Ardian Futures Summit

[RobertAgira]

To:- All nations of Ardia

It has come to our attention that while successful regional agencies exist for most continents this has yet to translate into one for Ardia. Perhaps it is because of the wide ranging differences between culture, our regions bloody historical past or sheer geographical size. Either way I believe that it is necessary to discuss the future of our continent and in the failed aftermath of the Trans-Ardian Railway find mutually beneficial projects to bring our continent together.

I therefore would like to invite all nations of Ardia to meet with myself and my government in Edwinstowe to discuss this matter.

Best Regards

Grand Duke Hugo Lascelles.

[Major Jaws]

OFFICIAL LETTER FROM THE PALACE

To the Grand Duke Hugo Lascelles,

Greetings! It is with pleasure that I accept this invite. As you have stated, we have tried to connect this continent’s infrastructure in the past, we have so far failed and it would be a refreshing scenario for something positive to happen between Ardian nations. I would also hope that after the meeting about the future of the continent, we can also have a talk between the future of our two nations.

Truly Yours,

King Lapu

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE OF PARDCLINNIA

To the Grand Duke of Bakkermaya,

His Excellency, President Dominic T. Colbert, would like to accept your invitation. As a bordering nation, we believe that trade between us is something that should be more developed. It is in our best interests to start and keep good relations with our neighbors, therefore, aside for the President, the Secretary of Trade would like to visit this meeting of yours. I hope the best for us and may God bless you.

Yours truly,

Rarry Hoque
Presidential Spokesperson

[Tamed_Untamed]

Greetings, Grand Duke Hugo Lascelles.

It has come to my attention that your invitation has reached us. As a Triarch, I have spoken with my fellows and they have allowed me to say that I shall proceed as per your invitation. I am happy to say this and I hope that we can all find something to believe in after this meeting. I will come as soon as I am able.

Yours,

Triarch  Soa Ustalius

[RobertAgira]

The Grand Ducal Palace or as it was known to the locals "The Knights Abode" was not really to Hugo's taste, it's bright brickwork annoyed him as he believed it would look far more regal and imposing in grey stone.

He waited patiently at the helipad which sat a little way down the hill, those delegates who arrived at the Edwinstowe airport would be greeted by the leader of the Parliament of Swords, the nationwide democratically elected assembly, a mousey looking man called Harry Monkfield. He welcomed them with the traditional parade of soldiers and then bundled them into a helicopter and flew them to the Palace. Hugo Lascelles was waiting patiently. A pair of golf type buggies waited off to one side but he planned on walking up the short but winding road that lead to the yellow side of the Palace where the talks would take place. He was a little nervous about the meeting and had been pleased by the response. One issue would be the involvement of Heyra, not the whole of Barnacle was under Ardia geographically and even then not all the island was under Heyran control, but he would make their involvement the first order of business having tested the waters with the others. The sound of chopper blades sweeping through the air give a hint of the arrival of the first guest.

[Beatrice]

The Ardian Futures Summit

Grand Duke Hugo Lascelles,

The issues which you have brought up in your recent invitation are challenges which the First Empire has attempted to tackle for many years. It was not in the too-distant past that the Ardian Entente existed, bringing a few Ardian powers together in the joint defence of our Continent and its stability. Indeed, prior to the age of chaos which was ushered in by Zachachevania our continent was poised for more expansive cooperative efforts, efforts that I feel can be pursued with a new initiative to bridge the vast divides and bring Ardian nations that much closer. In these interests I am pleased to accept this invitation.

From past efforts to build cross-Ardian institutions the First Empire has a few plans shelved which I shall look forward to proposing to those gathered. May we all move forward in the spirit of cooperation, understanding and a revival of Ardian kinship.

Respectfully yours;


Empress of Rokkenjima
Princess of Littlebrook
Beatrice arrived in Edwinstowe joined by Imperial Councillor for Foreign Affairs Jason Cole. Both bowed as thy approached the Duke, "Grand Duke Lascelles, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Empress Beatrice, to my right is my Councillor for Foreign Affairs, Jason Cole. As we have yet to meet formally I present to you a gift from Rokkenjima," she continued, producing a bottle of Pyrenan Mead. Having seen pictures of the Grand Ducal Palace Beatrice looked to the Duke with a smile.

