NationStates Jolt Archive

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Brief Overview

Formal Name: Holy Empire of Kiwiland
Conventional Form: Newer Kiwiland
Government Type: technically Constitutional Theocracy, in practice Elective Monarchy
Head of State: Emperor Manuka II, Archbishop of Kiwiland
Capital: Kyora
Population: 11 million
Religion: Paganism
Calendar: Imperial Year Calendar, abbreviated IY
Languages: Imperial Standard, a bizzare speech that developed out of Kiwiland's efforts at eliminating communication barriers
Languages: Settlers, used by Suthenis and Cornralis, after whom this language is named.
Languages: Arnde, used by the Aranda and Lurita, and donated the most vocabularly to the Imperial Standard
Languages: Iknde, by the Pitjara, distinctively straightforward structures and syntax, and became the basis of the Imperial Standard

Brief History:

The Holy Empire of Kiwiland was formed in IY 1, when the 5 sovereign communities within what is now known as the Empire approved the Imperial constitution, thereby uniting their peoples into one nation.

Cornralis and Suthenlis: also known as the Northern Clan and the Southern Clan, respectively. The two Settlers Groups that arrived in Newer Kiwiland at the end of the Great Voyage in BIY 140. According to oral traditions, they arrived from the East, from a land called New Zee, which they flet out of entirely obscure reasons. Scholars have variously given 'disgusting food', 'lack of wine', 'too many birds' or 'volcano about to erupt and destroy the land in 1000 years' as the chief cause, although in recent times historians tend to choose 'all of the above' as the standard answer. Philosophers' protests of the impossibility to predict volcanic eruptions a millenium away goes unheeded.

No one knows what exactly New Zee means, or whether there is an Old Zee, although a shabby old man in the original group was said to have insisted that they arrived at New Zee from Howdy. In modern times this is regarded as fairly tale since, well, Howdy doesn't sound like Zee. In any case Zee was eventually replaced by Kiwi, which again has obscure origins but came to popular usage as a mild insult meaning something along the lines of 'a person'. Thus in some, less authoritative sources, New Zee would be listed as New Kiwi. Logically, the new homeland of the Cornralis and Suthenlis is called Newer Kiwi. That is, until a court jester asked why kiwi, an animate organism, should refer to a geographic entity. After the exile of the said jester, Newer Kiwi was quietly upgraded to Newer Kiwiland.

In BIY 74, Conralis leader Feds Aluc was proclaimed King by his tribe and certain members of Suthenis. Under him the two clans were finally united politically in BIY 61. By the time of his death his Kingdom ruled most of the Southeast of the continent. In BIY 60, a bloody coup broght his brief dynasty to an end, but under the new Southern Clan rulers Cornralis developed a rich merchantile class that would seize power in BIY 21 with indigenous help. With their economic power and indigenous military prowess, Cornralis developed at the expense of Suthenis until finally, their leaders pushed through the creation of the Empire in IY 1. To ensure that a kisman of theirs will sit on the trone, a elective system was subsequently adopted that gives each of the 5 constituent groups in the Empire a vote.

Ever since, however, Cornralis went into a sharp decline. Once the more numerous clan, by IY 92 they numbered no more than 12% of the population. On the other hand, thanks to their conversion to Indigenous paganism, the Suthenis established close ties with the 3 Aboriginal Tribes, and by IY 57 succeeded in getting of their own elected Emperor. Under Emperor Manuka the First, the Empire engaged in what became known as the Great Northern War, and expanded North until the Eastern half of the continent is completely under their rule.



Aranda, Lurita, Pitjara: the 3 Aboriginal Groups, said to be from beyong the ocean to the North, but arrived in their new homes thousands of years before the Settlers. Originally living mostly at the center of the Continent, after the Great Northern War they populated the Northeastern area. Legend has it that the three sons of Alexius Comenus, 1 bitten by a wolf, 1 bitten by a bat, and 1 doomed to trip over himself founded each clan. No one seriously believe in the story anymore, mostly because the Aranda, or Clan of the Wolf, is engaged in the practice of Arandan Waxing so regularly that they hardly represent the fur balls that were once their forebears. Even Arandans themselves often fail to realise that it is the practice of waxing, rather than any genetic normality, that give them their present appearance.

Many great thinkers have taken this to be the ultimate and decisive proof that execessive length of fangs in the Luritans, and a surprisingly high rate of trip-overs amongst the Pitjarans, are purely statistical anamolies. Rumours persists, however.

They came into extensive contact with Cornralis in BIY 44, and developed extensive ties through commerce. In BIY 42, the three groups met at Kyora and reached never before seen levels of cooperation. This allowed them to became the unquestioned power in the North by BIY 27, and in BIY 21 allied with the Cornralis in defeating Suthenis power. Thereafter all 5 groups established strong ties with each other, and in BIY 5, the emergence of the Nomadic Warlk peoples prompted the first signs of a political union.

Because the three tribes did not have a common name for themselves, they allowed the Settler Groups to adopt the name Kiwiland into the Empire Fomration Talks, BIY 2-1. However, as a counter to Settler influence, they sueccesfully negotiated the inclusion of their shared Pagan religion as the State religion. In exchange for Settler monopoly on the throne, they secured a rotational system whereby the Aboriginal Groups will take turns in filling the position of the Supreme Pontiff. Since they also have one vote each in Imperial elections, the two sides were kept in rough balance and was thus satisfactory for all parties concerned.

After the death of Emperor Manuka, Aranda came to dominate the Imperial Army, and lead the Westward Expansion that would see Aranda power established on the Western coast by IY 132. Thereafter the expansion of the Empire stalled; remanants of the Warlk peoples roamed much of the West, and Imperial citizens proved unwilling to endorse any incentives to seize deserts. Nevertheless, the Empire generally prospered, and by IY 150 political unity in Imperial lands was greatly strengthened by the adoption of several new clauses in the Constitution regarding how the Empire is governed.

In IY 200, the Empire stand at crossroads. With domestic power consolidated, debate is now heated between those who wishes to win glory by defeating the remaining peoples outside Imperial control, and those who eyes the oceans with wonder and anticipation of great lands. Neither side has won the day, but even as Lurita, Pitjara and Suthenis agitated for greater armament, Aranda, tired by ceaseless warfare, and Cornralis, seeking new opportunities, have come together to invest heavily in the craft of shipmaking....

Political Structure:

The Holy Empire of Kiwiland is a semi-feudalistic system, governed at the top by an Emperor elected by its 5 constituent Communities. Each Emperor serves for a turn of 12 years, although a mechanism is in place for an Emperor to remain on the throne for an additional 1 year in case of emergencies.

