Alsatian Island
TNPer
- Pronouns
- he/his
- TNP Nation
- Alsatian Island
This storyline concerns the December 2025 summit in Eamont, Great Sutherland, held over the tension between Aydin (and Aria), and Nagumay (and a number of allies), over Molucara and the Shuishongs. Any nation participating in this storyline is welcome; please do not reply to this thread if your post is in no way related to this.
8 December, 2025
on a Mondæy
at 8h21
-
Northend House, the Medway 1EA
Eamont
(Commonwealth of Great) Sutherland
The Underreeve for the Ellands* stood waiting in his overcoat, his hair sodden from the typical Eamont shower that had just broken overhead, as his senior - a tall, middle-aged man with his receded hair shaved off into nothing more than a five o'clock shadow - finally came out of his office to greet him.
"We picked a day for it, did we not?" Yan-Marten Brown said dryly on his way out of the Ellandsredery*, umbrella in hand, in a somewhat-successful attempt to keep the downpour off his Moro-Rosso* suit. The corridor of glass and concrete stretched out to his left and his right as he strode towards the black Valt* parked a short way down the road with his deputy.
Yan's deputy, the Liberals' Edwin Walsh, smiled. "Aye, it'll be what it'll be. It would have rained tomorrow instead, had we decided Tywsdæy over Mondæy, Yan - you know that as well as I do."
The two stepped into the back of the Valt, both pleased to be out of the rain.
Edwin watched the lights of the Medway stream past his window, the familiar skyline of the Brough looming above the blur of offices and coffeehouses of central Eamont, as Yan reviewed his notes. A Dunn & Hardy's* passed him by. How much would I rather be having fish and chips in there, rather than going to this summit? Edwin rued to himself. If only.
"Are you looking forward to it?" Yan asked warmly, in an effort to break the silence.
"Those... those are not the words I would use." Edwin replied. This was likely to be one of their last duties as the opposition readied itself to replace them, and yet they were saddled with sorting it out. "A room full of Aurorian diplomats... as long as the room is still intact at the end of the day, I shall be happy."
Yan frowned slightly. "Hey, now. Don't be such a downer." Ever the optimist, Edwin thought to himself, as his superior continued. "The Aurorians are... well, some of them are a little trigger-happy, sure, and Aydin..." he trailed off, trying to suppress the various times his diplomats had talked their counterparts down from geopolitical cliffedges, but then redoubled. "But I'm sure we can get something in writing. Even if, at the very least, we can set out the rules for the thing we absolutely do not want to happen, we can leave knowing we mitigated something."
Edwin thought for a moment, looking at the overflowing dossier on Yan's lap. Even the documents on this mess are, indeed, a mess. "So even you are accepting that war is inevitable?"
Yan chuckled - his expression flickered with unease, but returned to warmth almost too quickly for Edwin to have registered anything at all. "I would not go that far." He took a long breath in. "Things don't look great, I do cede that, but we can come back from worse. After all, we were dealing with the immediate ramifications of the Eamont bombing* recently... and yet here we all are today." A brief glance out of the window reminded them just how normal things were now - tourists and commuters alike coursing down the streets, businesses open and bustling, lights for advertisements and signs glaring through the downpour - and also how abnormal things were just a few months ago. Yan had been in the capital at the time, and his office had been put under full lockdown for the duration; Edwin was at home, and unable to reach the capital for nearly a week, noticing how much the police presence had stepped up after he arrived. Sure, that hadn't fully gone away, but things were decidedly normal again otherwise.
"Still," Yan continued, "it would be prudent if we set out the guidelines for the worst. It remains our position that the Aydinis should, whether now or eventually, cede Molucara and the Shuishongs, and... honestly? If I could manufacture an outcome, I would have them swap hands tomorrow peaceably. This is all clearly centred around a glorified colonial possession." He flicked through his dossier, finding the agenda for the day, as the car turned into the presidential estate where the event was being held; Northend House. Security lined the street on the way up, as they climbed through the woodlands towards the great house. "That transfer isn't happening though - we know it, the Aurorians know it, the Aydinis know it - so the next best thing is agreeing on the do-nots and establishing that channel for diplomatic talks. Attempting to make that happen by force overnight..." Yan trailed off.
Edwin grimaced, finishing Yan's sentence. "... would set the entire region on fire?"
Yan raised his eyebrows, opening his dossier to the page on proposed safeguards. "Well... in a way, yes." He traced the letter, each bullet point running under his index finger. "We have our suggestions, you know, to ensure we don't hand the pyromaniacs any matches."
The car stopped, and the two exited the car. At the foot of Northend House's entrance, stood Aleixo Correira-Rhodes and Allister Ramsay. The latter made his way forward first - Yan and Allister were old friends, before they both went into party politics, and were on cordial terms even before their six years in government, while the former made his way back into the building.
