NationStates Jolt Archive

Prologue

Duat, Saa-Em-Keb, the house of Fëaelen

The emperor looked out of the window of the ‘house,’ a large, and very elven structure, on a hill just outside his fifteenth city, a rather moderate place compared to where he usually stayed, but he thought it was occasionally valuable to make his presence known outside the capital.

He turned and sat quietly at a desk, leaning back a little, and looked at two data-panels on the desk, labelled respectively “United Indiastan” and “The Non-Democratic Alliance.”

With a little yawn he took up the first one, and began to read, promptly blinking a few times when he came to the word Kasrkin.

The emperor looked up to see an elven woman standing there, sporting youthful looks and long now blonde hair elaborately bound with crimson white and green silk, accompanied by deep emerald-blue eyes.

Luinthelë walked over to the desk, and perched herself on it, looking at him, “What’re you up to?” she asked.

He smiled a little and replied, “I’m arranging a trip to United Indiastan.”

“Oh? Nice place?”

“Apparently so. How’d you like another trip?”

Her eyes lit up a little, “Oh?”

He passed her a letter.

From Biotopia and Knootoss
Dearest friend,
You are warmly invited to the engagement party of Maurijn de Kaste from Knootoss and Afra De`Reaven from Biotopia. The engagement ceremony is to be held at the Hokka nem Armherr, Zhairenain. International guests can arrange for transport and bookings through their nearest consulate or by directly communicating with the Vrreska wedding company.
The Hotel has been specifically booked for the occasion and all needs can be accommodated. International guests are welcomed to attend for the formal three day ceremony although the Duvek nem freg Maa is on the second night. Information on the wedding will be released at the ceremony.
Where: ForrestValley Hotel, Zhaireland State (220 km east of Zhaireland City), NOT approachable by aircraft, the nearest airport is Wye International terminal (20km west of the hotel).
What: Three day formal engagement ceremony, climaxing in the Dance of the Moon (a formal wear ball) to celebrate the engagement. The wedding will be scheduled within a month from the ceremony. Respecting the timetable of international guests the Dance of the Moon is recommended.
*Expect a potentially frosty night in the mountain valley which is solely occupied by the five star hotel in the beautiful surrounds of national park. The hotel itself is not decadent but characteristic of the Biotopian design to detail that reflects the landscape and accommodating the Danish-like taste for beauty in simplicity.

“Wonderful…” she said, examining the names, especially the names and locations involved, “but I don’t think I’ll bother.”

“Oh well,” the Emperor said, discarding it casually, “anyway, take a read of this little memo.”


TO: Empress Kestrel Amea, United Indiastan.
FROM: Emperor Mephet'ran, The C’tan.

Hello again, I was wondering if we could pick up on that meeting I seem to recall you mentioning last time we spoke. I rather look forward to seeing your country, and I’m quite available to go any time in the near future.

Yours,
Mephet.

Encrypt: Friendly-Standard
To: Emperor Mephet'ran, The C’tan.
From: Empress Kestrel Amea, United Indiastan.

Greetings indeed. I'll admit I hadn't expected to hear from you again, but this is certianly a pleasent suprise. I'd certianly love to have you, though I wonder if you'd prefer to travel in state, or privately? The arrangements for each are quite different, you'll understand. And, as an aside, the birds you gave me, Tetsu-ko and Kogo, are doing quite well. They've adapted rather nicely to the weather here, which was something I worried about. I trust, either way, that you won't be dressed as a, what was it, a cormarant?

Yours,
Kestrel Amea.

She hoped he'd notice that was ment to be a joke, but one could never be sure. The encryption program run, the missive was sent, and Kes turned her mind to other things.

TO: Empress Kestrel Amea, United Indiastan.
FROM: Emperor Mephet'ran, The C’tan.

Wonderful, and in answer to your question, I believe that privately would be more appropriate. I'm glad to hear that they're doing well, (and I rather like the names,) and of course, I shall attempt, and may even succeed, to resist my urge to dress as a seabird.

Yours,
Mephet.

The black knifelike shape of the Emperor’s shuttle coasts to a rest on the tarmac of a private Indiastani airport and Mephet’ran smiles as he strolls down the ramp at the rear of the vessel. He is, as he said, not dressed as a bird, and this time he's in a rather fetching suit, rather than the flowing robes he tends to favour of late. He looks around for the hostess with a slight smile. Kestrel Amea stands alone on the tarmac, dressed in her normal blue kimono, watching the shuttle land at the private airfield. A few secret service agents ring the perimeter, but all still well back. The sun was shining quite brightly, and so Kes stood under the shade of a rather beautiful matching parasol, waiting for him.

