NationStates Jolt Archive

Department of Agriculture - Regional Headquarters: Colloi, Schultaria Prime

Amongst the endless rooms of cubicles and non-descript conference centers, Regional Coordinator Pelo Tovai's corner office was awash with a flurry of activity unparalleled to the quiet din surrounding the rest of the complex. As the appointed manager of the northern Central Plains region of Schultaria Prime his jurisdiction amounts to nearly forty percent of the nation's yearly grain production, not an easy assignment under even the most ideal of circumstances. However, he would have never accepted the position otherwise due to his love of the painfully difficult; officially secular, his upbringing had been infused with a painfully obvious self-denying Protestant work ethic. Much to the chagrin of his colleagues, Tovai hated to leave any job unfinished that could be quickly completed and for as little recognition as possible.

While his demeanor did grate on his personal staff and peers throughout the Department of Agriculture, Pelo was genuinely respected for his tremendous foresight; so, when he announced an emergency meeting with the Agricultural Department heads from the federal capital would be held in four days, the entire department listened to his request with grave intent. Water coolers and printing rooms became hotbeds for rumors both idle and malignant, and local office workers began to see an unusual number of press officials talking to anyone that had even an inkling of a viable story. Even as tensions rose in the office Tovai remained cool and steadfast, only giving small and otherwise unusable "sound bites" to the reporters as he made his daily rounds. Despite his ability to keep himself under control in face of the public, the reports on his desk showed the writing on the wall.

Schultaria Prime was already facing a food shortage, and weather predictions estimated a drought unlike any recorded in eighty years.

"I could lose my job over this," Pelo thought with calculating finality, 'but the nation's survival must come before my job security."

~tag~

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Department of Agriculture - Regional Headquarters: Four Days Later

Even though the meeting had been labeled as nothing more than a "strategy session", the air was thick with the tingling sensation of dread. Workers who normally couldn't be cajoled into silence and managers that normally spent their mornings berating reports over fresh pots of coffee were stifled by the impending reality of their boss' decision earlier in the week. Regional offices, by their nature, were intended to provide local assistance while offering a more liberal working environment outside of the rigid Schultarian federal structure; for many of the several hundred employees working, most had never even seen photographs or news clippings, let alone sat down and talked, with the appointed leaders from Schultaria Prime.

When the four main department heads finally made their way from their long black and silver groundcar to the building's main conference room, every employee took great mains to steal passing glimpses of these giants of their department. Knowing full well the impact of their arrival, the four had insured their entrance would fit the part to a t; all of them were adorned in loose, long, customary long black robes normally designed for the most solemn of gatherings. As such they were playing coy yet being deadly serious at the same time, and all of them knew full well the impending problems that needed to be addressed. Grain production was already at the lowest levels in over a quarter millennia, and projected yields kept falling on a weekly basis.

As Tovai, his staff, and the four department leaders finally situated themselves in the conference room, they thought they would be discussing strategies in order to bring relief to the farms most stricken by the drought. One word, one simple word, changed the outlook of the entire meeting…

"FIRE!"

HIFEX NEWS AGENCY: TARANNU | COLLOI | DOLEC, SCHULTARIA PRIME (16:07 SCT)


Prairie Fires Join into Massive Firestorm:

Central Plains Region Thoroughly Devastated by the Aftermath

As numerous fire crews from five major megalopolises and over four hundred and fifty rural municipalities begin the slow process of containing and eliminating the remaining pockets of what was one of the most devastating fire disasters in recorded history, the nation faces a long, difficult, road ahead. What started out as roughly thirty smaller brush and prairie fires as the result of an erratic thunderstorm system some six days ago collected and grew to a firestorm of epic proportions less just two hundred and fifty kilometers southwest of Tarannu in the space of less than thirty six hours. The fire grew with such alarming speed that even the most veteran smoke jumpers and regular fire suppression teams noted that in many areas there was simply no hope of protecting property or preserving the fragile investments of many local farms.

"We tried our best to prevent the fires from damaging national monuments and Schultarian heritage sites with generally good success," noted Commander Quentin Thalow of the National Schultarian Firefighters Association, "Unfortunately, this effort came at the expense of many family houses with very long lineages, but we did manage to minimize property loss as much as possible." While exact numbers on the injured and dead are still hard to come by, most federal estimates have placed the number of fatalities from the fire and fire-related injuries in an estimate of some thirty to sixty five individuals with another twelve thousand families either losing part or all of their property in the frightening blaze.

Compounding the already remarkable spread of property damage, conditions of lackluster rains and mandatory water conservation laws had already left many farmers in dire straits prior to this event. As noted from earlier articles made available for international release, the Nation of Schultaria Prime has been in the midst of a significant per capita grain surplus shortage the likes of which has not been seen in over two hundred and seventy five years. "It looks like this might spell the death knell for the farm," replied Jackson Eisentraut while trying to hold back the tears of losing some 390 hectares of wheat, potatoes, and corn along with over 40 beef steers and milking cows, "Nine generations... and I'm the one to fail the family..."

Such is the scene throughout the nation tonight as the National Assembly and Central Directorate have jointly issued a state of national emergency for the Protectorate of Schultaria and the States of Prime and Tarann. According to sources close to the federal government, the damage is currently estimated at some 12 to 16.5% of the nation's entire cultivated landmass. At such levels of devastation, the immediate economic consequences to the food and energy industries have pushed many key leaders of the CHIMDEX stock exchange to suspend trading for the remainder of the next two business weeks.

When reached for comment, Central Director Schultz was reported as "busy trying to prepare aid for the stricken families hit most by the fire's effects" and "preparing his options in addressing the impending food issues."

For weeks, rumors had been spreading through Nausikaa and Arete, spawned by the whispers of the couriers coming back from runs to Schultaria. When news broke of the firestorm, the Peisenor was forced to take notice of the rumors. Immediately, a letter was drafted to the Shcultarian government and people.

People of Schultaria,
For many years, although our relations have been stagnant, they have been good. We have enjoyed much profit from importing food and luxuries from your nation, and have been content with the same arrangements as always, simply picking up our cargo and depositing our payment. But now we see that this must stop. We cannot take the meat that you need yourselves, and by proxy the grain used to grow that meat. Regular couriers between our people and yours will therefore cease effective immediately. It is unfortunate that shipments in the reverse direction are unfeasible. It is simply impossible to transport enough food to make any difference to your situation. We are, therefore, at a bit of a loss as to what we can do to help. All of our techniques have been adapted to space over uncounted generations, and we simply do not remember how to live on land. Even simple weather control, which might give you the rain needed to grow crops, is beyond our ability. Perhaps we can find a way to inject more money into your economy with which to import from other Earthly nations. Or perhaps we can work together to find ways to put our production techniques into use in your nation. Whatever the solution may be, we wish to hold a conference to discuss these matters in depth as soon as it is possible.

~Peisenors of Nausikaa, Arete, and Tripolis

((Is this a MT/PMT/FT crossover?))

Comminque to Central Director Elliot Schultz of Schultaria Prime
From: President Mina Veristek of the Sharina Technocracy

Greetings, friend.

It has just come to my attention that your nation is experiencing one of the worst disasters in recorded history. My sources have just informed me that your farming sector is devastated beyond imagination, and that a mass starvation of the Schultarian people is sure to follow. It saddens me greatly to see our Schultarian friends suffer so greatly in this time of crisis, while the Sharinan people have grew and prospered so well in the past several decades.

Sharina's food sector is fully prepared to contribute all the assistance that it can provide to the Schultarian people. According to the emergency report that I have ordered, the Sharina food sector would be able to sustain approximately 400 million Schultarians, as our farming methods are one of the most efficient in the world. Sharina is also prepared to ration foodstuffs for its own people to feed another additional 200 million Schultarians.

I am also fully prepared to send teams of engineers over to Schultaria Prime to look at your remaining farming sector and employ Sharinan farming methods in hopes of salvaging and enhancing the Schultarian food system. As you may or may not already know, Sharina has invested heavily in hydrogen fuel cell technology. It is capable of generating 100% pure drinkable water as a byproduct of electrical generation. We employ massive hydrogen fuel cell generator plants in our farmlands, to provide pure irrigation water. This ensures that Sharinan farms will never fall victim to droughts and natural famines. In addition, Sharina has also begun investing in hydroponic farms, supplemented by the famed Sharinan hydrogen fuel cell technology. This combination of two high technology farming methods has enabled Sharina to increase its crop yields by a reasonable 5% every year, ensuring that there is always a healthy food surplus in the Sharina Technocracy.

Please inform me of what we, the Sharinan people, can do to help and support Schultaria in its hour of need. We have always pledged to fully support our Schultarian friends through thick and thin, not just as a fellow TAPRES member, but as true friends.

