The Empire & The Celts

[Aosta]

To:- His Majesty King Finley of Ui Cenneslaig

Since the death of Emperor Franco Tornincasa III it has fallen to myself and my brother to take care of the Empire for his son and new Emperor Fanco Tornincasa IV. The two year old Emperor is some way off fully inheriting the reigns to the Empire but as regents we have agreed that it is now our duty to ensure the Empire he finally leads is in a much stronger position internationally than the one our brother left. With this in mind I would be excited to meet with you and flesh out the beginnings of a strong relationship focused on co-operation across the Alucard and methods of improving trade. I hope that you would therefore permit me to come and visit you in Claith at your earliest opportunity.

Best Regards

Princess Brigida Tornincasa
Regent of the Empire of Aosta

[KrisNord]

OOC- SOrry missed this. Assume this is a fancy reply saying "Sure come on over" and I'll turn it into a fancy arrival thing tonight UK time.

[KrisNord]

The city of Auchallater was famous for three things, the first was its pretty coastal nature that attracted day trippers from the hillsides around it. The second reason for its fame was it's McCulloch's Folley a pointless stone construction surrounding a pretty garden made by Duke Thomas McCulloch in the late 1800's simply to provide work for the local dock workers during the winter. The final reason was that Auchallater was well known by the Cenneg ws that it was the smallest city in the Kingdom. At just 25,000 people it was only a city by the fact that in the 1600's a King of Ui Cenneslaig had married a woman from the fishing port and in return granted it a royal charter. It did mean though that every now and again King Finley would visit the city for formal occasions. One thing it had never experienced though was a State visit. Today Finley was looking forward to welcoming those from the Empire of Aosta to the seaside charms.

Despite the cities small state it did infact have an airbase not too far up the road and that was the Aostan delegation would fly into before being brought down to the seafront where the King had taken over the Lairds house for the morning and was standing outside watched by the gathering locals to welcome his guests.

[Aosta]

The Princess was not sure what to make of the fact the meeting wasn't happening in the Cenneg capital. On the one hand it could be that the Cenneg's had traditions about meeting new people while on the other it was that they didn't for some reason feel it was right to have the Empire permitted into their capital. It would be hard to tell and the Empire was keen to seek out relations with nations of substance. As one of the larger nations on Mundus the Cenneg had significant appeal, add to that they were friends with Lodja and East Moreland it would begin to be the basis of a solid foundation of international networking. It was something that would become clearer as the meeting progressed and Brigida was hopeful of it going well. As they arrived the Princess was even less impressed, no airport but a small air base in the middle of nowhere. She did her best though to hide things as she meet the King face to face. "Your Majesty. Its a pleasure to meet you."

[KrisNord]

As ever Finley saw his duty today more as a host than a diplomat. If the Aostan's were having a visit to the Cenneg then the fact they left thinking they had been welcomed was more important to him than any agreement they may reach. "Your Highness" despite technicalities saying he was of a higher rank and status Finley was also a genial host and so gave a slight bow as he greeted her. "Welcome to the gem of Ui Cenneslaig." He knew a reasonable crowd had gathered around the Lairds house entrance and so was hoping to put praise upon Auchallater which was a city he liked. It had none of the over the top grandness of many cities and its life here seemed simple. "Please come inside" the House was surrounded a walled garden which gave a sense of privacy and did some to keep of the brisk autumnal wind out that was coming from the sea. The King wasn't dressed for a regular state event either of course the kilt and spooron were being worn but instead of a smart suit jacket there was just a heavy duty white knitted sweater and a red checked shirt underneath. "I'm grateful that the Laird allowed me to use his house." The King accompanied the Princess into the dark grey stone three story building. Inside the house was simply furnished with old heavy duty oak furniture but attached to the back of the old building was a beautiful glass construction, the metal work inlaid with silver patterns. The Orangery had been erected in the early 1800's as the then Laird of Auchallater had developed an interest in growing plants from a warmer climate. Now though it was a comfortable lounge that gave a view up the steep hillside to the old ridiculous tower. The King had arranged for refreshment to be on the table and now offered the Princess a seat on a rather plush and deep sofa facing the hillside to give her the view. He waited for her to sit and then took up opposite her. "Now Princess I am excited to meet someone from your Empire finally. For a long time we've sat on opposite sides of the Alucard staring at each other." he poured drinks helping himself to a small whisky. "You talked about co-operation in your letter to us. That's not something we're against at all. I'm always happy to try and work with any nation willing to be a good and honest friend. So is there anywhere in particular that you see co-operation beginning?"

