[h2]Republic of Rumanaya, Principal Admiralty of Maine[/h2] [h3]A Diplomatic Discussion Between Rumanayan Envoys and Maine's Vice Admiral, a collaboration between [@BCTheEntity] and [@Spiffy][/h3] The Principal Admiralty of Maine is stationed on and around a nearby archipelago, so the boat sent to them as a diplomatic party consists of one indaj and a few kobolds, with no elves present as part of the part. The diplomats are escorted to the Admiralty's flagship the P.A.S. Jackson to meet with a linguist and and the Vice Admiral Barnabas. Once the envoy is present, they attempt to reach basic understanding of Rumanayan language. All Rumanayans are impressed with the ship and how it floats despite being metal, especially at least one kobold who can't get enough of all the technology. That's a given, of course. Once they're in the room and visual greetings have been offered, the indaj, a Priest of Peace, drops to one knee and begins what seems to be a prayer, whilst the kobolds work on helping transcribe all three languages once they figure out what is happening. Some time later, the Priest begins to apparently speak in the Admiralty's tongue fluently, despite the obvious initial issues. Writing remains relatively incoherent, but talking with them and sorting those things out is now much simpler, even if the humans still need to go through the indaj to communicate with the kobolds. [hider=Greetings] The formal/religious greeting of Rumanaya is a combination of three hand gestures: hands together and splayed from the thumbs, representing Mother Nature; two fists curled together, representing Brother Strength; and palms crossed over and pressed to the chest, representing Sister Peace. [/hider] The vice admiral will offer a military salute and inquire their intentions. Their intent is simply to extend a hand of friendship, as a starting point. It's certainly unusual to have new groups in the area, especially humans bearing what seem to be vessels and equipment of... the phrase that comes out is "unusual potency", but it's fairly obvious the concept of modern technology is slightly difficult for the Priest to comprehend. Barnabas accepts the hand of friendship, and offers an official naval ballpoint black pen to the priest. He asks afterward if his nation would be kind enough to help deal with their fungus problem on their various islands regarding their crops. It has been decimating their viability. Not to mention the pests eating their own stores of food, some dangerous and poisonous. The pen is much too small for the indaj to use effectively, and a little large for the kobolds; still, it's handed to one of the more excited kobolds, who immediately gets to work examining it in as much detail as possible with a big toothy grin. As for the fungus and pest issue, the Priest says they can't make any promises, but that they could certainly petition a Priest of Nature or two to come and examine the issue and see what can be done, if anything. The vice admiral seems a little skeptical of the idea that a priest could somehow solve the issue. However, with the recent demonstration of language discernment he accepts. Then he inquires what the Republic of Rumanaya would like in return. When the Priest mentions the idea of an exchange to his allies- notably addressing them with much different vocalisations than he uses toward the Vice Admiral, in reality a different tongue outright for the discerning- there's immediately a lot of chatter from the kobolds, especially the couple who have taken apart the pen. Shortly, the Priest suggests that whilst they'd be happy to help either way, perhaps some of their people- kobolds, specifically- might be permitted to examine certain aspects of their technology with supervision, and perhaps be granted an explanation of what, exactly, brings the Admiralty and others like them to their lands? There is not, to wit, necessarily an understanding yet that the modern humans are literally off-worlders, at least from this Priest, but the request for what brings them there isn't conveyed with suspicion in the phrasing. Barnabas discusses for a few minutes with advisors and begins speaking into some kind of box. Faint sounds come from it, but not discernable at their distance. After another few minutes he turns away from it. Then he addresses his guests: "The Admiral wishes for the fungal and pest problems to be neutralized. In exchange for your assistance he offers you the chance to examine our fishing craft top down. In addition, we offer you a "communication box" or as we call "radio." With it we can contact you from a distance." A female naval officer steps into the room with a brown box, with a metal line sticking from the top. She places it on the table in front of your group. Then she begins basic instructions on how to use it - it is a short wave radio, designed to send and receive messages from a short distance. "In regards to our origin, we would rather build trust between our nations before we reveal anything. The alternative is to simply make something up. However, our people do not tolerate deception. You understand, don't you?" The Priest nods affably. They aren't a people who like to deceive others, themselves; one of the cores of a solid family is to ensure everybody is on the same page, after all. In any case, they thank the Vice Admiral and his crew for the gift and the opportunity, and agree to do what they can to help end the issues they're having with fungus and pest alike.