"The views from the Palace must be amazing," she continued, "much like Pyrena Castle which overlooks the Rokkenjiman capital, Pyrettania. Should you ever desire a visit to Rokkenjima I would be pleased to host you there, why, I can show you the bees and the grounds upon which they live which went into the crafting of this mead," she said with a hint of pride. "May this Summit mark a great success for all Ardian nations."

[Achkaerin]

To Grand Duke Hugo Lascelles

It will be a great pleasure to attend your summit concerning Ardia and the potential for various projects designed to bring the states of the continent closer together. I have attended many of these summits before and have seen the potential and willingness to work together is present but for whatever reason they have failed, however I am an optimist and I look forward to this time realizing the potential in question.

Signed



Xiaoling Tsu
Chief Councillor of Gowu


What was it round three...round four or maybe round five? Xiaoling had lost track of the amount of times this type of summit had happened, she'd seen each failure but also seen a single success story in the West Ardian Forum conceived by Ui Cenneslaig, the others had all in the main been the brain childs of and in some quarters the playthings of Rokkenjima, a point a fair few analysts believed was a contributing factor to the failure's, something Xiaoling herself had been unsure on until the Trans Ardia Railway talks, an agreement had more or less been completely negotiated and ironed out and then Rokkenjima had thrown the equivalent of a hand grenade into the mix, Xiaoling could only hope this time that sort of thing wouldn't happen. It was after all completely in Gowu's interests for this summit to be a success, the more Gowu worked with it's Ardian neighbours the better as far as she was concerned. She'd brought the Home Affairs Councillor Aika Riiko and the Foreign Affairs Councillor Winston Bobble with her, they were two of her most trusted colleagues. The parade of soldiers naturally appealed to Aika given her interest in history, which rather predictably meant that the Gowu delegation spent a little longer than would have otherwise been the case in the company of Monkfield, but they were eventually on their way in the helicopter.

Upon their arrival at the Palace the Gowu trio waited noting the presence of the Rokkenjiman delegation, it was potentially going to be a very awkward and intriguing moment the leader of a nation that followed the Cult of Helus meeting with the Empress of Rokkenjima a woman whose standing in the Cult wasn't good to say the least, Xiaoling only really knew that because her daughter was presently involved in a relationship with a Cultist. She decided to wait until the Duke was finished talking with the Empress before introducing herself and her colleagues.

[KrisNord]

King Finley had little confidence with the Ardian nations, his Taoiseach had come so close to closing the deal on the Ardian Railway only for it to be sidelined at the last minute. There had then been the issue that his nation had to muscle their way in on talks anyway as there seemed to be a split between the East and West of the continent. He had tried to form a smaller organisation, the West Ardian Forum but that had collapsed in short order and the nations in the East seemed determined to not really mix. The King's lack of trust in the prospect was well shown by the fact that he'd sent the Deputy Taoiseach Neasa Quirke on her first solo overseas mission. As to help her along she was accompanied by Queen Cait, Finley's sister who was the monarch of Cantabria. The pair had arrived on the same plane and Neasa was rather excited when she saw the palace, it was very very different to the grey stone palace back in Claith. The Deputy Taoiseach spotted they had arrived after Empress Beatrice and the Chief Councillor of Gowu and took their place in the line to greet their host.

"Grand Duke" Queen Cait approached first stepping in front of Neasa at the last minute. "Thank you for your hospitality" she shook the mans hand. "My brother Finley is kept with other matters, so may I introduce Deputy Taoiseach Quirke." The older woman exhcanged hand shakes with Hugo Lascelles before making the rounds of the others.

[RobertAgira]

Hugo shifted a little nervously as the first of his guests approached, the Empress Beatrice Anselmo of Rokkenjima. It was rather awkward as he knew that for any Ardian organisation to work he'd need both Rokkenjima and Ui Cenneslaig and beside the fact that the two nations didn't particularly get along that smoothly he also had to contend with his own faith. Here was a woman deemed unfit to be a guardian to King David's children, a woman the High Priestess of his faith had effectively said was without honour. He was though a realistic, Beatrice would one day be gone and he hoped that whatever they created would outlast that. He thought of it as being like cleaning a fridge that had been left too long, you hold your nose and get that milk bottle of what was now mould thrown away and then get it back to working order, and that was how he would deal with Beatrice. He picked his words rather carefully.