Live in peace and prosperity.
~President Mina Veristek

OOC:

I tend to RP with very limitless borders in terms of technical terms (as I am a PMT nation who loves to interact with both sides of the MT - FT spectrum), but I love to try to keep interactions as realistic as possible. If you would like to join, Draconic Order, you can by all means; I'll let you know if the role play seems a little too "intense" for the situation at hand.

IC:

Office of the Central Directorate: Schultaria Prime, Schultaria Prime

While Central Director Elliot Schultz, the ever present rallying force of the nation, was off to yet another exhausting series of pep speeches and hurried meetings with the towns and farmers most damaged by the fires, Directors Sarnow Haarvekord and Joan Covey stayed behind to coordinate the federal relief efforts. Despite their backgrounds in diplomacy, statistics, and public relations, the mission to resolve this crisis would be as difficult, if not even more so, than any disaster planning the two subordinate heads of state could even dream. Although many of the meetings that Haarvekord and Covey scheduled were little more than reflex actions to Schultaria's immediate troubles, they intentionally wanted to hold off most of the serious planning until Elliot returned from his work in the charred fields of the nation's formerly prosperous breadbasket.

Unfortunately, the facts presented to the government gave the two heads of state little comfort in their hopes that Elliot would be back in time for the more critical stages of planning. Even the most conservative estimates proposed by the SKC and the Departments of the Interior were worse than even the most detailed disaster plans could hope to bear; for many officials, the numbers shocked even the most stoic politicos in to submission. As the data poured into the press room where Joan and Sarnow had set up temporary office space for themselves and their staffers, they read the projections in flabbergasted silence.

"Fifty nine point seventy five billion dollars in physical implements and assorted durable goods burned, damaged or otherwise destroyed along with over sixty five thousand structures razed..."

"Expected destruction anticipated at roughly fifteen percent, or some four thousand two hundred and thirty square kilometers of viable farm land. Estimates place time to bring cultivation back to viability in a minimum of five years... "

"Current projections project a shortfall of at least seventeen and a half percent minimum sustainable requirements for staple grains and at least fourteen point two five percent for Ethanol production. Total losses are expected to approach or slightly exceed 1.139 metric gigatons of Staple Grains and 1.501 Teraliters of viable Industrial Ethanol..."

"Anticipated deaths due to lack of foodstuffs and necessary energy reserves could approach as high as six point five percent, or two hundred and one million citizens, in the space of nine months."

Overwhelmed by the data, the two stormed out of their temporary offices to catch a much needed breather; while they took the time to gather their thoughts, both of them concluded that this was certainly a crisis that needed more help than the federal government could afford to provide. The call would have to be made to accept the generosity of other nations in the immediate future, but for now they would do all they could in the capital. Elliot had promised he would return for a large press conference at the end of the trip; there he would make his move...

OOC:

Ouch, this should be a quite interesting RP. I've already sent a tranmission to Schultz to get the ball rolling. :)

Office of the Central Directorate: Twenty One Hours Later

For the better part of the day, hundreds of nervous onlookers and impatient media freelancers waited in the hot midday sun for Elliot's return, and almost as soon as the heels of Central Director Schultz's feet touched the pavement outside his office, the crowd exploded into a maelstrom of cheers, shouts, and interspersed insults. Like any seasoned member of the political establishment Elliot and his entourage of high officials and aides rebuffed the requests both for his wisdom and his head stating, firmly and loudly, that he would formally address the nation as soon as he was "confident in his estimates to the public." Passing through the two story oaken doors of the Directorate offices, his portal to the outside world remained open as he made his way up the grand central staircase until he cast a furious stare at the posted guardsmen. Turning to a nearby page, the slightly irked head of state replied quietly, "I just want to have a little quiet for a moment, so please tell the guards that I don't hold any bad feelings. They can open the doors in a half hour or so, but for now just tell the media that I can't be disturbed due to issues of national security."

With a curt bow, the young messenger parted company from the rest of the group while the head of state made the long climb to his third story offices. Meanwhile, his consciousness roiled with shattered thoughts and random phrases as he struggled to try and come up with a speech that would do the nation justice in its time of need; the last two and a half days of nearly endless visits to charred fields and burned shells of houses left indelible images in his head, and none of them helped in trying to allay the heavy predictions he had already been privy to viewing. Crossing the threshold of his office, he grasped the hands of his associates with a deep sense of gratitude for their commitment in spending time with him to survey the totality of the fire but told them, in a matter of fact but slightly fatherly tone that he, "had to have some time alone for introspection." Offering little protest, the members of his entourage dispersed leaving Elliot to his own devices.

Even with self-imposed quiet and the relaxing diversions of his office, Central Director Schultz felt little comfort in his work; while on the road he had kept in constant contact with Directors Haarvekord and Covey in the hopes of drafting a plan that all three of them could be comfortable in introducing to the public. The frequent conversations had met with little success, and now the ill-prepared fruits of their indecision left Elliot starved for options, ideas, or hope. No one leader in the entire four millennia history of Schultaria Prime had ever faced such a catastrophe with every ounce of his historical academic training pointing to no one event that could remotely compare in size or scope. "Neither war nor famine has ever even come close to the damage this fire could inflict," he mused with a tinge of fatalism, "after we as a species try to hold some dominion over the natural order, our hold can only be temporary. Thank god it wasn't blight..."

Although he could spend all day thinking about the historical comparisons between the fire and other similar natural disasters, the pragmatic concerns of the people had to come first. Activating his personal intercom, he notified his fellow directors and assorted government heads of his intentions...

"In two hours I will hold a live speech for local and international media, regardless of preparation or circumstance. The time for action is now; we've waited long enough to examine the numbers."

-----

Hifex International Satellite / Holographic Simulcast


"Approximately nine days ago our nation was stricken, unequivocally and without warning, by a natural disaster that has left a significant part of our great nation in charred remains. This disaster, like all events in our history, will take years to fully assess and ascertain blame, but we as a nation can not afford to spend such time dwelling on such intricacies. At the present moment we, the Schultarian nation, are facing a natural calamity the likes of which has never been experienced in any equivalent fashion in recorded history; as it stands today, nearly a fifth of our nation's expected harvest along with fifteen percent of our national energy reserves have been rendered useless. Compounding the problem is the human toll of this tragedy; this fire has allowed twelve thousand families to lose thier homes and livelihoods along with the unemployment of nearly three hundred fifty thousand individuals in industries directly related to the harvest in the afflicted region.

However, while these numbers may sound severe we must not dwell nor hide behind these faceless statistics. This is a problem of significant proportion but, like all problems, a solution can and will be found.

In the interim between the disastrous effects of the fire and today, our Department of State has received several communiqués from governments and agencies close to the nation of Schultaria Prime asking if they can help render assistance. To those who have already offered their services, and all others willing to help the Schultarian nation in any capacity, our government thanks you for your generosity and your goodwill. As such the government of the United Socialist States of Schultaria Prime would like, as a matter of efficiently alleviating the strain on our nation, to hold a series of immediate gatherings with all interested parties in the Department of Agriculture's central offices in Schultaria Prime, Schultaria Prime. By working together as a unified body, pooling the collective might of Schultarian engineering ingenuity with the international unwillingness to accept anything less than perfection, we will triumph over this disaster.

We will outlast this disaster!

We will prevail!

Bless you all, and may the future hold hope for all of us,"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v352/emschultz/Elliotsmall.jpg

-Central Director Elliot Schultz

OCC: really nice RP, we could use someone like you at Particracy... (www.particracy.net)

---Hampton Palace, Hamponshire City---

His Royal Highness Bernard III was in the middle of his daily intelligence briefing. As President of the Royal Congress Allenby was used to rather intensive intra-governmental meetings but since ascending to the Regency, these took on a whole new roll. He was being constantly bombarded with information on nearly every subject. At times he nearly strained himself just attempting to keep up with the lightning pace.

"As you can see," Prime Minister Ziller paused as he handed the Regent the latest Royal Navy deployment schedule, "our forces along the eastern coast will be stretched tighter than usual for the next four months."

"Admiral Kirkssen," the Regent coldly hissed while he looked at the Royal Navy's Chief of Staff, "why is this? You assured me that the distruptions would resolve themselves in less than six weeks. Do I need to find another commander who can properly handle this situation?"

The Admiral was taken aback by the brazenness of the Regent's comments. He had been the top man in the Royal Navy for nearly a decade, he wasn't used to such pointed and direct attacks. "Your Majesty," he stood as he began to speak, "the delays are due to recent setback at several HDC shipyards. The latest batch of Salem Class cruisers won't be ready for four months. The private sector is out of our control."

