Diplomatic Relations [Connuriste Only] [RETCONNED]

by **Aellyria** » Wed Sep 19, 2018 7:39 am

In the capital city of Huexolta in the southern temple tower worked Minister Agiar. Today was a very stressful day for him and his team, there was paperwork to be done, itineraries to be made, residency locations where being re-confirmed and security was being put in place. A group of diplomatic guests was arriving today from the Empire of Connuriste, the minister was not entirely sure who specifically would be coming so he was prepared for everything, it had seemed that the actual names of the people coming had gotten lost in the initial reports. He sighed to himself as he shuffled his numerous reports in his hands, he had so many responsibilities that he had had to shift around momentarily, he himself would be leading the welcoming party and leaving his team to their own devices, which was a disturbing idea in his mind, they were all relatively young and running the Bureau of Administrative Review was no easy task, the sheer amount of paperwork they got a day was simply insane, they often dealt with hundreds of thousands of requests a day, thus why the department was so large. The Minister Agiar slid the papers back into their folder and put them back in their cabinet. His assistant Hyeon Park was waiting outside his office, the Minister raised an eyebrow as he saw Hyeon impatiently tapping his foot, "What is it boy?" he asked.

Hyeon sighed, his boss had always been rude but it still annoyed him, "We need to get to the transport station, we are one minute behind schedule," he said while checking his pocket watch. The Minister nodded, he was not in any particular rush, but he understood why Hyeon was impatient, he hated being late. As they left the building and got into their government-issued car, they were rushed to the station. It seemed the rest of the team had gone ahead. There was Security Chief Laelor Narlarys, he was a retired conqueror who had fought with the Triumvirate and would be overseeing security throughout this trip, then there was Lady Raelnor, she was a minor lady in the court of Nesaenna Aeylgarn the third daughter of some mining baron, their house was poor but influential enough for her to be accepted into an orators school from a young age, which the Minister supposed got aided her in getting her position. Lastly, there was Doctor Muen, he wasn't a noble or a minister but a friend of his who was curious about the Empire of Connuriste, he taught literature at the National School of Arts and Sciences here in the capital city. As the Minister and his Assistant got out of the car, they were greeted by the rest of the party as they waited for the team from Connuriste to arrive.

by **Les Etats Connuriste** » Wed Sep 19, 2018 8:43 am

Emperor Connor II was always fond of seeing and experiencing new places, so as soon as the opportunity had been worked out to forge some sort of relationship with Aellyria , he had been more than willing to go himself and make an impression. He could have sent any number of underlings to go and do his work for him, which he wasn't necessarily opposed to - Connor had normally maintained a more lax and hands off approach to reigning than his predecessors, one that was more democratic, which allowed him to have more private time to spend pursuing his own hobbies or being a husband and father to his large family - but he could do with a little time out away from his homeland every now and then, and this was it. Additionally, he saw it as respectful that he himself should turn up for the first time that the two countries met for face to face in discussions, making a good impression on potential new friends was always a worthwhile investment of resources.

He had spent the flight time perusing through several top secret, classified documents, the main of which was relating to the continued development of virtual reality technology in Connuriste, which had been receiving generous funding from the state for several years now. The Minister of Defence, one Michel de Vada, had come up with proposals and now a working, functional model for VR interrogation, whereby you could maim and kill someone pretty much on endless repeat in incredibly lifelike simulations, whilst not actually harming subjects in the real world, and it showed some heavy initial promise at extracting information. Mr de Vada had also included new proposals for other uses of this technology, one of which the Emperor found particularly interesting, whereby the artificial intelligences that assisted in running VR simulations could pretty much map out and analyse the processes of the brain. The state being in control of a great many of the national VR industry could release games to the public that had the potential to effectively glean a complete profile of how an individuals brain functioned, what they thought about, what their preferences were et cetera. de Vada wanted to tie this in to a national database that would provide a great many of intelligence uses, and if sold around the world could even make profiles for the rest of the populations on Terra and Maia. Connuriste had typically been a state that attempted to value their citizens right to privacy, but living in age where the terror threat was high - with his eldest daughter having a close brush with death last year - he was willing to value the security of the state and his own family at a higher price.