"Thank you for your kind gift Ma'am" The Duke said as he accepted the mead, "I'm sure that will be enjoyed on a cold night this coming winter and thank you for the offer of showing me Rokkenjima" he said formally with only the hint of a bow. "Mr.Cole" the Duke extended a hand to the man and shook it warmly, "nice to meet you" he added. "As for the views I personally prefer them than looking at the thing, I think whoever choose the colour scheme must have been sadly drunk.....maybe too much mead." He smiled as an aide lead the Rokkenjiman delegation inside to one of the rooms on the top floor where a circular table was set up. Six sword mottifs were laid into the top in a gold colour with tiny shields embossed at the point inbetween.

"Chief Councillor" Hugo smiled and shook the mans hand warmly between two of his own, "A pleasure to have you here, I hope we can achieve what your previous talks haven't, maybe I can learn a little about the issues we've had in the past." He moved round shaking hands with the others, "Please feel free to wander the grounds, explore. The castle itself is often used by our government so most of the people you'll find wandering around will be happy to answer any questions you have about us or our country." He handed them over to a care of another aide who deposited them in the same room as Empress Beatrice having formally announced their arrival to the Rokkenjimas although this probably was unnecessary.

Next up where the Celts, Hugo wondered whether he should leave them in the room with the Rokkenjimans but when he saw the low level of the Cenneg delegate compared to the others he realised the problem they may have. Meanwhile a Queen had arrived so on the otherhand that meant they were probably in with a chance especially it being Finley's sister. He bowed to the Queen as she seemed to take the lead, "Your Majesty a pleasure to meet you" he said before gently shaking her hand, "Ma'am" he gave Neasa a nod of the head before shaking her hand, "Please pass on my best wishes to your King" he added before feeling the fientest spots of rain on the air. "If you'll follow me, we'll get inside before this breaks" he said looking up at the greyening clouds.

As they entered the upstairs room he introduced everyone to each other and than took a seat, "We'll give it a few more minutes see if anyone else arrives. Suddenly a great flash filled the skies and a thunderclap soon after. "I hope this isn't an omen" he chuckled as the sound of heavy rain bounced off the windows. "Please , please take a seat" he motioned to the various places where it was labelled for people to speak. "This is our old Parliament of Swords table" he said, "Legend says it was made in 1167 but I'm not so sure" he ran a hand over its well worn surface. "Each Dukedom had one Knight, they sat where the swords are, and they were permitted four advisors who sat where the shields are. Between them they established our nation. I think it would be nice to see something new established what.....851 years after that creation. So while we wait I'd appreciate some insight, your all more experienced with international organisations than me, what went wrong with the other Ardian attempts?"

[Major Jaws]

King Lapu, in a usual Quintelian fashion, was late again, as he saw that no-one is around the helipad. His flight was far beyond from being described as smooth, as winds gave his private plane heavy turbulence. As he started running up the castle, the rain eventually began to pour, leaving King Lapu wet as he forgot his umbrella. He finally arrived, dripping and shivering, as the unexpected rain almost ruined his suit. The King headed upstairs, wiping himself dry to no avail. “So, where should I sit?” The King asked, still slightly moist. “Also, I’m King Lapu of Quintelia, pleasure to meet you, Grand Duke.” He extended his hands as to have it shaken.
Meanwhile, President Dominic Colbert of Pardclinnia had almost the same luck. His short flight was almost cancelled, although as soon as the skies slightly cleared, he took off. This would be his first international visit, and the president is very anxious, with a handkerchief on one his right hand to absorb the sweat coming out of it. The media has been making lots and lots of speculations and questions about the President’s trip as soon as it was confirmed that the President is going to a meeting. Will this be another failed attempt to make a connected Ardia? Will he and the Quintelian King sign new business deals? Even in social media, the questions and criticisms are non-stop.

