Roleplay Kingdoms

Vothyl Syl does not enter normal alliances with other nations, instead they have developed a policy of Bonds, as they hope to protect their own as they spread and explore the outer world as well as showing good faith to its allies.

Bonds with Vothyl Syl require more than similar beliefs or just getting along. To gain a bond from Vothyl Syl, it requires respect, usually gained by various feats or actions.

Bonds with Vothyl Syl have many advantages, but also come with requests, depending on the time and circumstances of Vothyl Syl.

Advantages of Bonds with Vothyl Syl include:
- Allowance of members from Bonded nation deeper into Vothyl Syl cities.
- Increased trading, as well as more trading options with Vothyl Syl.
- Donations of garrisons of Pale People soldiers in times of war.
- Opening of refuge centers during times of war or stress.
- Formal invitations to Vothyl Syl festivals.

Current requests due to Bonds with Vothyl Syl:
- The creation of laws within Bonded nation to forbid the use of Pale People antlers in trading.
- Persecution of men and women who have collected Pale People antlers.

So far, Vothyl Syl is hoping to initiate a bond with the following Nations:
-Terel'Liren

A message had been sent to Vothyl Syl informing the inhabitants of the Holy Federation Republics wish to form an alliance with them and another letter had been received stating that only 20 military personnel be sent on this trip which the HFR duly noted. After five days of receiving these letters a large airship which resembled a floating fortres could be seen arriving in the skies around Vothyl Syl. As this gigantic vessel moved closer the detail of the ship could be seen more clearly. It was pointed in shape with battlements and towers running around the outside of the ship while the bottom was covered in segmented armour which was attached to chains which allowed the pieces of the armour to be moved from a horizontal position to a vertical one however what was underneath could not be seen. From the side of the large vessel flew the flag of the HFR while from the back were positioned several large turbines which constantly turned and rotated. As it got even closer it began to slowly descend towards the land. Slowly coming to rest in the ground outside the capitol where the massive ship could be seen clearly. The deck of the ship was clear apart from a few people running around carrying maintenance kits and close to the back where a keep protruded from the top of the vessel with large sheets of glass in the front giving those behind a clear view of outside. From the side of the vessel a ramp slowly slid down and along it on the the ground came 4 diplomats each with a different badge on their chests and a guard of 20 marines all dressed in a blue uniform with 10 carrying a strange looking crossbow and 10 others carrying swords. 2 of the swordsmen carried in their hands flags of the HFR. As they reached the ground they looked around to see the emissaries from Vothyl Syl.

The emissaries, at first, weren't the most notable of what was there. The first thing anyone would notice would be the silver clad soldiers of Vothyl Sylians in a V formation, with the smallest end of it by the entrance to the city. A large, metal gate stood tall, blocking entry for the moment. Three women, and two men approached from behind the V of soldiers, approaching the Holy Federation Republic representatives. All five of them wore masks, and their genders were hidden by the many layers of clothing, the only actual skin that was visible was on their hands.

The Vothyl Sylian representatives did not say much as they greeted the foreigners, only then giving away their individual genders as they spoke. Out of respect for the foreigners who were no doubt unused to the cold, and due to an oncoming blizzard, it had been decided that the negotiations would take place within a building. A local restaurant, large and popular among native citizens, had been paid off, a large section reserved, cleared out for the soldiers and representatives.

Though, as they entered, the military guardians of Vothyl Syl, the Pale People representatives, and the foreigners, would all see more wealthy members of society dining inside, quite a distance away from where the meeting would take place. The natives began to stare, not at the large military presence of Vothyl Sylians, as it was quite a normal sight inside the city, but instead at the group of foreigners wearing strange clothing and wielding unfamiliar weapons. The foreigners were led into the reserved area, a large room with many fancily adorned tables and chairs. Once everyone in the group was inside the room, four soldiers promptly closed both of the massive doors to the room, two of them guarding each door, whether it was to prevent entry or to prevent exit was quite unknown.

The soldiers took up positions around the entire room, each one unmoving in their spots, each one holding a long spear with a curved blade, as well as a rectangular shield. The representatives took their seats at the center table, a rather small one, with just as many chairs as there were representatives. Motioning for the foreigners to take their seats at the table, one, a woman with quite large antlers, began to speak. "You are here to negotiate a Bond with Vothyl Syl, please speak what you inquire the Bond to entail."