Admiral Kirkssen and the Regent locked eyes. Neither man liked the other. To Kirkssen, Allenby was an extremist and an intolerably dangerous and corrupt politician. To the Regent, Kirkssen was a technocratic career military officer without reguard for the popular will. The tension between the two men filled the room. Ziller, while not a fan of the Admiral, didn't want this intelligence briefing to descend into a name calling session. He quickly reached into his briefcase and pulled out the latest intelligence report.

"As you undoubtedly know," the Prime Minister thrust one report to Kirkssen and gingerly handed the other to Allenby, "the Schultarians are facing an agricultural and economic disaster. As signatories to a Treaty of Protective Union and as First Level allies it is in our direct national interests to assist the Schultarians."

The room fell silent. It was a rare day (some would say a cold day in hell) when Senator Mel Ziller proposed an active and internationalist approach to foreign crisis. As Foreign Minister he advocated an isolationist, nationalist, and unilateralist approach to everything. He went so far as to personally insult the Rosian President on national television...twice. When Ziller was the voice of reason on issues, everyone had to take notice.

Still somewhat shocked, the Regent came up with a way not only to address this current problem but to end the meeting right there and then. "Alright then, Mister Prime Minister I'm sending you, along with the Minister of State for Agriculture, to Schultaria Prime. Do everything you can to avoid a collapse. If you fail..." the Regent paused and began to smile, "Don't come home."


-------------------------------------------


Office of the Regent
---Direct Communique---

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/hamptonshire/logo.jpg
Great Seal of the Regent of the Grand Duchy of Hamptonshire

We, the Government and People of the Grand Duchy of Hamptonshire, have learned with great regret the calamnity that has befallen our most distinguised Schultarian friends. We have a duty to assist your fine nation in anyway that we can. Hamptonian assistance, in the form of financial and material aid, shall be readied for immediate delivery.

We, acting upon authority as Regent of the Grand Duchy, have dispatched our Prime Minister and Minister of State for Agriculture. Senator Mel Ziller, Prime Minister of Hamptonshire, and the Honorable Luis Santiago, Minister of State for Agriculture, have been charged with the task of bringing whatever Hamptonian aid is necessary to the Schultarian nation and people. They have been invested with full and complete authority in this matter.


Sincerly,
[Signed] His Royal Majesty Bernard III, Duke of Obsidia (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/hamptonshire/4e63e51d.jpg)
Regent of the Grand Duchy of Hamptonshire
President of the Royal Congress
Federal State Minister
Grand Duchy of Hamptonshire

The smartly-dressed middle aged woman who acted as the voice of Mahria's government stood before the press with a pre-written statement.

"It is with tremendous sadness that we have heard of Schultaria's grassfire and the resulting famine. As such, all applicable tariffs on food and industrial equiptment have been suspended until your situation returns to normal.

May the gods smile on your nation once more, people of Schultaria Prime. And may the spirits stand beside those who have lost everything in the fire."

A few reporters pricked up their ears, sensing a chance for government-bashing. (Always a fine story.) "Will our high tax burdens make this more of an incentive?"

The press secretary conceded, "It will certainly be a saving for them, and should increase traffic while making it easier on buyers as well."

"After so many direct donations, as by Sharina and Hamptonshire, why aren't we doing the same?" demanded one of the major radio chains.

"If we can assist the embattled while benefiting our nation's workers, why not?" The press secretary said reasonably.

"Isn't this profiteering and exploiting a disaster?" shouted a rookie from the paper, Mahrian Daily.

"Have a nice day, folks." yelled the press secretary over the hubbub this created.

OOC: this is a clever and subtle one. Makes a nice change from adversarial RPing.

OOC: I'm sorry that I haven't created any individual responses for the current offers of aid, but consider this as my nation's universal reply and invitation for a grand international meeting. You can RP your entrance to the capital of Schultaria Prime, Schultaria Prime or setting up quarters in the appropriate national embassy / upscale hotel. I'll try to strike the setting of the Department of Agriculture's main meeting room in a few hours.

IC:

Open Broadcast - National Assembly / Central Directorate

"We, the elected representatives of the people of Schultaria Prime, would like to take the time to thank those nations who have pledged their solidarity and charity in the matter concerning our most unfortunate agricultural maladies. Your support in this, one of the most distressing times in our nation's recorded history, shall and will be looked upon with great respect in future generations; as such, if the simulcast distributed by Central Director Schultz as not been received by your national authorities, we invite every nation who has opened contact with Schultaria Prime to a meeting with members of our government in our capital. A strategy session and open series of negotiations have been scheduled to take place in thirty six hours time in the Central Offices of the Department of Agriculture; for those nations who have already made offers of direct assistance, such as our esteemed counterparts in Hamptonshire, Sharina, and Spacer Guilds, this series of meetings will allow all parties involved to help draft a plan beneficial for all parties involved.

On behalf of the over three billion citizens and residents of the Schultarian nation, your acts of kindness will not soon be forgotten. Let the successes of our efforts shine brightly for future generations as a sign of what hope and international cooperation can do to bring stability to the world."

-National Assembly Chairwoman Jenna Karlow

Department of Agriculture Central Office - Grand Hall: Schultaria Prime, Schultaria Prime

While the message from representative Karlow was being bounced off every Schultarian satellite and streamed through every international land line to nations beyond, engineering crews were hurriedly rigging the elegant but outstandingly outdated Grand Hall for guests from far and wide. Dozens of technicians, cleaning crew, and contractors were busy outfitting the century old, ornately decorated, two tier hall into a chamber worthy of holding international visitors for as long as necessary. A job of this magnitude, given the virtually unmodified state of the Agriculture Department's one hundred and sixty year old facade and famously strict federal building codes would have taken weeks even the most veteran of contractors to supervise the operation; unfortunately, twenty six hours is all the time they could afford.

As the proprietors of the building, the heads of the Department of Agriculture worried about the damage that could be inflicted to the room's beautifully painted murals of farm prosperity and progress; with scaffolding being set up almost as fast as it was being torn down, the building crews didn't give the department heads much time to fret over small details. In all reality, the Ag leaders had to worry more about government inquiries and media intrigues than any damage caused in laying quantum packet lines and holographic pads throughout their long standing headquarters. Nonetheless, the last two weeks had not been kind on the already embattled civil servants; to them, the inconvenience posed by the emergency retrofitting was reason enough for them to explode into tirades of furious debates and shouting matches in cramped office spaces far above the noise of construction.

Meanwhile, in the Office of the Central Directorate, Directors Schultz, Covey, and Haarvekord continued to work silently and swiftly with delegates from the SID and the SKC as the meeting hour with company from around the world fast approaches. To them, politics were simply out of the question; the shortage represented a true crisis outside of any petty squabbling. "This meeting must go well, or we could face a huge public relations disaster come winter," was the only thing that could cross the minds of the three heads of state. None of them wanted a popular backlash on their hands, but the problem of the food shortage could give the Directorate's opposition parties enough fuel for their expulsion.

OOC:

Consider my delegate already there when the conference begins. My leader, President Mina Veristek, will be personally attending. The reason for this (skipping the entrance RP) is because I'm not able to RP much owing to my recovery period after my surgery.

[OOC: Same thing as Sharina, the Prime Minister and the Minister of State for Agriculture will already be at the Conference site when it begins. I'd like to write out a more detailed post, but I don't have the ability to do that at the moment.]

[OOC: Just my luck- something interesting starts up and I lose my connection for a week. Anyway, it looks like I haven't missed much yet, so....]

The Guilders, of course, RSVPed immediately to the invitation to come to the conference. A WaveRider shuttle was dispatched on the usual commercial route in order to arrive with ample time to spare before the 36 hour deadline. They brought with them a liquid suspension tank, but for the convenience of their hosts both envoys wore the powered exoskeleton suits that allowed them to breath and move at 9.8m/s^2. For some time, the Guilders had been breeding towards a more conveniently compact size, and these, unlike the two-meter plus types that made first contact with Schultaria, stood only 165cm tall, although they retained all of the original willowiness.

After inquiring as to the possibility of sleeping accomodations including a pool, the pair- one male, one female, although one could hardly tell just by looking at them, made their way to the DoA, with helmets off so as to not scare any little children, but with steel neck braces, of course, still in place, possibly leading to an even more disturbing effect than would be caused by simply wearing the bug-eyed helmets.

OOC: Back from vacation, and firmly settled in my dorm room; now it's time to pick up from where I left off. The conference is now open to international proposals of aid and / or messages of solidarity from the upper gallery (if the delegate isn't bringing a comprehensive plan to the table).