"Wellmet." They both greeted, shaking hands - mostly as a formality, as ever - and then walked into Northend House with Edwin trailing behind alongside a few aides.
As Edwin passed through the ornate, patterned doors into the great hall of Northend House, a wall of portraits greeted him. Most of them were of kings and heirs of an era bygone - the pallid face of King Frederyk III stared him down straight ahead, in an almost unnerving fashion - while beyond that point, a few presidential portraits graced the wall. The hallway itself was adorned with red carpet, while tall windows allowed morning light to stream into the room, almost blinding the stream of aides and ministers walking up and down between the meeting room and the entrance. A few chandeliers hung from the coffered ceiling, bathing the room in a warmer light than that coming in between the curtains.
"You shan't have to be back here much more, Al," Yan-Marten Brown chirped, smiling. The demissionary* government only had a few months, probably, until it was replaced by the incoming Labour party, after all.
"That is true," Allister replied coldly, "so it is all the more important that we get this summit right." Ramsay was usually a cordial man, but today Edwin noticed how harsh his face was, his expression terse; this was the same expression a lot of the aides also wore as they passed the troupe. The stakes were high, yet a lot clearly knew how inevitable the war they were staring down the barrel of seemed. Allister - sensing the mood had soured - added a brief "but we can at least hope to come from today with a better situation than the Aurorians and world nations came here to present, with hope," but that just sounded like the same expectations-management that Yan had tried a few minutes earlier. Yan shook his head. Clearly, he's still convinced he can manage this one. Unlike Allister.
The arched door into the meeting room opened, flanked by Burhsmen*, and they made their way into the meeting room, to take their designated seats at the large table. Aleixo Correira-Rhodes had already taken his seat, greeting the others with that very same uneasy grimace that was apparently in fashion that day. They awaited the arrival of the other diplomats.
Underreeve for the Ellands - Deputy Reeve (Minister) for Foreign Affairs
Ellandsredery - Foreign office
Moro-Rosso - A nationally-renowned tailor based in Aquilea, Rosalia, northeastern Sutherland
Valt - A Sutherlander car manufacturer
Dunn & Hardy's - A chain of fish and chip / seafood restaurants based in Sutherland
Eamont bombing - 25/8; on 25 August, 2025, the Ten Rings killed over 200 people and injured hundreds more by bombing public transport networks in the capital of Sutherland, Eamont
Burhsmen - colloquial term for the armed police in the central area of Eamont
Demissionary - formal term for a government that no longer has a majority following an election, but is awaiting the investiture of its successor government
8 December, 2025
on a Mondæy
at 8h21
-
Northend House, the Medway 1EA
Eamont
(Commonwealth of Great) Sutherland
The Underreeve for the Ellands* stood waiting in his overcoat, his hair sodden from the typical Eamont shower that had just broken overhead, as his senior - a tall, middle-aged man with his receded hair shaved off into nothing more than a five o'clock shadow - finally came out of his office to greet him.
"We picked a day for it, did we not?" Yan-Marten Brown said dryly on his way out of the Ellandsredery*, umbrella in hand, in a somewhat-successful attempt to keep the downpour off his Moro-Rosso* suit. The corridor of glass and concrete stretched out to his left and his right as he strode towards the black Valt* parked a short way down the road with his deputy.
Yan's deputy, the Liberals' Edwin Walsh, smiled. "Aye, it'll be what it'll be. It would have rained tomorrow instead, had we decided Tywsdæy over Mondæy, Yan - you know that as well as I do."
The two stepped into the back of the Valt, both pleased to be out of the rain.
Edwin watched the lights of the Medway stream past his window, the familiar skyline of the Brough looming above the blur of offices and coffeehouses of central Eamont, as Yan reviewed his notes. A Dunn & Hardy's* passed him by. How much would I rather be having fish and chips in there, rather than going to this summit? Edwin rued to himself. If only.
"Are you looking forward to it?" Yan asked warmly, in an effort to break the silence.
"Those... those are not the words I would use." Edwin replied. This was likely to be one of their last duties as the opposition readied itself to replace them, and yet they were saddled with sorting it out. "A room full of Aurorian diplomats... as long as the room is still intact at the end of the day, I shall be happy."
Yan frowned slightly. "Hey, now. Don't be such a downer." Ever the optimist, Edwin thought to himself, as his superior continued. "The Aurorians are... well, some of them are a little trigger-happy, sure, and Aydin..." he trailed off, trying to suppress the various times his diplomats had talked their counterparts down from geopolitical cliffedges, but then redoubled. "But I'm sure we can get something in writing. Even if, at the very least, we can set out the rules for the thing we absolutely do not want to happen, we can leave knowing we mitigated something."