During elections, each Community will elect an Elector by universal suffrage.
Electors will then meet at the capital, Kyora, under the supverision of the
Suprme Pontiff and choose the next Emperor by a simple majority vote.
Abstaining is forbidden, but no votes will be taken until the 7th day of the
meeting, to allow for some time for deliberations. Members of 7 families in Cornralis and 6 in Suthenis have the right to stand for elections.

Parliament meets once every month, and during their sessions any noble can
propose legislations for consideration, provided that they find 15 sponsors.
The Emperor is free to govern the lands, but legislative power is Parliament's
alone to exercise, although Imperial prerogatives includes vetoing legislations. There is also a Council of the Estates, which can be called by the King, and has the sole power of levying taxes.

The Clergy doubles as the judicial branch of the Imperial government. The Grand Temple of Amatera the Sun Goddess exercises the appointments of Bishops to every county, who then serves as local judges. Additionally, 1 Archbisop from every province serves at the capital as part of the Supreme Court, chaired by the Emperor.

The military arm of the clergy, the Templar Knights, are the policemen of the realm. They can be seen roaming the streets day and night, upholding laws of the land and general order. Since they are not part of the executive, they are completely outside the Emperor's control, and some has viewed this with concern. Even the leaders of the clergy lacks solid control, since when the constitution was drawn it was though that independence is critical for objective prosecution of justice.




Administrative Units:


Kyora: a collection of territories that now includes most of the Southeast, the Imperial Lands are under the direct control of the Emperor. All groups in the Empire are represented here, although the Cornralis retains the largest community as a vestige of its early days when they controlled much of the gold mines. While the gold rushes that made this province a population magnethas ended, the towns and cities that have been left behind in their wake made this a prospering, settled society. Apart from being the political centre of the Empire, the Imperial University of Kyora and the Capital College are both located here.

Tasra: the Southernmost province in the Empire, Tas is based on the old Suthenis settlement on the Island of Tas. The climate there is extremely versatile, making life rather difficult, and settlements have generally been sparse even though an abudance of sealife has made this island a vibrant food-exporter. Since many Suthenisans had moved to the continent's Southern coast very early on, those lands are also included in the province. While the island economy is fledging at best, the continental settlements provides the bulk of the Empire's manufacturing capabilities in the form of Suthenisan workshops.

Sahra: homeland to the 3 Aboriginal Groups, this province was originally limited to the coastlines. As the Empire expand, it gradually incorporated vast tracts of desert lands into its control, mostly for purposes of trade, and this is where it got its name from. Recently this province has made many economical gains thanks to its mining industries, which by now controls virtually the entire iron market of the Empire.

Moret: the lands conquered during the Great Northern War, this province is now home to the vast majority of the Luritan and Pitjarans, as well as sizeable communities of Suthenlisans. This province is the foremost agricultural area of the Empire, exporting a variety of food, particularly fruits, thanks to its warmer climate. Many wineries are also located here, often owned by the Luritans who likes to use their products to redden their teeths and spook people on the last day of October. A healthy tourism sector, and a strong copper mining industry supplements the provincial economy.

Carlin: the new home that Arandans acquired following their pet Westward Expansion project, this coastal province is in fact cut off from much of the rest the Empire, except for some strips of land constituting the continental section of Tasra province. This is the most affluent province in the Empire, thanks to its vast amounts of gold reserves, which successive Aradan govenors controlled and exploited carefully to build up the infrastructure. Additionally, since Carlin is close to the arms manufacturing centres of Tasra, with hostile nomads as neighbours and providing the most recruits, it also houses the majority of Imperial military bases. With them comes much of the Imperial defence budget.

Military:

The Imperial Kiwiland Army consists of 8 branches, each considered equal and represented on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Orignally filled from different castes of society, admission has not been restrcited on such basis as birth since the system broke down half way through the Great Northern War. Even though throughout history their numbers and budgets varies widely in response to the needs of the Empire, the current military system meant that all changes are gradual and hard fought. This has been a major concern.

Aradan Lancers: heavy cavalry. armed with lances and protected by steel full-plate armours, these are the shock troops of choice for the Empire. While the lances they are known for are used in charges, these units are also equipped with sabres for close quarter combat. Historically the Aradan Heavy Lancers drew their ranks from the Aradan riders. They developed into heavy cavalry during the long war with Warlk nomads during the Westward Expansion, which was fought with financial, but not military, support from the rest of the Empire. Admission is open only to those ridders with years of experience and excellent physiques, and as such the Heavy Lancers are the smallest branch of the Imperial Army.

Aradan Thylacine: missile cavalry. Aradans, as the foremost operators of horses in the Empire, were acquianted with the idea of pestering enemy units with cavalry. Once firearms developed in the YI 49, they adopted them for use from horseback almost overnight. The modern Aradan Eagles, hailed from a line of distinguished horse archers, are now armed with pistols for long ranged attacks. In addition, sabres are also part of the standard issue, mostly to guard against close quarter combat. They tend not to be well trained in such weapons, however, and the lack of armour, while providing higher mobility, makes them even less inclined to wait for any melee enemy.

Aradan Raiders: light infantry troops. These units are capable fighters on the battlefield, but truly shines as small raiding bands. Protected only in their vital parts by cuirass, but equipped with the finest weapons the Empire can provide, they specialise in charging in with overwhelming numbers to decimate any enemy in one strike. Their primary weapon is the katana, a specially crafted blade that cuts through less firmly made armour with ease and rumoured to have originated from the North. They are also vigorously trained in the art of javelins throwing and spears, for use when fighting heavily armoured opponents.

Cornralisan Imperial Guards: heavy infantry. While also skilled in swords and archery, the Cornralisan Guards uses long axes as their weapon of choice. Their vital parts are protected by plate armour, but concerns for costs has forced the adoption of scale armour along with chainmail at the joints. On the other hand, a special gauntlet shield, often viewed with amazement, is still retained as a signature weapon despite scholarly opposition. It is an intriguing weapon that consists of a medium sized shield fixed to a thick steel gauntlet, both spiked. Although the original idea of catching an enemy's weapon in the gauntlet entices little enthusiaism amongst the actual soldiers, since IY 131 the shield has found its purpose for use in Shield Wall formations.

Luritan Guard Archers: longbow archers. Luritan hunters, armed with longbows. While the longbows they use are exceptionally powerful compared with other bows, the main focus of the Luritan Archers are on releasing a high volumn of arrows to create an 'arrow cloud' that would descend on their enemies. As a condition for admission, an archer must be able to release 8 well aimed arrows per minute, and 12 is the stated goal. While the Longbow Archers are also armed with cutlass for meelee combat, their only protection is brigandine.