Department of Agriculture Central Office - Grand Hall: Thirty Six Hours Later

The mass of delegates from the Schultarian government and nations of all sizes began to arrive like a flood. While a torrent of Assembly legislators, judges, export interest groups, and minor officials from several dozen foreign governments flowed into the chamber's voluminous upper grandstand, only a small trickle poured into the lower chamber of the massive circular lecture hall. Those individuals who had specifically pledged aid or offered some sort of direct relief had been given preference to sit in the center of the richly lit and grandly painted inner chamber. Below the several hundred onlookers, fifty softly padded synthleather chairs stood sentry to a massive round table enveloped in ivory and gilded inlay. Each place was individually crafted and tailored to the specifications of the guests expected to be in attendance; in the nation's time of need all the stops had been removed to insure comfortable accommodation. Price was no object to the Schultarian government, and their willingness to go the extra mile to include radical liqueurs, additional reading materials, free personalized accommodations, and even the installation of two prototype suspension tanks for the Guilder delegation demonstrated the necessity of their plight.

While the delegates made their way into the lower chamber, the three Directors stood in front of the grand display of hospitality greeting each of their guests with customary bows and the traditional offering of knowledge in the form of small holopads. When every delegate had been properly seated to their comfort Sarnow Haarvekord, Joan Covey, and Elliot Schultz took their seats separated from one another, a common diplomatic tactic that had been in use for centuries in the political establishment. Mainly used as a security method to insure the safety of the Directors in the case of ambush, the Directors intentionally made sure to seat themselves strategically amongst their closest supporters; with the prospect of perhaps several trillion merlons in direct Hamptonian, Celackian, Sharinan, and Guilder aid, every attempt would have to be made to personalize diplomatic relationships quickly. Two hundred and fifty million lives, and perhaps a quarter of the nation's economy, would be assigned to a speedy fate within the confines of the hall.

The room, after several long minutes of raucous conversation and security sweeps from the grandstands, finally quieted itself enough for Elliot to gain composure enough to initiate proceedings. Standing from his plainly fashioned chair, he pushed on a small button located on his data pad to dim the lights surrounding the table; behind the delegates, dozens of holographic emitters enveloped the walls in a prairie setting.

"Dear delegates from our government, members of the free press, and contemporaries from our dearest allies, I thank you on behalf of not only myself but every Director both present and former from Schultaria Prime. We wish that this meeting could have been under more pleasant circumstances or with better prospects for the future, but unfortunately nature has once again shown that it alone has the power to dictate the affairs of all life."

Sitting down in his seat, the room began to emit strange noises from the floorboards; in less than ten seconds, the sounds, smells, and visions of a massive blaze began to sweep the once placidly constructed background.

"Behold the disaster that has brought our nation to such dire straights. What you see here is actual footage of the disaster taken by individuals who put their lives on the line to insure that the entire crop of our nation was reduced to charcoal. Take a good look around you, what you see in the background is possibly the worst catastrophe that has probably befallen our nation since the development of the written word, and the disaster's impact will more than likely be even worse than just the immediate losses seen before you."

Almost as soon as Elliot concluded the second part of his speech, the fire died down; what remained of the once lush and vibrant fields of grass and wheat was a desolate wasteland of charred hills and burned buildings. On the table, tables of figures and statistics were projected to each delegate in their native language.

"Before you is the sum total of what our expected losses are intended to reach nationwide. I can assure you that these numbers are really only the tip of the iceberg and that the true damage of this fire is far greater than currently expected," sighing weightily and wiping his brow, he pressed on with great pain trying to suppress his devastation, "about a sixth of the nation's expected harvest was destroyed in this fire, but the impacts are more than merely losses to the national granaries. Without a source of petroleum products, grain has provided the fuel to power the engines of society, industry, and commerce; to the Schultarian people, agriculture is to our nation what the oil industry is to the majority of the world. Today, we thank you for coming to our nation in our time of desperate necessity; as we work towards finding a solution which will help us and offer the least damage to our economy, we hope that we can return our favors with interest in the near future."

Seeking approval from his subordinate counterparts, he wrapped up his speech, "The floor is now currently open to negotiations from any and all delegates. As I understand there are just about as many proposals on the table as there are delegates, so please stand up, be polite, and we'll all discuss the merits of each proposal as they are issued."

The male Guilder stood.

"Assembled delegates, perhaps an introduction is in order. Most of you probably will have had little contact with our nation in the past, but we have been friends of Schultaria since their first entry into the space-age. I am Vidar Garen of Arêtê, a City-ship of the Phoenician Guild in the Intrasolar Republic of Spacer Guilds."
The female stood beside him.

"My companion is Riga Sabin, also of Arêtê. We have many plans that we hope may help relieve Schultaria's problems, and be mutually beneficial to all involved. None of them, however, is a total solution, and it will require all of our cooperation to make these efforts successful. Our own plans will almost certainly require some modification, or perhaps even complete replacement, in order to accomodate this spirit of cooperation between all, and we ask before any real discussion begins that everyone keep this in mind: No one's plans can be perfect, and everyone's will require revision."

Riga again took her seat.

"This said, allow me to present a short outline of our suggestions. First, food must be provided for the Schultarian people. It is impractical to import it from space, so some of Schultaria's Earthly neighbors will have to take up the burden of providing relief shipments. This, however, is only a temporary solution. If it cannot be sustained long enough for the farm infrastructure to be reconstructed, and then through the next growing season and harvest, which we suspect it cannot, a way must be found for sufficient food to be produced internally by unconventional methods. There are some such methods that we can suggest, which we shall go into later. Connected with this is the supply of fuel. Partly, this can be alleviated by importing fuel from Schultaria's Earthly neighbors, but again that is a temporary solution, and again we have several ideas as to how to make Schultaria energy-independent without the need to use up part of their grain supply in the production of fuel. Freeing up that portion of the grain supply should itself help alleviate the famine problem as well.
"Second, housing must be provided for those who lost it in the fires. This is a much easier issue, actually, and we hope that it may in fact be used to help in stimulating Schultaria's economy via the production of new jobs in the construction industry.
"Third, Schultaria's economy must be protected from collapse until the property damage and famine are resolved. Partially, this may be accomplished via the new jobs created by the construction industry and our proposed reforms of the agricultural and energy infrastructure. We are also willing to pay handsomely to hire Schultarian citizens to work as expatriates in our own nation, a portion of their salaries to be delivered to their families here on Earth. Others will doubtless have further suggestions concerning this matter.
"For now, this is all, though we will have much to say regarding the details at a later time. We are open to questions or criticisms concerning what I have so far said or further proposals at this time. Thank you."

And he was seated.

OOC: like the others, I don't have a great deal of time right now... I'm supposed to scrim in CS soon...so my delegate dude was there since the beginning
IC:
The Illiorian delegate was Hans Fries(Freeze), a quite experienced diplomat, having helped solve many disputes, such as algeristan and several others, sat quietly in his chair. Listening. Watching. Waiting. He noticed many prime ministers and national leaders sitting there, many were from NATO, and there was the Hamptonshire leader, whom he respected greatly, seeing as he himself didn't want Illior in NATO, but there they were. He knew that the only thing that he could contribute was money, about 1.25 trillion USD, to be exact.

"Mr. Shultz, fellow delegates, I'm sorry to say that we can not contribute much, in the way of actual goods." He paused for a bit of a Dramatic effect, "But I can say luckily that what we can offer is a direct wire of 1.25 trillion USD to the Shultarian government, no strings attached, for uses as they see fit in this effort, hopefully mainly for foo.." He stopped for a moment, and looked at his watch, It said that every person in Illior had donated five dollars to help the Shultarians through their hard times, which he decided to with hold for now. "Food, and I'm sorry for the interuption, water purification and healthcare." He pausd for about five seconds to let this all sink in. "I'm also happy to announce that all citizens of Illior have donated an average of 5 Illics, which total amounts to 24 billion USD. Thank you, and I await your response, seeing as I have to reply immediatly."

The Sharinan diplomat waited her turn, and once the Illiorian delegate finished his speech, the Sharinan began speaking.

"Sharina's food sector is fully prepared to contribute all the assistance that it can provide to the Schultarian people. According to the emergency report that President Mina Veristek has ordered, the Sharina food sector would be able to sustain approximately 400 million Schultarians, as our farming methods are one of the most efficient in the world. Sharina is also prepared to ration foodstuffs for its own people to feed another additional 100 million Schultarians.

Sharina is also fully prepared to send teams of engineers over to Schultaria Prime to look at your remaining farming sector and employ Sharinan farming methods in hopes of salvaging and enhancing the Schultarian food system. As you may or may not already know, Sharina has invested heavily in hydrogen fuel cell technology. It is capable of generating 100% pure drinkable water as a byproduct of electrical generation. We employ massive hydrogen fuel cell generator plants in our farmlands, to provide pure irrigation water. This ensures that Sharinan farms will never fall victim to droughts and natural famines. In addition, Sharina has also begun investing in hydroponic farms, supplemented by the famed Sharinan hydrogen fuel cell technology. This combination of two high technology farming methods has enabled Sharina to increase its crop yields by a reasonable 5% every year, ensuring that there is always a healthy food surplus in the Sharina Technocracy.

