Empire of Vornehm
Zeelian Empire
Kingdom of Koravia
Palace of Vornehm, March 15th, 1815The Palace of Vornehm, home to one of the most historic places in all of the Empire, was active in its most usual fashion of maids and servants cleaning what they could. The palace servants were not the only things that were lively, in fact it was the throne room that was filled with life. Emperor Jorg Reiter was busy entertaining an ambassador from Koravia, a mister Willecz. The normally hollow , grey hall was filled with servants who were carting food in an out, entertainers doing their best to keep his majesty and the ambassador.
Sandwiched neatly between the empies of Vornehm and Zeelia, the Koravian Kingdom was a steel hardened nation which had been tested in the mettle of war and diplomacy for over five hundred years. Albert Ganush Willecz came from a family forged in that very flame. The Willecz name was well recognized, fathering the Great Marshal of 1786 fame that defeated a Zello-Vornehm Army. Better still, Albert had managed to sneak around the mandatory military conscription in favor of a less exerting vocation: the foreign ministry. It was by the end of a pen, not the sword, that attributed to Koravian independence. The end of the Catonianic Wars had seen no such changes in foreign policy.
Still, the Vornehm certainly took their time in seeing diplomats--especially from such lowly nations as Koravia. Albert tapped his fingers across the hardened oak table for the third time, watching a pair of Vornehm jugglers finish their routine. "Master Emperor, have you taken notice of the late hour? I must admit, if the Kaiser does not make himself known, I may yet have to retire to my chambers."
"Kaiser Conrad is taking an awful long time to arrive. Perhaps he has been held up? Needless to say the lack of punctuation annoys me." Reiter admitted with a slight sigh coming to him.
"I wonder aloud still, Master Emperor, I know not the reason a representative of Koravia has been hailed here. Surely, we have done no wrong in the eyes of Vornehm or Zeelia alike?"
"You nation has a been a mildly close firend in the eyes of Vornehm thusly matters that involve Zeelia and Vornehm may affect your home. While we may not always send people to keep those relations ripe, we do appreciate the passion of your merchants and artisians. Vornehm may have decent education, but we seem to always lack creativity," Jorg explained.
Suddently horns could be heard from outside the room and the wide gates into the hall opened and entered the Kaiser himself in a simple outfit of red and grey. He was flanked by two of the elite guardsmen and a small band playing the
anthem of Zeelia. All eyes had turned to look at this small gather after the anthem the Kaiser had walked towards the Emperor and bowed most graciously "My apoligizes oh great Emperor of Vornehm, the road to the capital was ever long especially with the lack of infastructure that was so wrongly destroyed by the tyrant Cato and his army. I do hope that you and you guests might forgive me." He said as he continued to kneel before the emperor.
"Not to worry, Kaisar Conrad, now that you are here we can begin our discussions. I hope you do mind that I invited an ambassador from Koravia, a mister Albert Willecz,' the Emporer stated, making gesture to let the Kaisar rise.
Ambassador Willecz made no attempt to stifle a very real yawn. He paused, just long enough to allow Emperor Reiter to greet the Zeelian Kaiser, then stood himself, bowed and offered his own greeting. "Hail, Kaiser Conrad. It warms my heart to see you've finally arrived. I too can understand the difficulties in navigating the road in the destruction wrought by the Tyrant. Given the late hour, I was hoping we could begin our discussion immediately."
As the kaiser rose and nodded "I agree shall we head to your personnal officer emperor Reiter?" before turning back to his envoy and dismissing them.
"Nay, we can discuss here," Reiter stated before standing and announcing to the staff and entertainers, "Leave us to discuss our matters in private." The Emporer sat back down in his throne, watching as the staff left the hall, guards shutting the doors behind them on their way out. "Now what is it that you wish to discuss, Kaiser. Surely, you have come here simply not to indulge youselves in our simple pleasantries."
The kaiser gave a small chuckle before smiling. "Of course not Emperor, while the terrible war has ended the ambitions of nations have nought. Your empire so wrongly betrayed by the Imperial Tsar, and I know myself and my cabinet prayed for your empire and the defeat of Cato yet after Cato defeated the best army so easily, we couldn't have hopped to stand a chance yet I know I can never forgive myself for letting our brothers to the north fall without support from the south." James gave a humble bow before continuing " This is why I propose an alliance" James was cut off by the ambassador almost caught off guard.
"An alliance?" Willecz nearly spat, turning back after watching the guards depart and the doors close behind them. "Vornehm has long maintained the peace in the region not with treaties or bayonets, but rather a steady hand under the guidance of the Old Faith. It belies the region that an alliance between Zeelia and Vornehm might turn that very balance off it's side--enticing the Lavarattian states to turn to one another for aid, or worse--a Kalpo-Civitan pact. An alliance, while helpful to the Zeelian throne, would do well to hurt all outstanding nations in the region."