Suthenisan Falconiers: hand cannons unit. As Tasra developed its arms manufacturing capabilities, artillery came to be the Suthenisan specialty. The most widely used of these is the Falconiers, small units of 4 employing hand canons that fires light weight balls more to disrupt enemy lines than actually killing them. Typically two soldiers will operate the canon while the other two carry, between them, 50 canon balls. Meant to have an range of perhaps 80 metres when firing levely, Falconiers can strike, albeit inaccurately, to a distance of 700 metres if shooing at higher angles.

Suthenisan Culnveriers/Bombardiers: the primary seige weaponry, Culnveriers use much heavier cannons than the Falconiers. Their 15 pound shots can reach up to twice the distance. The downside is that the weapon is so much heavier that horses must be used to draw them, and 12 soldiers are typically assigned. A few units, called Bombardiers, uses a much heavier cannon, and fires 32 pound shots. Both types of units are however rarely seen, since their sole practical use would be taking down castles - and none that exists on the continent is hostile to the Empire. The existence of such units are therefore purely precautionary against rebellions.

Pitjaran Phalanx: mixed pikemen and musketeer unit. An unique formation in the Empire, Pitjaran Sergeants stand out by placing soldiers armed with different weapons in the same formation. Highly disciplined soldiers, the main damage dealing component of the Phalanx is in fact its musketeers, usually deployed in lines of three to fire one after another. Along with the musketeers are pikemen, who would carry muskets too and load them while musketeers shoot, providing a near continuous stream of fire. More importantly, however, they will rise to form defensive spear walls or circular schiltroms when the enemy draws too close. The Phalanx is moderately mobile, its soldiers typically protected in scale armour, and since the Battle of Creeks in IY176, musketeers now fixes blades to the end of their weapons too when engaged in meelee combat, allowing for even denser formations.

Third Tower, Imperial Assembly Hall
Kyora City, Kyora

In the highest room of the highest tower, the Council meets for the first time in the new year. Here a crescent shaped table is fixed at the centre of the room, facing a throne reserved for the Emperor. Through the windows here, they have an unobstructed view of the busy city life below them and all the surrounding lands, extending as far as the horizon.

As usual Council members greet each other cordially, knowing full well the viciousness that will ensure once the meeting begins. There is no sign of their bitter difference in opinion, though, when the Duke of Aranda seizes the Guard Archer Commander with a warm embrace.

At exactly 10 o'clock, the Emperor himself enters the room. Silence promptly ensued, as he takes his seat on the throne.

"Commander Fermann," he nods to the Lancer Commander. "You may begin."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Commander Fermann stands to make his report. "As you all know the peoples we call Islanders reside in a land to the north of our border. Even our own legends tells of the Cornralis and Suthenis arriving from across the seas. Clearly there is much more lands with which the Empire have never-before-seen opportunities..."

Someone groans under their breath. This isn't the first time, or even the fourth or fifth time that they've heard a variant of the same story.

Fermann continues, unabated. They are about to be surprised. "Over the Summer breaks, the Arandan Community Council has hired expert managers and planners to prepare a blueprint for the Emprie to exploit this situation. In fact, over the last 6 months, a joint venture between Aranda and Cornralis have established a shipbuilding complex in Carlin. Even as we speak now, the workers there are finishing off an experimental prototype."

When he takes his seat again, everyone around the table, except for the Arandans and the Cornralisans, are moved. Up until now both the Conquer-The-Continent faction and Expand-Overseas faction has been merely talking. The Suthenis maintains a modest fleet, and they know full well the heavy monetary burdens behind such a project.

"Looks like Cornralis and Aranda are determined to launch a Northward Expansion," the Duke of Suthenis whispered to the Duke of Lurita. "With or without the rest of the Empire."

The Phalanx Commander, a Pitjaran, responds first. "How do you know it can even sail into the ocean? Aranda has had no experience in shipbuilding!"

The Imperial Guards Commander, a Cornralisan, answers him. "Three years ago the Cornralis Council commissioned a new ship, the Neos. Last year we conducted a series of experiments, and now we are confident that it can sail through any body of water as long as there is no storm."

"Based on our experiences, we have designed a new ship, the Carreon," the Duke of Cornralis added. "It is smaller, cheaper, and more maneuverable."

"Enough," the Emperor interrupts. "Summarise your plans to us, Commander Fermann."

"As you command," Fermann addresses his colleagues again. "Cornralis and Aranda proposes the formation of the Imperial Navy. We further propose four branches in this new navy."

The atmosphere stiffened. Currently, Aranda and Cornralis controls between them 2 Dukes and 4 army Commanders, or 6 out of 13 votes on the Council. An increase of 3 will completely upset the balance.

"The Conrailsan Neos, with its large cargo size, is suitable for merchantile needs. The Arandan Carreon, smaller but faster, is suitable for explorations. We of course cannot expect to encounter peace everywhere we go. Our analysts predicts that the use of cannons will be most appropriate in defending our ships. Therefore we propose that the Suthenisans, with their expertise in cannons, should be given the task of creating battleships for this purpose."

There is an uproar in the room. But Luritan and Pitjaran comes to no avail, for in 5 minutes the Council voted. The Imperial Navy has been created by a vote of 8 to 5.

Meanwhile, on the shores off Carlin, Captain Ana Cuiln proudly sails out of Carlin Harbour aboard her new ship, the Pelican...

INS Pelican
off the coast of Sahra

With only one ship and 25 sailors under her command, the so-called 'Expedition' is hardly a grand event. But Captain Ana Cuiln knows how historic this moment is to both the Empire and her career. Succeed, and she will be the one to open the Empire's eyes. Fame, power and wealth awaits back home. Failure cannot be tolerated.

She looks around herself. 25 soldiers, most drawn from the Duchy of Aranda's elite Raiders but also with a couple of Imperial Guards thrown into the mix, busied around the vessel. Morale is high, as evident by the unconcious smiles here and there. News of the Emperor's blessings, when they pulled in to resupply in Sahra, brings spiritual support to these anxious souls.

"The entire Empire can't life a finger to help us beyond this sea," she muttered.

"You anticipate trouble?" A creepy crooked voice almost, but not quite, startled her. Lieutenant Dudley of the Guard Archers appears from beneath the deck. "Well, you're magnet for them."

"Shut up, Dudley," Ana growls. He came with the supplies in Sahra, bearing secret orders from the Emperor. In addition to searching for new peoples and lands, she is under orders to scout them out. If the new land is powerful and well armed, well, trade is in order. But given the opportunity, well, every ship at the Empire's disposal is being armed...

"You are the bastard who's ruining everything!"

"...Hey, don't blame the messenger!" Dudley complains with forged innocently. "Has the Swan arrived?"

"No, and don't expect it to. We are very fast."

"Ah, yes. I've gathered that much."

"How nice of you to volunteer yourself onboard," Ana remarkes drily, noticing the blueness on his face.

INS Pelican
new land in the North

"Land! I see land!"

