Marilsani Negotiations

Drache is the present-day capital of the Kingdom of Arangoth and lies at the mouth of the River Darian, surrounded by the city docks all along the waterfront. Click here for information on the various suburbs and areas of Drache. You can also click here to view a sketched map of the city.
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Marilsani Negotiations

Post by Oblivioncalls »

Alejandra had been summoned to the great hall where she had met with the other ambassadors, as well as Isabelle, though the seating arrangements were a little more intimate since the topics at hand only required a few ears rather than the full gathered masses. She had arrived first, so it was very quiet. As always, the young woman was dressed in Marilsani finest, as was her translator and the two shipwrights that accompanied them. The rest of her entourage remained in their quarters, or doing whatever it was they chose to do. She did not come with the complement of goods that Marilsani offered this time, only some rolled up parchments provided by the shipwrights that attended with her. For the time being, she was her usual girlish self, a little over-excited and taking in the grandeur of the hall while they waited on the Sithire and the representative from the Tyhinn empire.

Whether the girlish nature was a facade, or she was just very good at switching between that and being more business oriented was anyone's guess, but as she demonstrated at the initial meeting, she was far more competent than first glances might have one assume. While they waited, there was some idle chit chat between them, and the enjoyment of a selection of wine that was brought out for them to partake in.
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Re: Marilsani Negotiations

Post by Ayanula »

With the arrival of the Tyhinn delegation to the South, Regent Minister Hydek Tuseell presented himself first as means of informally announcing the ambassador following suit, Sajaad Talaes, without the verbal pageantry of such. As was standard, the Minister seemed modestly dressed for the affair. By contrast, the ambassador herself had on a much more formal garb than she'd usually worn to meetings that involved the Sithire.

That - primarily - stemmed from the advice of Hydek to never grandstand Isabelle in their direct political dealings within Southern Arangoth. But this conference was quite different: there were foreign guests aside from the host country in which they were meeting. Sajaad therefore elected to dawn a red dress with black embroidery. It was a metaphorical choice in both color and representation. The half-elf also dawned a fitted black coat that was cut 3/4ths of the way up to only drape her upper most torso and arms.

With her whitish blonde hair left down, the ambassador offered a half nod to the Marilsani representative with which they were here to receive in Drache. Though the particular calling of this meeting wasn't yet formally established, Hydek had postulated over several topics which may have been at the core.

Still, with Isabelle having been summoned for the same conference was perhaps a hint that there may have been some interest or concern over military operations as they continued in the north.

Sajaad was escorted to her seat by Hydek, who therein took up perch next to her. The soldiers which had escorted them to the building were left outside, as was routine for any of these high diplomatic encounters. Certainly there was no concern among allies for security. Not here.

"Good eve," Sajaad had greeted informally. After all, the Sithire had yet to take up residence among them for this meeting. Thus, she didn't want to get too far ahead of herself in formalities. Instead, she used the spare moment to approve of a glass of red wine to be poured for herself, which she would mostly cradle within her lap for the time being as the delegations awaited the parent host to arrive.
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Re: Marilsani Negotiations

Post by Nymphetamine »

The Sithire of Transdariania was the last to arrive, though shortly after the Tyhinnese delegation. She did not keep them waiting for too much longer, despite being the hostess to these conferences. Through the private rear doors she entered, accompanied by a number of her hand maidens, a scribe with two assistants of his own, and a small handful of advisers. The petite noblewoman was dressed in sumptuous gold with black dragons capering around the hems of the skirt and sleeves. The dress fit to her narrow waist and hugged her torso and arms before spilling into a generous skirt and sleeves. She wore a coronet of gold with black diamonds and obsidian and matching droplet earrings. Auxerre took her place on the waiting seat, an ornately carved chair with a black cushion. The rest of her retinue went about their assigned tasks. The scribe and his assistants set up at a small, out of the way desk that was in range to hear their conversation. The hand maidens went about preparing the refreshments of local wine and wonderful little finger foods featuring fresh seafood and lamb. She folded her hands into her lap and decorated her lovely doll like features with a polite smile.

"Ambassadors, it's so good of you to come today." There was a moment of pause so they could offer whatever pleasantries they wanted. "Shall we begin?"
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Re: Marilsani Negotiations

Post by Oblivioncalls »

"Marilsan welcomes you, Your Grace," Alejandra said as she and the two shipwrights rose, offering the bows and curtsies as necessary. They only sat themselves once Isabelle had settled in, and the shipwrights waited until Alejandra sat. She quietly organized the paperwork in front of her, slipping it just off to one side to make room for the local delicacies and wine that was being brought out. She knew she had saved her appetite wisely, it wouldn't do to not eat what was likely to be offered, and this meeting could last some time if they couldn't see eye to eye. The shipwrights looked a little lost with the negotiations, having never been to anything of the sort. Of course, they had been requested by Isabelle, and Marilsan was happy to provide them for this, what could be a very momentous occasion for the entire country.

