NationStates Jolt Archive

Constantinople, The Ottoman Empire

Colonel Stewart Griffin found himself travelling an awful lot these days. In the last year, he'd been to Yemen, United Elias, Zambia, France, Algeria, Polynesia, The Sudan, and now the Ottoman Empire.

He was in the Ottoman Empire on behalf of the Imperial Roycelandian Government, who were in the process of selling a large amount of arms and equipment to the Turks.

When he arrived, he was amazed to discover the Turks were using a motley selection of pre-WWI vintage weaponry, ranging from 19th century Muskets to Breech-Loading Martini-Henry rifles and bolt action Mauser K98 rifles, all acquired from various British and German sources in the years just before 1914.

Col. Griffin had arrived on a Sunderland Flying Boat, landing on the Bosphorous, and to many of the Turks it was the most magical thing they'd seen since a Handley-Page 00/400 had stopped over in the 1920s on a London-Bombay endurance flight.

The cargo hold of the Sunderland contained 1,000 Self-Loading Lee-Enfield Rifles and 1,500 Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III rifles, along with a generous quantity of .303 calibre ammunition. Additionally, a Steamer containing prototypes of each weapon made by Imperial Armaments was en route, and a squadron of Tigershark biplanes was scheduled to arrive in the next few days.

In the meantime, Colonel Griffin, dressed in a Khaki uniform with a Pith Helmet, made his way to the Sultan's Palace, to seek an audience with the Sultan and announce his presence in the Ottoman Empire...

OOC:Actually it's "Istanbul", but that doesn't matter.

BIC:

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The Palace of the Sultan, Istanbul, The Ottoman Empire
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The Sublime Sultan, Abdul Hamid III, gazed silently at the wall, his eyes staring blankly into space. He wore and empty expression on his face, one which men wear who are not actually paying attention to what is occuring around them, but he rather obviously was. It was strange, the meld of the certain expression and yet the reality of the situation. But the Sultan never had a reputation for being normal.

A man was babbling in the distance, Nazir Al-Khast, the Sultan's director of defense. He was currently talking about what the world was doing, about what this Roycelandian equipment would do, how the representative of the Roycelandian government was coming and many other things in the same regard. Few courtiers still loitered here, for the Sultan had sent anyone with half a brain out of the room.

"Let the Roycelandian come. He must think we are frightfully primative...we shall prove him wrong!" Al-Khast finished. The Sultan nodded. His Director of Defense was correct. A new age was dawning in the Empire.

Col. Griffin entered the Sultan's Palace at the invitation of his Courtiers, and presented himself to the Sultan, having the good grace to remove his Pith Helmet.

"Your Excellency,if I might be permitted to introduce myself, I am Colonel Stewart Griffin of the Roycelandian Imperial Guard, and I have come with the equipment samples that have been requested by Your Excellency's Government."

OOC: Sorry, I wasn't sure if the capital was Constantinople or Istanbul. FWIW, Roycelandians traditionally use "Colonial" or "Old" names for places.

For example, on a Roycelandian Map, Istanbul would be Constantinople, Mumbai would be Bombay, Volgograd would be Stalingrad, Da Nang would be Tourane... you get the idea.

I do apologise if I've got any of the Court Etiquette wrong... I don't know much about the AMW Ottoman Empire, as you'd probably guessed.

His Most Christian Majesty Louis-Auguste, watching his servants pack hundreds of suitcases full of clothing for an immenent vacation to Port Royal, chatted with Royce I on the telephone.

"Good show, Royce! Selling arms to the Turk is a perfect counter-balance to Slav nationalization. Go on with it, the wife and I will be by tommorrow...Yes, looking forward to seeing you as well. Ciao."

OOC:Well, the etiquette you "displayed" was essentially incredibly rude and insulting, but no one's gonna tell you that (they NEED the contracts!). But it fits - think of you as a British East India officer and me as an Indian Nawab - it works for you to be rude and insulting without knowing it. Oh and NG/Elkasor, remember, I'm also sending a representative to Yugoslavia, so...