Edwin thought for a moment, looking at the overflowing dossier on Yan's lap. Even the documents on this mess are, indeed, a mess. "So even you are accepting that war is inevitable?"
Yan chuckled - his expression flickered with unease, but returned to warmth almost too quickly for Edwin to have registered anything at all. "I would not go that far." He took a long breath in. "Things don't look great, I do cede that, but we can come back from worse. After all, we were dealing with the immediate ramifications of the Eamont bombing* recently... and yet here we all are today." A brief glance out of the window reminded them just how normal things were now - tourists and commuters alike coursing down the streets, businesses open and bustling, lights for advertisements and signs glaring through the downpour - and also how abnormal things were just a few months ago. Yan had been in the capital at the time, and his office had been put under full lockdown for the duration; Edwin was at home, and unable to reach the capital for nearly a week, noticing how much the police presence had stepped up after he arrived. Sure, that hadn't fully gone away, but things were decidedly normal again otherwise.
"Still," Yan continued, "it would be prudent if we set out the guidelines for the worst. It remains our position that the Aydinis should, whether now or eventually, cede Molucara and the Shuishongs, and... honestly? If I could manufacture an outcome, I would have them swap hands tomorrow peaceably. This is all clearly centred around a glorified colonial possession." He flicked through his dossier, finding the agenda for the day, as the car turned into the presidential estate where the event was being held; Northend House. Security lined the street on the way up, as they climbed through the woodlands towards the great house. "That transfer isn't happening though - we know it, the Aurorians know it, the Aydinis know it - so the next best thing is agreeing on the do-nots and establishing that channel for diplomatic talks. Attempting to make that happen by force overnight..." Yan trailed off.
Edwin grimaced, finishing Yan's sentence. "... would set the entire region on fire?"
Yan raised his eyebrows, opening his dossier to the page on proposed safeguards. "Well... in a way, yes." He traced the letter, each bullet point running under his index finger. "We have our suggestions, you know, to ensure we don't hand the pyromaniacs any matches."
The car stopped, and the two exited the car. At the foot of Northend House's entrance, stood Aleixo Correira-Rhodes and Allister Ramsay. The latter made his way forward first - Yan and Allister were old friends, before they both went into party politics, and were on cordial terms even before their six years in government, while the former made his way back into the building.
"Wellmet." They both greeted, shaking hands - mostly as a formality, as ever - and then walked into Northend House with Edwin trailing behind alongside a few aides.
As Edwin passed through the ornate, patterned doors into the great hall of Northend House, a wall of portraits greeted him. Most of them were of kings and heirs of an era bygone - the pallid face of King Frederyk III stared him down straight ahead, in an almost unnerving fashion - while beyond that point, a few presidential portraits graced the wall. The hallway itself was adorned with red carpet, while tall windows allowed morning light to stream into the room, almost blinding the stream of aides and ministers walking up and down between the meeting room and the entrance. A few chandeliers hung from the coffered ceiling, bathing the room in a warmer light than that coming in between the curtains.
"You shan't have to be back here much more, Al," Yan-Marten Brown chirped, smiling. The demissionary* government only had a few months, probably, until it was replaced by the incoming Labour party, after all.
"That is true," Allister replied coldly, "so it is all the more important that we get this summit right." Ramsay was usually a cordial man, but today Edwin noticed how harsh his face was, his expression terse; this was the same expression a lot of the aides also wore as they passed the troupe. The stakes were high, yet a lot clearly knew how inevitable the war they were staring down the barrel of seemed. Allister - sensing the mood had soured - added a brief "but we can at least hope to come from today with a better situation than the Aurorians and world nations came here to present, with hope," but that just sounded like the same expectations-management that Yan had tried a few minutes earlier. Yan shook his head. Clearly, he's still convinced he can manage this one. Unlike Allister.
The arched door into the meeting room opened, flanked by Burhsmen*, and they made their way into the meeting room, to take their designated seats at the large table. Aleixo Correira-Rhodes had already taken his seat, greeting the others with that very same uneasy grimace that was apparently in fashion that day. They awaited the arrival of the other diplomats.
Underreeve for the Ellands - Deputy Reeve (Minister) for Foreign Affairs
Ellandsredery - Foreign office
Moro-Rosso - A nationally-renowned tailor based in Aquilea, Rosalia, northeastern Sutherland
Valt - A Sutherlander car manufacturer
Dunn & Hardy's - A chain of fish and chip / seafood restaurants based in Sutherland
Eamont bombing - 25/8; on 25 August, 2025, the Ten Rings killed over 200 people and injured hundreds more by bombing public transport networks in the capital of Sutherland, Eamont
Burhsmen - colloquial term for the armed police in the central area of Eamont
Demissionary - formal term for a government that no longer has a majority following an election, but is awaiting the investiture of its successor government
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