[center][b]The Palace of Pearls Dining Terrace, Coral City, 8:32 AM[/b] (Local Time)

[img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/41/05/8e/41058e58ede43e8fdf03617e82892b16.jpg[/img]

[i]"The use of money is all the advantage there is in having money."[/i] - Benjamin Franklin[/center]

The coffee was cold by the time the meeting convened, and Queen Kumena asked that a servant kindly put a new pot on for her guests. An oversight on her part- Kumena assumed the courier from The Glass Bank meant the Chancellor Tishana and Foreign Secretary Vona would arrive within the hour. Apparently there was more to the notes coming in than could be translated onto a single piece of paper for the courier. It could've been an entire state dinner about to knock on her door and Kumena would have no more notice than the single 3 x 5 paper, "News from Acrad re: Hastur. State and Bank en route ASAP. Summon Cabinet at discretion."

At discretion meant "wake them up now" in diplomatic speak, and though the people surrounding the dining hall's table were not exactly in their Sunday Best, Kumena opted to wear her own informal sea-silk gown to put them at ease regarding the formalities. The fabric held water against her green scaled skin far longer than most and didn't give off a rank mildew smell, unlike terrestrial fabrics. Cabinet meetings tended to run long, and she'd rather not call a halt for a quick dip in the sea to refresh her gills if it could be helped.

"Well Tishana, Vona," Kumena said as she settled into her own chair, "I'll have cheese, cold cuts and toast on the way from the kitchen. But if this is going to be a working meeting and not a social call, I think we should get to the point of it. What's the news from State?"

Foreign Secretary Vona, a human man easily two meters tall and with the markings of a Rahuri [i]Cacique[/i] tattooed on his wrists, opened his briefcase and produced a set of documents.

"We received a long chain of telegraph communications at approximately 11:20 PM Acrad District 1 Time. Or rather, we started to receive the communications then. They only wrapped up some time ago. The Assembly has its knickers in a bunch, your majesty. The Assembly is working immediately to address a crisis in Hastur that is blowing into war."

"On what provocation are they preparing to march?"

"Raiding parties along the border, from what I understand. The Desert Rats, in conjunction with Hasturian Warlords, are hitting oil reserves and selling them to... unscrupulous merchant cartels for quick profit."

"Any of ours?"

Tishana cleared her throat, the human woman accepting a coffee cup from a passing servant with a tray. "No state-sponsored cartels. Certainly none with a clearance for the Golden Armada. But I've had my staff look into the Coral Exchange and it seems the Dresdal Shipping Conglomorate has seen a 5% uptick in price in the past two weeks. It took us the better part of seven years to get international commerce to a level where the Exchange could be reopened and functional, so even that modest of an increase is noticeable. Dresdal elbowed its way onto the Exchange by delivering a few bruisings to its competitors, and they're one of the biggest merchant conglomerates we have doing business with Hastur. Seventeen ships, and 12 are dedicated to moving Hasturian crude."

"But again- none in the Golden Fleet?"

"At this time, no, Your Grace," Vona said, said without a smile. "He's applied for his Letters, but the ships haven't been inspected by the Navy yet. Schedule conflicts, and our own knowledge of his shoot-from-the-hip style. We don't have to worry about Johnathan Dresdal starting a shooting war for us. But this does put our fingers in the pie, so to speak. We may not be buying the crude, but we're moving a portion of it from the sellers to some of the buyers."

"What punitive actions can we take?"

"Legally, plenty," Tishana noted. "We could strip him of his ships per international laws against piracy- but those laws were written before the Age of Ash. Most signatories to those treaties either no longer exist or don't have the power to stop us. The demand for oil is so great right now that only Acrad would demand our compliance under the treaties. Politically though, it presents a challenge. Jonathan Dresdal is a card-carrying member of the Rahuri Worker's Party. We command a majority in Parliament, but the RWP has been making steady gains in elections. Going after him over a treaty that has no teeth would definitely look like a political hit. It'll burn some political capital we can't afford to spend at the moment, especially with all the effort we put into getting the old systems up and running again. 

