The Foreign Affairs Thread

[Wittlich]

Same here...No.

[Beta]

OK - that's a majority. I'll respond this evening. However, I am going to use the excuse that we don't think it is in the spirit of the game. This will cover our tracks a bit.

[Beta]

Interesting stuff this one - language is a bit difficult - silly Spaniards. But he does mention that the other civs have nmet each other. Hmmm.. Also - please note that he has not provided any information really, as to where the are. Here it is:

Explorers
Ah! My good friend BetaHound, there is importatn thing to discuss!
Our warriors have legt to try a contact with your civilization, but they ask If your city is in sea sight, forth then we could follow the shores of our land way north.
Also we must make this contact as early as possible, as many other civs seem to have already made contact with each other!
Please answer quickly,
your friend,
Nuclearis Winterius the II
__________________
Señor Nuclearis Winterius the II,
Squid Lord, Wine Marquis, and Diplomat with the Voxians...

This is from Roleplay of course. Any thoughts on response?

[Beta]

Here was my no to GoW and Panzer32, sent this evening:

Respectfully Decline
Dear Panzer32

I regret to inform you that Vox Controli declines your offer of a trade of mini-maps. It is not that we don't look forward to meeting your fine nation, despite your somewhat warlike demeanour. No, the reason for our declining is that we feel a trade of mini-maps outside of the game is not in keeping with the intended spirit of the game. When we do meet in the game, we will be more than willing to entertain at that time a possible trade of world or territory maps.

Again - my regrets that we could not do business along the lines you requested. I trust this will not jeopardize future communications between our civilizations, and look forward to speaking with you in the near future.

Regards.

BetaHound, VFA, Vox Controli

[Beta]

See the post above regarding Roleplay. They are getting restless. This was sent to jon who forwarded it onto me. What is interesting is that it was about a day after the other one. Which means they must really want to meet us. I think it is probably a good idea - they are probably wandering up the coast towards us. So I will write something back and say 'sure'. Will do that around noon today - so if anybody has any objections, let me know soon. Here's RP's (Spain's) note to jon.

Togas wrote on 18-12-2002 22:51:
Jon,

I've asked my ambassador, Nuclear Winter, to send your ambassador some urgent messages, however he informs me that he has yet to hear back from betahound.

This is an important matter to me. I've heard responsed from most of the other civs my ambassadors have sent messages to, but not from your civ.

Good relations with your civ is very important to me. I feel that we have more in common than most. I have heard from your book of Controllians and I rather enjoyed your creativity and style. You guys have a very interesting theme and feel to you that meshes well with our quasi-historical style.

Anyhow. Look into it. A part of me figures your people are probably just talking over our offers before you write back. But just to ease my worries and my poor ambassador who's trying his best to prove to me that he's not slacking, let us know. And see if you can't get beta to write back a bit.

Thanks. I look forward to hearing from you.

--Togas
[/quote]

[Beta]

Went and checked the PM log. Less than a day. Nuclear Winter's note came in at 20:00 last night (18th). So they are indeed restless - I suspect they may be one of the civs boxed in further down the continent.

Or being Roleplayers, maybe they like my letters and they want to be friends.

At any rate, and for your info, this is what went in the original note a number of days ago to Nuclear Winter regarding our location.

"You have asked for our understanding of where we are in the world, in order to facilitate contact as soon as possible. We expect similar information in return.

The Civilization of Vox Controli sits in the Northern Hemisphere, and from our initial understanding of the world, to the East. (As you appreciate my dear sir, perspective is everything.) There is much ocean to be seen, however we reside on a landmass of, as yet, undetermined proportions. It is a fine land, with much promise."


Again - note that we have not received any indication of their location in return.

[Beta]

Ok - you folks sick of hearing from me yet??

Another decision to make. Picahulu of Neu Demogyptica has indicated where they are (well - sort of), and asks if we want to share where we are. I think it may be a good idea - similar to what we did with Spain. Here is his note. What do you think?

Our location in the world
Dear Betahound,

i am pleased to tell you that the people of Neu Demogyptica like your idea of sharing the information of where we are in the world. The only condition we demand is that you keep this information absolutely secret to any other civs. We'd promise to keep your position secret too, presupposed you demand it.

Nevertheless if you know any other civs whom you didn't promise to keep their location confidential, we may trade such information too.

We are in the center of the world! After telling us your position, we even could organize a meeting somewhere. Does your civilization posesses scouts? We do, that's why we could probably meet at a reasonable time.

Sincerly yours,
Picahulu, Chief Diplomat of Neu Demogyptica

[Beta]

Here is the response to Nuclear Winter of Spain - for your reading pleasure. Will be interesting to see if we get any locational info from them.

