Envoy sent to Neskir

[Kane]

Álfhildr Ketilsdóttir was old enough to have seen three kings grow up.

In her fifties, perhaps approaching sixty, she moved with an authority that could rival anyone in the room. The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were not the soft ones that come only from laughter, but the deep ones earned from long winters, long nights without sleep, and the silent violence of negotiations when the livelihood of a kingdom is at stake.

His hair, once blond, had taken on the color of ash and salt. He wore it braided and pulled back into a practical bun under a dark wool hood. A heavy dark blue cloak hung over her shoulders, with a reinforced hem for travel and a simple silver brooch stamped with the roaring bear of Adon, more a sign of her office than a decoration. She wore no other jewelry. No perfumes. Nothing that announced a luxury she, moreover, disliked.

She wore a gray wool tunic that covered her completely, with a simple, discreet belt from which hung a small, unobtrusive leather pouch on one side. Under the tunic, she wore comfortable, lightweight pants, appropriate for the climate of Neskir, and mid-calf boots made of leather worn smooth from walking.

A young redhead woman accompanies her, carrying a tablet on which there are a few scrolls bearing the royal seal. She continues to look at her with veneration, a devotion that has given rise to more than one sinful rumor, but which no one dares to speak aloud.

It was Álfhildr herself who asked King Hroaldr to go on this mission. Being able to visit the distant village of Neskir, which had a deep-rooted Norse tradition, like Adon, but so far south, was something she couldn’t pass up. Of course, the king didn’t hesitate for a second to send her.

After disembarking from the Drakkar that had brought her to Klaxheim, she took some time to visit its streets, its markets, and to meet its people. To learn a little more about what they were like, what concerned them, and whether they maintained the Nordic spirit they originally had. Everything pointed to yes, and that was something Álfhildr would not pass up.

Finally, she was brought before the ruler of Neskir. She was pleased to see that he received her in a common room similar in architecture to those in Adon, a large space with a big fire in the center around which the advisors, soldiers, and any visitors to the court gathered.

Álfhildr and her companion waited among the other petitioners, and when it was her turn, she approached the throne. Following Nordic custom, she did not bow, but made a small gesture with her head, placing her right hand on her belly.

“Thank you for receiving us, your majesty” she begins in a broken, rough voice, yet one that still intimidates and exudes confidence. Queen Astrid I looks at her from her throne with a bearing and dignity befitting her Nordic ancestors and nods. “King Hroaldr has sent me personally to greet and honor the people of Neskir, with whom we share that Nordic heritage and whom we humbly call friends… brothers.” She pauses dramatically and continues, “Famine could ravage our land in the future, and His Majesty Hroaldr would like to open the door to an agreement for the supply of food from Neskir. That is why I have also been sent.”

[Rezim]

Queen Astrid I of House Eriksson
Queen of Neskir

Álfhildr of Adon, you stand in my hall not as a stranger or petitioner, but as someone who stands among kinsmen and women. You honour us by coming, and that alone shows King Hroaldr does not treat this matter lightly. Our sagas speak of hunger… the long winters that lasted too long, storms that came early, and the inability to be always be prepared that came with it.

If famine threatens Adon, then it threatens the balance in the north, as well. No realm starves alone without consequence. It bears notice, however, that grain is not tribute and Neskir is no granary to be opened by sentimentality alone. Any agreement will be made as equals - bound by foresight, obligation, and mutual survival.

You may present what King Hroaldr proposed, and what Adon is prepared to give in return - not merely in coin, but in assurances.

[Kane]

"Your Majesty Astrid, your words honor Adon, and I will humbly respond in the same spirit of candor and as equals.

King Hroaldr is not asking Neskir to open its granaries out of sentimentality; that is not in the nature of our people. He is asking for a contract, measured, scheduled, and binding on both parties. A fair agreement between our nations that allows both to benefit equally.

Adon proposes an annual supply agreement of up to 25 million tons of food delivered at regular intervals throughout the year, monthly or quarterly, at times that best suit Neskir’s harvest and port capacity. We prefer products that store and transport well: first cereals and flour, then durable provisions according to availability.

As for payment, I am authorized to confirm that Adon can pay in currency and resources. In order to demonstrate our kingdom’s good faith, we are willing to make an initial deposit upon signing, with the remainder payable upon delivery, by weight and with royal certification of delivery. If Your Majesty prefers, it can be agreed that part of the agreed sum will be paid in resources (salt, iron, and workable metals such as copper, lead, tin, wood, or precious metals such as silver and gold) in quantities that we can guarantee.

As for the guarantees you have requested, we can assure you, first of all, of safe passage. Adon will coordinate the convoy’s route and provide an escort when necessary in the northern sections, so that the cargo arrives intact and on schedule. Our fleet has, in fact, already been securing the routes for several weeks.

Secondly, port guarantees. Neskir ships making deliveries under your flag will receive preferential berthing and fair treatment in Adon ports: privileges in writing and no sudden tariffs.

Finally, I would like to point out that this trade agreement would bring our peoples closer together in a way that has never been done before. We would like to take advantage of this circumstance to lay the foundations for future treaties that could expand this collaboration on a commercial, cultural, or even military level.

We hope that these guarantees will be sufficient to facilitate this agreement. Please, if you would be so kind as to indicate the cost in materials or currency, we can agree on the terms.

[Rezim]

Queen Astrid I of House Eriksson
Queen of Neskir

Your candor is noted, and your preparation is… substantial. An annual volume of 25 million tons is not a request made lightly, nor is it one answered quickly. We are not alarmed by numbers, we measure burden not by scale, but by risk.