Hopefullt those solutions will be able to help lighten the burden that the Schultarian people are now facing. Sharina refuses to stand by idly while its friends suffer greatly."

While the numerous delegates presented their opening statements of aid, Directors Haarvekord and Covey looked for acceptance from their political senior only to find him staring back as if he wanted them to take a stance of their own. Nodding for his colleagues to respond in the nation's stead, the mentally tired and beleaguered Central Director took advantage of his spare time to review the latest agricultural projections with relative serenity. Despite deferring to his fellow heads of state as a means of supplying some desperately needed rest, Elliot was also acutely aware that any decision without his direct input could be manipulated for his gain; should Sarnow or Joan say something inflammatory to the international delegation, his own political power could be used as a trump to prevent any serious quarrels. With President Veristek closing her opening statements of aid, a visibly labored nod from the Central Director brought the other two leaders to reply almost immediately.

The Schultarian heads of state, ever willing to be the gracious hosts, thanked each delegate so far for their proposals with common platitudes of bowing and warm smiles, but both Joan and Sarnow were as of yet still deeply worried about the plight of the Schultarian citizenry. Despite their boss's willingness to refresh his knowledge of the situation, the other two directors had a much longer time to mull over the mounds of data while the fire was still in it earliest stages. All three Directors knew that the fire's impacts were more than just the immediate loss of food and fuel, but only the subordinate directors knew just how long the damage could last. Although they appreciated the more than generous offers of aid and economic assistance presented through the kind words of their invited guests, most of the aid felt as though it was fire and forget to the normally highly appreciative hosts. Of course, as much as they desired to negotiate for more physical support, the damage of offending their guests could be too great to bear; instead, a more subtle approach to each offer of aid would have to be taken.

Smiling, Director Covey pointed her hand, palm up, towards Sarnow in an obvious measure for him to offer the nation's response. Clearing his throat, the youngest head of the Directorate politely bowed towards the table's center as he picked himself from his seat and adjusted his datapad for a clearer view while speaking. With little hesitation he delivered an impromptu response using faculties he hadn't used since his days teaching Physics for researchers in Eldaimovey.

"It is without a doubt that we are blessed to have such people here today to generously offer our nation the things it needs so desperately in order to make it through the year and for that we are very thankful. To the Illian delegation, thank you for your generous offerings of fiscal assistance; as gracious neighbors, we will accept your offerings but on the stipulation that your government allow for some control over the funds it issues. After all, even in today's world where trillions can be spent on flights of fancy and useless projects, it would be very uncivil and un-Schultarian of us not to allow you the chance of helping our nation on a more direct level. Also, on behalf of the Schultarian nation, please convey our thanks for the donations presented by your citizens; should such a time come when you require our assistance we hope to reciprocate in kind."

As the applause from the gallery above swelled to Haarvekord's statement, he capitalized on the downtime to pull critical talking points about the Sharinan and Guilder proposals from his own storehouse of technical knowledge. In a flash the talking points he wanted to address were virtually written down in his conscious mind, but he still had to worry if his words would be interpreted wrongly. Stalling for time by thumbing through the electronic papers of a nearby Schultarian Sapanna system, the crowd fortunately gave him time enough to at least put a mild amount of coating on his otherwise frank rebuttal musings.

"To the Guilders and the Sharinans, both of whom have been very respectable partners over many years to Schultaria Prime, we too can not thank you enough for your show of support at this conference. It is understandable that the Guilder delegation can not offer assistance in terms of physical implements or commodities due to the inherent complexities of space travel, but we as a nation thank you nonetheless for your willingness both to attend and initiate today's discussion. As well, the Sharinan offer of helping to provide the basic nutritional requirements of some twelve and a half percent of our nation is highly commendable, although we are worried that through such efforts your nation might be at risk towards the ill-effects of current international affairs. I'm sure that you, Ms. Veristek, as well as Mr. Fries of the Illian delegation and Mr. Ziller of the Hamptonian representative body probably have enough to worry concerning the affairs of immediate armed conflict to probably hinder a portion of your respective aid packages."

Letting out a quick breath, the Director took a sip of water from a nearby glass an proceeded with his train of thought, "Aside from the hindrances of conflict, I would also like to draw upon some concerns I noted in both the Guilder and Sharinan speeches. It is not to say that either the nations of Sharina or Spacer Guilds are in the wrong about Schultarian society, but rather that there might be a few items that have not made themselves available as open statistics. One concern is the nature of energy production and 'independence' as stated by the Guilder representatives; as a nation, we are dependent on Ethanol as a primary source of portable and highly storable energy reserves. Granted, it's not nearly as powerful as the energy produced by petroleum; however, up until just two weeks ago, we had been able to produce enough surplus to feed our needs for portable energy and raw hydrocarbons necessary for our plastics industry in equivalent levels to any oil-thirsty nation. As a scientist I am curious as to what the Guilder delegation is proposing that would help to supply the needs of Schultaria's portable energy problem, and await a reply from our esteemed colleagues in that respect.

Another set of concerns stems from the Sharinan proposals to help assist our farming methodology while also including large scale implementation of fuel cell based power generation. As an island nation we feel that the best way to provide the consumable water necessary for irrigation might not have to come from such an energy consuming process of electrolyzing hydrogen and oxygen to be combined in a fuel cell, but rather through large scale desalinization of openly available seawater. However, our nation's construction and utilities industries can barely keep up the growth of population in our urban centers; for the most part, all of our spare water generation capabilities are devoted to insuring our nation has enough to drink and just enough to supply agricultural demand with a certain amount of dependence on the winter rainy season.

In addition, I can probably speak on behalf of the Agricultural community when I say that our farming techniques are fast approaching the chemical limitations of the Schultarian plains region. Our nation, in comparison to just about every other nation represented in this conference, is probably the smallest and densest in terms of area and population respectively. At last census some three billion two hundred million citizens live within our borders; that's just a tiny hair above five thousand five hundred citizens per square kilometer. Considering that our nation currently subsists on less than thirty thousand square kilometers of pasture and farmland, perhaps it might be necessary to look towards the less conventional options of Sharinan hydroponics instead of improvement towards conventional farming.

Efforts to improve existing farmlands might prove to be more difficult than expected; using the imperial system as a reference, Schultarian farmers are currently able to just barely squeeze out enough product to feed roughly four hundred and forty citizens per acre of cultivated land. For most modern nations, that's approximately four and a half to six times most modern farming practices, but we can not hope to keep up this pace for much longer."

Without revealing his true thoughts on the ultimate limitations of the Schultarian food supply, Sarnow rested his case and retired to his chair wondering whether or not his long winded speech would have any effect on the planning of the other delegates.

Senator Ziller patiently sat through, what was to him, endless speeches by nameless foreign delegates. He was an unusually undiplomatic Foreign Minister, now as Prime Minister he was forced to be at least superficially tolerant of people he would otherwise backhand.

"If I could," the Prime Minister asked as he stood up, "I think it's time for us to put our offer on the table." He paused to collect his thoughts, "It is the estimation of our Finance Ministry that the Schultarian nation is not in need of further direct financial aid than from what has already been offered. The true need of our Schultarian hosts is in infrastructure and energy."

As the Prime Minister spoke Luis Santiago, the Minister of State for Agriculture, handed out sheets of e-paper to the three Directors. Luis was cooly handling the situation. As a trained diplomat and civil servant he was much more comfortable behind a desk or with foreign representatives then at Cabinet meetings.

"As you can see," Ziller continued, "while Hamptonian production of ethanol is not substantial enough to make up for crop losses, our production of biodiesel would be more than capable of off setting temporary losses in the power and heavy industries. If you'll select page two, you will notice that most Schultarian machines and engines designed to use ethanol can either already run or be very easily modified to run on up to fifteen percent gasoline. As one of the world's largest petroleum exporters, the Grand Duchy can easily provide refined gasoline to the Schultarian marketplace."

Now it was Minister Santiago's turn to address the assembly. He cleared his throat and began to speak in his slightly Castalian accented voice, "Hamptonian advances in petrochemical based fertilizers should allow the affected farm lands to regain pre-fire output levels within six months. We are also willing, and able, to loan Schultarian farmers medium and heavy farming equipment to replace what was lost in the tragedy."

Santiago sat down expecting to next hear one of that Directors speak but instead Ziller got up again.

"There is one more thing," the aging Senator said as he pushed his hair back out of his left eye, "recent colonial expansion in Manium has brought into the Hamptonian League some three hundred thousand square miles of new land that could be made into productive farmland. The Regent has expressed his desire to offer a portion of this land to Schultaria Prime for a hundred year unrestricted lease."