"But we have all seen how good the Imperial Tsar has done to help maintain this peace," Reiter said in an unamused tone of voice, eying the Kaiser up and down for a few moments of silence. He continued with the same unamused tone, "Mister Willecz is correct though, our peace has been long standing until that damned tyrant had come and those barbarians to the north had betrayed us. How can we be so sure that we will not have any lasting effects on the political nature of the region? After all, the Zeelian army does rival that of Vornehm in size, this will more than likely frighten many other nations."
The kaiser nodded "Allow me to address you ambassador first." He turned towards him - "The old faith maintains honor through battle and politics. Thus is my intention as for the Lavarattian states while they may share themselves culturally they've yet to be reunited in decades and even still many of the northern states hold ties to that of Zeel it is my intention to reclaim these lands and perhaps keep the states in check. As for the Civitans they shan't dare disobey the treat or the empires of old would jump upon them in an instance. I should hope this ends any concerns you have." James turned to the Emperor as his tone has grown much more fierce then when he offered the alliance. " The North indeed betrayed you but not through fault of their own they at the pressing of the educated Aontians pressured their northern brothers to side with the tyrant. I believe however should they get reassurances from a southern neighbor such as yourself you'd be more receptive and less likely to hate or even attack the mighty empire." James then hushed back down giving room for his two counterparts to address him.
"If the Vornehm were as weak minded as to buy such an endeavor, the Koravians would have long turned loose their best snake oil merchants into the Vornehm's heart. The Zeelian Empire's army is bloated. Corrupted. An alliance, as I have bespoke already, would do little than rile the hearts of those which have only just died since the ending of the War. The Tyrant has been defeated, do you wish so soon to become a second one, Kaiser?"
The kaisers face turned from calm to anger "How dare you, I hadn't hoped to even give that inclination. I had merely hoped to strengthen our empires for the betterment of all. For when it takes one commander to bring down an empire respected and based on military we should all be fearful and Zeel can't let that happen again to their northern brothers thus, why I personnally came to offer these ideas and an alliance rather then some nameless diplomat."
"Enough blood has been spilt, Kaiser, enough hate has been seen. Even men with intentions can turn and lash out without being provoked. I have seen this twice. And while yes, I keep the Faith dear to my heart, I cannot let it dictate my actions. Just think of what other nations would see if an alliance between two seats of great power came into play. While I do respect you for coming to me with this matter, this is exactly the reason why I brought an ambassador of Koravia, to have an outsiders view," Reiter stated, not being phased by Conrad's sudden burst of anger. "Tell me, do the both of you see that axe up there?," he said, pointing to a hand-axe above the hall doors. Made of smoothed iron, a firm pine handle keeping it together, blood coating the head of it.
"What of it?" Ambassador Willecz asked. The theatrics were not lost to him, but the overwhelmingly dramatis personae of such events were usually lost in Koravian lore. More the theme tha the story, it was said.
"Yes Emperor, it seems very nice from, your time in battle?" James asked rather curiously
The Emperor looked them both over before going on to tell them of the axe, "That was the axe of my brother, Adolf Reiter. A kind man, a man loyal to seeing peace prosper over the entirety of the Continent. He was my best advisor until the war came to our doorstep. He died thinking that we had won, thinking that he had died to see Vornehm drive away the aggression of the Tyrant and pave the road for peace. He was against ties outside of the Imperial Tsar, thinking politically as well as any man here would. Thus I have to uphold the expectations that he had set for me, an alliance may only corrupt me in my age. You are young, influenced easily and acting on impulse rather thought, you have not truly seen the devastation of war and I hope you will never have to. Thus, I will have to decline your invitation to an alliance as of now. I am sorry."
Satisfied, the Ambassador of Koravia offered his thoughts and prayers to the Kaiser and Emperor respectively and retired to his room. Koravia lived to fight another day.
As the ambassador left the kasier nodded "You say I am young and that I have yet to see war, yet if I must confess; I joined Titus Cato on a few missions many of the times I rejected but under threat had the occasional war. Each time his victories were nearly flawless no matter the skill of the men or the size of the army. He had the hearts and the minds of his men and people which is why he was victorious. Thus I must do what I can for my people with or without the help of our northern brothers. Should you decide to change your mind the offer is always open and you are welcome at my court any time." The Kaiser nodded before retiring to his room as well.
"Thank you for your time, Kaiser," those were the parting words of the Vornehm Emporer. There he remained, sitting on his throne with the discussion still buzzing through his mind. The man stood before going to retire with his wife, already asleep while he would lay awake in thought. What would come of all this?
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