Neskir can produce what you describe - in strong years, even more. But no Queen worthy of her people commits harvests a year in advance without safeguards for itself against drought, blight, storm, or warfare. Therefore, this is what I propose.

First: Neskir will provide 25 million tons for this year, as it can afford to do so. We will agree to a banded obligation; a guaranteed minimum sent to Adon, with an upper ceiling that is assessed by my own administrators and sealed under my authority.

Second: Payment in coin is acceptable, but payment in iron and lumber is more practical. We need what will keep our ships afloat and our granaries standing.

Third: Safe passage is assumed - but escort alone is insufficient. Adonic ships may escort the northern routes, but Neskir captains will command their own vessels, and Neskir ships will provide escort along the southern routes.

Finally… preferential berthing is welcome, and will be reciprocal. Neskir ships will be allowed to dock in Adon freely, and Adonic merchants and ships will receive the same treatment in Neskir.

These are conditions we can agree upon for a term of five years. As for future treaties… those are discussions for peace-time council, not famine tables. We will not bind tomorrow’s wars to today’s bread. But if King Hroaldr wishes for additional agreements, he will find Neskir a reliable partner.

[Kane]

Álfhildr Ketilsdóttir

Voice-Ledger from Kingdom of Adon

Your Majesty, on behalf of Adon, I thank you for providing us with a sincere, direct response that we can work with.

On behalf of King Hroadlr, I can sign a five-year contract with a guaranteed minimum and an estimated maximum sealed under your authority.

For this year, we accept your offer of 25 million tons maximum, with the understanding that the range is a safeguard for years when nature turns against us.

Adon only asks that the League’s assessment for each year be sealed on a fixed date after the harvest reports are known, so that our own ports and warehouses can plan without chaos.

As for payment in iron and wood… if I am honest, this is what suits Adon best. We can meet most of the payment with both materials, and our ships are accustomed to transporting them.

Coins and ingots can cover balances when measurement or timing requires it, but let wood and iron be the backbone, as Neskir requests and Adon is happy to accept.

Of course, Neskir’s captains will command Neskir’s ships; no one will question that. Adon will be responsible for coordinating the escort in the northern sections, and Neskir will do so in the southern routes. What’s more, before I left, I was informed that the vast majority of Adon’s fleet is already patrolling the coast to the south, so you can rest assured that in that regard, our kingdom will be up to the task.

Let it be drafted as a joint convoy protocol: meeting points, signals, and response rules, so that neither side confuses caution with insult when swords are drawn at sea.

Adon accepts full reciprocity, not only for facilitating transport, but for the show of trust it represents. Neskir ships will dock freely in our ports under written privileges, and Adon ships and merchants will receive the same.

My assistant will finalize the details with your stewards, and soon the agreement will be sealed and the ships will begin their voyages.

Now, Your Majesty, allow me to ask you about something that seems to strike at the heart of our most firmly held beliefs. As you know, your neighbor Ivalen has for years been defiling and desecrating altars dedicated to Odhinn, even going so far as to burn his followers alive… our brothers in faith.

The kingdom of Adon would like to know your position on this matter, for we fear for our faith and may soon take drastic measures. We would like to know whether the kingdom of Neskir will support such measures as brothers in faith, or whether you will take your own course of action… in which case we could provide whatever support you may need.

[Rezim]

Queen Astrid I of House Eriksson
Queen of Neskir

On the matter of the agreement, we are aligned. The harvest assessments will be sealed on a fixed date. My stewards will coordinate with your assistant to set that date into the arrangement, so that neither our ports nor yours are left to speculation. The contract will reflect what has been agreed here, and it will stand.

Now, Ivalen. The matter of faith that you discuss has reached our courts, as well. How could it not? Ivalen’s capital of Evender lies less than three weeks by road. This is no mere hearsay, and while the Illumination has made landfall within Neskir, its doctrine has not been enforced by fire or decree.

Ivalen has not merely adopted a new faith, its King has weaponized it. Shrines destroyed by decree, nobles dispossessed to enrich a new order, and executions carried out for belief, not treason. This is not a simple matter of faith; it is a conquest of heart and mind. You ask where Neskir stands? Neskir will not recognize the legitimacy of Ivalen’s new laws imposed by fire. This strikes at the stability of the Nordic realms, our traditions, our laws.

We will, however, not be drawn into some religious war against Ivalen. That is precisely what King Edrin and his Holy Men desire, and I will not allow the Illumination within my own borders to use Ivalen as precedent. We will coordinate with our brothers in crown and tradition to contain the spread of their flame. If Adon seeks coordination, we will listen.

[Kane]

Álfhildr Ketilsdóttir

Voice-Ledger from Kingdom of Adon

We understand you completely, Your Majesty. King Hroaldr shares your opinion, and although our kingdom is still far from the influence of the Ilumination, we are concerned about how they are forcing their beliefs on people and destroying our own.

We have no interest in starting a holy war, but we must protect our beliefs, as they form the basis of our traditions. The kingdom of Adon will ban all manifestations of the religion of the Ilumination, under penalty of imprisonment or slavery. My king, with his magnanimous generosity, will give a reasonable period of time for those who wish to leave to do so in peace… but those who remain and continue with their faith will receive the same treatment as ours on their part.

This is the first step in trying to eradicate it from our lands. We will also launch an awareness campaign, using the Great Hall of the Gods, which was built by the wise King Torsten when he first heard about Enlightenment. We will also build new altars and spread the word that the Norse religion, our religion, does not burn those who do not profess it… but that, as Thorr himself would do, it will defend itself against any aggression.