and return them to the Manist Church free of charge. Where said archeological sites impede vital construction projects, the Heyran Consortium will need approval from the Empire of Tamora before altering them in any way."
"The Heyran Consortium takes note of the importance of religion in the Empire of Tamora and agrees to consult with the Empire to provide specific legislation to Elysium that takes into consideration the religion, tradition and customs of Tamora. While the Heyran Conglomerate agrees to consult the Empire of Tamora on the issues presented above, it is under no obligation to implement any of suggestion from the Empire of Tamora"
Abbas looked at Maxime before continuing without even bother to check what Azita wrote on the tablet. It seemed he has complete trust in her.
"The first two articles are the ... what word should I use? Let's say "price" to make it this project work. The Tamoran people would not accept such a deal without some guarantees that this isn't just a simple real estate transaction or a way for them to give up their tradition." By that Abbas meant slavery.
The third article, which, as you can see, implies no obligation from the Heyran Consortium other than to listen to our concerns, is aimed at the long term. Let me be frank and tell you what I aim with it. I hope that if the project is successful it will continue indefinitely, not just for a hundred years. And I want for Elysium to be an autonomous region within the Heyran Republic. I emphasize this, under the Heyran Republic. Now what does autonomous region mean and what legislation should the Heyra Republic pass is, in my opinion, much too early to consider and we will need to discuss it as the need arises. However, as Elysium grows, and Tamora will make it grow if the Heyran Republic respects our religious ..."sensibilities", a dialogue will take place between Heyra and Tamora on the future of Elysium. While Heyra in under no obligation to listen and adopt legislation that gives Elysium autonomy, if it does choose to listen then when the 100 years deadline expires it will be renewed without any need of negations or friction. Or if Heyra decides that Elysium is very successful early on and wants to make Tamora an offer of autonomy in exchange for having the one hundred years period extended indefinitely way before deadline, it would also have that opportunity.
While the first two articles are a must I'm afraid, the third is optional. But if you or better said if your client agrees to it, then we will take it as a sign you see this project as a long term investment, an indefinite one. We will see it that you are prepared to work with us and understand our religious needs. In return Tamora will do its best to make it work. Not just give our consent for the project but actively support it.
Your client wants to see Elysium profitable and rich, we seek to make sure it respects our religion needs and remains a place where people are free to practice their faith. While those goals might create friction at times, with dialogue I believe a compromise can always be reached.
So tell me Mr. Anginer, what do you think?"