The four different diplomats sat down opposite the Vothyl Syl diplomats their guards forming positions closer to the table. With the two bannermen on either side of the four diplomats. After listening to the Vothyl Syl diplomat talk the human in the centre who wore a blue uniform said "a bond with your nation would entail a sharing of scientific and magical knowledge as well a mutual protection and aid. We of the Holy Federation Republic will ensure that the air space around your nation which rarely I think receives many visitors receives no unwelcome ones at all as well as access to Financial aid." he paused "it would also entail allowing free movement of peoples between our two nations. However the movement of military personnel would be limited." That is what the HFR wishes from this, however we would also love to hear what the people of Vothyl Syl would like from a bond with our nation. Remember this though, we have a vast amount to offer in terms of science however not as much magic."

The representatives began to speak among themselves, glancing occasionally to the foreigners. After a solid minute or two of hushed whispers, the Vothyl Sylians went quiet, turning back to the foreign representatives. "Open trading will be accepted, but the sharing of our magics is restricted to certain allies for the time being, due to our current policies. The free movement of your people into our cities will not be accepted, and your people shall only be accepted into the outer sections of our cities. We refuse your military offers as well, we do not wish to involve ourselves in your possible conflicts or wars."

Concluding their responses, the representatives began to speak once more. "Thus, the current Bond would only allow for very limited movement into our cities, and for open trade between our nations. We shall allow this in our Bond with you, on the condition that close down any markets found to house the butchered antlers of our fair people. We request that you outlaw the gathering of the antlers, as well as owning and selling them. We request that citizens under your nation found to do any of the things mentioned above be put to death."

The four diplomats listened then then stood still their expressions changing but the rest of their bodies not moving eventually the same diplomat spoke up, "we do not live on the mainland, we live to the east and are not interested in entering wars, however if you refuse to share magic knowledge with us then I am afraid we cannot share our tech like the airships with you that is only fair." He paused for a few seconds.

However about the antler matters this is the first we have heard of it, though I can assure you that any market with them in shall be closed, only it is unlikely that black market traders will make it into our nation as our navy and airforce are very hard to evade. However our nation has abolished the death penalty so you are asking us to break one of the fundamental elements of our justice system. That has been a tradition of our Government, that last request then we have to decline, we will not put any of our people to death. Instead they will serve a life sentence. Does that satisfy you?"

"We still refuse to enter in any military agreements." The Vothyl Sylians retorted. "The lack of technological advances is fine with us, we simply do not have enough trust in your people to share our ancestors secrets with you." They added, remaining seated. Upon hearing the refusal of the death penalty, the representatives glanced at one another, giving slow, hesitant nods.

"The lack of death penalty is disheartening, but due to the replacement with a life sentence in your justice systems, we will allow it. We also request, on a similar note, that all antlers confiscated from your people be returned to us, so they may be treated properly for burial."

the four diplomats again did not move this time talking longer before the first one spoke again "we give you our promise on the honour of the Holy Federation Republic that all antlers belonging to your people shall be returned to you. The rest of your requests regarding your people will also be accepted. However before we can go into any formal signing we would like one last request. That is you experience our nation just like we are doing now. We ask this for your benefit mainly as we would like you to see what our nation is like so you can judge our nation yourself not just by meeting us diplomats."

The five men and women once more turned to each other, speaking in hushed tones and in foreign tongues. After several minutes, the went silent as quickly as they had begun speaking. "It has been arranged. We shall send members of our trusted to your nation, to observe your lands before we make a final decision." They concluded. One of the representatives had been writing, writing down terms and crossing them out as they had gone along.

"We shall have the final draft of our Bond ready within the week, which shall be the time our trusted shall return. We shall send them as you leave today, treat them well, as it's their decisions that will decide how this meeting ends."

The four human male diplomats put their right hand flat on their chest and bowed slightly, then they stood up, with the middle one saying "We will await the arrival of your people on our ship, which we will return to now." After that the 24 men left the cafe bowing slightly to the pale people around them as they returned to the floating fortress where they left the ramp down awaiting the arrival of the trusted while the people aboard the ship got preparations ready for the pale people to stay there.

