"I apologise for my late arrival, It is a busy time for— " The king finally appeared from the door, followed by two guards, unarmoured but armed, their green and black palette outlining the silvery-glistening hilts of their swords on their hips. Consequently, his eyes were immediately wide upon gazing at the delegation. 

“What in God's name are those?”

Their appearances were unexpected and plainly bewildering for the sole exception of Marriott. "Uh, nevermind my stutter..." Recovering quickly from his wide eyes and surprised expression, his extravagantly dressed self sat across the table from the group. "I am King Wasuen Odarennette of the Rannette Kingdom.” The king leaned forward slightly, gracing the delegation with an approving nod, “Pleased to welcome the delegation from the island of Ranesairan." He said, leaning into the sofa while Marpha spoke in the stead of the delegation, "I am Marpha Yeterikon, Divine Duchess of the Saruph Ascension Church.”

“How... Boisterous.”

“The young man to my right is the son and heir of our respected Duke Raressank, Alladen Raressank, and the woman to my left is Faleya Usurbruk, Countess of the Usurbruk countdom." The Duchess lifted the corresponding hands when referring to the people to her sides, before nodding towards Marriott, "And the boy is my personal attendant, Marriott Asparenci." Wasuen didn't show it, but he was not prepared to be met with such supposedly influential and highly ranked people in the middle of an average day, just when he was planning to relax for a short while.

But as he was gradually reclaiming his regal demeanour, he was distracted by the sudden movement from Marriott. "As apologies for our rude and unscheduled visit, please accept this gift." As she said so, the boy walked over to the table and gently placed the chest on the table, a maid slid a laced cloth to protect the fine wood of the table from the chest's bottom, and then it was placed and pushed in front of the king, allowing him to reveal the contents himself. Wasuen almost audibly gasped upon lifting the chest lid, quickly calling over Ritz with a spin of his wrist  at eye-level, whose reaction wasn't as contained, his face openly widening as a whole when he observed the content, calling for a maid to provide him a velvet glove. Ratoya carefully lifted something heavy within the chest and that made even the king raise his eyebrows slightly.

"Eight gold bars? Just four of such size would be enough to finance a barony for a whole year, and they had brought double the amount when two would suffice to pay proper respects for the visit...” 

The king stiffened his expression as he leveled his breathing, yet not looking back at the delegates.

“This gift alone is worth multiple millions of tish... Am I supposed to feel dizzy?"

Wasuen cleared his throat multiple times and closed the chest, "Ratoya, have the servants transport this generous gift. Under absolutely thorough supervision." The man quickly hurried  out of the room, "As for the apologies... I accept them, I can't possibly refuse after you've provided such plentiful compensation." Marpha tilted her head to the side, and Faleya kept to herself, the face still adorned with a smile. “Thank you for your kind appreciation, your majesty.” The Duchess said, and the quiet hung in the air for another couple of seconds, as the king corrected himself in the seat along with his clothes. "Now, it would be most appropriate for your stature to announce the purpose of your visit, if I may incline as much in the regard of this esteemed delegation." 

Marpha was likely content with the way he had phrased this invitation, so it didn't take much more time for her to reply, "Indeed, I shouldn't delay your majesty any more than I've already done." She switched the hands that were atop the other on her legs, and continued, "The reason for our visit is brief, but not less important." Wasuen lifted his eyebrow at the prospect,  nodding and meaning for her to continue. "Unfortunately, due to the recent passing of our monarch three years ago, the island of Ranesairan has been fractured into many states, and since then, some of them are much more keen on expanding their influence than the others...” Marpha lifted the cup of the beverage, tasting some and then speaking, “Such, we've come to both warn you of their possible aggression, and subsequently propose a helping hand in case they were to attack your territory, as the tensions have been on the rise recently." Wasuen tensed at the provided context, shifting his weight once again.

"I haven't heard a nick of their so-called Ranesairan... But, if that woman is telling the truth, her proposition must have some merit."

The king sat straight for a more imposing disposition, crossing his arms. "I can see what would prompt you to urgently request a meeting with the king of this nation, even without prior planning. But, you must understand that I can't trust you blindly, as I have not heard of the lands named Ranesairan before.” Watching the Duchess carefully, he took a breath to go on, “Therefore, I believe it is only fit for you to provide me with the list of the current nations of the island. I would like to know the scale that I might have to deal with." 

Marpha nodded once, "You are right. I have already mentioned The Saruph Ascension Church, the Usurbruk Countdom and the Raressank Dukedom, but I won't refrain from naming the rest. We have two other Dukedoms besides the Raressanks and Saruph Ascension Church, they are named the Durass-Paren and Kröstek Dukedoms, as per the other countdoms, then, there are three others: the territories of Shaezot, Domialle and Nukaten.” The Duchess herself did not miss a moment of watching Wasuen’s own face, bringing her hands together and squeezing the together as she added” “The rest of the nations are miscellaneous: The Firestricken Stryky, The Blade Vale, the Commonwealth of Noble Families of Western Ranesairan, the Zatlanem barony and lastly, the two aggressor nations — The Unification Legion of Ranesairan and The Grand Northern Federation."