His plane finally landed, and after a short helicopter ride, he arrived near the Grand Palace. He observed a man tunning to the Palace, to which he laughed at, before buttoning up a coat and opening his umbrella. He took his time to walk towards theentrance of the Palace, trying not to slip on the slippery masonry. Upon his arrival, he followed the wet footsteps upstairs and saw the clumsy man he saw earlier was King Lapu, probably trying to save himself from emabarrasment. He queitly sat down on one of the chairs with a sword, waiting for something to happen.

[KrisNord]

Queen Cait looked around as Lascelles asked the question, "I'm going to be honest." she took a breath, "We've two nations in Ardia who have clashed, metaphorically speaking, in the past Rokkenjima and Ui Cenneslaig. There is a total lack of trust there and being as influential as they are it takes Ardia with it." It was quiet ironic she was saying this with her being a Cenneg by birth, "Take the formation of the Western Ardian Forum, done mainly because of the cultural splits between the continent, but a slap in the face of Rokkenjima. Then to return the favour Rokkenjima look to build a transcontinental railway and we, I mean Ui Cenneslaig, had to literally force their way into those talks where they along with others had established a solid groundwork before it was pulled out from the beneath their feet by Rokkenjima. The list goes upon and on. This now lends us a chance to end such things." Cait looked at Deputy Taoiseach Neasa Quirke.

"I tend to agree" Neasa continued, "So the fact neither of us are controlling this meeting is probably a good thing. It gives a chance for a neutral view on the future of the continent as a building block. It also means we start at a point Bakkermaya, who have managed to avoid the messes of the past, feel is useful rather than fitting an agenda Rokkenjima or Ui Cenneslaig want to address. My one concern though is the size of Ardia, it will be hard to form an organisation uniting such a geographically large slab of rock as well as one containing so many cultures."

[Beatrice]

"While the past has indeed been filled with division and yes clashes at times I very much view this Summit as a new dawn, an opportunity for us to look back on the past and learn from it. Certainly we have seen sound ideas arise from previous efforts wherever they have taken place, whether under the initiative of Rokkenjima or Ui Cennselaig respectively, and I certainly hope we can each bring the best of those ideas and present them under a new frame work. Ideas such as a Joint Space Institute and initiatives to provide for development projects throughout Ardian states which Rokkenjima has proposed in the past could be considered, as should those ideas put fort by Ui Cennselaig in past endeavours."

"Recognizing that our interests are very much aligned I do apologize for those past actions which placed us on opposite ends; it truly is a tragedy that we could not come together and find a spirit of cooperation. I am thankful that we have an opportunity to mend those differences and work toward the common goals represented by this Summit. While vast, with so many represented here today I feel it is a challenge we should be capable of addressing together."

[Tamed_Untamed]

Triarch  Soa Ustalius was happy to go and see how this summit would go. As Sirinisi was still relatively new, naive and non-involved, she wanted to show to the world that Sirinisi could get on something as important as this summit. Even though she finally got to know that this summit was among the many and that this probably could end in failure or argument among the nations of Ardia, at least, hey, she thought, why not give it a try? At least this shall and will be our first international summit for the sake of Ardia.

So off she went on a private jet and after much travel, arrived at the airport and hired a taxi, not wanting to bother the government of Grand Duke Hugo Lascelles, to get herself to where this summit would take place. She instructed the taxi henceforth to bring her to "The Grand Ducal Palace please! I hope you don't mind, I'll have you covered on the expense. Just get me there please, I hope I'm not going to be late for anything like this."

[RobertAgira]

Hugo rubbed his brow. This was just as messy as it had feared, it seemed not many had high hopes for these talks and what he had heard didn't really fill him with confidence. He took a deep breath. "OK, we seem happy to recognise in the past that things have not worked out because of the way major players have acted towards each other. We need to start off with that idea of nations being actually open to each other as a basis. Now while everyone finds space fascinating I have no doubts its a rich mans play thing. Space exploration is and will continue to take place regardless of what we do here today, take the Cennegs for example without an organisation they have placed a series of observatories not just across Ardia but across Mundus, I believe there is one in Heyra, another in Lodja and one being established in Quintelia. Nations such as ours do not have a space programme, and nor do we intend to start one. The issue I have with our talks focusing around starting an Ardian initiative is we have the Cenneg and Rokkenjiman programmes and their rivalry has caused issues before. This just creates another arena for their competitiveness. We need to focus on ways of us actually becoming a continent of co-operation, not a continent of blasting expensive objects into space." He hoped he had made his point but if as to support it he added one final thought, "If we can't get an organisation of Ardian nations to get a train from Gowu to Claith then perhaps we shouldn't focus on getting to Nergal."