It took almost an hour, but soon, several diplomats, roughly four, from Vothyl Syl soon boarded the ship. They all wore their traditional masks, their signature robes, and their black antlers raising up above them. They each carried amulets in their hands, amulets which would help defend them against the heat once they had moved towards the more tropical climates. They all decided to stay in the floating fortress in one room, in the same general location. It was to be a week before they were to return, and many people were hoping for them to enjoy their stay.

The Journey didn't take long and soon there was a knock on the door of the room they were staying in, "hey!" a voice called happily from the other side of the door, "you might want to come out, we are entering Holy Federation Republic Territory and this is your first chance to take a look at our nation!" With that footsteps could be heard leaving the door and heading back towards the outside, the air around would still be cold as they were high up however it was becoming much warmer as the ship moved towards its destination.

The four diplomats exited their room in one group, making their way to the outside of the flying fortress. They each were wearing their enchanted amulets now, the heat-resistant charms were being mass produced for Vothyl Sylians if they were seeking to travel from their frozen homes. As they looked across the land below them, below their masks was looks of amazement. Scanning over the foreign lands. Eyes down, observing the land, searching for anything familiar, they did not move from their spots until they landed.

The sight that greeted them outside was that of a huge sprawling mass of islands each dotted with Large Towns and cities, ports all over the place were packed with ships of many different sizes, some huge iron plated ships which bore the flags of the HFR and patrolled the waters while all around them masses of smaller ships were everywhere filling up the seas in all directions. The skies were filled too with Airships, some were of the same type of huge floating fortresses that the Vothyl Syl diplomats were currently on while others were smaller ones designed for normal travel. On the islands nearly every inch that was not part of a city or a port were neatly organised farmland most growing wheat and other essentials while a few could be seen growing more exotic crops. The spires of each city reached into the sky, masses of them everywhere standing there like a forest of spikes. The Massive Floating Fortress slowly moved towards a large stone area which seemed like a dock on land and soon it had settled into a landing area, ramps extending off the side and onto a metal walkway than ran alongside the vessel. On it were lined soldiers and engineers which moved up the greeting the people on board and looking round the vessel while most of the people on board exited down the ramps, the four HFR diplomats moved near the Vothyl Syl representatives and beaconed them to follow.

Staring out across the vast, foreign lands, the diplomats would have faces of awe, if they were not wearing their masks. Looking out across the large masses of islands and towns, they spoke among themselves in their strange tongue, foreign and gibberish to those who didn't speak it themselves. They seemed to note the large amount of solely military forces, particularly on their formations.

Looking towards the natives to the tropical land, the diplomats followed, each silent and stoic, the only separating detail between each one of them was the shape and size of their black antlers, raised out of their masks, into the air. Following in a square group, the four diplomats stepped onto the stone construction, observing the many military and engineer units that had come to greet the ship.

A week. A week in this hot, humid, and foreign land, away from the protection of their gods, away from the welcoming ice and cold they have lived in for their entire lives. The sight of so much outside, not covered in clouds, blizzards, and snow, hurt their eyes, and they squinted to adjust. Only a week here. Only a week.

The diplomats took them along the gantry and down a flight of steps to the rest of the airfield. One of them turned and stopped. To the ambassadors he said, "now I have a few things to say before we go further. Firstly when later on during your stay you are allowed to go from some islands to others when in the ports there will be some sections inside that have a gate with our flag carved into it, those are the Military only docks and can only be accessed by military personnel, so please do not use them, any of the other docks you can use. Anyway there are no shortage of ships here. Only twenty percent of the ships here are in use by the military, however while you are out at sea there are so many ships everywhere going from one side to another side of our nation will take a long time. The same rule applies to these airfields, however here it is just common sense, the giant floating fortresses are for military use only and all the thousands of others are non-military. Journeys by airships will be much quicker. Secondly we believe in no gods here in the Holy Federation Republic so if your nation has any gods please refrain from repeatedly mentioning them in conversation, it tends to upset people. Thirdly everyone here is equal, never address anyone as above another. Fourthly, the isles of Lasch and New Horizon are off-limits. They are military only islands. Fifthly the people of Meneverin and Avand are a little rough around the edges which comes from being from islands with a lot of production however please do not take it personally. Sixthly if you use a public facility like bath-houses or go into a bar, if they have a exclamation mark on the side in a circle then the owner wants the place to stay under a certain level of noise. Now I think that is all you need for the moment. One other thing. We are going to have to ask you to remove your masks, you will be walking around our nation for a week and people like to see the faces of those they are talking to, as they can then see if they are lying. Do you understand all of this?"