The girlish facade washed away almost instantaneously. She was still polite, with a smile that could very well light up a room, but the overzealous and bubbly personality was replaced by one that was all business. Alejandra knew when she could be full of wonder and when she had to present the best possible face to ensure Marilsan would be taken seriously. She waited until pleasantries were done and they were firmly prepared for business before speaking again.

"If it is all right with you, Your Grace, we would like to start proceedings with you, as you had some interest in Marilsani ships. We brought some schematics of the newest vessels we have been building, if you would like to look them over." She placed a hand over a small stack of papers, ready to offer them to the Sithire if she wished, although should the Tyhinnese delegation want an opportunity to see them, she was not opposed to this.
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Re: Marilsani Negotiations

Post by Ayanula »

Indeed, pleasantries were exchanged a typical fashion before Alejandra had gone straight into pulling out blueprints for ships and handing them over for the Sithire's people to begin inspecting. Sajaad was impatient at heart, but had been thoroughly conditioned through political dealings for years to simply sit back and allow talks to progress at their own pace until relevance came full circle. However, without context, the Tyhinn ambassador traded a rather subtle look with her Resident Minister, Hydek. It drew curiosity towards their presence here.

Though there was always a desire set deep within her political advisor to gather any and all intelligence he could, the man did not insist in any way of trying to glance at the plans directly. Instead, he remained properly postured in his chair. Eyes did capture what they could through a mere glance, but aside from possibly seeing that there were indeed ships depicted on the papers forked over to the Sithire, there really wasn't much to catalogue.

Meanwhile, Sajaad had plucked her wine glass from her lap and ingested a brief sip from it as they sat back patiently, listening between the two parties gathered among them.
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Re: Marilsani Negotiations

Post by Nymphetamine »

The noblewoman had no head for the matters of shipwrights and the navy. Just as well that the Lord Admiral, Anskar ul-Sangrith Daranek, and his aides had been invited to attend the negotiations, if only to vet the designs presented by the Marilsani delegation. The blueprints and paperwork were passed along to the appropriate people. Throughout all of this, the Sithire's polite mask never faltered. While she might have wished to be anywhere else but here, her expression and body language did not betray her. She was known for her consummate political mien and she relied heavily upon it in moments like these.

"Thank you, Ambassador," she said as the designs were offered to the naval commander and his people. Whatever was decided at the table this afternoon were likely to shape the future of the Drachean navy to come. It would be of no surprise that Transdariania was interested in weaning its reliance upon the Pentlanders in matters of the sea. This was only the start of such moving away. "Perhaps the matters of ships might wait until we have concluded business with our esteemed Tyhinnese guests?" The suggestion came perhaps for a number of reasons. What Transdariania needed or wanted in matters of naval business were of little interest to the Tyhinn Empire, so long as their sovereignty of the northern seas remained solidified. Or so the Drachean assumptions went.

Auxerre accepted a glass of Sresar red wine and a small plate of crab cakes, the latter of which she ate sparingly with a golden fork when the mood struck her. The rest of her delegation took their own beverages and sampled the viands offered, though the Lord Admiral notably abstained while the blueprints were out. A tiny morsel was lifted to her scarlet lips and daintily taken from the fork. She chewed and washed it down with a sip of wine before continuing.

"Transdariania's interests lie with facilitating a dialogue between our northern friends." If there was curiosity about Marilsan's need to come all the way to Drache to speak to its neighbour, it was not openly evident upon her pale features. She kept such thoughts to herself and hoped there would be an opening at some point in the future to learn the reasons why. Glancing towards the navy's representatives, still pouring heedlessly over the designs to the left hand side of the Sithire, she cleared her throat. It took Lord Admiral Daranek a few moments and a nudge from one of his assistants to realize that Her Grace's attention was pointedly fixed on him.

"Begging your pardon, Your Grace," he said with hurried words as he straightened in his seat. Daranek offered no excuses for his behaviour, though his gaze kept flitting back to the designs before him.

The Sithire only smiled faintly and turned her attention back to Alejandra, expression colouring with mild apology. "If you'll allow your shipwrights to speak privately with Lord Admiral Daranek while we continue our discussions, Ambassador?" They could speak of technical matters that would only bore the rest of the negotiations. Auxerre had faith in her admiral to remain cogent of the propriety of his office. He would seek no promises from those not in power to give them.
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Re: Marilsani Negotiations

Post by Oblivioncalls »

"Of course, your Grace. My apologies. I only wished to give ample time for your people to look them over while we discussed other things." Alejandra smiled politely, perhaps a little apologetically, but kept her composure nonetheless. She paused to take a sip of wine, waving the shipwrights off to follow the lord admiral where he would decide to take them for further discussion. After a few whispers back and forth with her translator, she turned slightly in her seat to regard the Tyhinnese ambassador.

"Marilsan is interested in building new friendships in the region, as well as expanding our trade. Your new canal would be of great benefit to us in that respect, so we are hoping we can come to some agreement that will benefit us both. We have much to offer, but do not know what it is that might most interest, or benefit you." She left a very open ended offer on the table. The canal would help Marilsan greatly, and they were quite willing to make a grand offer if necessary.