With that little moan out of his system and the Triarch in place he figured they should start. "I think a good place to start should be with establishing a mechanism for diplomacy. I am therefore proposing that we forum an Ardian Assembly. Each of us around this table commits to posting a permanent representative there appointed by their head of state. Should a crisis break out the Assembly can gather and help smooth communication and organisation between us all. Should for example Sirinisi and Quintelia have a disagreement this Assembly would act as arbiters between them. We are currently in the process of moving our Ministry of Education to a new building as so I suggest that we use its former office in Lindale as its base of operations.

[BenOfTheIwi]

The Royal Envoy of the Commonwealth, Tane Sevasi had kept himself to himself. The Maori didn't particularly have much of a connection with the continent with the Ui Cenneslaigian's being the exception. In part they still held the continent responsible for not doing something about the Seleucid occupation but the current thinking back home was that Empires had been the flavour of the day back then. Since 2001 however they'd not done much to rebuild connections with their fellow Ardians. " I support the idea of this Assembly" the cousin of King Piripi began to speak standing up using his walking cane. "Communication has to be the key to any future our continent has and such an office is a good way of ensuring it exists." he wasn't really sure what else they would see as positive in the organisation, after all as he looked around the table there was Heyra, a nation in whom he didn't recognise as being part of their continent and also who were trying to impose themselves on another people on that island in the Mhorish. The Rokkenjimans were an Empire and the "E" word didn't sit easy with the Maori, which brought them to Gowu a representative of another Empire. Then their was King Lapu, the The King of the Empire of Quintelia, another Empire and once more the dirty word. It was only the Celts and Bakkermaya that stopped him feeling completly dirty surrounded by these Empires. " I would like to also see this assembly used to distribute arrest warrants and help smooth over extraditions. I know many of you around this table, and please don't think I'm accusing you, will be harbouring people who were involved in the genocide of our people. We seek to bring them to justice and as such would appreciate any assembly or HQ helping us cut the red tape for bringing these criminals in hiding to justice. So if the Duke would be so kind as to add this to the agenda I would be grateful."

[Achkaerin]

Xiaoling had kept her silence, sitting and observing was always a good way to start anything like this, fortunately at least for the moment it seemed her priorities were shared by some of those present including their host.

"I think what we came here to discuss was how to bring the states of Ardia closer together in the way seen on other continents perhaps most notably Alba Karinya because the AKO is the most obvious example of a continental organisation of some description. I agree with our host and with the representative of the Iwi communication is going to be perhaps the most significant part of whatever we come up with here today, because if we don't talk to each other then we don't know what's going on and subsequently whatever it is we're trying to achieve we fail to achieve because the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. Comunication is therefore the foundation of everything we now consider.

I believe the representative from the Iwi is suggesting some sort of sharing criminal intelligence or an extradition agreement and I think that's a reasonable proposal, after all in the modern world the criminal act can occur in one country with the perpetrator in a whole different country, then there's the matter of fleeing across borders. It's a sensible proposal. Overall what I would suggest we need to be looking at are those things that are in our mutual interests so diplomatic communication, crime measures and deliverance of justice, but also let's consider how we support each other and how we help each other when things get tough for one of us, if we're going to create something here today then that's something I think we need to answer. Ultimately though I think we need to be discussing how the states we sit here representing interact with each other in a variety of different areas."

[KrisNord]

 Neasa Quirke began to speak "We'll support the proposal of a form of assembly, council or whatever you wish to call it. I also feel Bakkermaya is an appropriate place to locate it following the previous issues we've had on the continent, the Bakkermayans (??) have their hands clean so to speak and therefore would seem an impartial host. As for the sharing of criminal intelligence we would also support this, however I suggest a further proposal in this regard. The Iwi have suffered terribly because of the crimes of those from the Seleucid regime. I suggest we set up an organisation with two aims, first to research and investigate the perpetrators of those actions thus helping to bring all those responsible to justice, secondly to help use the genocide of the Iwi as a catalyst for ensuring racism and discrimination do not take place again. Our continent has faced repeated genocides, the Iwi, the one carried out by Toshikawa for which leading members of the Rokkenjiman and Dartfordian government have been put on trial yet nothing is being done on a continental wide basis to stop any further."

