Newport, Aventia
No news had reached the colonists of Aventia since they set foot on the continent, the skirmish between the Republi and the conciliate was unknown to them as was the escalation of the situation in Dont. It was simultaneously worrying and relatively peaceful. Palisades had gone up and homes had been built but apart from immediate freshwater and food supplies nothing had been explored. The colonists were too few in number to spare the manpower and too afraid of the possible dangers of the interior to explore it. After seeing to their supply and to their security, rudimentary port facilities were constructed to better reception future colonists. With this done the citizens of Newport could finally look to exploration and expansion but as soon as the explorers had readied steadied their nerves and loaded their mules, sails appeared on the horizon including one huge ship with black sails bearing a red star. The colour of the Church of Altaiya and the star of the inquisition. Some of even the bravest colonists paled, whilst the wiser ones thought of returning to their homes to refresh themselves on the texts of Altaiya and the oaths of piety. Back in Aznavor it was a relatively simple affair to avoid the church if you so wished as the country was large and roads existed aplenty yet the citizens of Newport imagined that in the new world the Inquisitor that was on board would be very hard to avoid. With this in mind the explorers elected to set off into the unknown rather than face the scrutiny of the inquisition for their inefficiency. If there was one sin Altaiya despised and Nogaret fed off it was inefficiency and the inquisition would make it their work to root out those who were not set to their task during the hours that Altaiya blessed the earth with its Light. When the ships docked in Newport several hours later Master Klaus disembarked escorted by a dozen the knights of the flame an old order of holy warriors who were knights only in name as they bore the most modern weapons the Church could afford them.
Klaus placed one foot atop the town well’s stone ring and addressed the nervous crowd.
“The Church has learned that some of you sought passage to this new world in order to abandon nthe faith, to return to the pagan ways of the past, to relapse into sin and anarch. But let me tell you now, this will not happen! Altaiya has seen that the sun rises in these lands and as such you will be ever closer to its gaze therefore his Holiness Patriarch Karl has dispatched me to oversee the construction of a High Temple here in Newport as well as to ensure the diligence and zeal of its people. I do not wish to be the man to bring Altaiya’s purifying flames to the New World but let me tell you that I have been granted the authority to do so and to root out heresy by any means possible. Now return to your tasks and serve Altaiya through your faith and your labour and rest well tonight for tomorrow you begin work on the High Temple. I will now seek out your governor and place myself at his disposition as a loyal servant of the King’s authority”.
As the inquisitor sharply turned and left the citizens of Newport understood that the governor was likely as worried as they were and the last few words of Master Klaus were meaningless as he would command almost as much authority here as the governor of Newport. In the coming weeks many and more would follow the first batch of explorers to serve as settlers further west to escape the clutches of the Church.
Oceanrock King Council-a week later
The tension was gone, since Master Klaus had left for the new world weeks ago the nobles of the Kings council felt freer to laugh, be jovial and honest between one another. Even the King recently returned from Ironfort felt happier. There were still many tasks to be done but now they could be done without the menace of a prince of the Church among them.
“Philip” began a count Permitting himself to address the King by his first name without a title, an informality which the king chuckled at but would not have been permitted had Klaus still been sitting among the council. “Let us raise a toast to the new world and our brave colonists. May they bring wealth to Aznavor and may they take from us more priests.“
“John you rogue, surely you don’t wish the inquisition on anyone” there was a noticeable silence in the room. It had been decades since the last inquisition but men thought of the stories of past inquisitions their by the bodies that had been fed to Altaiya’s will. “But I agree it’s a good trade-off cash for clerics. Maybe we can proceed with business now though. First on the agenda is a reply from Duke Kollin of the southern Alliance about the situation in Dont. From what my agents tell me of Martins travels, they sound like a people who will be glad that our priests are heading to Aventia.” The whole court chuckled at Martin’s expense like a group of young boys who had seen one of their classmates corrected by their tutor as Martin of Misthall turned brighter than a beet. “Duke Kollin” King Philip continued “is one of Aznavor’s closest allies and I would see him welcomed as royalty. Vincent and Matthieu I expect you to make the necessary arrangements for security and ceremony. No one here is to treat him with any less courtesy than you treat me with. That goes double for you John. ”
“With or without an inquisitor around Your Majesty?” said John Sailcloth making an overly elaborate bow to his knees as he stressed the last two word.