“Can't say that it is a few... Quite a bit, I'd go as far as to say. And there are names that aren't as intuitive as the rest.”

The king silently contemplated the names that she had pronounced, yet, he was unsure of any of them. "I understand the titles of most of those states... But, I'd like to know what are the Stryky and Blade Vale that you speak of?" Marpha slowly turned to the Countess, and after a brief exchange of glances, Faleya took over: "To make it simple — Blade Vale is a spiritual center of the island that used to be under the jurisdiction of the late king and his dynasty, but after his passing the Blade Vale has become a free territory that was entrusted to the Raressank Dukedom for future affairs.” Wasuen listened intently with his hand over his mouth, “And Stryky are the wildlands of the island, roughly put. You can label it a natural reserve as much as you can call it an independent state, although it doesn't have a defined governing body just like the Blade Vale, spanning the westernmost expanse of the island, where it is infested by burning plains and wandering monsters." The countess shrugged her shoulders, her behaviour a bit bewildering for the king, who wasn't used to such casual gestures being used around him. “The latter are not often met, it isn’t a superb place to live.” 

“The things they say get only more ridiculous, burning plains? That's quite the claim.”

Faleya leaned onto the table with her hands, raising both of her brows at the king, "Stryky are the cursed lands of Ranesairan, but they do contain a lot of valuable materials within their bounds, so their economic value is much more inflated than compared to... Let's say, the Blade Vale." The king grew a tid bit more invested at the mention of materials, but then Marpha quickly picked up the conversation again, returning it to a more official tone to the usual annoyance of the Countess. "Before you ask about the Legion and the Grand North, I believe it is best to explain the situation to you in detail."

Faleya and Alladen turned their faces away, but soon returned to their old selves, even if their brows and jaws had both gotten a slight twitch."The Unification Legion of Ranesairan is what remains of the Royal collaborants from the short overturn of the Island that took place three years ago.” The tone with which Marpha had pronounced “Royal collaborants” made the king uneasy, but he had to listen regardless, “They fled to the North and established their territory there, aiming to restore the monarchist rule on the island, but with a new king and dynasty.” Wasuen gave a slow and acknowledging hum, so the Duchess continued with her explanation, “The Grand Northern Federation also takes its roots from the recent fracturing that had taken the island by a storm. However, they are mostly just a militaristic collection of expansionist idealists that strive to enrich themselves through warfare. Unlike the Unification Legion, the Grand North consists mainly of the indigenous races of northern Ranesairan and cares not for the abolished Royal lineage." 

Wasuen felt a bit more in-tune with the current political climate of the island, "Races, you say?” Looking over the present delegates, the king was not quick and loud to say his next words, “As if you aren't dealing with humans." Faleya chuckled at his words, but it was Marpha who continued to speak, "That is just right, your Majesty, Ranesairan has equal part human population, and equal part inhuman population."

Wasuen king felt a lump in his throat because those words about various intelligent yet non-human races reminded him of the troubles he had faced with the tribes living north of his own Kingdom, though the current late stage conflict with the human-dominant Gerad Confederation overshadowed the previous misfortunes. "The primary population of the Grand North comprises Zonalls, a people that are akin to humans in appearance and behaviour, yet, are much more resilient to cold and harsh conditions which the north provides." He sucked it up like a sponge, racial conflicts took place before and after his enthronement, they were never pretty, those are the kinds of conflicts that can tear not just the social layers, but individual cliques within said layers, with a considerable ease no less...

"Inhuman races that I have not heard about, that island is far more formidable than I thought.”

While he was thinking, the king thought of stalling the talks just for a moment, all so he could get some more time to think. With a raise and shake of his hand, he pointed at the cups in front of the Ranesairanian delegation, pointing to it. The maids took the almost empty cups and loaded them onto platter, afterwards disappearing from the room.

“I might have to abandon the talks with the Gerad Confederation in their favour, seceding some land doesn't seem that bad now that I hear of territories both aggressive in their own local vicinity, as well as possessive of lands outside their island... Wait, outside?"

He finally pulled away his hand from his face, raising his chin and speaking: "You've said that you could provide help were those nations to try and attack the Rannette Kingdom, but why would they go for us when their main goal is unifying the island?" But soon he rubbed his moustache while talking, both his eyes gliding over the delegation members, "It is because they are unable to secure the island by themselves, as they are now at least. They do not have the resources needed to win a total war, but their prowess in combat and the unfavourable terrain and climate of the north also disallows us to wipe them out completely.” Wasuen leaned in much closer than before, now resting his elbows on his knees, “So, they would likely try to capture resources from the outside and use their external territories as slave grounds to free more of their own people in order to fill the ranks of their armies." The king was wary of this, he counted fourteen nations on the island in total, yet, two of them managed to keep the other twelve, or, if you don't count the free territories: ten other nations at bay with what sounded like meager resources, that alarmed him beyond belief.

"This... is challenging to comprehend, but I can't turn away from this easily. What they have told me is still not enough to confirm any sort of danger that might come from those two nations, they might as well be weak and small, while the other two states are simply more numerous and stronger... But, it also means that the variables are too vast. They were able to offer me this much gold as a simple apology, was it a gathered effort?"