[@Wernher] Tishana had to take an aspirin after reading after the Hasturian diplomatic note. The tension headaches she was constantly fighting off when it came to that insufferable oaf across the sea would somehow lead to an aneurism someday- she was certain of it. Even so, she leaned back in her leather chair, massaging her temples as the clink-clang of Vona visiting Tishana's private stock in the corner of her office. "He's insane," Vona said, helping themself to a dram of whiskey from Tishana's crystal decanter. "The fucking oaf. Dumping his gold reserves into the international market? Practically blackmailing us, and then putting the boards of the shipping associations on notice of all they stand to lose? Does he have any idea what all this meddling will do to him? Hastur's money will be used as toilet paper before the end of the week once he pulls the trigger!" "And we'll be looking at a recession if we lose trade relations with Hastur. If both Acrad and Hastur go, we're in a depression. It'll be The Eruption without the volcano! So now that we've established he has a tenuous grip on sanity," Tishana said. "Any man who keeps a literal [i]harem[/i] in this day in age is either a barbarous warlord or has the best equipment gods ever granted a person. The fact that he's willing to shoot himself in the face so long as the ricochet hits us? We need an answer to that because there's no way in hell I can give him what he's asking." "Hastur has our capital investments though. It's the largest commodity market on the Exchange. If Hastur dumps that gold, we'll be in a bind. I spent years negotiating that market opening after the eruption calmed. And he's going to burn it all down just because he can't be civilized with Arcad. The only people who have more skin in our game than Hastur are Acrad." Vona took a moment to down the whiskey in the crystal glass, thought for a moment, then refilled it. "You're the head of the Bank, Tishana. What sort of outs do we have from this?" "No easy ones. But they exist. If Hastur dumps the gold, I'll need to initiate an interest rate spike. Not a small one either. It'll slow the rate of inflation, but everyone from the farmhands to the noble houses will feel it. I can get our friends in the [i]Financial Times[/i] to write some puff pieces blaming Hastur- I'll even leak the diplomatic cable if I have to. If we go that route, Hastur will see his foreign investment dry up and he'll wish he still had that gold while Acrad is kicking his ass up and down the continent. Then we buy the gold through proxies. Interested aristocrats. Corporations. Privateer security companies. We cash all that political capital ASAP to get that gold. All of it. And stash it in the vaults of the Glass Bank. That'll be a big check, and it'll give Hastur the buying power to finance his war with little or no notice. But once it's in [i]our[/i] vaults we can lock it down and stabilize the currency markets. Pour me one of those for myself while you're over there, will you? Don't skimp either. Been a long day." "Still leaves us with a sorry economic hand," Vona passed a whiskey-filled glass to Tishana, who spilled only a few drops on her blouse when she started sipping it. "Elections are next year and the RWP will ride that Interest Spike all the way to the Commons. The Plan is still in its opening stages." "It's still on track," Tishana said. "We just need a new market to replace Hastur once I hit the Spike and the aristocrats need a new market to invest in. And there are a couple of contenders. But first-" Tishana withdrew a quill-pen from its inkwell, "- we need to answer this." [hider=Telegram to the Illustrious Hasturian High Diplomat. Dispatched 8:09AM Hasturian Time] Message received. Her majesty's government does not take kindly to blackmail. Do as you wish with His Highness' gold, but know that there are other markets where we may eventually recoup our losses. War is not in our interests. We have no desire to intervene one way or the other. But Her Majesty's Government will continue to fulfill all prior treaty and trade obligations. Private corporations and trade conglomerates shall be free to choose if they wish to continue shipping ventures, or ignore a market that is now as volatile as Hastur's. Should His Highness choose to threaten us again, we will be forced to use the Armada to curtail shipping efforts from our corporations until such a time that the threat has passed and war is either ended or averted. Further discussions can be had with Ambassador Fiorana at our consulate.[/hider] [center]---------------------------------[/center] [@TheEvanCat] Three days after Kandeh's official billeting, the mail clerk dropped a notice on his desk of an 8-Y - an official correspondence from a foreign diplomatic official. Had it been opened before he arrived due to "state security"? Probably would depend on the inspecting officer. But the envelope was cream colored, high quality, and stamped with a local return address. [hider=Kandeh,] Unsure if you remember me from two years ago. PFC Tanama, Soldier of Fortunato. Cross border raids from Istia. You made fun of my uniform's hat for looking like a Hasturi cattle rustler's, then asked me about the Rahuri tattoos on my left arm. I'm in a strange position right now. After serving on a jungle cruise (what we like to call the navy's river monitors on our side of the border) I've been reassigned to embassy security here in Javad. Been here less than two weeks and it's getting a bit stir crazy. Not quite senior enough to be head of security, but Ambassador Galina has taken to using me as a bit of an informal courier/secretary. She spends as much time working with local conglomerates here as a regional director of the Glass Bank as she does sending cables back and forth from Coral City. Still, I asked for permission to write to you as you're literally the only person I could remember from the army that might be able to answer some questions I had. So long as I don't disclose state secrets, she said that's perfectly fine- and I'm sure you have a similar limitation. Per Gali, "If it's in a newspaper, it's fair game." There has been talk of another Istian raid on Borequen in the past week. Seems that dolt in the jungle didn't get his hand burned enough the first time. But from what I understand, the papers back home are all abuzz about the Security Conference being organized by Her Majesty the Queen. Doubt the two aren't linked at all. The Oaf in Coral City (you probably know the one) is upset that we issued a formal invitation to your diplomatic corps, but so far as I know, he hasn't gotten up from his couch to do more than complain. I'm of the opinion that if our prior operations are any indication, it can't be anything but good. What do you think of this? Have you spoken to family or friends about it? It's been public for a week now and I'm genuinely curious how it's being received. I was stopped on my way to the bar yesterday about the Hastur/Acrad spat and asked if the Armada will sail to war. Can't speak to that, even if I wasn't under gag order about national security. The fish sailors do what they do and us Rangers stick to the rivers. But it does help to have a fleet that can submerge under the waves. My personal prediction? There's too much money invested on both sides. The assembly will hem and haw, but at the end of the day Acrad puts more money into the Coral Exchange than Hastur does. I'm hopeful we'll stay out of it unless someone drags us in kicking and screaming. Wanted to ask, what are some of the more fun (or at least, safe) districts in the city to go to as a foreigner? And is the royal palace open to tours? The Pearl Palace is mostly underwater, what with Her Majesty always being a fish, so I've yet to see a true human palace. Will write again if you so desire. Come pay a visit to the Embassy at the Glass Bank if you're ever in Javad. Will be glad to introduce you to some of the guys. Gali might be around to say hello as well, and she can drink like a fish. I think it's the gills. Never hurts to make a friend in a high place. Corporal Tanama, Guard of Javad Embassy[/hider] [center]---------------------------------[/center] Summary: - Hastur receives an answer to their ultimatum. "We'll do what we want. And that is be neutral. Don't threaten or provoke us again, or we may not remain neutral or prevent our private corporations from doing business with you." - Fluff interactions with Saraya