[Major Jaws]

"I think the Iwi guy makes sense." President Colbert finally broke his silence. "And for that to be enforced, the best way is to make an intelligence agency for the continent, where the chief of the agency be selected from a nation that needs it the most at the moment, which is the Iwi. Now, the intelligence that would be shared should be limited to whatever's needed at the moment."

King Lapu thought for a while before replying. "Well, that is a good idea. Though I have a question, how would we insure that no sensitive information gets to this agency, and where will we get the necessary agents for this agency?"

[RobertAgira]

It seemed like they were beginning to pick up momentum and Hugo was feeling a little bit more optimistic about where this was going.

"OK so, if I may" he turned on the text to type on his tablet and began to recite what he had scribbled down.

"We, the nations of Ardia, in order to create a more prosperous, safe and united continent agree to the following.

Section 1

1. There shall be an Assembly of Ardia based in Edwinstowe, Bakkermaya. This assembly shall be made up of one voting delegate per nation. Nations may nominate any individual deemed qualified to address the Assembly on their behalf.

2. The Assembly shall meet once a month to discuss issues of importance. Should two nations feel a matter requires immediate review it shall meet within 6 hours of the request being made.

3. The Assembly shall discuss options for solutions to problems facing Ardia and shall vote on recommendations. This process shall include the settling of disputes between Ardian nations, in those cases the nations involved may not vote but may take part in discussions.

Section 2

1. The Ardian Assembly shall also create a criminal intelligence sharing network. Each nation shall appoint one individual to act as a liason.

2. It is expected that nations co-operate with foreign investigations and make intelligence avaliable to other nations so far as.

a) Doing so does not endanger ongoing investigations.
b) Doing so does not endanger national security
c) Doing so does not breach any other international agreement.

3. Nations agree to extradite criminal suspects if they are presented with reasonable evidence and are assured that torture will not be used to extract evidence and that the accused will get a fair trial.

Section 3

1. The Assembly shall establish a network for Genocide Awareness. The aim of this network is to gather information about the genocides Ardia has experienced in order to bring perpetrators to trial and to ensure the memory of victims is kept alive.

2. The Network shall be overseen by an individual voted for by the Assembly. "


With that Hugo finished, "If I may explain that despite President Colbert proposing a Maori takes control of this network I think that may not be the most sensible of moves, I apologise if this sounds out of order but its a matter too close to their heart and my experience is that can cloud judgement. Now I'm not saying a Moari shouldn't head this, but I would rather have the right individual for the job rather than someone picked for their nationality. So I now welcome comments on the draft we've put together or new sections for the charter."

[Achkaerin]

"I broadly agree with much of what is proposed." Xiaoling said, there was one obvious problem for her one that "I have an issue with section 2 article 3, specifically that if I understand it correctly and feel free to tell me I'm wrong then if for example Gowu had a criminal in custody wanted by another nation and that nation shows evidence of crime and makes the said guarantees then I'm then bound by this to extradite that person, now that's ok but when discussing extradition there is another issue that tends to come up and that's whether the person being extradited potentially faces execution if convicted, Gowu is a state that doesn't have the death penalty in its judicial system and generally would ask for assurances in regards to the death penalty, so it would appear unless I'm misreading this that the article creates a bit of a dilemma for me as the leader of that state."

she paused for a moment

"Aside from that, I don't have any issues with what's proposed. I agree with our host that organisations such as the proposed Genocide Awareness Network need to be led by the best person for the job. Also as the Andean Genocide has been mentioned I would recommend that whoever gets that job get in contact with one Lt Commander Dyer of the Achkaerinese navy who's been leading efforts in Nueva Ardia to identify the victims, how they died and things such as that in an attempt to bring about closure, I'm sure the information gathered so far would also be shared with this network."