As Ziller sat down eyes across the room gazed at him, stunned at the offer that was on the table. Luis was completely dumbfounded, he was completely unaware of the Regent's desire to offer any land to the Schultarians.

I've got to attend more Cabinet meetings, the Minister thought to himself.

President Mina Veristek listened to the Hamptonshire's offer, and then she decided to jump in as the Hamtonshirean finished.

"Sharina has already established a profitable colony in Manium, and we are planning to construct several hundred hydroponic farms, mainly underground to avoid potential natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and possible man-made disasters such as air bombing raids. It is estimated that within the next decade, the hydroponics farms will be able to supply sufficient food for 500 million people at optimal rates.

Sharina recalls the very first Schultarian Designwerks project that Sharina requested from Schultaria. It was an underground urban center for five major cities in Sharina. We are more than happy to return the favor, as we have been refining underground construction for several decades since that original project.

I have with me a plan for a massive underground hydroponic farm, or UHF for short. One UHF would measure approximately 1 kilometer wide in diameter, and extends for three kilometers downwards. It has multiple levels, with acres upon acres of carefully regulated hydroponic 'rows'. It is estimated that one UHF complex could feed ten million people if it is operated at optimal levels, as there are approximately 300 levels in the UHF, as each level is approximately 10 meters in height. What's more, the UHF can be stacked, as in a second UHF could be constructed under the first UHF, and a third one under the second one and so forth.

The beauty of underground construction is such that it utilizes 'vertical sprawl' similiar to the concept and theory of Arcologies, but with two benefits. First, it is much more resistant to external forces such as weather and warfare. Second, it adds several functions, such as a full NBC protected evacuation center, extra storage space for a city, increasing the available space for a city by expansion downwards in addition to upwards (with Arcologies and the like), among others.

Essentially, if one were to undertake underground as well as 'into the sky' construction methods, a city could easily triple or even quadruple its size and space without being forced to expand outwards horizontally as is the case with most urban sprawls such as Los Angeles or Denver.

As for the dangers you purport that Sharina may face by contributing massive shipments of foodstuffs, I can put your fears to rest. Sharina has not been participating in the enormous war engulfing Automagfreek and Praetonia, and we have no plans on getting involved any time soon. You see, our nation has had little impact in NATO or any affairs involving Automagfreek, due to the considerable isolation of the Sharinan continent from most major continental masses. The only Sharinan asset that may be threatened by the Automagfreek - Praetonia War would be its new Manium colony, but then again, Sharina has been an expert in remaining neutral during massive world-wide wars.

Hopefully these solutions will be of help to the Schultarian people."

Riga stood. "Director Sarnow, your questions are well taken. You make good points, and I shall attempt to address them.
"As regards your portable energy infrastructure, the first thing we though of was, of course, hydrogen. As good a fuel as pure hydrogen is for internal combustion engines and fuel cells, however, it simply is not very practical to store and transport large amounts of it at conveninet densities in your terrestrial environment. Perhaps we would still support the use of hydrogen fuel as a utility, to be delivered by pipeline to whatever buildings use it, but we think that it would be simpler and more efficient to stick with a single energy storage regime.
"So, we would propose instead that you look to methane or methanol- or, we can even adapt the equipment we have in mind to the production of ethanol so as to keep the rest of your infrastructure in place, but the efficiency would be less. This equipment that I speak of is simply chemical processing machinery to intake carbon dioxide and water, produce carbon monoxide, oxygen, and hydrogen, and use the carbon monoxide and hydrogen to produce methanol, ethanol, etc. These fuels can, of course, be run in an internal combustion engine as always, or they can be run through a reformer on-site to use their hydrogen in a fuel cell.
"Obviously, this will require a large power generation capacity. Now, you say that your current water-generation capacity is too small to devote much to electrolysis? I would extend this to also mean that you think it too small to devote any to methanol/ethanol production? Is this because of a limitation on the electrical power available to run desalinators, or a limitation in the number of plants that you can build and maintain per capita? If it is either, or neither of these, we can still help you.
"As it ties into another issue I want to address, I will leave the first scenario for now. If you are limited in the number of desalinization plants available, we can perhaps help you by increasing their efficiency, so each can produce more fresh water. The installation of a simple Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion heat engine at each plant will both provide extra electrical power for the plant, as well as providing a large source of cold water which can be run through condensers to extract moisture directly from the atmosphere. Of course we don't really know much about your current plants, so if they already include this infrastructure, then I suppose you can simply ignore what I have just said concerning it.
"If neither of those scenarios is the reason for lack of a large fresh water surplus, then we can help you by reducing the amount of water you need to use for agriculture. This we can do both by offering you xerophyte crops, and by teaching you not only high-yield hydroponics techniques, which Sharina seems to be quite capable of doing, but also even more water efficient aeroponics.
"On that note, if we examine the Sharinan proposal to build a massive underground hydroponics farm, or UHF, we see that it will need a significant power supply to provide light, heat, ventilation, and water circulation to all of the plants. This is where the issue of power available to your desalinization plants and our proposed fuel generation plants. Power supply is an area at which we excel, and I find it slightly amusing that the acronym for the proposed farm is UHF, as that is the same acronym that we propose to power it- in this case, standing for Ultra-High Frequency. An array of radio rectennas, perhaps on the roof of the UHF farms, perhaps in other, dedicated power-plant facilities, would convert Ultra-High Frequency radio or microwaves beamed down from orbital powersats into electrical energy for the grid. As, ultimately, population density depends on the amount of power available to each individual through food and the radiating capacity of your housing, such orbital powersats, with UHF farms to convert electrical into chemical-food energy, could allow your population density to grow almost indefinitely, as, with plenty of ocean as a heat sink, I find it unlikely that you will ever hit a wall as far as radiating waste heat goes."
Riga cleared her throat. " Now, one final thing. This might end up a moot point, but as far as conventional field-farming goes, we may be able to at least help reduce costs, specifically the cost of fertilizer. This can be done simply by spraying your fields with a certain poison, non-toxic to humans, but specially engineered to interfere with the action of the enzyme denitrogenase, thereby eliminating denitrifying bacteria from your soil and so increasing the nitrate inventory. Thank you," and she sat.

For what seemed like ages, the Director Haarvekord took great pains to outline the plans of the three delegates in characteristically detailed lecture notes, but even the length of the delegate's speeches were starting to get to the former professor's stoicism. It had been a long time since a meeting of this size had ever been attempted, let alone executed, in Schultaria's less than open history of international diplomacy and the three heads of state were beginning to grow wary as the minutes passed on. For the politically youngest of the three, the wait steadily grew from frustrating to infuriating as the Guilder delegation took to the floor for the second time; as the female ambassador went into her dialogue about the state of the nation's energy infrastructure his self control had all but evaporated. Haarvekord's experience as one of the leading researchers for the Eldaimovey Advanced Research Laboratories didn't help calm his temper either, but he proved to be level headed enough to retire from the rest of the group before he could erupt into a rage of internationally embarrassing proportions. Ever the sensible man, he transmitted a small text message to his counterparts still listening to the international delegation.

"The Guilders know little about our power system versus our demographic challenges and the Sharinans barely know about our SEMBU projects. Knock some sense into them, please."

-Sarnow

All Joan and Elliot could do was sigh over the message and hope his temper would return to a level where he might not be so apt to come to blows, but such was the case with any academic with threatened honor. Both of them understood that Sarnow had been responsible for many secretive high technology experiments during his Doctoral term, and Elliot could specifically remember the work his now colleague performed on several critical power generation experiments. Unfortunately, even in this time of crisis, the work Sarnow had conducted nearly two and a half decades ago still could not be brought into the light of day for a proper rebuttal. However, even in his curt and slightly envenomed response, Director Haarvekord seemed to be correct about one concern; none of the nations in the room seemed to know much concerning the nation's demographic makeup.

It would a small platform to take, but Central Director Schultz wanted to make sure that every aspect of the aid design would maximize benefit for the nation's citizens, and not just the interests of any one series of individuals. "We've been a colony before, and we won't be a colony again," he repeated with ever deafening rapport in his mind, "even if they are of sound intention and pure motive, exploiters still lurk in the shadows."

Adjusting his mildly soft frame, Elliot waited to speak until the Guilder delegation had finally iterated its offers. Without raising himself from the chair, the Central Director decided to put more emphasis on his hand gestures and the holopads surrounding the room's cylindrical periphery as he began to speak. "Let me first state that we the Schultarian people are highly ingratiated for the offers as presented by the Hamptonian delegation. Although we, the Directors of Schultaria Prime, will have to confer with the National Assembly and Constitutional court regarding the acceptance of your land contract and any potential petroleum imports, we want to thank you and all of the other nations present for your more than generous offers to help reconstruct our physical infrastructure as handily as possible.