“As you would were Patriarch Karl in the room himself you oaf” replied the King grinning. “I want music in the streets and a pretty girl In his sheets come nightfall” unless my nephew should find out from his servants that the Duke Kollin has other tastes”.
“As for the talks themselves, we take our time, he will no doubt wish to explain his motivations for propping up the government of Dont which we all know oppress our kinsmen to the east. Let him know that appreicate his efforts to bring stability to Dont and hope that it will suffice to protect our people. We will be courteous but we must express our concern that their oppression even without death is not something Aznavor can tolerate in the long term. We must not try to change his mind as he represents a sovereign state with their own interests and have already invested large amounts of manpower and wealth into the cause but we must make him see that if their intervention is not sufficient to stabilize the country quickly and to bring prosperity to Dont we shall have no qualms about declaring President Otto an Enemy of Aznavor though I imagine the Alliance would view Otto similarly if the president handles money as he always has and fails to repay the Alliance in a timely fashion.”
“Now to another case of diplomacy, we have not heard back from our envoy to the Kamalao Republi so we must assume that his ship is still en route. The City state of Bennipolis, however, has got back to us and has offered us a very interesting deal which I mean to accept with your consent. In exchange for us delivering rare metals and minerals to his nation which sadly has over exerted itself in the past their leader would offer us both wealth and state of the art weaponry from their renowned industries. I remember my father would take great pride in his saber Bennipolis–made saber stating that there were no finer sword-smiths nor weapon makers in the Edoniras. This capital and these weapons would give us a competitive advantage in the new world and would allow us to expand faster than the other powers. I now submit this trade deal to you should you have any quibbles with it.”
“My liege” spoke Barlow “what of our own minerals? Whilst I have no reason to believe our mines should exhaust soon the fact remains that a constant exploitation of our mineral wealth would eventually result in this.”
“I have considered this, my friend, and am reassured by a latter from our dear friend Klaus the inquisitor in the new world who tells us of a mountain range near our settlement of Newport that the governor has decided to exploit. Mines are being built as we speak and we should be able to expect shipments of minerals from the new world in a couple of months ”.
Reassured by this the trade deal with Bennipolis was accepted when passed to the vote.
“As the last item on our agenda, we have received a letter from the Demos of Bennipolis. King Phillip read it out loud and dictated the the following reply after conferring with his council.
Your Grace,
We have heard of this League and we are concerned by it. At first it appears to be an honest endeavour offering rewards and privileges to all its members. But do out wise men not tell us that someone’s gain must be someone else’s loss? For a man to grow rich must not another grow poor? This league seems little more than to be a method for forceful diplomacy by means other than war. If the League grows too large its greatest members will be able to dictate terms not only to its weaker accomplices but to other soverign nations as well to make them vassal states by economic submission. One needs only look at the Sofon Dominion to identify the junior partner in the league’s plans. This nation depends entirely on the Conciliate of Arbasses for trade and colonial expansion. Should the Conciliate seek to force the hand of the Dominion they need only impound her ships and seize their cargo. What could the Dominion do in this case? Refuse to pay the 30% of trade they promised to the Conciliate? For this League and its’ members to thrive others must pay the price. Aznavor will have no part of it. Perhaps we should considering empowering our merchants to form a trade bloc of our own. One thing the founders of the league have clearly understood is that power comes from unity and I advise that we should follow in their footsteps, discreetly.
Many your holy pantheon guide your decision,
King Philip and his council