Ana rushed out onto the deck, cursing herself for not being there. That was at first light in the morning, some 5 hours ago; now she scratches her head thinking about what to do with the sandy beach in front of her.

"Captain, aren't we gonna get on there?"

"We will after I find a shark to feed you to," Ana snaps at the young Imperial Guard soldier. Cursing loudly, she drags him, Dudley and a couple more Raiders on to one of the ship's boats. She explains her idea while they slaved away at rowing. "We will move in 3 groups, and search for anyone to make contact with."

Then another tough call. Who should be wandering the forest alone, Dudley or Lanmel, that Imperial Guard? The boat strikes land.

"Screw it," she shouts and jumps out. "Dudley, you stay here and watch the boat. Lanmel come with me. You two go in that direction; There's got to be some people on beaches!"

With that they headed out into the unknown land, with Dudley suffering all by himself under the scorching midday sun...

just a little way east

the nature of the world and the origins of the ships meant that, at this particular point in time, no fewer than twelve Angerman Vengance class ships were approaching the island the INS Pelican had made landfall on. due to the weather conditions, the small fleet was approaching this particular island from the south. along their way they had scouted several island chains and found them habitable, but hardly sufficient. enough for way points, bases, and lines of communication, at best.

Brinden and Devinon, each of whom commanded half of this group and each of whom had their own objectives, were at this time sharing dinner on Brinden's flagship, the Logodij Star.

the ship's captain entered as they were part way through the main course.

"sirs, the lookouts report, and the other ships confirm, there are ships landed on the beach of this island."

"ships mean people. people mean informations. full heraldic display, run up signals of intent... peaceful negotiation, i think." Brinden ordered.

"aye, sir."

as the captain left, Devinon spoke up "i do hate to leave a good meal half finished, but i should get back to my ships, or at least give them their orders."

"feh, finish your food first, I'll see to it" Brinden left briefly to make arrangements.

upon his return, Devinon spoke again "ocean going ships mean that, like as not, these people will not be ignorant savages. this could prove interesting"

"indeed. there could be much gain to be had here."

with that, silence settled in the cabin once more as the two continued their meal.

"Ships! Ships!"

Amazingly enough the same person who found land in the morning now spotted something far more surprising: an entire fleet of ships, approaching from the south!

With the captain, the Emperor's envoy, and the Deputy Mission commander gone, command has devolved to nonexistence. This is because the Imperial Navy is still so in its infancy that no one has yet thought out a proper command structure... Luckily, only Lieutenants Elyssa Musk of the Imperial Guards and Koh Rereyenti of the Arandan Raiders are the highest ranking officers. Both know that the Swan is supposed to show up after them, and comes preparing to greet their comrades.

The two of them peer at the incoming ships with great curiousity. Everyone else went to enjoy themselves.

"Are those Suthenisan?" Koh Rereyenti asks Elyssa. He has seen Cornralisan ships at the harbour in Sahra, but Suthenisans are exotic to him. "They look really different to Cornralisan ships. And I never knew they, err, decorate their ships so much..."

"Wierd. Someone must have seriously changed their minds; I thought Dudley said there's gonna be just one ship behind us?" Elyssa peers even more closely. "And these clowns sure spent a lot of effort on fanciness..."

"Hey yeah, isn't it just the Swan that's behind us? She looks nothing like this, err...."

"...a horribly bankrupt artist's palette?"

They stare at each other and the approaching ships in horror silence. No one saili
ng in colours like these will be easy to deal with!

"Oh my, you know what?" Koh begins tapping Elyssa's shoulder nervously. "I don't think those are our ships!"

"Um yeah. Shit. Um, guys? Guys!" Elyssa and Koh race around to grab everyone's attention. Koh finds most of his Raiders drinking tea.

"Knock it off," one of them shouted crossly when the two arrives on site to interrup their leisure. Koh grabs him by the ear. "There's someone else's ships coming towards us!"

Elyssa meanwhile breaks a door down to find the other two Imperial Guards sneaking some wine out from the ship's Mission Accomplished Celebrations stash. Outraged, she shoved them both hard.

"Hey! Bastards!" she gulps down their hard work. "Get on board, we have a situation!"

They all gathered to watch the foreign ships with excitement. Elyssa coughs to get their attention, fails, shouts, fails again, and screeches to the point of breaking everyone's ears.

"Um, yea. So as I was saying, lay down your arms. We don't want to provoke any hostile reaction whatsoever from them, whoever they are. But be ready!"

Everyone agrees with an enlightend 'ooh yeah', and now a new fear begins nagging at most of them...

Devinon, viewing events from the bow of his flagship, the Mente medPhasma folded away his spyglass and stood for a moment, thoughtful.

"apparently our arrival has caused some small amount of confusion" he spoke quietly to himself, before turning and giving orders "shorten sail. we will anchor just within cannon range of them. we won't risk ramming this close to land if it comes to battle."

turning once more, he peered through his spyglass again, to see some semblance of order appearing on the other ship, and weapons being put down or away "not that it should come to that. who would want to take on so many ships in such a dinky little thing."

to the captain of his ship, he gave another order "run up flags for parley, and ready three boats. two of marines and one for my use."

"aye, sir."

Brinden, meanwhile, had given his own ships different orders. they were taking position further out, in a second arc, and not anchoring at all. rather, they were setting about making patrol sweeps, so as to be ready for whatever would come.

they were putting Some effort into not being menacing... gun ports were closed, and it was fairly obvious from their behavior that they were taking the opportunity to map the water as best they could so as not to later encounter reefs or sandbars. the number of marines taking the opportunity to fish off the decks was also something of a give away to their relatively relaxed attitude about the whole thing.

Elyssa suddenly frowns and grabs Koh's forearm. "Yo Koh. Come take a look."

Koh peers. "They are fishing?"

"They are?"

"I don't know, that was a question."

"I was the one who asked you to take a look."

"Yes but..."

The two descends into a highly unintellegent exchange of completely meaningless phrases, so much so that neither notices the boats approaching. The soldiers, doubling as sailors and now filling in as marines, watch them with ever sinking morale. A young Imperial Guard, Luis, tilts her head to whisper at Orlo, a Raider. "Sounds like we ought to throw *cough* somebodies overboard first of all..."

"Too late," Orlo points at the ocean. "Look, they are coming at us. Three boats."

"We're dead meat. Um, Lieutenants?"

"Since your question is whether my questioning of your question about whether something that I implicitly asked you is a question or not the burden of proof is on you," Elyssa finishes before turning to face them. "What?"

The soldiers points collectively towards the boats.

Elyssa and Koh looks at each other.

"Let's just wait?" he suggests.

"Good idea," Elyssa starts waving, as does the rest of the soldiers, except for a totally confused and utterly lost Koh. Just to go along with the flow, Orlo waves with a a stoned look and asks anyone who bothers to listen, which is no one, "So why are we waving?"