Of course, there is the problem about exactly what kind of physical and industrial capabilities our nation possesses in reference to the proposals already stated. In the case of the Hamptonian offer of aid, perhaps the only qualms I or any of my colleagues and advisors might come to contention might be the concern surrounding the use of petrochemical fertilizers and fuels when our economy has abstained from them for so long. Being as we will be approximately one and a half trillion liters of ethanol short for this year alone I guess that the point can be mulled to the point of impotence irregardless of economic protectionism. Although I, as a historian trained in the Schultarian school of internationalism, view the nature of imported fossil fuels as the ultimate in single-crop economies, our nation will accept the offer of temporary exports of refined petroleum for as long as our ethanol production needs to recover to reach a per capita production of roughly ninety five percent pre fire levels.

Continuing on the subject of energy in its myriad states, I received a small memo from Director Haarvekord concerning the addressing of several issues regarding such facilities in Schultaria Prime. Now I would not like to get into the semantics concerning the exact distribution of specific elements and natural resources any more than should be tolerable to any average person, but let's just say that in order to make electrolysis work for the Schultarian people, we'd have to possess an ample amount of free elemental hydrogen which we just simply do not possess. It is not to say that we cannot use electrolysis to produce the hydrogen necessary for our needs, but there are critical factors in this area that must be addressed. One problem concerns the rate of energy consumption to separate the necessary elemental components; for many civil planners and scientists in our country, we've found it easier and more productive to use solar evaporative distillation facilities on a large scale. Instead of investing a great deal of high energy and complex transfer and monitoring equipment, our nation uses the normally clear skies above our nation to extract pure water from the sea with the additional bonus of any minerals left behind in the evaporative process.

However, artificial water production or not, the main reason we can not keep up with the water consumption in our nation is not confined to energy infrastructure problems. Rather, a demographic explosion within our borders has left our nation economically expanding but continually pushing the bounds of our own physical capacities. With so many nations in the world who seem more than willing to oppress, exile, or otherwise discard normally innocent people, it has been our solemn national duty to provide a safe haven and easy immigration procedures for a great deal of displaced citizens that need a new home and a government willing to look out for their safety without trammeling on their personal rights. In the pursuit of providing safe harbor, our population rates have skyrocketed nearly 75% over the last twenty years alone and it doesn't seem like there'll be any slowdown in the number of displaced persons other nations are willing to generate.

To bring up the arcology concepts as noted by President Veristek, our nation has been using these same concepts for the last fifty years in terms of population redirection but not in terms of agriculture. Schultaria Prime is by no means a large nation in terms of territory, so conservation of space has always been critical to us as a people. I do hope that the Sharinan quotes concerning the metropolitan areas of Denver and Los Angeles were made more as a reference to generic population growth than any specific Schultarian metropolitan area. When you leave this room today, make sure to take tour around the city center of the capital; you'll find no building fewer than two hundred stories within a thirty block radius from the government quarter, and four and a half kilometers of urban life below your feet. As such, the offer of providing underground hydroponics facilities will prove to be a necessity, they'll have to be built at levels close to the Mohorivic Discontinuity in order to keep up with expanding requirements for population growth or underneath existing farmlands at depths which will not disrupt above ground farming operations.

Of course this meeting is only a preliminary step of a far more arduous task ahead of us; for now let us adjourn for a few hours to gather something for lunch and collect our thoughts. We'll meet right back here in about three hours, so if you need to talk to your respective national authorities or converse with any member of the Directorate, feel free to do so."

With the upper gallery convening, Elliot and Joan stood up from their chairs and paced around the table, casually talking with passers by and waiting to be approached with more personal questions from the delegates.

President Mina Veristek listened carefully to Elliot Schultz's speech. Once the Schultarian leader finished and began socializing with the various personnel lounging around, Mina stood up and decided that she had to speak with Elliot. She gently approached Elliot Schultz and spoke in a calm voice as Mina could sense that Elliot was somewhat tense.

"Hello.

I would very much like to take a personal tour of Schultaria Prime after the conference. I'll be the first to admit, albeit somewhat embarrassingly, that I do not know much detail about your people, owing to Sharina's considerable isolation the past several decades. Schultaria Prime and Vastiva were the only nations that Sharina had any major diplomatic contact with, while very little interaction has taken place with other nations.

I am quite interested in learning more about your people, history, and culture, as knowledge of one other is paramount to true friendship and unity. I truly want to improve the already good relations between ourselves and our two nations even further."

Mina granted Elliot a geniune smile.

OOC: Is it too late to join this?

OOC: Is it too late to join this?

OOC:

I believe you can join this- I'm sure Schultaria would be more than happy to have someone like you participate. :)

The scale and importance of the disaster had been such that President Andrew Cuthbert, the President of Manhattan Prime, thought it vital enough that he come to Schultaria Prime himself.

He was accompanied by his loyal Chief of Staff, Korin Duval, and Ambassador Mark Rogers, the Manhattanite ambassador to Schultaria Prime, and thus advisor on all things Schultarian

He’d sat in the sumptuous chairs laid out for the delegations, and listened patiently to the proposals of the other delegates. When a break was called for, the President made a few notes, and looked down at the speech he had prepared,

Compared to many other countries that were offering aid to Schultaria, Manhattan Prime’s offer seemed small. They lacked the size, population, affluence and technological advances of the other countries, but their sympathy was genuine and Manhattan Prime was ready to help its Schultarian friends as much as it was able.

“The people of Manhattan Prime has always respected and admired our brothers in Schultaria Prime, and we remain grateful for the help they have given us over the years. We regard Schultaria as the best friend we’ve got on the international stage, and its citizens are always welcome on our shores. Our diplomatic relations are well established, and our ties through TAPRES and the region of Primex are equally strong.

Now we have a chance to repay their aid, and we will not stand idle and let our allies suffer. Our resources may be modest compared to many of the countries that have rallied around Schultaria, but we pledge to help as much as is humanly possible

Our population may number only 900 million, but over 2 million volunteers, mainly university students on break, have signed up for the Manhattan Humanitarian Aid Service, volunteering to come to Schultaria Prime to help in the rebuilding effort. They include many skilled doctors, nurses, engineers, farmers and scientists, and will be completely fed and provided for by Manhattan Prime. We would not wish to burden you further in our desire to help.

In addition to this, we can offer some of our surplus grain and food stocks to reduce the burden on Schultaria, as well as $50 billion in humanitarian aid.

We hope to support the Schultarian people and government as much as possible in this time of hardship. Thank you”

Satisfied, the President puts his notes down and went to mingle around the hall, thinking to deliver his proposal after the meeting re-ajourned.

OOC: Sorry this took so long; I had to force myself to write after returning to my third year of College and having yet another malignant case of writer's block. I apologize for the quality of this post, but I hope things will fall back into place and the RP can continue with only very limited interruption.

IC:

Despite early positive progress, the Central Director's mind was still racing, paranoid that even the closest of nations were not operating in the best interests of the nation's citizenry. Had this conference come even six months earlier, Central Director Schultz's mind, ill at ease from the impending pressures of war and diplomatic failures from nations abroad might have been in a better state to receive aid. Nonetheless, the plight and circumstances in the outside world had to take precedence to his fears of being slighted, much to the dismay of his flighty logical judgment. Painfully, he physically forced himself to stop dwelling on the prospects of economic colonialism and relax in front of the crowd, although in his increasingly advanced age such feats of mental reorganization were more difficult to pull off successfully.

As the hundreds of delegates and government appointees filtered out of the upper chamber, the murmur of their chatter was largely filtered out by the Central Director's discriminating fixation of President Veristek's requests. He relaxed in response to her tone and nodded in agreement to her proposals though still largely apprehensive deep within his conscious mind. "I'm sure that we in Schultaria Prime can arrange a more extended visit for you and your entourage," replied the Central Director, mildly distracted as he still tried to contemplate the impact of the disaster, "forgive me if I may, as I have been so distracted from a proper night's sleep in exchange for copious regiment of stimulants, for being so brief in my reply to your requests. I'll do my utmost to see if I can secure you a full diplomatic exploration of the nation with my wife and I if you so wish, although prevailing circumstances might prohibit me from attending the full tour. However, perhaps we could discuss some other topics right now in this chamber or in the Department Building's Cafeteria..."

Scratching his chin, he asked with an air of subtle confidentiality, "I've heard recently that your nation has begun the prospect of updating its military forces. While I know Schultarian law prohibits the sale of offensive weaponry or open military instruction, perhaps we could discuss opportunities to further define our friendly diplomatic terms and perhaps offer some mutually beneficial defensive extensions."

Mina Veristek listened carefully to Elliot Schultz, and then responded in a reassuring tone of voice.