When the time came to land, he enjoyed a quick chat with his pilot - despite being the top authority in the country, Connor took pride in interacting with as many people who worked for him as possible, even those who were essentially insignificant in comparison to figures such as top government officials. He instructed the pilot, someone trustworthy he'd known for several years, that should the need arise, there were documents that required shredding or turning to ash before anyone who shouldn't be viewing them got the chance to do it. The Emperor liked taking care of those who were of help to him, he would regularly buy sleeves of cigarettes for the smokers, high quality bottles of alcohol for the drinkers, and fantastic seats at concert halls or stadiums for those who liked to indulge in music or sports, and so on.

Connor took a minute to make sure his appearance was in order, he was far from vain but naturally a leader had to take some level of pride in their appearance, he couldn't exactly go about conducting official business with his hair in a mess. There was nothing particularly special about the nice shirt and jacket he wore, save for the tactical lining that made life more survivable should shit hit the fan. He hadn't brought anyone ultra major of note with him, whilst he significantly enjoyed working collaboratively with his Chancellor in particular, sharing many similarities in age, viewpoint and interests with her, it was more important he left his country in a capable pair of hands during his absence. Instead, he travelled with the recently appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kenneth Westwood. Westwood was slightly over two decades older than the Emperor of Connuriste, being in his early sixties, and he was a very competent official, but held strong catholic beliefs. Connor had been slightly apprehensive bringing him along - not because he didn't like the guy, but because some of the things that happened in Aellyria, Westwood may have had some objections to. But Westwood had promised that he would be able to hold his tongue, something Connor trusted his word on, as his fellow countrymen and countrywomen weren't exactly judgemental about what other places did in their own nations, even if they didn't approve. It just wasn't their business to interfere or get involved if it didn't directly affect Connuriste ; if one treated Connuriste with respect, they would get it equally in return. There was also some of his own security that accompanied the pair, a small team of the elite Imperial Knights as they were now known since his mother had rebranded the Imperial Vanguard. They were ready and prepared for anything, but had little trouble complying with others and not getting in the way unless they had something actionable that suggested a different approach was needed.

by **Aellyria** » Wed Sep 19, 2018 9:33 am

The minister and his welcoming party bowed as the Connuriste party arrived, well this is unfortunate the Minister thought. It appears one of the people left out of the report was the Emperor himself, they would have to up security. He and Security Chief Laelor Narlarys stepped forward, They bowed once again, "Your Imperial Majesty," they said in unison. Aellyrians had a knack for talking in unison, it was a practiced skill that was encouraged in order to present a more united front when representing official business.

Minister Agiar launched into his speech, "I am Minister Agiar, Minister of the Bureau of Administrative Review, this is Security Chief Laelor, he will be in charge of security during your stay, while I will be attending to anything else you may need. If you could follow me, we can get your bags into one of the cars and get you to the summer palace, where you will be staying." Minister Agiar turned on his heels while Laelor stayed behind.

Laelor could not believe that his partner for this event was Minister Agiar, that man was a ladder climber if he ever saw one. He was the youngest minister to ever be appointed, and a commoner at that. He internally rolled his eyes at Agiar's back. "As the Minister said, I will be the security chief. I hope that I can assure you that everything will run smoothly during your stay, most likely you will not meet anyone on my team, especially if I'm doing my job right." He gestured towards the line of cars that were awaiting them, "After you gentlemen." he said

by **Les Etats Connuriste** » Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:37 pm

There was often a lot you could tell (or at least infer) from the way someone looked and the way someone held themselves, and that was true of these Aellyrians. Laelor struck the pair of them as a serious man who was the model of a consummate professional, whereas his younger counterpart seemed a lot more energetic.

The Emperor extended his hand as he made his introductions. "Minister Agiar, Laelor, it is a pleasure to meet you both. This is Kenneth Westwood, my minister for foreign affairs." he said, gesturing towards the man on his right, who followed suit in extending his hand, politely nodding at the pair of their counterparts. He wondered what the palace might be like, as they varied greatly from country to country, but he figured whatever it was like, it was going to be more than nice enough to suffice.