Dear Nuclearis Winterius

Thank-you for your letter of the 18th. We appreciate the need to meet as soon as possible. Business awaits us. Alas, we must meet first. And to this end, we, the people of the One Voice responded positively to your request to identify - as best we could - where we reside in this wonderful, albeit shrouded world. I'm sure you will recall my 'directions' from my first correspondence.

So yes, we are eager to meet. We would also appreciate some information in return, which I understood to be our original deal. In other words - We tell you where we are. You tell us where you are. .....as best as can be identified from our current understanding of our environment. We promise to keep the information confidential.

The people of Vox Controli feel that we have much in common with the people of Spain. A love of life, a love of the land, a love of the sea, the squid thing - well, we still have much in common.

In conclusion - it would be good for our explorers to meet. The brave warriors of the One Voice have the honor in Voxian society of opening up the land. The first warrior you will meet - his name is Wandering Willy - a hero to the people of the One Voice. In answer to your questions - Willy can see the sea. (His sister Sally sells sea-shells by the sea-shore.) He is heading south. He has been on a long journey - so if you meet him - a mug of beer would be greatly welcome. Do not be put off by his tough appearance - Willy is a fine and sensitive human being - as is typical of our people.

Given that the topic of Willy and Warriors has come up, I could not resist the temptation to leaf through the one book, and share with you one of my favorite sectons. It is from the Book of Warriors.

Warriors I, Verses 1 to 6.

1. And so it came to be that the people of Vox Controli founded the capitol, "The Voice".

2. And the Voice begat warriors.

3. The Voice begat Willy. The Voice begat Tim. The voice begat Thadeus.

4. And Willy went out of The Voice, and into the wilderness.

5. And the shadows receded, and light shone upon the land.

6. And the people of Vox Controli cried out in unison and joy.

Thus ends the reading.

Very uplifting, isn't it. I get a tingle everytime I read it. Makes me almost wish that I had taken up a different line of work. Sigh - the life of a bureaucrat - well you understand.

My dear sir, I must make my leave. I wish you well. I look forward to hearing from you regarding location. And may the One Voice grant good fortune to explorers of both our great nations as they strive to meet in an uncertain world.

Yours truly,
BetaHound, VFA, Vox Controli

[Beta]

This an excerpt from my response to Picahulu of Neu Demogyptica. The rest was similar to my response to Spain. Will be interesting to see what we get.

Note that I shared a bit of additional info - that we had said 'no' to GoW.

"We are on a landmass in the northern hemisphere, and to the east. I suspect the world is of archipelago type geography. There is much ocean around us. I suspect we are at the far, eastern end of the archipelago.

We expect you to keep this information confidential. Glory of War asked the same of us - and we declined. We are 'picky' about our friends, and would like to include the fine people of Neu Demogyptica among them.

So yes, we are eager to meet. We would also appreciate if you can be any more precise as to your location. By the center of the world - do you mean roughly on the equator, and with equal amount of 'map' to your east and west? What does your landmass look like? Do you too see much ocean around you? I am wondering if you have both a northern coast and a southern coast?

In return, we promise to keep the information confidential.

The people of Vox Controli feel that we have much in common with the people of Neu Demogyptica. A love of the land, a love of the sea, and a love of an orderly and prosperous life."

[Beta]

There are a few civs we have not heard from:

-Legoland
-Gathering Storm
-Lux Invicta

I will concoct some reason to write them again and thus stay in touch.

[Eli]

3. The Voice begat Willy. The Voice begat Tim. The voice begat Thadeus.

Now they know we have three warriors.

[Beta]

Yup. But they don't know that we have four.

I expect that most civs by now will have at least that many.

[Jon Miller]

maybe less info in the future

Jon Miller

[Beta]

Roger that, boss.

[Beta]

Picahulu's response (Neu Demogyptica):

Re: Our location in the world
Dear Betahound of Vox Controli,

thank you very much for quoting these exciting lines from the Book of Warriors. It is always a delight to learn more about your great civilizations history!

Let me also express my gratitude in the name of the people of Neu Demogyptica for giving us your trust and describing your exact location in the world. We think that your information will be a great help to both of our civilizations finding each other.

Of course we want to be more precise regarding our location. We are nearly on the equator, only a little bit north of it. There seems to be a vast jungle in the south and south-east of our capital, which is sourrounded by huge mountains. To the west we see some water but we don't know if its a great ocean or only some sort of lake. In the north and east we've found plains and grassland.
Regarding our degree of longitude, we are close to the center, a little east of it but the distance is very short.

We have a scout called Thor who is exploring the north. I will talk to him and ask him to travel to the east in order to reach the borders of Persia. And of course i will warn him of the outward appearance of Willy so we can be sure he won't be frightened :-)

Sincerly yours,
Picahulu, Chief Diplomat of Neu Demogyptica