"Thank you for your offer of a tour with you and your wife.

I do understand the strain and stress of leadership, and I can sympathize with your stress. I am willing to take an extended stay here in Schultaria if needed. I will understand if you cannot accompany me for the full tour, as your nation needs you in its hour of need."

Mina lowered her voice so that only Elliot would be able to hear her, as Mina did not want to take any chances with any secret eavesdropping devices that the other delegates may have hid upon their personages.

"It is true that Sharina is attempting to upgrade, refine, and modernize its military, yet it is for purely defensive reasons. We have seen no need to upgrade our military from equipment and hardware dating back to 1980's and the 1990's due to our remarkable isolation from the mainsteam international stage. However, with the war between Automagfreek and Praetonia, Sharina has realized that the war could spread to the corners of the globe as multitudes of nations are jumping on the war bandwagon on both sides.

Should any imperialist nation seek to invade or annex Sharina, we would indeed fight, but we are unsure whether our equipment would be sufficient to engage any modern military without extreme casaulties. For instance, our armored vehicles would probably be unable to combat their foreign equalivents, as it would be like a World War 1 military fighting an invading military of a World War 2 era.

We seek peace, unity, and freedom, but we must protect these values from those who seek to take it away from Sharina."

Mina resumed her normal tone and volume of voice.

"Shall we have lunch to take our minds off international stresses and politics, even for a half-an-hour? After all, we do need to relax once in a while. I would like to chat not as a national leader, but as a friend."

While Central Director Schultz and President Veristek exchanged idle conversation outside of the Agriculture Building's Grand Hall, Director Haarvekord sat in a secluded corner of the somewhat hastily assembled cafeteria on the opposite side of the grand megalith of a building. The rest of the negotiating party, all of the little bureaucratic lackeys of the National Assembly, Department of the Interior, and way too many of the Department of Agriculture to count, swarmed into the three-story Automat for a quick bite. Looking at the throng of hundreds, Sarnow couldn’t help but let out a stifled laugh as the hundreds of observers clamored for their food; to a normally reserved and well ordered man, the sight of grown professionals jumping around fervently to find the perfect meal was enough to brighten his day. Several frenzied minutes later, the cooler heads in the room settled the crowd while those who had already claimed the choice meals were heartily relishing their catch with their friends and colleagues like a hunter bragging about their latest quarry. Although Sarnow preferred the privacy that his political station could provide, sitting in the general cafeteria provided him with some well deserved comic relief.

While the majority of the upper chamber of the Grand Hall ate in the converted Automat on the ground floor, the fifty central delegates were offered individualized dining facilities complete with private rooms, individualized attendants, and even three personalized five star chefs for each nation in attendance some six floors away from the general gathering of people. However, as a sign of solidarity for the citizens directly afflicted by the tragedy, none of the Schultarian delegates from the lower chamber, by a kind of invisible self-imposed tradition, would enjoy the benefits of this individualized preparation. Instead, all three Directors and most of the chief advisors had ceremoniously sworn not to consume any food until the negotiations were over, probably to the chagrin of their international counterparts. Unsettling as it might be to the diplomats and representatives that would enjoy the personalized services on the government's tab, no amount of prodding would change the reasoning.

As the majority of the primary negotiators left the Grand Hall for their private accommodations six floors up, Central Director Schultz and President Veristek were still busy exchanging pleasantries as they entered one of the Department of Agriculture's ancient and ornately machined elevators. With the grates closed and the lift motor's slow electric murmur below their feet, Elliot slumped on the maple bench in the back of the cab. Propping his upper torso against his elbows, he noticed the smoothness of the bench; the slight impressions of tens of thousands of riders over decades of use were beginning to make beautifully sculpted depressions in the wood's bright grain. Looking at the seat, he began to think out loud to the Sharinan President, "When it comes right down to it, the sum totals of our actions are the physical impressions we make on the world." Pawing the seat's varnished surface, he sighed, "I'm starting to wax philosophically again, aren't I? My apologies; I just can't get the thought of what needs to be done out of my head."

OOC: Sorry that I've taken so long in providing this post (and apologies for the quality as well); too many things have begun to clutter my life as the convergence of serious school work, massive writer’s block, and several family events have merged into one tumultuous storm. Also, Sharina, I really didn't know how to respond to your post in my usual three to six paragraph format so a good part of that time was spent in failed attempts in making a post of the proper length and quality (only to have it develop in a spur of the moment style such as this).

OOC:

Don't worry about it, Schultaria. Just take your time, there's no rush. RL always takes precedence over NS, and I've been through the same thing with RL / NS during my cochlear implantation process the past month and half. I'll always be here ready to resume the RP whenever you have the time, Schultaria. :)

The Emperor of Xeraph wishes to apologise for the tardiness of response to this serious situation. Xeraph has been embroiled in a war on two fronts, while simultaneously developing both a new Imperial Region and it's new OutWorld planet.

Effective immediately, Xeraph pledges 50 tons of protein-based organic consummables per day to Schultaria Prime, and any other nation requesting it.

Further, Xeraph stands ready to deploy it's XEMA Units, comprised of med-teams, field hospitals, and engineering coordinators. Xeraphian firefighters are included in these units.

Xeraph would like to work with Schultaria Prime in the developement of maximum-yield, high-nutrient foods.


regards,

Reichard Nostrum, Director of Xeraphian Agri-Comm.

OOC:

Sharina, Manhattan Prime, Hamptonshire, Spacer Guilds...

The ball's still in your court to reply and breathe some life in what I am now considering a "terminal" RP. It pains me to have to post such an item to keep the thread alive, but whatever I can perform to get your attention (minus any demeaning comments) I'll do with intense vigor.

President Mina Veristek nodded as she heard Central Director Elliot Schultz's musings. She decided to add something of her own.

"We have a similiar saying in Sharina. It goes as this.

'History makes us not, yet history shapes us.'

What that essentially means is that history doesn't create who we are as is evidenced by rebellions, founding of new nations, and entire new civilizations. However, we are shaped by history indirectly, such as religious morals translated into law such as no murder, no stealing, no kidnapping, no adultery, and so forth.

We also have another saying.

'The sum of all our parts is greater than the whole.'

Should each individual work together, they will achieve far greater success than they would do so individually.

I am somewhat philosophical myself."

Mina gave Elliot another warm smile as the Schultarian elevator continued on its journey.

OOC:

Sorry, I haven't had much time at all for NS (as can be evidenced in the speed of my own RPs). I'll get on the response to you ASAP.

OOC: Don’t really have much to do during the break, but once you guys are done, we can re-adjourn and I’ll deliver my proposal.

The elevator, in its advanced and dignified age, climbed the last six feet slowly, deliberately, as if savoring its physical accomplishments while President Veristek and Central Director Schultz gathered their belongings. Awaiting the two heads of state a troupe of personal valets, each dressed in iridescent red robes with the Schultarian national insignia emblazoned on their left shoulder, formed a human corridor flanking the elevator's gilded facade. Unflinching and on cue, the twenty attendants stood at full military attention as Mina and Elliot departed side by side towards the warmly lit lobby. On each of the valets, both heads of state noticed the ornate medals and rank insignia affixed with mechanical precision and human pride. To any ordinary person the flourishes would have meant nothing, a mere addition of unnecessary icing on a perfectly simple cake, but to Central Director Schultz, the valets represented something very worrisome indeed.

"Otkron... Why do they have to be Otkron?"

Only a few meters from complete privacy, Elliot did his best to hide any latent fears or worries from his guests. Walking with as much casual confidence as his acting could provide, he continued making small talk with the Sharinan leader until they were comfortably out of earshot of the attendants. Taking his time to survey the lobby, the Central Director retired to a small hutch adjacent to the golden glow of the sixth floor's grandest attraction. He motioned for President Veristek to sit across from him in a friendly, but somewhat covert, manner making sure to keep an eye out for any red-robed attendants. Although most were busy making final adjustments for the remainder of the other forty nine foreign guests, that fact alone provided little to assuage the Central Director; one might stray too close toward their conversation, but that was of a secondary concern to him now.

Hunching over the table slightly, Elliot said in a slight whisper to President Veristek, "Whenever the Otkron are in attendance, they always put me on edge. Last time they were at a function of this sort, I had a stroke because that's when I heard..." Elliot took a deep breath and wiped his eyes, "when I heard that Eldaimovey had been destroyed. Now maybe I'm just being slightly more paranoid than usual, but I know for a fact that plenty of people will not be too happy of whatever action we take today. Just the fact that the special forces are in attendance only seems to reinforce that fact and... I guess I'm just a little on edge."

As Elliot reclined in his seat, the whirr of the elevators resumed in the distance; the rest of the foreign delegates would be arriving soon for lunch, and diplomacy under the table…

TAG for reading and later response.