Geopolitics Roleplay

Into the city harbor slices a large yacht, flags flying the illustrious banner of the House of Rouenne. Though the ship and its crew seem somewhat the worse for wear for their long intercontinental journey, an older man standing at the prow seems to hold a vigor beyond his years. It is the private ship of Ranulf III de Rouenne, Grand Duke of Rhenania, and no true cosmopolitan could mistake the visage of the Duke himself onboard. As the sailors scurry like rats around the deck and the proper gestures are made for docking, the Duke keeps his eyes fixed firmly on the city ahead.

A short time later, when the ship has been adequately secured, he crosses the gangplank and heads for the Golden Square, a translator and three armed soldiers of the Ducal Guard in tow. Some distance behind, a number of porters delicately carry what appear to be several large, oblong rectangular boxes.

To whom it may concern within the revolutionary government of Iridar,

It is undoubtedly your understanding that a number of mutineers who rebelled against their superiors while en route to the diplomatic meeting in Rouenne have, in the interest of averting conflict, been returned to your nation largely unharmed. Regardless of this fact, however, it remains that they committed felonious criminal acts against the government of Rhenania and its people, including but not limited to the murder of six government-employed soldiers, attempting to flee arrest, destruction of a Rhenanian military vessel, and unlawful brandishing of lethal weapons within city limits.

We do not expect you to punish these mutineers as they deserve for their mutinies, but it is the request of the Rhenanian government that you subject them to trial for the other crimes which they have committed while on Rhenanian soil. Additionally, it is our expectation that payment equivalent to .5MK for each sailor killed be paid in reparation to the crown, that it might be disbursed to their grieving families.

If you fail to cooperate with these fully-reasonable requests, we may be forced to take matters into our own hands.

Signed,
The Director of the Rhenanian Department of Justice

The Iridar sailors lower themselves down into the surf and are escorted onto the beach. Their injured are taken up and driven to the nearest hospital for medical attention. When the rest are halfway up the beach, there is a moment where it seems as if the Rhenanian soldiers are about to renege on their promises and arrest the sailors . . .

But the moment passes, and they are conveyed into a number of private cars, which will take them escorted first to the nearest train station and from there south to the Rhene river, by which they should be able to be conveyed south to Iridar.

---

At the palace, things have been thrown into quite the disarray. Those who have already arrived at the building, as well as any who appear from that point forth, are instead ushered into the throne room to wait on further information. In the dining room, the arrested diplomat and corpse are both taken away, and everything bloodstained removed for cleaning. After about an hour of anxious small talk, the Duke emerges into the throne room to address the gathered diplomats.

"I must offer my humblest apologies," the Duke begins, "both for what has already happened and for what must now. For those of you who are unaware, there was an incident in the dining room in which the Erkettuni envoys attempted to murder our friend from the Socialist Republic of Ryudinia and some of our brave guards. Luckily none were harmed, and the situation is under control, but I fear that we cannot in good faith go through the motions of a dinner now that blood has been spilled at what was meant to be a time of cooperation. It is for this reason, and that of another incident in that harbor, that I must call off our dining.

"It will be several hours before the royal docks are in condition to handle the ingress and egress of ships again. In the meantime, you are welcomed to visit the city and see its sights, or stay at one of the hotels within -- free of charge, of course. I apologize once more for this result to the long voyage."

With that, the organized diplomats and envoys are dismissed from the palace.

The diplomat, upon his lowering into the water, is freed from his gag and escorted off the beach and into a waiting vehicle, which speeds towards the palace. When it has exited the beach, men emerge from the patrol boats that have muscled the Iridar ship onto ground, rifles still in hand. In a motion that seems to have been planned in advance, the ships drift to close the remaining distance. When the two hulls are scraping against one another, about a dozen of the soldiers on-board vault onto the Iridar ship. Their rifles are lowered at the ground. "Now we will search your ship, to make sure you have no further weapons or prisoners."

"Your ship is damaged and grounded -- you aren't in the position to negotiate. Considering that you fired on Rhenanian soldiers, this is very generous."

When the aide pulls out a gun, he perhaps does not consider that he is in the same room as a dozen armed soldiers, some along the walls and some literally right next to him, all on high alert and with their rifles already drawn. When the pistol exits its holster, the man is shot dead.

The two ships collide with a hideous crunch of metal. The Iridar boat, being larger, is not fully stopped, but certainly loses a great deal of speed, while the Rhenanian patrol boat is sent spinning, heavily damaged.

When fire is opened by the Iridar ship, it is immediately returned by the guardsmen on the mainland -- who target anyone abovedeck. The several patrol boats who have at this point reached the outside of the harbor open fire as well, aiming to cripple its gun.