Beach
new land to the North

Dudley wakes up from sweating all over. Sitting up, he is shocked to see a bunch of unfamiliar ships now on the coast.

"I must be too tired," he sighs. "Poor you, seeing a dozen painted ships from the Pelican... Or maybe the Swan arrived... Heh... Go back to sleep."

He sleeps peacefully for a few more minutes before something clicks in his mind. Then he screams and rushes into the water, just in time to see boats being lowered from the new, foreign ships. "They are coming across to the Pelican?" he asks himself and staggers back on to the sand while the enormity of what's before him sinks in.

"Shit, shit. These people build ships too?" He briefly considers going back to find Ana. Afterall, she is the captain, and as a friend deserves his loyalty - she'll love to be there, the first representative of the Empire abroad. But then, so will he. Pacing around in circles, it doesn't take long before he decides to crash dizzily into the boat and row back...

"they're.... waving?" Devinon was a little puzzled, "oh well... the gesture seems friendly enough. no one's running out cannon or anything. still, one can't be too prepared" so saying, he began issuing orders. one of the boats of marines, which amounted to some 30 men, as well as an officer, 4 ncos, and 5 sailors, was sent up to the beach to begin setting up a base camp. the other took a position alongside Devinon's boat, as the two came within hailing distance of the strange ship.

"i really shouldn't be doing this in person, but who else could i have trusted with the responsibility?" Devinon muttered to himself, before calling out "Greetings! Seakommander Devinon of the Angerman Royal Navy would speak with your captain!"

INS Pelican
new land in the North

"Hello! Welcome, friends!" Koh announces brightly, and leans towards Elyssa to whisper, "What did he say?"

"I have no idea, just keep smiling," Elyssa squeezes the word out from between her teeth before shouting, equally brightly, "We mean you absolutely no harm!"

"He said," whispers Luis loudly from behind, exasperated. "Geeks! Sea Kingdom Divine of the Angry Royal Navy would speak with your captain!"

Elyssa was born in Carlin to one of the few Cornralisans who signed up to the idea of Aranda's Westward Expansion. Luis spent most of her life back east, though, and knows how to speak the old Settler languages that remains in daily use there.

"Sea Kingdom Divine? What a lousy translation," Koh complains. "He's from the Holy Kingdom of the Sea?"

"Shut up I'll handle it, didn't you hear he's angry?" Elyssa snaps at him and turn back to smile at the stranger. "Please, come aboard."

Sighing, Luis steps forward, and manages to translate it before Elyssa knocks her on the head.

While all that happens, Orlo once again asks in the background, "What's a geek?" And again he's completely ignored by everyone.

'... why do i get the feeling this is going to be a very odd day?' Devinon thought to himself. 'plead, came on plank? oys... well, at least we can, understand each other... sort of'

"agreed" he gave a signal, and first the marines, then he and those in his boat, boarded the ship.

"Hey look, they actually understood me!" watching the strangers climb aboard, Elyssa exclaims quietly to the rest of the Imperial crew in surprise. "Hah, I'm a better talker than I give myself credit for."

".......................................................................So what did he say just then?" To tell the truth Luis isn't sure herself. She mutters to herslef, "Agreetas? Agree it is?"

"Who cares, they understood me," Elyssa is jubilant. "Maybe I should petition the Emperor to make me ambassador to these peoples...!"

"You know Luis, this is a delicate diplomatic situation, you shouldn't bump around speaking randomly..." Koh quickly tries to reprimand the young Imperial Guard as the last of the foreigners climbs onboard.

"Err, Lieutenant?" Luis interrupts with murder intent in her eyes. "...Perhaps you should let me relay the words to them?"

"Nonesense! Tell them I'm from the Empire and ask them what they want."

Sighing and writing herself a mental note to seek counselling on anger management, she announces to the foreigners, now abroad their ship, "We are from the Empire of Kiwiland. These two brain damaged patients have assumed leadership while our Captain is away. Is there anything you wish to discuss with us?" Then, fearing for her life, she adds, "We are peaceful and mean you no harm."

Both Koh and Elyssa nods approvingly with blank, bedazzled faces.

ooc: it should be noted that I'm not translating perfectly literally, or it would result in some truly bizarre sentence structure. it's as near to literal as possible while still making sense though.


IC:
"speakaderopvel medNaz master totouhstrange, Na tsu" Devinon looked over at where the Lieutenants were still making fools of themselves. "yetrue or yextrue."
"one should not speak of one's superiors in such a way to a stranger" emphasized. "weather it is true or not"
"be yegood peaceij Na"
"still, peaceful is very good.
"velt phirst workaderop poncez languageij skillix, ce ten discussadekon otherij matterix, ce"
but we should work on our language skills first, then we can discuss other matters.

he intentionally spoke slowly and clearly, but no louder than he had to.

in the mean time, the other boat, with it's compliment of marines, had observed Dudley rowing, and calmly waved to him as they passed, before landing on the beach and setting about erecting awnings to provided shade.

Luis coughs and tries to form coherent words in her mind. Speakderopvel? Speaker of vel? Aha, Speaker of the... master totuhstrange? master to strangers? "Shit my head hurts," she complains, and missed the other half the sentence.

"Tell me what he's saying now or I'll replace you!" Koh threatened with a confused menace. "You don't want to join the ranks of the unemployed, do you!?"

"Yeah yeah whatever." Be yegood peaceij Na? Be you good peace not...? Luis suddenly wants to raise an objection here, but the stranger is still talking. Belt phirst workaderop... Belt first worker of... Poncez? Bone seize? Languageij skillix, language skills? Ce ten discussadekon... See ten discussions on... Otherij matterix ce, other matters see...?

Everything seems to be beginning to make sense now, and Luis brightens up. "He said he is the speaker of the master of these strangers..." she mumbles over the part she missed, and continues. "He thinks we are not good for peace, and wants to belt the first person to work on their Bone Seize language. He has ten discssions on other matters!"

"Belt the first to work on their language? Such barbarity," Elyssa considers it thoughtfully before turning to speak patronisingly at Luis. "Don't worry, I would never belt you for being a bad translator. I think I'll just confiscate your belt."

"I don't have a belt!"

"Hey do you prefer being belted?" Koh comes in with another one of his threats.

"I don't think it's legal," Elyssa whispers into his ear. "But don't let her in on that, or else she'll think she can stand up to us!"

"Oh right I see I see," Koh shouts. "Okay you, tell them that we will deal with learning their language on our own terms! Oh and ask them where they came from."

Cursing under her breath Luis translated the words. "We will learn your language; but first tell us where you came from?"