[RobertAgira]

Hugo took a sip of water looked around and seeing no one else wishing to speak began. "If I may explain the reasoning for the wording the way I presented it and then if still not convinced we shall put to a vote my proposal or the alternative, majority wins out?" he said rhetorically. " First with regards to the death penalty. I believe that if a person is guilty, and the fair trial shall establish that, of a crime and the death penalty is a nations legal punishment then so be it, the person should be deported. I would oppose it if say the method of execution was inhumane and I'd be willing to add a clause on that, however I would see saying what sentences a nation may impose on guilty criminals is interfering in another nations sovereign right to punish criminals. As for the offer of help with this network I'm sure whoever takes control will be grateful for any help."

He next turned his attention to VPFO Therz. "If I may give an example of nations involved, we currently have a dispute between two nations who could be possible members of the organisation. Yourself and Himeyama. You are in dispute over the Mhorish Islands, as such we would investigate, meet with both sides, have a debate, all that kind of thing and then draft a proposal on how we think best to solve the issue. A vote on whether this proposal is to be supported by the organisation would then take place. Now should Heyra and Himeyama for example be allowed to vote they are clearly bias on this matter, also their votes would effectively cancel each other out anyway making their votes irrelevant. Once a proposal has been approved by the majority of the organisation it would be my hope those nations involved would carry it out. What must be remembered however is that we'd have no actual power to enforce it but clearly nations that went against a proposal would suffer diplomatically and in terms of respect." Hugo hoped he'd been clear enough. "Now if no one else has any issues with the charter so far I think we have two votes." He had been tapping away on a tablet and now the projector showed a slide with the following on.

Vote 1

Should nations be able to refuse extradition if the death penalty would be potentially used. YES/NO

Vote 2
Should nations who are the parties in dispute be permitted to vote on proposed resolutions. YES/NO

"So let the voices of Ardia be heard." Hugo concluded as he waited for someone to go first when no one did he began, "On Vote 1 we clearly vote no, on Vote 2 likewise we say no."

[Tamed_Untamed]

Triarch  Soa Ustalius reached the meeting in time. She had to go through some hallways and up some stairs but eventually got to the table and found her own seat despite sweating since she didn't take the convenience of an elevator.

Soa Ustalius was able to hear Hugo speak until he showed the slide for two issues to vote on. Death penalty on extradition and another issue about disputing parties. She chose to speak first and immediately, having given it only just a few thoughts as she had the law and heart of Sirinisi in her mind and body. She said

"I vote yes on Vote 1 and I vote no on Vote 2 on behalf of Sirinisi as a First Triarch. Forgive me if I am a little late but my name is Soa Ustalius. I am one of the three who are leading Sirinisi. Thank you for inviting me on behalf of my country."

[Achkaerin]

Xiaoling, Aika and Winston quickly had a conversation not so much over the first question but more over the second, it was an interesting point but did create possibilities that were somewhat on the unlikable side, the idea that nations that weren't party to the dispute should be the primary arbiters was definitely useful because it ensured a reasonable and neutral position in theory and certainly was a supportable position but this did come down to the definition of 'involved' and how broad it was. If it was just the primary parties then it meant one thing, if it was broader than that it was potential trouble, still they ndded to make a decision.

"Gowu votes yes to the first question and no to the second question." Xiaoling said

[Beatrice]

"Rokkenjima votes yes to the first question, and no to the second," Beatrice said next.

[Major Jaws]

"As the voice of Pardclinnia, I'd vote to say yes on both propositions, and I think it's best for everyone her to vote the same." President Colbert said, waving his hands about; a mannerism he had ever since he was a teen. "As for the Heyran problem, I urge everyone to just give some non-monetary aid as to prevent more conflicts of interests."
"President's right, therefore I'd pledge to donate a small desalination unit for use of everyone there, as well as a team that will help in clearing debris." King Lapu interrupted, much to the annoyance of Pres. Colbert. "Though for the voting, I vote yes on both, even if death penalty is still legal back in Quintelia." King Lapu continued, much to the relief of the President.

[BenOfTheIwi]

Tane Sevasi shook his head rather disappointed at the way the vote was heading. "On behalf of the Commonwealth we vote No on matter 1 and No on matter 2."

