Foreign Affairs Consulate: Gathering Storm

[Hot_Enamel]

I got a second message from GS...its the same as above with an additional last paragrapgh.

They are offering CoL this round.

[GhengisFarbâ„¢]

Okay, sent them 100 gold for CoL.

[Hot_Enamel]

Just a quick note, that I got email from GS. I sped read it this morning before running out the door for work.

They are pleased that we are going ahead with the trade for CoL.
They accepted my apology for screwing them around with our "counteroffer" after we had already accepted the original deal.
I corrected their view that we had a joint war with ND against Lux. I told them that although there was some co-ordination, our war with Lux was for our own reasons, and was not a joint action. This is just promoting the idea that we do not have any alliance with ND.


They are interested in our situation with ND, and our Iron issues.
I have been maintaining the illusion that we dont get along with ND, and that our source of iron is "vulnerable".
I suggested that we are looking for a good trading partner that can trade us Iron if ND removes our supply.
They seemed keen to explore this further....but are waiting the results of our current trade.


I have not suggested anything yet, but I think we should come up with some deal that would advantage us both....

Perhaps, HBR for a guaranteed source of Iron that we may call upon at any stage.
ie If ND attacks 1 round before we get Pikes or Riders, then we can call upon our contract and get an emergency supply from GS. They will end up getting HBR from Lux or some other civ for next to nothing anyway.

They have not yet even told me if they have a 2nd supply of iron...but it is worth exploring a little, as it encourages the idea that we dont trust ND. And if ND does ever doublecross us, we will have a backup source.

[Hot_Enamel]

Yet another note from GS

Hi Hot_Enamel!

I recieved your letter. I hope your negotiations will fare better- Lux are hard to bargain with, as it seems from various posts on the main board, but i'm sure your skills and determination will overcome these obstacles, and an agreement will be reached.
I also wanted to clarify one issue, and i hope you are not offended by me mentioning this: Our team wanted to remind you, that according to our agreement, you are to send us MM the moment you research it, and not delay the deliverance. I was pretty confident this is how you see things as well, but for the sake of being absolutely sure, i thought it was best to clearly state this.

One more thing- do you have any idea if RP is planning or going to sell CoL to ND?

Thanks alot
Zeit, Chief Diplomat of the Gathering Storm.

My response was:

Zeit, Chief Diplomat of the Gathering Storm,

As I mentioned in previous correspondence, feel free to contact me if you experience any problems (inconsistent comments) within our team.

As I understand our deal, we are to transfer MM to you as soon as we have finished researching it. I do not have the latest sav, and our turn reporting has not mentioned when it will exactly become available...but I know it will be soon.
I will find out for sure and let you know.

The Lux/Vox consortium has certainly become difficult to trade with. We are essentially treating them as one team. Any tech trade to one, will be gifted to the other. We are quite certain of this.

We are keenly interested in your diplomatic relations with Vox. There has been many rumours of a pending war between your two nations. Certainly having a 3rd nation on your continent that has so closely aligned itself with Vox, will have complicated the matter even further.

Our peace treaty with Lux has stalled. We have called upon Lux's puppet masters to deal with us directly. Lux is having difficulty in trying to abide by their master, and also sweeten any deal for themselves. They are becoming difficult to deal with.

As to RP selling CoL to ND ? I personally cannot answer this. RP certainly offered it to us, so you can be certain they will offer it to ND. GoW and ND communications are mainly concerned with trying to settle on a border, and doing some trade. I will post the question on our board, and let you know if any of our team responds.

Regards

Hot_Enamel of the GoW

So I need to know....
When does MM arrive ? We have a 10 turn no-resell agreement so there is no reason to hold back on it.

They obviously want to sell CoL to ND, and are concerned RP will undercut them. I assume we are planning of trading CoL to ND in 10 turns. So I will just claim ignorance.

I am stiring the pot regarding Vox/Lux and am trying to get info out of them.

I also believe, that GS has a close relationship with RP. If RP does try to undercut their sale of CoL to ND, it could cause some friction between RP & GS. So perhaps it is wise to consider letting ND purchase CoL from RP just to get GS pissed at RP.