[Aosta]

The Princess began to muster her thoughts. "In terms of co-operation I know you are a partner of several nations across Mundus, the CNN and TUNA being bodies we admire. We however would struggle to bring ourselves to join TUNA as we while we meet the criteria we do not like how in some manners it is rather prescriptive. What I would like to see us reach an agreement on is cross Alucard trade. We are both nations with significant populations and a large settlement on our Alucard coast. We've recently done a deal that would allow an allocated port to be a place of entry for goods tariff free with Lodja and if possible I'd like to put in place something similar with yourself. I think you would find this significant for youself as obviously our nation spans Albion and would act as a useful conduit for goods into other regions of Albion rather easily. I think additionally we should look at perhaps some joint security in the Alucard. We've seen a global increase in human trafficking and those involved are utilising the Mhorish significantly, we both between us have a very active prescence in the Alucard which obviously funnels into the Mhroish, we could do our bit to ensure this practice is limited. I'd also like to seek your advice on an approach to the Iwi. It is no secret among my family that we are considering a move towards applying for the CNN and as such our foreign policy has targeted those nations. In recent months I've concluded trade deals with East Moreland, my brother secured agreements with Lodja and I hope that we can make deals here. That would leave us with 3/4 of the CNN as partners of some variety. I would then hope that perhaps we could find a friendship with the Maori and if these go well perhaps we would apply for the organisation you created. Obviously this is a two way deal you have to like us and we have to like you, the Maori would be I hope the last piece in the jigsaw but I am well aware they have what I will call unique cultural attitudes to diplomatic meetings." She hoped King Finley hadn't misunderstood what she was suggesting as she awaited his response.

[KrisNord]

Finley was surprised in what he had just heard. "The CNN" the King said. "Well we have not attempted to grow the organisation and we have not discussed such a thing. I though know there is no chance of getting in without the support from each of us, not a majority. If you already have East Moreland, Lodja in the bag in a way then you seem to be halfway there. While as things are for now we would neither support your membership but wouldn't oppose it either. I'd simply wait for you to persuade me it was a good idea. The thing though today is we do not discuss joining the CNN we discuss things between us and that is a much different discussion." Finley hoped he hadn't sounded that rude. "Now down to our business today. We would be open to some kind of trade deal similar to what you have with Lodja. We would require though it to maintain some tariffs to comply with our relationship with the CNN. We could however make this as little as possible. Some kind of deal saying that raw materials and manufactured goods can pass through a single designated port with tariffs reduced to that equal to the lowest tariffs of a non CNN nation. That would still allow cheaper trade. Additionally if we nominate certain ports we can maybe come to an arrangement that priority is given in that. I know this may not be exactly what you want but its a start."

[Aosta]

Princess Brigida was pleased that King Finley didn't rule out the nations ambition of joining the CNN down the line. She was confident enough that once she left the tiny village they would only need to build a friendship with the Maori. The offer Finley had put forward was not a bad one but she wanted to not have everything going through one port. So far they'd got a rail bridge with the Lodjains and if they could now open up a new route between those two CNN nations that could only be a positive for their potential membership bid.

"What I propose then is that our city of Alcuda on the East coast of our nation acts as a port of entry. Any raw materials and unprocessed items that land there from Ui cenneslag will be allowed to enter Aosta with no tariffs, on the condition that it conforms to our regulations, so for example we wouldn't allow you to send in say beef unless the cows standard of care is to a certain standard. It must also remain with in our borders, I think though we could perhaps down the line look at some agreement where goods crossing our border to Lodja could be exempt from tariffs too. Should something then move into say Marseilles we would then charge tariffs. I think then we should look at a lowering process on manufactured goods over the next five years aiming to ensure our goods entering Ui Cenneslaig have tariffs as low as any nation exempting your CNN buddies. This is something we are happy to support and think would work. We would though require details about which port you would open for us and some details about it's size and access to the rest of your nation."