She was relaxed, evident in her posture. The wine came to her lips for a sip as she waited patiently for the ambassador to mull things over.
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Re: Marilsani Negotiations

Post by Ayanula »

Hydek seemed to smirk at the Sithire's remarks on handling naval business behind closed doors. Whatever their business was before regarding the blueprints - whether or not it truly interested the Tyhinns or not - he found it now much more intriguing. But alas, this was billed as a diplomatic encounter and his focus needed to remain squarely on what was being thrust onto the table.

By contrast, Sajaad seemed much more plugged into the involvement of the Tyhinns in a three-way meeting. Turning from the Sithire to Alejandra, the half-elf would raise her eyebrows a bit. "I suppose I find it curious that you forge a meeting with our mutual political ally, but without incentives or specifics towards negotiating a bondage between our northern states. In that rite, I would counterpoise you with the question of: Why do you feel that our nations should seek a marriage in any sort of trade deal - assuming that is where this is going?"

Sajaad sat up a little straighter and cocked her head to a marginal degree. "Apart from our regional proximity, our exports almost mirror one another. We mine the same mountain chain for ore. We're both naval powers. So when I think of what Marilsan has to offer the empire, I can only conjure one concept: Security. While our land-based allies provide more than adequate coverage along the canal, we find a growing problem has emerged from our orcish neighbors to the south.

"It's no secret that the Empire has sought to contain Zul Kiras politically and geographically. Several borders have been heavily sealed. However, we find that there are unknown sources going in and out of the territories of the United Clans through maritime means. Smugglers - of whom we can suspect but cannot properly link - have plagued our efforts at trying to enforce any kind of embargo or blockade to thwart their growth and ability to threaten the canal. As such, our current outreach is not of what our allies can provide economically to us, but how they can assist our efforts in solidifying security for a major naval artery in Veth.

"Marilsan has a powerful armada at their disposal. We've experienced near-miss blunders in the past within the Inland Sea. So for us to join in a formal diplomatic alliance - which would benefit your export and trade ventures exponentially with unrestricted or taxed movement through the canal - then I would repose my question as such: Would Marilsan truly be willing to risk taking a step across the line of geopolitical containment of another nation in order or forge an economically beneficial alliance?"

The Ambassador ended her proposal with a much needed sip of the red wine she'd been cradling. Indeed, she was one for a wordy dialogue, but it often left her depleted by the end of it.
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Re: Marilsani Negotiations

Post by Oblivioncalls »

After a few moments going back and forth with her translator, Alejandra runs her fingertip along the rim of her glass, but without making the obnoxious noise. She contemplates her fellow ambassador's words, mulling them over and forging a response.

"Her Grace made this opportunity possible, having agreed to host us and mediate the talks between our two nations. It is precisely our similarities why Marilsan comes into this open-ended. And though we had hoped the Armada would not be part of dealings, we also knew this would be a possibility. In order for us to agree to such, we only ask for one minor addition, along with access to the canal. It is no secret that Marilsan has fought hard to get where we are now. We will dedicate naval forces to an allied presence in the Inland Sea to help fully secure our southern borders, if you will come to our aid should our former conquerors come knocking again?"

Alejandra paused, mulling some things over, and she dipped into one of the offerings at the table to tuck a morsel into her mouth, chewing quietly. She washed that down with a sip of wine and left the glass for a refill before she spoke again,

"Marilsan has little love for those who seek to conquer and plunder, Zul Kiras has always been such. If this small addendum is acceptable, we can send word to our Almirante and let them handle that business."
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Re: Marilsani Negotiations

Post by Ayanula »

Sajaad smirked a bit at the acceptance of their deal thus far, but delayed in a tactic known among diplomats as she took a long sip of her wine again. The Ambassador would gently cradle the glass along her lap as she again re-positioned herself within her chair.

"Agreed then under one condition: That it not interfere with our current obligations in land-based military operations. We have allotted a number of resources to the southern border. While we have reserves, they are not much. So as long as current conditions do not require much of our military assets be anchored in support of our mutual ally's needs, I promise that we can offer any and all support of what your nation needs militarily. With that said, access to the canal being unadulterated may be renegotiated if sustained efforts occupy or reposition our elements for a sustained period of time. Consider it a sort of tax - but to be negotiated primarily on asset allocation through all of this. If we do not require your naval forces to engage much or rely on your intelligence for reporting on who is infiltrating into Zul Kiras, then obviously the tides will turn in favor of renegotiating the terms of this deal. And vice versa, if your forces do offer more help than is initially established, we shall be in debt with additional concentrations on your homeland as a means of support.

"I hope that makes sense; that this is a continual and open-ended deal. And of course, since you involved our southern allies, we will have to rope them into any and all allocations and talks of regrouping out forces from their current support role among the northern borders of Zul Kiras."

The Ambassador finally drained her glass as she took another ambitious swig of her red wine. However, she did not request another. Rather, the diplomat elected to gauge her counter-part's reaction and retort before proceeding.
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