The two men from Connuriste followed their hosts towards the cars. Had they known that the Aellyrians were a little thin on security something else might have been said, but they had no reason to distrust these people especially when Laelor said they had everything under control. They wondered who they might meet at the palace itself, and whether the journey there would be eventful or not, whether there was anything to see on the way.

by **Aellyria** » Wed Sep 19, 2018 9:19 pm

The ride through the city was wonderful, at least in Minister Agiar's opinion, Laelor seemed fairly focused on keeping watch despite the fact he was in a car. The Emperor and Mr. Westwood seemed to be enjoying themselves. The hustle and bustle of the city around them was nice to see, traffic was never very bad in the capital, as most citizens did not have cars, so everyone was walking everywhere. It solved the problem of road congestion and kept the citizens healthy. The car ride was largely silent, a few comments here and there about the city, but nothing too complex. As they arrived at the Summer palace Minister Agiar caught his breath a little. He loved the palace it was beautiful and a paragon of Aellyrian culture, unlike the dreary gothic architecture on the Imperial island, the Summer Palace was open and airy. He quite suspected that Dominus Maelyx Aeylgarn and his new bride would opt to move into the palace eventually, he couldn't see the couple staying in the gothic city even though the Triumvirate had grown up there. He shook his head to get his mind back on the job as they stepped out of the car and into the courtyard of the palace. The palace guard stood ready as they went about their daily patrols. "Welcome to the Summer Palace," said Minister Agiar with a smile, "If you'd follow me inside, we can discuss the itinerary and allow you some free time to rest from your journey." Agiar turned on his heels, his gray hanbok flowing as he walked. As the group went up the steps of the Summer Palace the guards saluted them in greeting and then went back to their buisness. Agiar lead the group into a large suite on the ground floor, all the way in the back of the main palace. "This is where you'll be staying, any questions?" he asked.

by **Les Etats Connuriste** » Thu Sep 20, 2018 8:16 am

The car journey proved to be rather uneventful, but that was kind of what you wanted. It meant security wasn't being compromised, and the relative emptiness of the roads allowed you to cover more ground in the same time frame with less stoppages, although with that said, even on the busier roads surrounding and in the centres of cities like Geneva, Lausanne and Pearsonville, it was nothing a nice convoy couldn't sort out, with the furthest forward in said convoy blocking certain points of the road to allow for minimal delays. It was interesting to observe the everyday people of Aellyria walking around, going about their business, to see the differences in the way they looked and dressed, and to see even how the building style varied.

When they arrived at the palace, they took a few seconds to take in the sight before them. It would have been what they regarded as 'exotic', in the sense one knew they were in a foreign nation, distant culturally from what they knew. There were those in Connuriste that would look down on some other cultures, and perhaps even rightly so - the Deritains could be vanity personified, the Genoise decadent, as for the Spanish... people in Connuriste would rather be caught dead than say nice things about that country. This was a different story - at least in this isolated example of architecture. The Palace Guard looked the part, but one couldn't help but wonder how much of their work was ceremonial rather than what defined modern day security procedure.

Minister Agiar led them to a pleasant suite on the ground floor, and asked if they had any questions. The Emperor glanced at Westwood, as if to inquire whether he had any questions of his own, when he didn't, he spoke up. "I have a few questions..." he began, "... if there's anything we need, is there someone in particular we ought to direct our lines of inquiry towards? Where would I be allowed to smoke? And then, let us discuss the itinerary."

Connor II had mostly kicked his smoking habit, less out of sheer willpower and more of replacing it with another one. Empress Charlotte really didn't like smoking, and he could understand why, so he turned to shooting for his well-needed doses of stress relief. But it wasn't like he was the Emperor here, and if he wasn't running the place he thought it highly likely that a little bit of shooting in the back gardens may very well not be welcome. So a packet of cigarettes he had brought - because it wasn't like his wife would find out.

