King Philip sat at his new mahogany desk and sipped some excellent blended wine sent from Azor whilst mulling over some papers. The colonial ships had left port and were no doubt well on their way to the new world safely under escort, until news reached him of their arrival, there was nothing more he could do. The letter he had received from the Cartographers guild brought to him today intrigued him. His men had replied expressing thanks to the guild but nothing more. He did not doubt that few of the other lords of Edoniras had done more. Dipping his quill in ink he wrote back to the the Cartographers; he knew that the cartographers were an old and venerable order made up of scholars with little interest in gold or land but rather in learning. Acknowledging that to a late gift blamed on delays was an insult to the intelligence of the guild members and to simply send a reward as thanks was meaningless if the reward was not freely given but rather grudgingly surrendered after a complaint was made , king Phillip instead offerred the guild an opportunity as they had done so for him. In his letter he thanked them again for the service they had afforded Aznavor and offered them a ready built and equipped Tower within the Guild district of Oceansrock. This large stone tower would be able to accommodate close to 500 people but remain autonomous from the KIngs authority although their advice may be sought if the King wished to consult their wisdom. In addition King Phillip promised eventual office in Aznavor's new settlement in the new world so that the cartographers may be able to better explore and map the interior of the new continent. All men who would choose to undertake this voyage to the new world,out of scholarly passion , would have their journeys and food paid for at the expense of the state of course. 

 After pouring a small amount of hot wax into the folded letter he pressed his ring into it printing the sigil of the black tower of Aznavor deep into the wax.

He put his cup down and took the rest of the bottle down to the cellar himself. He had servants to do this but he believed that they could be set to more useful tasks and that it was a simple enough task that even a king could do for himself. The wine had been excellent and he was glad that he had sent a similarly high quality vintage. He would have to gethis sons, Dominc and Alexander, to appreciate the Azor wine for themselves.

As Phillip climbed the steps back to his office with the new mahogany desk his mind turned from lesiure to work as it was wont to do. The Galley captains who had delivered the replies to him had briefly reported on the sights and sounds of their voyages and what they had been able to glean from their brief stay at their destinations. This information was undoubtedly harmless as Philip harbored only genuine friendship towards these peoples but all information was useful no matter how trivial. 

Azor was a good nation to have as a friend, it shared values of monarchy and bloodlines but also had a degree of liberty for the middle-classes to move around which prevented any instability which often led to inefficiency. Azors' wheat fields were known to stretch from horizon to horizon in summer and their harvests were known to be bountiful. It's markets were often bustling with activity although almost exclusively from internal trade as few traders seemed to some by. Aznavor would hopefully see an end to the isolation of Azor and together through trade and cooperation they would both profit. Even the names of the two kingdoms sounded similar. 

Numburg was something else entirely, from all accounts they were led by a group of no nonsense businessmen who knew their way around trade. They would presumably share similar views with regard to the necessity for efficiency as Aznavor judging by the importance the Numburgians placed on business they may even share in the faith of Altiya goddess of Light and labour. They too would make fine partners and King Philip replied that that he would gladly take part in a trade federation providing that each participating nation stood equally weighted in its standing. Writing to Markus Finch he offered the creation of a Federation Office in Oceanrock where the trade partnership Finch had envisioned could assemble and meet during the winter and spring months.

With the Republic of New Drakran good relations were a necessity vast land borders meant that trade would be easy and a similar position on the continent confirmed this. It was known far and wide that New Drakans Naval forces were not up to scratch and therefore King Phillip extended the olive branch through an offer of fair exchange. Aznavor would offer to refit and oversee the repairs of some of the republic's fleet in it's secure harbour of Shipskeep and would provide new Drakan with Naval Experts and sailors to oversee and instruct their eastern neighbours in naval matters if the republic would send economic advisors and banking experts to Aznavor as well as whatever help it deemed necessary to help light the furnace of Aznavori industry as the Goddess Altaiya demanded. 

To each of these Nations King Philip also offered a pact of alliance, security and mutual assistance wishing that all their borders remained free and safe fro mexternal threats so as to be able to focus on colonial expansion.

Expenditure:

Aznavor wishes to spend 1,000,000,000 on equipping its fleet with copper bottoms to allow them to be much swifter and more resistant to hostile fire. ( if this is too little expenditure I'm willing to have this take a while).

4,000,000,000 to be spent on expanding the mining network in the west and to establish new industrial centres in the northern terrirories so as to create a stronger economic base.