[KrisNord]

Finely liked the sound of what he was being presented however he did have some questions. "We would be happy to have Claith open up in such a manner. Full removal of tariffs though is probably not going to happen overnight. I would though be open to gradual reductions. In terms of our major port it would be Claith which deals with a huge amount of trade between our nation and the world. It is capable of handling vast amounts of ships and is I suspect one of the largest ports in West Ardia if not the whole of the continent making it an attractive prospect for you then getting goods into other nations. Its also a city of significant size making it a tempting prospect in its own right. We would though require certain checks to be carried out to ensure that goods meet rules and origin requirements."

[Aosta]

"That seems a perfectly fine arrangement. Perhaps this should be put into place then"

It is agreed that on this date ??/??/? that the Empire of Aosta and the Kingdom of Ui Cenneslaig shall put in place the following arrangements between each other as soon as feasibly possible.

1. Each nation shall designate a port as a "Reduced Duty Port of Entry" (RDPE)

2. Each RDPE shall allow goods from the other nation to enter with any tariffs reduced to an agreed figure.

3. Goods entering a RDPE must be accompanied by a certificate of compliance with local Health and Safety laws governing that product.

4. Goods entering a RDPE must be accompanied by a certificate of origin that shows that at least 75% of all components originate within the producing nation.

5. Once they have entered through a RDPE the goods will only have tariffs charged at the usual rate if they do not remain within the nation.

6. Any goods or materials that enter the nation through a RDPE and then return to their country of origin will not be charged additional tariffs.

7. An individual may enter the other nation for a period of no longer than 21 days so long as the following conditions are complied with

a) They have a pre-booked return ticket that is booked at least three weeks before departure.
b) They have not spent more than 60 days in the other nation within a calendar year.
c) They have a passport which will still be valid for six months after their arrival.
d) They have sufficient funds to cover their duration of stay
e) They have no criminal record
f) They are not deemed a threat to nation security.

8. Both nations agree to work together towards further co-operation in the future. To achieve this there shall be an annual meeting between the two nations Foreign Ministers on the anniversary of this agreement.

"How does this look?"

[KrisNord]

King Finley examined the Aostan document carefully and was pretty happy with it. With Aosta telling him they hoped one day to embark on membership of the CNN that would bring things even closer together for now the document in front of him was good enough as a starting point. "Very good as far as I'm concerned" Finley replied. "If you're happy to sign this then so am I. I'd then like to pick your brains on a few matters. The first being your recognition of TUNA's arrangement regarding the Water Nomads, the second being the ongoing situation in Lodja regarding Queen Klara. First though lets get this document out of the way.

[Aosta]

"Well let us sign this." Princess Brigida removed a pen from the briefcase and quickly scrawled her name under the document before passing both the paper and the pen to King Finley. She then turned her attention to his concerns about wider Mundus.

"Now in regard with the Water Nomads they are one of the reasons why we are not so interested in TUNA at the moment. They are a group whose culture is very alien to us and the way things stand we would have no plans to give them a fast track to being citizens of the Empire. They so far haven't troubled our waters and we don't really have the same island interaction as Lodja. We have though seen the TUNA approach and I think it a fair one at the moment so we wouldn't interfere with TUNA's policy if that is wha you are asking."

The Princess next turned her attention to the Klara situation. "Lodja are generally good neighbours but we would be happier knowing exactly what the Queen is up to and where she is. At the moment she seems rather irrational however we do not have any issues at present. As you're in the CNN perhaps you can explain what you want to know in terms of the situation."

[KrisNord]

Finley had been hoping to have the Aostains perhaps accept some Water Nomads. Things at the moment had not seen many people move from the group seek citizenship in any of the TUNA nations. Finley suspected though that at some point down the line many of them would take up the offer and he didn't really want them all coming to Ui Cenneslaig rather than being spread across as many nations as possible. "I suspect then you'll be too far South to really feel the impact of them. Just as you perhaps get more involved with the CNN and therefore Lodja it could become something you get dragged into. I was just wondering therefore your stance."

"I think that is one of the problems Queen Klara is having at the moment. The burden of running a nation, the hormones of having a child, all the scandals. Its giving her a problem or two. My brother is now their Minister of Defence as I think Queen Klara is looking at weeding out any of the corruption of the past in key positions. One of our concerns is her husband King Leopold making statements to try undermining her."