BIC:

Each of the members of the courts glowered at the strange man's rudeness, but the Sultan seemed not to mind. "Ah, good, good. If possible, can you please show me what you have."

OOC:Sorry for the bad post - am having AMW writers black right now. Also, please note, te Sultna's palace DOES have modern technology, electricity, plasma TV's, etc.

The Quinntonian government is taking quite a notice in this turn of events, and its embassy is contacting the palace, asking if they would like to discuss an arms deal that would see the Ottomans supplioed by Quinntonian arms concerns, all in the name of fair captalism, of course.

WWJD
Amen.

The word on the streets, at least, about Quintonnian offers about arms deals was apparently "let us talk in a while", but there was no official response. Of course, for Ottomans, the word on the streets was as good as correct.

Sultan's Palace, Istanbul

Colonel Griffin wasn't quite sure what to expect... so little was known of the Ottoman Empire that it was widely assumed they still rode camels as a primary means of conveyance and probably thought that the Mechanical Clock was a pretty nifty invention.

Nonetheless, Colonel Griffin had dealt with foreign Rulers before and decided to follow the closes approximation of protocol that he could.

"Before I show you the goods, Your Excellency, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Royce I requested that I present you with this token of his esteem, on behalf of the Roycelandian Empire and Citizens thereof."

Colonel Griffin produced a beautifully carved Oak box, and carefully opened it to reveal a gold-plated Webley Mk VI .455 calibre revolver, with scroll engraved designs in silver on both sides, resting on a red velvet lining, along with 50 cartridges, all with pure silver projectiles. The revolver's handle had a deep, mesmerising blue sapphire inlet into the grips, and a small ruby was mounted in the foresight.

After allowing the Sultan to study the revolver for several minutes, Colonel Griffin nodded to one of the Imperial Guard accompanying him, who proceeded to open one of the crates of SLLE and SMLE rifles, inviting the Sultan and his Court to inspect them, before moving on to crates containing other weapons and items of equipment...

Tsar Wingert lauds his friends (well, really, he knows a guy who knows a guy, more of a friend of a friend) the Royclendians for taking a more active interest in the decadent Ottoman Empire, and begins to issue Tsarist requests for an imperial audience.

Tsar Wingert the Great.

The Imperial Diplomatic Ministry have replied (again, through friends of friends) that His Majesty would be most receptive to a visit by the Tsar, but at present His Majesty is in Jerusalem at the bedside of the dying Quinntonian PM Obed

I meant with the Ottomans. But you will recieva call soon.
Tsar Wingert the Great.

OOC:Crap post, but I'm lazy.

BIC:

The Sultan eyed the gift, making a mental note to use it later, then gesture to see more. The street rumors state that a Tsarist audience would be interesting.

With the world becoming aware of the continued existance of the Ottoman Empire, it isn't long before Mumbai considers making diplomatic overtures to the quite obviously backward but agreeable Sultanate.

A diplomatic communique is radioed to Istanbul, using an old vacuum-tube wireless set kept for just such an occasion. It states that Parliament is willing to provide the Ottoman Empire with a team of medical and civil engineering advisors, as well as limited amounts of modern hospital and factory equipment. The cost? In fitting with Parliament's nigh-unparalleled philanthropy, it is of course free of charge. Seeing the Ottoman people in an improved condition is reward enough, says the Communique.

That said, it is important for the Ottomans to realize that while Hindustan might pride itself in giving a lot and taking a little, it doesn't have all that much to give, at least not in the way of military equipment and protection.

Of course, the Ottomans immediatly responded well, stating that they were glad for Hindustani aid...but they were distrustful of the strange nature of this fledgling partnership.

Meanwhile, the first Selfl-Loading rifles are being issued to the Sultan's Janissaries, and Imperial Guard are training them in their use...

And so it came to pass, thyat, hours and days later, the Ottomans began their first step into ascending into the modern age...

OOC--Something tells me that Royce wants a more direct answer as to what you're buying and how much you want to buy...

OOC:We already organized that, over TG.