Gishath, the blue-skinned Merfolk Minister of Agriculture, couldn't keep his distaste for the RWP from seeping into the conversation, even unprompted. "We just restored credibility in the Glass Bank and began getting international trade up and running again. Can you imagine what it would do if the RWP got enough power to force through the Welfare Plan they've been making their new platform? It'd set us back to post-Eruption societal levels."

[i]Of course you'd be worried,[/i] Kumena thought. [i]Your Farmers Association Party is the old aristocracy's last hope of returning to power- and we can afford to kick you out of the coalition and still hold power. The RWP are ready to tear you down at the ankles if given the chance. I can't believe you're spouting your party propaganda at a cabinet meeting though, as if we believe the lines you feed the Financial Times. We all know the transition to civilian infrastructure and welfare has to take place or we'll end up as a collapsed Empire like Fenice. Only the ashes will come from our own citizens burning the cities down. The RWP will get their cake. They just need to be patient about it.[/i]

"Alright," Kumena said. "So Dresdal is waving his jewels in the face of Arcad and we can't strip him of his charter without breaking apart The Plan. Alternatives?"

Surprisingly, it was Nezahl, the human Minister of Defence, who spoke up. His heavy baritone voice carried across the dining hall despite his best efforts to keep it level. "I spoke with Tishana on our trip here, Your Grace, and I may have something. Military action by Arcad against us is unlikely at this time. They were some of the first to get their corporations listed on the Coral Exchange, and many of their oligarchs have personal Vaults within the Glass Bank. A shooting war would sink their recovery efforts and cause more problems for them than solutions. But if you need time, I have a solution to offer. The Navy can quarantine Dresdal's ships when they make port to conduct the inspections to approve or reject them from the Golden Fleet. We'll reject them, obviously, but having his life-blood locked up in dry dock for weeks at a time will put the hurt on him. I'll reject the ships at the end of it, but he'll learn his lesson or have to stop making dirty money off of two superpowers about to blow themselves to pieces."

Queen Kumena nodded. "Do it immediately. Every ship that makes port from his cartel gets flagged, and none of them are to be approved. Vona, I want a note disavowwing his actions prepared at the Foreign Office. If Arcad makes noise, send it over to them. Under the table, get word to Ovald. We'll rein in Jonathan Dresdal as his ships make port, but not before. The vessels in the Verronto Sea are out of our reach. If he needs to scare Dresdal off with warning shots, we'll protest loudly as expected but we won't shoot back. If he shoots back, the guns are illegal and he can be prosecuted as a pirate."

There were murmurs of agreement around the table from the cabinet ministers.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, in light of the mess Arcad and Hastur may soon start, I would like to take a moment to visit the proposal of the South Osean Treaty Organization. Are we in agreement about invitations to our neighbors?"

[center]---

Telegraph line to the Foreign Secretaries/Speakers of the United State of Coreshaw, Anglonia-Eirin, Kazatrea and Fenice. Dispatched 8:41 PM Verdasou Time.

[i]Illustrious Neighbor,

Her Majesty, Queen Kumena of Southern Verdasou wishes to extend a diplomatic invitation toward your government. Now that the age of Ash and Ice has ended and the sun shines on the world once more, we seek to establish an alliance and ordering of the continent to ensure our shared security and prosperity. Said Conference to begin in three weeks' time, though ambassadors are welcome to travel to Coral City at their leisure.

We pray you shall accept this invitation.

- Foreign Secretary Vona of Southern Verdasou, on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen.[/i]

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Summary: 

* Southern Verdasou has an independent company (the Dresdal Cartel) moving some of the seized crude oil from Hastur to the international markets. The cartel is viewed unfavorably but is a publicly traded company on the Public Exchange.

* Her Majesty cannot seize the ships without triggering a domestic political crisis.

* Slow, under the table communications will begin with Arcad disavowing the Dresdal Cartel's actions, and establishing a red line from which Her Majesty's Government will take action.

* The Queen has invited United State of Coreshaw, Anglonia-Eirin, and Fenice to a security conference in Coral City with the intention to form a unified economic and security zone in the Southlands.