by **Aellyria** » Thu Sep 20, 2018 9:23 am

Minister Agiar thought for a moment, "Well I would recommend that you address all your questions to me, however that may be impractical." He paused, then called forth his assistant Hyeon Park, "This is my assistant Hyeon Park, he has been trained to speak your language as have all on our team, for the remainder of your stay he will be yours to command within reason. As for smoking, you can smoke anywhere in Aellyria, in restaurants, public, trains, hospitals, it just depends where you want to smoke." Minister Agiar pulled a schedule from his inner pocket, "Now for Itinerary, Firstly we have a tour of the capital city, just a publicity thing really so it's optional if you don't want to go just notify me in advance if you don't want to, then we would like to show you the gladiator matches, they are quite intriguing to watch and very brutal. We'd also like to take you fishing during your stay but also that is optional, and of course there is your meeting with Dominus Maelyx Aeylgarn, I believe his wife will be there as well, so you'll get to meet the new queen in her official capacity, which will make you the first if I'm not mistaken." Agiar squinted at the paper, "Oh and you also have a considerable amount of free time to explore the capital city it is rather a lovely city so that will be exciting." Minister Agiar tucked the sheet of paper back into his pocket and checked his watch. "Ah and that's my cue, I will be getting together some last minute adjustments in order to make your stay more comfortable if you'd excuse us, Hyeon will keep you company," he said as he and Laelor left the room. Agiar to go get the drivers and slaves in order, while Laelor went to go brief his men, who were the real security of the palace, while the palace guard we're combat trained, they didn't have more than the melee weapons they carried and a few old rifles in the armory.

Hyeon smiled at the two men, he was much more relaxed now that his boss was gone. He liked his boss it was just annoying to work for him. They were the same age yet Agiar had accomplished so much while he was just an assistant. "So you enjoy smoking?" he asked as he pulled out a small opium pipe, opium was the recreation of choice in Aellyria and Hyeon was no exception, although he only smoked to relieve the stress of his job, he did enjoy it.

Laelor sighed as he left the room, now that the pleasantries were out of the way, it was time for the real work to begin. He had to beef up security rather quickly, he had called in two companies of 비밀 경찰, instead of the single squad they had had. They would stick to the shadows mostly, but would also deter citizens from coming up to talk to their guests, as well as patrol the palace grounds alongside the palace guard. He went to the barracks where the Summer Palace commander and a few of the officers were gathered. "All right men, we will be working in tandem with the Summer Palace, but make no mistake, they will defer to us on all matters. We will be using deadly force on anyone who becomes an aggressor, so don't forget that. Besides, that continue patrols around the palace as normal and try not to disrupt the guests."

Minister Agiar smiled as he entered the servants quarters of the palace, he would be meeting with the head butler of Summer Palace. A man called Patron Riang, he had been the head of the summer palace since the grandfather of the Triumvirate had been in power and did not take any guff from anyone. Minister Agiar bowed his head once in respect for the man's position as he entered, technically Agiar outranked him but it was quite impressive for anyone to keep such a high-level position as long as Riang has.

Patron Riang bowed back, "What do you want Minister, I am a busy man." Minister Agiar smiled,

"I am just here to inform you of the arrival of the guests and to remind you to get them anything they request, we would not want to be bad hosts," he said mischievously. Patron Riang grunted,

"I know boy, this is not my first time hosting guests in the palace, leave the details to me, child."

Minister Agiar smiled, "Well of course Patron, I wouldn't dare presume to tell you how to do your job, nevertheless please attend to them when necessary." he said as he left the room.

by **Les Etats Connuriste** » Thu Sep 20, 2018 2:40 pm

Connor and Kenneth nodded along sagely as Minister Agiar walked them through the itinerary. The former of which was happy to hear about being able to smoke pretty much anywhere, in Connuriste one could smoke in public or in establishments where the owner permitted it, but it was the proprietor who had the freedom to dictate his or her own policy in their places of work. He wondered how literally the term 'anywhere' was supposed to be understood - could he, for example, light up right here, inside the palace itself? It remained to be seen, as they were left in the presumably capable hands of Hyeon.