Inland
new land to the North

Ana has forced Lanmel, the young Imperial Guard, to brave the uknown wilderness before them. While he exhaust himself clearing a path for the captain, she contemplates the possibilty of communicating with the locals.

"I don't doube we'll run into some linquistic difficulties..." she mutters, but cheers herself up. "Well, no guts no glory. Besides, our ancestors were supposed to have arrived from the North; that should be around this place."

"Captain, I see smoke!" Lanmel wails as the word rest jumps to mind.

"Good, hurry up," Ana urges excitedly. They raced through the dense vegetation, and break into a moderately sized village populated by shocked natives.

"Um, hello!" Ana greets them in Imperisl Standard, and then knocks herself on the head. Changing to Arnde, her enthusiasim surges; she can barely restrain herself. "Hi! We came from the south, from over the seas!"

The natives look around themselves in wonder, and Ana realises that they might be able to communicate.

"My name is Ana," she offers first. Someone somewhere, meanwhile, has manage to fetch an elderly looking men with an air of senile authority.

"Welcome," the elder greets. Ana blinks. Seconds later she understood the words, and explains herself again, this time rather more slowly. The elder nods with big smiles on his face. "Yes, yes this is a most amazing day indeed. Please, come in and have a seat. Our legends tells of our people arriving from the north ages ago too. Please, come in and have a seat."

Ana barely understands half of what he said, but obviously the old man means no harm. "Thank you, thank you." She turns to issue Lanmel an order. "Go back and bring the others!"

Moaning, Lanmel walks off, and breaks into a run when Ana snarls "Faster!"

Ana sits opposite to the elder, Mulo, confused and slightly upset. They have chatted for half an hour before she swiched to the more important topics, and received several nasty shocks.

"So, you mean you are part of a country already? Which one, this Tidore or the Ternate?"

"No no," Mulo sips his drink and explains like he would to a child. "They are both far away."

"I...see," The complex situation is giving Ana a headache. Mulo sees this and laugh, pouring her some more wine.

"Please, don't let me make you feel down," he encourages her to drink. "Now tell us. Why have you come to our lands?"

Well I can't very well tell him we want to conquer new lands, Ana thought for a while. "My country is expanding. We wish to seek out new lands, and hope to... um... create new ties with other peoples. Like trade," she adds after seeing Mulo's confusion. "We would like to do trade with you. If trade is good we can trade every month."

ooc: crap, don't know how that happend. Angerman doesn't have a "C" the word is "che" not "ce" whoops. official referance sheet has been fixed now.


Luis coughs and tries to form coherent words in her mind. Speakderopvel? Speaker of vel? Aha, Speaker of the... master totuhstrange? master to strangers? "Shit my head hurts," she complains, and missed the other half the sentence.

"Tell me what he's saying now or I'll replace you!" Koh threatened with a confused menace. "You don't want to join the ranks of the unemployed, do you!?"

"Yeah yeah whatever." Be yegood peaceij Na? Be you good peace not...? Luis suddenly wants to raise an objection here, but the stranger is still talking. Belt phirst workaderop... Belt first worker of... Poncez? Bone seize? Languageij skillix, language skills? Ce ten discussadekon... See ten discussions on... Otherij matterix ce, other matters see...?

Everything seems to be beginning to make sense now, and Luis brightens up. "He said he is the speaker of the master of these strangers..." she mumbles over the part she missed, and continues. "He thinks we are not good for peace, and wants to belt the first person to work on their Bone Seize language. He has ten discssions on other matters!"

"Belt the first to work on their language? Such barbarity," Elyssa considers it thoughtfully before turning to speak patronisingly at Luis. "Don't worry, I would never belt you for being a bad translator. I think I'll just confiscate your belt."

"I don't have a belt!"

"Hey do you prefer being belted?" Koh comes in with another one of his threats.

"I don't think it's legal," Elyssa whispers into his ear. "But don't let her in on that, or else she'll think she can stand up to us!"

"Oh right I see I see," Koh shouts. "Okay you, tell them that we will deal with learning their language on our own terms! Oh and ask them where they came from."

Cursing under her breath Luis translated the words. "We will learn your language; but first tell us where you came from?"

IC:

"Sut ya est" Devinion replied south and east "be romPrinse medAngermanland, che" we are from the principality of Angermanland
he paused a moment thought, and then continued in a slightly amused tone "be trueijvel totNaz masterix, Na mi" you're not being truthful to your masters, are you?

INS Pelican
new land in the North

Luis nods carefully while she squeezes her brains out. But the language is starting to make some sense to her; she comprehended the directions easily enough. So ya must means and, then. But, be romPrinse medAngermanland? She decides to nominate whoever constructed the grammar of this Bone Seize language as the worst culprit in the decline of human civilisation. Rom Prince, Prince Rom? Hmm, med... Hold on, I've heard of med before. Yeah, it was used with speak of; does med means of then?

"He's from Prince Rom of Angermanland, and it's to the South East," Luis explains. I see, che must mean from then... What's next, be true...truthful? Be truthful... totNaz, hmm, master. To Naz master. Naz must mean your! Luis tilts her head and tries to swallow the whole sentence. Oh shit. "No, of course I am! Don't tell them that."

"What you talking about?" Elyssa, completely unable to understand the conversation, is clearly annoyed. "Tell them that we are here looking for trade!"

Luis tries her best to translate that, word for word, this time.

Luis wasn't the only one struggling, of course. Devinon's problems, however, stemmed mostly from Luis's failure to grasp most of the modifiers. that was mitigated somewhat by being used to using flag signals, where a lot of such things were dropped where possible, but still somewhat frustrating.

he sighed slightly before continuing

"Sayade trade, Na mi" slight pause, then he smiled "beade yegoodij Ox, tsu" "seekade nesameij thing, che hoh ya be scoutjin landix lelkolonizeade, che" this seemed to remind him of something saddening "beade excessij medpopulusij issueix inchez homeland, tsu "

trade you say? this is good. we seek much the same thing, though we are also scouting lands for colonization. our own land has significant overpopulation issues.

Luis has become accustomed to ignoring the "Na Mi" phrase. Probably more random barbarian talk, she reasons to herself. But beade yegoodij ox? She scratches her head, mystified. The only word she could make out was good. "I think they think trade is good?"

"Good my ass, give them anything other than ourselves," Koh complains.

Luis ignores him, listening hard to what the foreigner has to say. Seekade nesameij thing, Seek, ade, ne, same, ij, thing. Seeking the same thing? ade means -ing then, interesting.

Elyssa brightens up when she heard the translation, and turns to tap Koh on the shoulder. "Hey you know what? They won't kill us! If they want to trade, then they've gotta leave people alive to trade with, right?"

"But what if they made us trade our money away and then kill us?"

"Oh shit. Ok here's the plan, we'll be as stingy and plesant as possible, and try not make any deals until their food runs out..."