Mephet’ran walks over to her and smiles a little more, "Good... morning?" he says, curiously. Kestrel bows correctly, smiling. "Yes, quite the good morning."

Mephet’ran isn't sure if he should bother bowing in return, and thus doesn't. Instead he smiles, "Oh, good. I hope you're well dear."
Kestrel cocks an eyebrow, before wrapping her arm around his elbow. "Something bothering you?"

"Not at all, I'm quite looking forward to this, that's all," he says, "I've heard UI's a lovely place."
The Empress smiles, and starts leading him towards the car waiting on the other side of the small terminal.

"Oh, it has it's charm," she says, almost sounding bored. Mephet’ran is curious about this, and looks at her pointedly, "I feel something is bothering you though. Would you mind terribly if I asked what?"
"Life's strange some times. By all rights, I should be happy to see you, happy to get out of that damn office and into the warm sun. But... I'm not. At least, I don't think I am. Strange as I said."

Mephet'ran raises an eyebrow, "Well," he sends, the entire conversation having been telepathic "What do you usually do in the 'damn office' then?" He smiles as he says that.
"Mostly dig through mountains of paperwork," she sent with half-hearted chuckle. "While wrestling with my conscious and the like. Drudgery, I think, is the best way to describe it."

Mephet'ran chuckles a little with her, but definitely senses, partly from her description, partly from his own ('divine') intuition, that she's definitely not happy with the way the nation’s been going of late, that and that there's something odd about her. He decides not to push it, for a while at least. "Well, you're out now, so I suggest you relax and enjoy."

Kestrel smiles a little, leaning against Mephet's shoulder in a way that would probably be considered informal at best. "I've been meaning to take a bit of a vacation. I guess this will have to do..." Mephet'ran smiles a little, "Well, you're welcome to pay me a visit of course," he sends, "We have some most interesting things to see and people to meet, and so on, so forth."

Kestrel sighs as they entered the terminal, the black-suited agents pretty much flanking them. "That sounds rather nice you know," she smiles a little more, her annoyance with the agents lessened. "Don't tempt me..."

He smiles, "But I like tempting you..."
"And damn if you aren’t good at it..."
Mephet'ran laughs, "I'm sure I can find some way for these guys," he glances at the guards, "to trust me by that time..."
"Oh, it has nothing to do with you. They know that if I trust you, they should to. No, I've almost been under lock and key since Esana..." she trails off, shaking her head as if to dislodge the thought. As she says this, they exit through the front of the terminal, a nondescript black luxury sedan waiting for them, the driver holding the door open for them. "Anyways, shall we?"

"I see," he sends, "well, anyway... We should go."

They drove off from the terminal in a small motorcade, three black sedans following each other in a line. Two motorcycle police lead the convoy, so their way was unimpeded. It was normally an hours drive from the private airport on the outskirts of the city to the Palace, but not having to deal with traffic cut that almost in half. Eventually, they pulled up in front of the Palace, and the guards got out of their cars to secure the area.

"So... this is it." said Kes blandly. "The Delhi Palace. My home."

Mephet smiles, "It's lovely, absoloutely lovely," he says, he seems far more interested that she is.

"It's been the seat of power for almost three hundred years, and my residence for the last five. You know, I should introduce you to my son..."

"Son?" he asks, intrigued.

"I'm sure you are aware the I'm where I am today because I married the President, yes?"

He nods. "Yes."

"Not really, but I'm aware of that now," he says, with a little smile.

She smiles, thinking of her son. "He'd certainly like to meet you. He's been practicing his manners and protocol, you know."

Mephet chuckles, "Oh well then, I'll look forward to it."

The guards were about ready, and they opened the door for them, one of them offering his hand to help Kes out first. She took his hand, but as was expected, didn't acknowledge him at all. "Dinner will be in a few hours. Any preferences?"

"Not at all," he thought, "Anything you like."

She took his arm again, and set off towards the garden on the west side. It was late fall, and the sun was just starting to set, the temperature warm but pleasent. "Let's sit in the garden for awhile. I havn't seen it all year."