Does anyone have any objections to me persuing the possibility of GS being our backup on iron ? Assuming they have 2 sources available.

Regs

[Donegeal]

I would not object to anyone being a backup supplier of Iron.

Well...except Lux...

[Hot_Enamel]

I have been courting GS...here is the latest correspondence from Zeit.

Hot_Enamel, Honorable consul of the Glory of War.

The news of Lux demise caught me by suprised- when i was away from the boards for some 24 hours. Indeed, this incident of Vox finishing off Lux does not contribute to the regional stability, things have been delicate before, and abrupt moves such as this one does remind us to be on constant watch- the world of Civ 3 MP can treacherous and unforgiving.

I believe some explanation on our hand regarding the safe heaven Lux used to have in our continent is in order. I want to stress out, that Vox sprung their plan to bring Lux here without our approval. Once it was presented to us a given, we decided to try and live with it, rather than risk an escallation of tensions, and possibly even war, with Vox. We have witnessed the growing tension between those you referred to as "the puppet and its master". We did not expect such a move from Vox, and could only guess what led them to this. That is not to say that we were not concerned with our own interests when handling the situation- we were quite aware of the unexpected nature of Lux and the liability their staying here was. Our efforts to pacify the two faction did not succeed, and the outcome is known to all.

Regarding the Iron trade- we obviously can't carry that out right now- as there is no trading route between our two nations. Even if such trade is possible, we cannot promise it will be carried out- iron surpluses are always in need, if the unfortunate happens, and one source is depleted. We once again say- this trade will probably be possible, and will be sought after by our team, but we cannot promise anything right now, and wouldn't want you to make plans about the future. We also suggest you connect the Iron with a colony- because of the risk of major war erupting, which are a great concern to us- the outcome of which could result in the emergence of an unstopable superpower, which i think is a common interest to both our teams.

I hope things are cooling down on BOB, i don't like seeing abrupt and untimely ends like the one Lux suffered- although i can possibly understand the motives behind this. In this regard how is the GoW-ND Luxian land division negotiation going?

With Regards.
Zeit, Chief Diplomat of the Gathering Storm.

I am sending him daily propaganda...and will continue to do so. Nothing too serious, just that we dont get along with ND.

I would also like to point out something that was mentioned on the main boards by Vox....The money they received from Lux had been shared with other teams. We didnt get any, so I assume maybe GS got some.

Perhaps GS & Vox are a lot closer aligned than we think.

Regs

[Donegeal]

I would tend to agree with you on the Vox/GS situation HE.

[GhengisFarbâ„¢]

Originally posted by donegeal
I would not object to anyone being a backup supplier of Iron.

Well...except Lux...

I don't think you have to worry about us getting anything from Lux.......

[Hot_Enamel]

Message from Zeit

Hot_Enamel, consul of the Glory of War.

I got your last 3 messages, and i'm once again sorry for not contacting you earlier. Now that things become urgent for you, i'll reply without delay.

You were concerned with how the Luxian situation worked for us, and what Vox had "shared". The issue is more complex than a simple matter of sharing.
Vox decision for admitting Lux entry into our continent was made without discussing it with us. As you probably realize, we didn't like the idea of Lux taking refuge here, for several reasons. One of them may be the reputation Lux had for stirring up trouble, but you can also imagine the obvious diplomatic liability. In addition to that, Portia's location was troublesome for the GS. Therefor, we decided a compensation is in order- our responsibilty in keeping the Lux-Vox affair secretly, having Lux as a close neighbor, and the possible degradation of our international relations were our investment in this. The compensation was supposed to come from Lux, and in fact it has, but technically it was Vox who has given it too us. I'll save you the details of the entire negotiation process, but i'm pretty sure this information satisfies you, and answers you questions.

As for the WM trade- the GS doesn't see any compelling reason to make that trade right now. I'm sure you can understand our desire to keep this sensitive piece of information to ourselves, for the time being.