The whole crew stares at them in horrow. Meanwhile, Luis struggles at another onslaught the Bone Seize tongue. Che hoh ya be scoutjin landix lelkolonizeade, che... If ya's and, che's from, then.... Err... It doesn't make any sense at all! She skip the sequence of words to concentrate on scoutjin landix lelkolonizeade. Scout, land, lel colonise... Scouting land to colonise...

She's about to translate that to the two busily scheming lieutenants when she hears beade excessij medpopulusij issueix inchez homeland, tsu. Excess of population, issue, inchez homeland. Inchez? Inchez... Luis is shocked, and turns to face the crew white faced.

"Well?" Someone demanded, grabbing the lieutenants' attention at the same time.

"They are looking for lands to colonise," Luis speaks slowly. "Because, in their homeland... There's a population issue due to excess incest."

Everone stares at each other with morbid faces, except Koh, who upon noticing the sudden silence remarks, "Good for them".

Elyssa coughs. "Tell them that in our homeland there is many wild lands that has not been populated, but they are largely outside the Empire's control and are not particularly fertile."

"You're inviting these... pe-people INTO the Empire!?!!??" Luis stares.

Elyssa reachs for Luis mouth. "Well, if they need us to lead the way they can't kill us, can they?" She whispers into her ear.

Lamenting, Luis translates Elyssa's offer.

Devinon noticed the various reactions, and listened as closely as he could to the exchange that followed. "dotas sayade korrektvel nithing , A mi tsu" he asked, puzzled "lookade paleij totma, Na"
"did i say something wrong? you look pale to me."

he thought of what the lieutenant's proposed. "be trueij ouhmoronij, the mi ya think negoodvel us, the"
"they're true morons, aren't they? and they think us no better.
" be inexthez power totopher Ox, mi"
is that even within their power to offer?"

in a sudden change of direction, Devinon then asked "possesade nipaper , te mi"
do you have any paper?

Luis scowls. I remember hearing -tas before in agreetas... And it meant agree. Dotas must mean do then! She congragulates herself on grasping more and more of this random language. Do saying korrektvel nithing, correct of nothing.

"I think he's saying we're saying nothing correctly," she tells Elyssa, who still has one arm wrapped around her throat. Lookade paleij... "And Looking pale to me."

"Straighten yourself up," Elyssa orders. "Incest might be a perfectly encourageable practice in their homeland!"

Koh ponders the whole sequence of event with every philosophical sophisication at his disposal. "It isn't in ours?"

Luis listens on while the crew belatedly explains to Koh that incest is perfectly wrong due to the fact that it is wrong. Be trueij ouhmoronij, be true old morons... She decides not to translate that and smiles on weakly. By the time she realises that the subject has already moved on, all she catches is power totopher Ox, mi. Power to offer, err... ox meat? Does he think we can have the power to offer ox meat?

"Err, Lieutenant..s...?" Possesade nipaper, possessing paper? "I think they know you don't have that sort of power. And they are asking if you've got paper."

"Of course I have!" Elyssa is outraged.

"You do?" Koh asks.

"You don't believe me?"

"You're just a lieutenant."

"So are you," she hits him on the head indigantly. "I brought a stash of paper in case there's some scenary worth using my supreme artistic skills to put paint on..."

Koh is amazed. "Wow, I really underestimated you..."

"Err, what about the offer?" Luis reminds them. "You know you can't make decisions like that by yourself."

"Simple, tell them that they can come with us to visit the Emperor, and he can make his case directly to His Majesty."

Luis swears under her breath, hoping that she doesn't end up under charges of treason, and translates it, adding that yes, they do have paper onboard.

Devon basically ignored the entire exchange for the moment.
"bringade paper totus, pol" he paused "ya ink ya writejinij brush, mi pol""berop nexeasely korrektvelt understand kire speach, text" "true mi"

please bring the paper here. and ink and a writing brush, if that's possible. text should be less easily misunderstood than speach, yes?

ooc: so much ad hock correction of the language as i go :S
"pol" is a newly created polite/respectful tag, much as 'mi' is a question and 'tsu' is emphasis.
hehehe. in short [or long. clearer, anyway], he's pushing to get the lieutenants to shut up so they can work out the language issues Before trying to go through with negotiations proper.

as i think you'll find he said somewhat earlier :D

"He wants paper," Luis announces triumphantly. "And something about ink and brush. And... Err..." Her confidence vaporised as she mouthed over what sounds like necessarily correct of understand kill speech text true.

"And what?"

"Um, just bring ink, brush and paper. I think."

Lieutenant Koh sends three soldiers down into the bunkers, and they promptly reappear with all the necessary items.

Devinon took the proffered items and began to write long strings of characters began to take shape in the Angerman script. of course, it was written in Angerman as well, but with similar languages, there must be a link. at least accents wouldn't be an issue. if any of these people were literate at all, of course.

can you read any of this? i propose, and to some extent insist, that further negotiations be left for another day, and that in the mean time we do something about the language barrier. currently, it is clear, none of you have sufficient grasp of our language to translate properly for the rest, none of you have the authority to negotiate anything Anyway, and all that is happening is that the miss translations are causing offense, confusion, or some other upset.

so, you have some choices. we can continue working on the language issue without simultaneously trying to do untold other things, as i proposed to begin with. we can wait for your leaders to return and see what they wish to do, or i can assume that you are merely attempting to keep us here for some purpose, and we can blast this ship out from under you and carry on about our business. i would really prefer not to have to do the last one, but it is an option.

personally, i suggest one of the options that involves waiting.

"able totread this, Na mi?"

OOC: aww, what ever happened to the Angerman language? :D

IC:

The entire crew crowds around the piece of paper, even though only Luis can make sense of what seems like an devolved version of the ancient Settlers' script. Most of the others pretends very hard that they've actually passed the linguistics course in the military academy, a course known to have a 92.4% fail rate due to its complete lack of importance.

"Err... It would appear that they're threatening us," she tells the others. Although the written language is almost as obscure as the spoken one, on paper they have the advantage of being re-readable. "They are insisting that we try to understand their language first. Also they think we should wait for the Captain to return..."

"Captain...? Oh shit," Koh turns to face Elyssa. "Did we send anyone to tell the Captain?"

"She'll lynch us if she finds out!" Elyssa paces around in circles. "Okay, Luis, stay here and learn their language." Without another word she pushes Koh into a boat, and jumps in with a couple more soldiers. Within a second they are rowing towards the mainland.

"Err, what?"

Luis turns around to see most of the crew dispersing throughout the ship. Feeling the awkwardness growing with every passing second, she begins writing instead.

A few of us has gone in search of our captain, meanwhile I will attempt to understand your language as well as possible.