He nodded, "Certainly," he sent, and followed at her side.

The garden was quite spectacular. All kinds of plants and flowers grew, in almost every possible colour. Even after the hot summer and warm autum, it still had the appearence of spring, everything alive and vibrant. She paced her way through it, following the stone path to a small stone bench, under a wooden gazebo. "Here, let's sit for awhile."

He sat down next to her, and looked around, breathing deeply as well. He wondered about quizzing her again, but decided to sit for a while first.

She let out a sigh, and leaned on his shoulder. "You know... you're probably the best friend that I have. And considering we hardly know each other..." she shruged, "You can guess why I'm not exactly ecstatic."

"Best friend?" he says after a moment, a little taken aback by that.

"Relativly speaking, of course," she sighs again. "This... life... dosn't lend itself well to friendships."

Mephet chuckles a bit, "I wouldn't say that you know," he says, "I have a fair number of friends, I'll have to introduce you."

She smiles weakly. "Yes... maybe sometime."

He chuckles, "So, tell me, what's wrong?"

She closed her eyes, almost looking like she was napping while leaning on his shoulder. Of course, not speaking aloud does give that impression. "It's this job, this life, everything... Esana never told me, but the Empire's been declining steadily for the last twenty years... and now I inherit it, and it's only getting worse," she opened her eyes again, eyes that seemed tired beyond exhaustion. "I can't... deal with it much longer."

He sighed a little, "Well, that is a major problem I suppose... It must be hard."

"That puts it midly. It feels like my life is slowly being stamped out... I need to escape, Mephet, even if only for awhile. I need to go somewhere, do something... something to remind myself I'm still human."

"I see. Well, I imagine I can do something about both, firstly, as I said, I'll find somewhere to take you off for a while, and secondly, what's precisely wrong with the Empire?"

She seemed disinterested, but told him anyways. "Budgetary concerns. Overpopulation is crating a huge strain on the social system, while we have, untill recently, been forced to also dump hunge sums of money into the military. We used to be a huge exporter of grains and rice, now we're barely coping with our domestic needs. The loss of that cheif export is dragging the economy down, so we have to raises taxes. It's a stressfull mess."

Mephet'ran remains silent for a while, thinking, and holding her, in a purely platonic manner, watching the garden.

"Well, not to sound too patronising, but I'm fairly certain we could help with your domestic needs... Though export would be a little harder to fix."

This piques her interest slightly. "Oh?"

"Yes, we've got a significant surplus and don't really export foodstuffs..."

She grins. "If my experence has taught me anything, it's to ask this. Whats the catch?"

"I don't suppose you'd just give it to us."

"Oh, I suppose not, we could infringe your soverignty and so on in exchange I imagine," he sends, in a humourous tone.

"That's a deal I could live with," she replies, missing the joke on purpose.

Mephet thinks about this for a moment, "Well..." he pauses. "Well, if you'd be prepared to accept that I'm sure I could come up with some arrangement..." he sent, after a moment, tentatively.

"Suppose we could arrange for some of defence agreement too, yes? We've been trying to figure out how to make an unsustainable army work, but we've not had much luck."

He simply nods. "Yes," he says, leaning his head a little closer to her and gently strokes her hair.

'Yes,' she thinks, keeping the thoughts to herself this time. 'This might work out nicely...'

OOC: Note that this post is subject to editing, as it's not the final version.

Mephet’ran pauses in his stroking Kes' hair, "Remember the last time we met?"
Kestrel pauses breifly, a little hesitance in her 'voice'. "Yes?"
Mephet’ran sends back after a moment, "I'm very sorry for brushing you off like that..."
Kestrel winces slightly, not really wanting to remember the end of that evening. "Well... I understand..."

"No," he sends, "I mean I'm very sorry..."
Kestrel hugs Mephet a little closer. "I said it was alright."
Mephet’ran laughs slightly, "I mean... I've changed my mind on the matter."
Kestrel cocks an eyebrow, and grins a little. "Is that so? What makes you think I'm still interested in... that?"
"I'm a very perceptive person... dear..." he sends.

Kestrel leans on his shoulder, and lets out a contended sigh. "I'm quite happy like this, you know..."