The HBR trade: Although i'm sure you are quite eager to sell the tech for us, at what you see as bargain price, this tech has no serious significance for us, as we have War Chariots instead of Horsemen. This tech was already obtained by our team, as part of a tech arrangement, in which it played a minor role.

As for your latest offer for the Legoland conact along with Philosophy: we are discussing this matter at our boards as i right this letter to you. Our team is very interested in the contact, obviously, but not so much in philosophy- we have already put some investment into it, and are not interested in buying it.
I hope a deal involving only the contact on your part in plausible for you, but i'm afraid we cannot offer you anything for Philosophy.

With great respect
Zeit, Chief Diplomat of the Gathering Storm.

[Hot_Enamel]

Message from Zeit,

Hot_Enamel, honored consul of the Glory of War,

I'm sorry about Philosophy- a deal involving this tech will not be possible, as this tech will be in our possesion by the next turn.

As for the contact- i certainly hope a deal can be worked out- we are very much interested in getting the contact. You should take into consideration that pretty soon other teams will have contact with Legoland, and the price will surely drop by then.
So far, we have worked out trades for the benefit of our both, and we would like to keep on doing that. I hope your team will not pass this opportunity.

Best of luck in your trades.

Regards
Zeit, Chief diplomat of the Gathering Storm

I will email them back and let them know that a contact only trade will be fine. But also tell them that the deal will have a no-resell clause which will stop them from selling the contact to any other team. I will tell them that this clause is on every teams deal, so they cannot purchase contact from any other team...thus ensuring the prices will not drop too much

Also, if is true about them getting Philosophy the next turn, then we must lock in any deals outstanding ASAP.

I guess this means Vox

Regs

[Hot_Enamel]

Sent email to Zeit... Poly for sale, with a no resell clause to Vox (We have locked in deals with everyone else.)

[Hot_Enamel]

Message from Zeit

Hot_Enamel, honorable consul of the Glory of War.

I am sorry i was unable to address the issue of tech trade before you went ahead with your turn.
Unfortunately, we've already have an arrangement for acquiring Polytheism, so i'm afraid we'll have to reject this offer.

How are things faring on Bob? has tension finally decreased? I have not heard much from your continent for some, and hope things are alright.

Kind Regards
Zeit, Chief Diplomat of the Gathering Storm.

So I guess they got it from ND or Vox ?
Panzer, I assume we didnt get a no-resell clause from Vox.

Just more proof that we have to start treating Vox & GS as 1 team in an alliance.

[Panzer32]

There is no no-resell clause with the Vox trade. I agree, we should start treating Vox and GS as one team. Many no-trade clauses are in order.

[Hot_Enamel]

Message from Zeit

Greetings from the Gatherig Storm.

I have read the log of GhengisFarb and Sir Ralph's short chat, and picked up what seems like frustration on your side.
I realize it must by difficult for you to see our refusal, while making those deals with someone else, namely Vox. When I add to that the recent CoL incident, i can see where this frustration is coming from. You have made some effort in negotiating techs with us, while sometimes facing repeated refusals
I'm sure that if we are given an adequate opportunity to explain our reasoning, while also sharing our future plans regarding technology research, and hopefuly maintain a cooperative relationship.

I do not pretend to know where the winds blow in the Glory of War, but i'll take GF's words as those who represent the general feeling in your team, with regard to the tech dealings with us, especially when said directly to one of our team's officials.
Therefor, i suggest we organize a meeting between representatives of both teams, in order to straighten things out, as well as make plans for the future. Please tell me what you think of this, what time suits you, so that it could arranged.

Cordially
Zeit, Chief Diplomat of the Gathering Storm.

What was said in the chat GF ?

I obviously cant attend any new chat, but you guys are welcome to come up with some times and contact him.

I have not responded to his last email.

I really want to let him know that we suspect that they have an alliance, and that the Vox trade was done without a resell clause intentionally, just to see how close their relationship is with Vox. And also let them know of our frustration that they never came back to us with a counter-offer.

[GhengisFarbâ„¢]

He asked me when I was going to play my turn in one of our PBEM games and I asked him when GS and their Vox Vassals were going to invade Bob.