[RobertAgira]

With all those present having cast their votes they had the beginnings of a treaty.

Section 1

1. There shall be an Assembly of Ardia based in Edwinstowe, Bakkermaya. This assembly shall be made up of one voting delegate per nation. Nations may nominate any individual deemed qualified to address the Assembly on their behalf.

2. The Assembly shall meet once a month to discuss issues of importance. Should two nations feel a matter requires immediate review it shall meet within 6 hours of the request being made.

3. The Assembly shall discuss options for solutions to problems facing Ardia and shall vote on recommendations. This process shall include the settling of disputes between Ardian nations, in those cases the nations involved may not vote but may take part in discussions.

Section 2

1. The Ardian Assembly shall also create a criminal intelligence sharing network. Each nation shall appoint one individual to act as a liason.

2. It is expected that nations co-operate with foreign investigations and make intelligence avaliable to other nations so far as.

a) Doing so does not endanger ongoing investigations.
b) Doing so does not endanger national security
c) Doing so does not breach any other international agreement.

3. Nations agree to extradite criminal suspects if they are presented with reasonable evidence and are assured that torture will not be used to extract evidence and that the accused will get a fair trial.

4. Nations will be under no obligation to extradite if there is a chance of the accused being executed.

Section 3

1. The Assembly shall establish a network for Genocide Awareness. The aim of this network is to gather information about the genocides Ardia has experienced in order to bring perpetrators to trial and to ensure the memory of victims is kept alive.

2. The Network shall be overseen by an individual voted for by the Assembly.

"Now I have a few other areas I'd like to discuss, streamlining trade, helping people travel and study around the continent and of course security. I'd be open to ideas on any of these or other measures of discussion."

[Major Jaws]

"Ok, that seems reasonable enough for the start of our treaty." King Lapu said as he read the said treaty. "Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about those that aren't here, especially Phuebra." He continued, leaning against his seat. "Sure the insurgents are almost defeated and the current tyrant there might have surrendered, but there is still a large chance that some of them have crossed over to other nations and may continue to try and destabilize our continent, well, the nearby nations to it such as mine and Rokki here."
"Ugh, maybe we can just let the people there try to rebuild their own nation. You had your short mutiny and there was little intervention on your nation and now look at your nation and all the economic miracles." Colbert interrupted like how Lapu interrupted him earlier.
"Maybe you should stop interrupting me. Anyways, I would like to propose for a small paramilitary unit funded by everyone here that will help in peace-keeping and in the criminal intelligence thing as well. Though we have to talk about other protocols about it though. I'm just suggesting it and any comments on it is accepted."

[RobertAgira]

Hugo watched as the two men seemed to bicker. "Lets be clear on something, what your asking is to discuss taking action in a current situation, we can't really do that until we have a formalized organisation. Once that's done I'd be more than happy to discuss what we do about Phuebra or any other issue someone has, but first we need to get this thing off the ground." What concerned him the most was the talk of a paramilitary. "Can I get some clarification on what you mean by a paramilitary group, are you talking a kind of Ardia wide force in continuous use or something specific for Pheubra?" Either way he had some concerns but each different to the other.

[KrisNord]

"I can rule out Cenneg involvement in any permanent multi-national paramilitary organisation"  Deputy Taoiseach Neasa Quirke stated, "Now if Phuebra needs some kind of force to help keep the peace then I am sure we would look a how we can help. We've undertaken a similar role in Royal Seleucid until 2020 at the earliest so we have some experience on these matters. I think though we are putting the cart before the horse, we don't have an organisation yet still we're beginning to discuss specific issues."

[Tamed_Untamed]

Triarch  Soa Ustalius stated that she was all right with all the terms proposed. After that, she gave her own words on the various subjects that the host wanted to discuss

"First, allow me to say that Sirinisi is interested in giving manpower to help keep and make those terms come true. On the other hand, I am very much interested in seeking more trade and freedom of movement. As a nation, we are eager to rediscover our relationships with others and we want to establish better ways to connect with one another. We also want to profit and to share and to of course give our patronage. So we are proposing that Sirinisi be considered not only for a few programs but also for my country to contribute. We have workers and a lot of food to share as well as a growing industry."