The ambassadors were escorted through the capital and into Stahlard Castle, their troops left waiting beyond the gates. Inside, the mood was guarded but not hostile. King Harold I chose to meet each envoy privately, without aides, preferring conversation over ceremony. Stephenson of New Falkladore Harold didn’t bother circling the point. They were neighbors, and neighbors survived best when they trusted each other. An alliance, he argued, would make both sides safer—economically and militarily. He spoke frankly about the unrest spreading across borders and made it clear he expected cooperation in dealing with communist movements before they took root closer to home. Lindström of Britannia With Lindström, the King was relaxed, even faintly amused. He acknowledged Britannia’s command of the seas and admitted outright that Stahlmark lacked the same experience. That was why he wanted an alliance—and why he was willing to pay well for Britannian shipyards to build a Stahlmark navy. “Better to learn from the best,” he remarked. The Ottoman Diplomat Harold addressed the tension with Britannia carefully. He said Stahlmark had no interest in watching the situation spiral into something worse and offered to help calm matters, quietly. Turning to trade, he proposed a straightforward deal: Stahlmark industry and machinery in return for access to Ottoman resources. “A fair exchange,” he called it, “and one that leaves neither of us dependent.” Zen Cyan of the Cyan Empire This meeting was more serious. Harold spoke about the revolutions erupting across the world, his patience clearly thin. He suggested sharing information and coordinating responses, warning that ignoring the problem now would only make it harder to contain later. The Ambassador of Kerzakasgrad The discussion was brief and blunt. Harold stressed cooperation and mutual support against revolutionary movements. Stability, he said, was something no state could afford to defend alone anymore.