The eyes, hidden behind their masks, of the ambassadors narrowed as the diplomats began to speak. The rules of military travel and islands were fine, normal, expected even. However, they found themselves quarreling with the later rules, the masks, the anti-theism... And one of them spoke up, a female, sprouting the largest antlers of the four. She spoke, a heavy accent, foreign languages obviously not her strong suit. "We do agree with most of your given rules here. However... We simply must deny two of them." She spoke, turning to her comrades.

The other female spoke, smaller in stature, with shorter horns, but with more 'branches' coming off of them. "Religion is our way of life. We will practice it as we wish. The masks are sacred to us, and we refuse to remove them for the sole wish of lie detecting, something I do not believe will be needed."

The other two Vothyl Sylian Ambassadors nodded in agreement, their hands crossed either in front of or behind them. One of them, a male, added to the conversation. "While members of our nation can and will remove their masks as they wish, such as the mage who fought in the tournament, but you must understand our position. She was of a separate order, where physical being isn't... Well, I can't divulge that information, but you must understand that out of respect of our own positions of power, we will continue to wear the masks of our goddess."

The group did not move, standing in the square formation, each one standing straight, waiting for a reply.

The people around them slowed in what they were doing and looked at the four Vothyl Syl ambassadors, The four diplomats in front of them pursed their lips, "right, I am now going to explain to you why we hate religion. Around a hundred years ago there was a religion in the Holy Federation Republic with most of us being atheists but we tolerated the religion. They then started committing repeated acts of terrorism. Including crashing a Floating Fortress into a town. Now people tend to dislike all religion. Therefore we ask you if you wish to continue practising your religion do it in your own chambers and never in public. If you also wish to keep wearing your masks then do so, we cannot stop you. Well so long as you understand the rest of the rules that is ok, we will respect your desire to keep your mask as long as you respect our wishes to not talk about your goddess in public, one last thing if you choose to visit the island Mort d'hier which is just to the north west of here then please keep hushed at most times, especially in memorial plaza. We ask this as that isle is special in our history, it was the site of a battle that cost the lives of half a million soldiers. Can you do that?" The people around went hushed at the mention of Mort d'heir then resumed activity when it had finished in the conversation.

The Ambassadors nodded, continuing their walk forward, looking over the land. The four remained together in professional positions, walking at the same pace. As they observed the scenery of that island, they spoke among themselves, their language foreign and unintelligible to anyone who did not have the ability to understand it. Though, some magic users could certainly find ways to translate.

"Trade routes would be difficult here. If not only for the distance."
"Indeed. The damnation of religion here would discourage our people."
"Not to mention the distrust of those who hide their faces."
"If anything, I see them as potential threats."
"Agreed. They certainly have substantial military forces, as they offered to guard our borders."
"And what if we deny forming Bonds with them? Do you believe they may become aggressive?"
"Hopefully not, but if they do, they won't last long within our borders."

Continuing to walk forward, they went silent, looking over maps, taking notes, and observing the local population.

unexpected visitors

In the lands of Vothyl Syl ten unexpected visitors trekked through the Mountains and snow of Vothyl Syl. They were a group of ten Saduri. Every single one of them was of the breed known as the Kri-Rit. They were Bipedal, four armed creatures. That had the look of Upright Mantis' with the head of an ant. In their mouth were a pair of sharp mandibles. Covering their entire body was thick back scale-like skin, that glistened in the sunlight. On their backs were folded, however what they looked was unsure. On their hands were only three fingers, each claw like in appearance. 

Slowly the group of ten moved through the snow, on the lookout for any nearby cities.