After a moment's thought, she adds, If you think we're tying you down please go ahead and sail past us...

'ahh. progress!' Devinon thought.

well then, let us hope we do not run out of paper before you have grasped it!

though, i noticed the foolish duo leave the ship... who does that leave in charge?

regardless, i have no active intention of blowing you up. I just needed to find a way to get things moving forward rather than circling in confusion.

Inland
new land to the North

Ana kept herself busy trying to find anything of value to trade with these natives. Much to her frustration the local populace seems incapable of producing much more than seafood or pork. Still, stories of gold and copper mines gives her hope. Even as she chatted casually with the local leader, a plan is forming in her brains. She can pay villagers to work the mine for her with steel equipments, and trade some of the gold for more supplies... This will be the Empire's refuelling station, she decides.

"I must get going now," seeing the sun getting low, she begins to leave. "Tomorrow I will come back with some of my colleagues, and gifts from our leader."

Wondering where the hell is everyone else, Ana slowly walks back towards the coast.

Meanwhile, Lanmel finally climbed back onto the coast. Stumbling out of the vegetations, he straightens himself up and blinks. Several strangers have occupied where he expects to see Dudley. Blinking rapidly, he looks out onto the sea to see a whole fleet of foreign ships, and Lieutenant Dudley on a small between them.

"Err... Hello?" He greets the strangers.

Boat
new land to the North

Dudley sits on his boat, indecisive. He's been stuck here for quite a while now, wondering whether going back to the ship would be a good idea now that whoever the aliens are have boarded. With a start, he notices Lieutenants Elyssa and Koh rowing by.

"Hey...Hey!!"

"Oh, hi Lieutenant, welcome back to the ship!" Koh calls out while Elyssa urges the soldiers to row faster and faster.

"Where are you!?"

"Lieutenant the ship's in your hands!!!" Elyssa waves, and begins rowing herself.

"No, come back here! What's going on!?"

They pretend not to hear, and soon hits the sands. Within seconds they are out and beginning to rush into the woods, waving at Lanmel and the foreign sailors on their way.

Cursing, Dudley begins rowing again, slowly inching his boat towards the Pelican.

Inland
new land to the North

While all this is happening, the two Raiders that Ana sent in another direction earlier are napping peacefully under the shades of a crooked, ancient tree. After days of hard work manning the Pelican, the two are completely worn out; besides, the sun clearly wants them to take a rest. And so they slept, blissfully unaware of the trio of natives quietly closing in on them...

A breeze blows by, and one of the raiders, scratching his belly with satisfaction, streches and opens his eyes. In the next instant, his entire body freezes at the excessively sharp tips 2 of the natives are poking his throat with. Gulping, he tries relaxing his fist into a more peaceful gesture, but it goes sadly unnoticed as his partner gets knocked out cold in his sleep. Watching him getting tied up, he has time to whisper "Oh shit..." before a stick on the forehead knocks all consciousness away.

INS Pelican
new land in the North

Sweating under pressure, Luis picks up the pen, and begins writing down line after lines of questions regarding the inner workings of the foreign language.
Hopefully I can work out the major trends of the syntax before Captain comes back...

as Devinon and Luis set about resolving the linguistical difficulties, the Angerman ships had taken up more peaceful, though still vigilant, stances. more men were landing on the shore, and beginning to organize surveying teams. however things went, good maps were always useful and in high demand.

Lanmel's emergence caught the attention of an officer of marines, and he responded by first waving to the man in a friendly fashion, then having an NCO take him a drink and indicate that he should head back to his ship.

Beach
new land to the North

Lanmel gladly accepts the drink and got into the boat that Lieutenant Koh and Elyssa left behind. Slowly, he begins rowing himself back towards the Pelican. Meanwhile, Dudley finally reached the ship, and begins to climb aboard it himself when something white on the horizon catches his eyes.

"Hey..." Stopping dead in his tracks on the rope ladder, he squeezes his eyes to make out the distant object. Large, chunky, wooden... With the Cornralisan Crane Crest!

He hops up the rest of the ladder, almost pulling the sailor giving him a hand into the ocean. Rushing right into the centre of the ship, he announces majestically, "The Swan has arrived!"

Then, noticing Devinon on board, he awkwardly says hi. Luis however beams at him. "Lieutenant Dudley! So glad you're here! In the Captain's absence you can represent us, and we need to learn their language... Lieutenant?"

Waving pleasantly Dudley retires beneath deck, calling out "Get me when you're finished learning their language!" before blotting the door shut.

INS Swan
new land in the North

Captain Krogg peers through his binnoculars curiously. "That's funny, I don't remember anyone talking about having a whole fleet sent before us..."

"What should we do, Captain?" Professor Foyles, leading linguistics expert from the royal academy, asks worriedly. "We have been too naive in thinking that natives will necessarily be barbarians, I'm afraid."

"There is no cause for alarm, professor," Krogg replies. "Lieutenant Tong! Have the soldiers prepared, and ready the canons for firing!"

"Captain, are you sure this is wise?"

"It is, professor. Look at them; they practically have the Pelican at their mercy. We must be prepared or risk complete annihilation." Noticing the tense, fearful faces his subordinates are showing, Krogg smiles reassuringly. "No, don't get me wrong. We are not looking for trouble. Keep the canons hidden; simply load them so that they may fire as soon as necessary."

Lieutenant Tong comes on board, leading the fighting contigent of the Swan. Originally designed as a military ship to fight pirates, the Swan features 28 cannons and can house up to 1200 soldiers and sailors. However, on this mission it is meant to be a trade ship and was named accordingly; as a result Captain Krogg only has a contigent of 400 professional soldiers at his disposal.

"Lieutenant, get your men to appear friendly. We do not wish to agitate our hosts." Tong relaxes visibly, but Krogg goes on to warn him. "Do not be lax, however. We must be watchful to survive this."

The crew waits in silence as the ship slowly sails towards Pelican...

Brinden had noticed the Swan approaching. or, more accurately, a lookout had noticed it and reported to him.

his orders were simple enough. his small fleet was to load cannon, but keep the ports closed and see what happened. when they were close enough, they were to be hailed and their identity requested. they were to be allowed through, but kept under gun at all times.

and if they did anything dubious, he was fully prepared to give the order to blast them out of the water.

not that was the plan. for now, guns were kept under covered ports.

for the moment, Brinden was simply sitting in a folding chair on the deck, reading.

The Swan sails smoothly towards the Pelican, its crew tense with anticipation. "Well, they seem peaceful enough," the Captain mutters to himself. "No signs of trying to shoot at us." He orders that the vessel be brought to just aside the Pelican, and that a small boat be prepared for him to go onto the Pelican.

It doesn't take long before they closed in on the other ships. Soon one of the foreign ones is close enough to them for communications.