The Emperor quickly got an answer for how anywhere was supposed to be interpreted as he and his colleague were offered the chance to smoke a pipe. "I do enjoy smoking, but I assume that's the opium I've heard you've got quite the industry for, which isn't for me." he explained. It wasn't that the man was morally opposed to the idea, but rather his preferred poisons were something else. Cigarettes, cigars and even cannabis he was fond of, the latter of which was popular in Connuriste since the recent creation of the Connuriste Cannabis Company, known as the CCC, which had been set up at the behest of his Chancellor, Aurelia MacDonald. He had sampled the goods on more than one occasion in private in her company, she really was a good friend to him. The man had been accused of being nepotistic by some, being well known in the past for his friendship with the late Chancellor Valen, who had first set the precedent for the greater capacity in which the elected government now operated, and had also acted as a mentor for the incumbent MacDonald, but in his defence these people did get elected in their own rights and had done stellar jobs. Having a friendly connection with them outside of work only served to strengthen the cohesion between crown and government and make for more effective leadership. Connor had also had some previous experience with other substances during what he personally termed as an 'early mid-life crisis', though exclusively stimulants and psychedelics rather than opiates, amongst other behaviour unbefitting of a monarch, thought that was an era that had long been over, and one he couldn't really return to since the death of his mistress, something he had genuinely played no part in - an event that whilst kind of convenient for sweeping a bit of private history under the rug, had saddened him when he heard the news.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm abstinent." chimed in Minister Westwood. He was perhaps one of the most morally sound members of the current cabinet, which wasn't to say that his other counterparts were degenerates, but more that in Connuriste people expected one another to have their vices and be relatively open with them.

"Kenneth here doesn't really understand fun, you know." joked his superior with a smile. "He is a hard man to buy a gift for." The Emperor loved a little bit of banter if he was in a good mood for it, and at least with Ken you could always trust him to do nothing stupid, a valuable trait. "What do you make of seeing a gladiator fight, Ken?" he asked.

Kenneth's face strained in thought for a second or two, considering the rights and wrongs of it all. "Well, it's going to happen whether I'm there to see it or not so I might as well, it might be like seeing those movies but for real. Worse things have happened with the blessing of our Lord above, but I'm more interested in meeting Maelyx and his new wife, how lucky we are to be the first to meet her in her new role."

The Emperor reached into his pocket, and when his hand returned he held a cigarette pack and a zippo lighter, sparking a cigarette like he had done hundreds of times before. "Indeed, that will be a privilege." he agreed, eyes darting about for an ashtray as he looked forward to meeting his counterparts.

by **Aellyria** » Thu Sep 20, 2018 3:17 pm

Hyeon took a hit of his opium pipe, he loved the smell and taste of it, he blew out a rather large puff of smoke that hung over his head like a cloud. "To each their own," he said. "So if you don't mind me asking, what is your country like sir, I am rather curious about your homeland." Hyeon went over to a mahogany armoire and pulled opened the center drawer, in it was a small box made of cherry wood. He pulled out the box and walked over to the center table in the middle of the lounge room in the suite, he opened the box and in it was a set of mahjong tiles. "Have you ever played sirs?" he asked politely, mahjong was his favorite game and a great way to pass the time, his boss had left him with the job of entertaining an Emperor and his friend, no easy task not to mention one he was not trained for. However he knew a test when he saw one, this would prove if he was capable of having a higher capacity within the Minister's power structure and what better way than smoking and playing games, his two favorite things.

by **Les Etats Connuriste** » Sat Sep 22, 2018 10:12 am

Kenneth took one look at his boss's face, able to tell the man was thinking. It was a broad question to ask what the homeland the two men shared was like, it could be difficult to know where exactly to begin, though one could have been forgiven for making the assumption that the Emperor himself might be able to give a good answer, at least it would be interesting to hear his perspective, as his boss decided he would give answering it a go.

"Connuriste is a country of many freedoms, a land filled with wealth and opportunity. I would say that, of course, but I do not think it to be an unreasonable or biased assessment of affairs." He watched on interested as their company sauntered over to the wardrobe, retrieving some sort of box.

"Is there anything in particular that specially interests you, Hyeon?" asked Minister Westwood, curious himself to see what, if anything, had piqued the Aellyrian's interest. "And, no my friend, we don't have this game back home."

Diplomatic Relations [Connuriste Only] [RETCONNED]

Diplomatic Relations [Connuriste Only] [RETCONNED]

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