Mephet’ran replies, "Now now dear, I think you'd be even happier afterward..." Kestrel chuckles, and pushes herself up to kiss Mephet on the cheek. "You know, I think you might be right."
Mephet’ran smiles, turns his head around to kiss her on the lips, very skilfully, gently running a hand along her body, caressing her.
Kestrel murmurs softly, and holds his kiss for a moment. "We should probably go inside... lots of eyes watching out here..."

Mephet’ran nods and stands, offering her his hand.
Kestrel takes his hand, and leads him inside the Palace. The marble floor echos slightly as they walk down the side hallway and up the secondary stairs to the living quarters. Two bronze-armour ceremonial guards stand at the doorway, but once they pass them they are alone. She pulls him into her bedroom, and towards her rather large bed.

Mephet’ran smiles slightly, and pauses by the bed, he turns and grins at Kestrel, mischief fairly obvious in his eyes. Kestrel smiles warmly, and wraps her arms around the taller man's shoulders, pulling herself up to kiss him. Mephet’ran kisses her back, holding her against him, feeling her body against his.

Kestrel kicks her sandals off, and loosens her obi sash with one hand, the other still holding the back of his head. Mephet’ran smiles, and gestures casually, resulting in her clothes becoming suddenly intangible and being carried off by some breeze to rest in the corner of the room. He grins a little.

Kestrel blinks at this, then grins. "Neat trick"
Mephet’ran smiles, "I've lots of those..."
Kestrel kisses him soundly. "Go on."

Several Hours Later

Mephet’ran gently caresses Kestrel's cheek and embraces her, "Enjoy yourself?"
Kestrel murmurs softly, being rather tired. "Mmm, yes." Mephet’ran chuckles quietly, "Not to sound like demanding payment," he sends with a little laugh, "but about your sovereignty..."

Kestrel chuckles a little, her thoughts miles away from a business frame of mind. "Ah... what about it?"

"If you leave me with a pen and paper for about five minutes, I think I can give you a draft treaty," he says, with a grin. Kes laughs, and rolls over and gives him a kiss. "You're some kind of machine, aren’t you?" she says jokingly.
Mephet’ran chuckles softly, "Not very much so, I've just got the basic template memorised," he sends by way of explanation.

"There's a pad and some pens over on the desk," she points. "Have at it."
Mephet’ran grins, gets up, walks over to the desk and sits down, writing quickly. Eventually he walks back and hands it to Kestrel.


The C’tan – United Indiastan Treaty

The C’tan – United Indiastan treaty seeks to affirm our commitment to mutual security and freedoms. We also state our belief in the ideals of the right of States to defend themselves from unwarranted or unjust foreign for all nations, permitting the free exchange of goods and ideas between states.

It is with these ideals in mind that we sign this document, which holds within it obligations under international law to uphold policies in foreign policy and military affairs which aim to further these mutual and sacred goals.

Article 1: Pertaining to the defence of the C’tan Empire and United Indiastan.

The contracting States commit themselves to mutual defence. In practice, this means that United Indiastan is required to maintain a standing army to the best of its ability. For United Indiastan to initiate hostilities with another State, excluding anti-piracy and customs activities and where the pre-existing treaties of United Indiastan require it, the personal permission of the Emperor of the C’tan is required.

Furthermore, United Indiastan is obligated to assist in the defence of the C’tan Empire at the behest of the Emperor, though not in offensive actions. The Empire of the C’tan also has the right to establish military bases in United Indiastan.

Article 2: The Government of United Indiastan.

The C’tan Empire will honour the existing governance of United Indiastan, and act to uphold it at all times. The current legitimate government of United Indiastan is Queen Kestrel Amea. In return, the government of United Indiastan pledges loyalty to the Emperor of the C’tan, in perpetuity.

The exception shall be the appointment of a C’tan ambassador and staff to advise Queen Kestrel Amea in matters relating to the C’tan Empire, and in matters in which the C’tan Empire feels obliged to advise Queen Kestrel Amea.

Article 3: Pre-existing agreements alliances and treaties of United Indiastan.

The C’tan Empire will respect treaties signed by United Indiastan prior to this, and leaves decisions related to them to the government of United Indiastan. Future international agreements alliances and treaties of United Indiastan shall be subject to C’tan oversight.

Article 4: Future Expansion of United Indiastan

It is not permitted for United Indiastan to expand its borders, be they of the mainland of the nation or of other aligned provinces and territories without the prior permission of the Emperor of the C’tan.

Article 5: Abrogation of this Treaty

This treaty may be dissolved solely by the Emperor of the C’tan. The treaty may also be dissolved with the consent of the Queen of United Indiastan and a unanimous vote in favour in the Indiastani parliament, subject to its continued existence, failing which a unanimous referendum is required.

Article 6: Free trade.

There shall be free trade between the C’tan Empire and United Indiastan, and the contracting States commit themselves to ensuring the health of each other’s economies to the full Kestrel extent of their capabilities. United Indiastan may not establish trade legislation and regulations that adversely affect its trade with the C’tan Empire without the permission of the Emperor of the C’tan.

Signed,

Mephet’ran,
Emperor and Autocrat of the C’tan


Queen of United Indiastan


Kes reads through it quickly, and nods her approval. "That... looks alright. I can run it through Parliament in a few days, once they're back in session."

Mephet’ran smiles and kisses Kestrel again, "You seem to have them wrapped around your thumb nicely," he says, already plotting on liberally bribing a few to ensure she can never get out of the treaty.
"That's how the system works, of course. Three parties, two of which are extremists, so the Centrists always win. They're loyal to the Chancellor, and he's loyal to me."

Mephet’ran smiles a little, "Sounds helpful," he says, "So, how're you feeling dear?"
Kes grins, and stretches her arms out over the bed. "Like a damn human being again. That was wonderful."
Mephet’ran smiles, "I'm very glad I could help," he says, sitting up next to her, "Very glad."

Several weeks later

"All rise for the Empress!" cried the Speaker, addressing the assembled House. The MPs all rose as ordered, and bowed appropriately as Kestrel entered and sat in her throne up and to the Speaker's right. Once she sat down again, the rest of the House sat. They carried on about some trivial business about some budgetary matter at length, before Kes could finally introduce the bill. When she was finally given the oppertunity, she launched herself into the speech she'd prepared. Or rather, her interpreter Miiko did in her capacity as the Official Speaker for the Empress.

"Ladies and gentlemen of this the Forty-Ninth Sitting Parliment, good evening. As you well know, Indiastan is sitting at a crossroads. Our burdegoning population and the increasing demands this brings about has brought us here. We have a choice to make. Without increasing out civil support budget, we are doomed to slowly sinking our people and economy back into what was 'Third World' status, with all of the hunger, poverty, and disease associated with that. Or, we can preserve our nation and our way of life. How? We need to fund our healthcare and agricultural departments to a level never seen before. But this will come at a price. There is only one department where money can be saved, and that, sadly, is the military. Outlined in this bill is a decisive plan to restructure the military to suit the role it has been playing in our times. Funding will be decreased, yes, but at the same time thanks to the reorganization, much internal funding will be diverted to better uses, and our forces will not go for want. While all this is happening, many of you are also aware that due to increased internal demand, our agricultural exports are flagging, and the economy as a whole is suffering. As a counter to this, also included in the bill is a economic treaty with the Empire of the C'tan. I have personally met with them and their deligates, and can attest to thei honesty and integrity, as well as their sincere desire to help us and establish strong economic ties. We stand only to gain from this treaty. Thank you."

With that, Miiko steppend down and returned to her seat next to Kes. That wasn't so bad... now all they had to do was vote. It'd pass, though it would be interesting to see if the party limit of opposition came up. That would likely come from the few MPs who actually read the thing, which would not likely be many.

So they voted. Eight hundred and sixty sseven for, one hundred thirteen against, and nineteen abstained. So still not really that close to the amount Kes had said was the allowable limit of opposition, which was closer to three hundred. Good.

So, it was law. Queen Amea smiled, and thought about other things as the rest of the parlimentary session wore on.

In other news, the government seem to have begun a full-scale nationalisation of numerous excess farms on Duat, buying out the owners but keeping the staff in place. This is, according to the government spokesperson from the ministry of the economy, “a logical step in order to foster better foreign relations, and should be no cause for concern.”

The spokesman also promised to pay generous prices for such businesses…”

Hexelfëa, Senator and Imperial Minister for Economics, and probably the highest ranking elven politician in the Empire, flipped the holo off, and returned to his work, currently, writing a letter to assorted interest groups to arrange for shipping such things to United Indiastan.

‘Typical,’ he thought, ‘sure, it’s expansion and so on, but guess who gets landed with all the actual work…’