Kumosenkan - Orthorian Exiles Diplomacy

[omega]

For many of the exiles which followed the rightful Emperor of the Vaktan throne, it was the dawn of a new day. But for his inner circle, it was a scandal waiting to happen.

"How did this even happen? The Emperor is as innocent as all of us in the room!" One of the nobles exclaimed, earning grumbles of approval from the others in Vladimir Selinkov III's inner circle. One of the nobles, however, remained silent.

Prince Waldeck Pyrmont I was an oddity, even among the nobility. His family came from abroad, only succeeding due to how valuable they became in 1882 with some revisions to the foreign and domestic policies. Most of the noble houses did not carry much respects for the upstarts, yet the Selinkov royal dynasty found a liking to the Pyrmonts, especially Vladimir III and his closest allies. Waldeck, in particular, almost gained the hand of the rightful Emperor's sister, only being stopped by the beginning of the 1928 Revolution. Being one of the last nobles to flee into exile, Waldeck gained further respect from both the Emperor and the rest of the nobility, proven by the numerous scarring he had received to the face, with his left eye damaged in service to the Throne.

"Fucking spiders..." Waldeck muttered, rising from his chair as he finished up his cigar. "It was obviously someone framing him. Don't know why, don't know who, and I don't care too much to find out. Make sure this does not get out to our supporters, or I'll personally have you deported to that freak Yazov back home. Understood?" He commanded, staring the rest of the nobles down. Met with compliant silence, he threw his cigarette to the ground, extinguishing it with the sole of his boot, before marching out.

Sometime later, a request would eventually be filed for the release of Emperor Vladimir Selinkov III in the Kumosenkan capitol, with Waldeck patiently waiting for any form of government reply on the matter.

[Sophie]

They would receive a response almost a week later. It informed them of a meeting with a Kumosenkan judge scheduled in two weeks to discuss the internment of Vladimir Selinkov III. The meeting was to take place in the Kumosenkan hall of justice in Fuyonouso. They were assigned honorable judge Naomi Tachibana.

[omega]

As soon as the reply came, the nobles became divided. One side discussed the possibility of the Emperor not being released, pre-emptively attempting to find some form of leverage to guarantee his release, while the other argued in favour of bold action - any means necessary to bring their Emperor the fresh air of freedom. Igor Kharms, (former) prince of Oflya suggested going as far as to stage a breakout, sending the noble council into yet another shouting match. Continuing well into the night, it took the combined willpower of Kharms and Waldeck to calm the inner circle down.

Ultimately, a decision was made. No rash actions would be undertaken until they were certain it would be their only option. As such, three other nobles, Waldeck I included, would attend the meeting with the judge. One witness, one advisor, and Waldeck to do the talking. With everything decided, all that was left to do was await the day of the meeting.

[Sophie]

The day of the meeting quickly arrived. The Orthorian Exiles were waiting in a common area within the Kumosenkan Hall of Justice. The receptionist had given them a slip of paper indicating the room and time of their meeting. They had arrived on time but the paper said their meeting wasn't for another two hours. As the time arrived the Exiles were welcomed into the Judge's office. The Judge was rather small for a Kumo with a height of only 5'11". Her exoskeleton was that of a Sapphire Ornamental Spider. Her hair matched the color of her body, a long silky flowing Saphire. She was wearing a very well fitted black suit with a crimson tie.

Judge Tachibana bowed very slightly and gestured for them to sit in the chairs before her. "Good evening gentlemen. It is to my understanding you are looking to," She hung the 'to' while she flipped through a few documents, "expedite the release of a one Vladimir Selinkov III. According to my files here, he has been found guilty of the following crimes: Public Intoxication, False Opinions of the Government, False Accusations of the Government, Spreading Misinformation About the Kumo Race, Negative Opinions of the Empress, and Failure to Pay Criminal Fines. He is serving a sentence of twenty years of which he has served three. He still owes a total of ¥1,256,167 in fines. I assume you are here to pay off the rest of his debts yes?"

[omega]

Bowing back to the judge, the three nobles sat themselves before Tachibana, listening intently to what she had to say. And to say they were shocked to hear these allegations would be quite an understatement. In truth, they expected something lighter, but alas, it would appear someone overbloated the severity of the alleged crimes. However, should these be proven true, it could spell disaster inside the inner circle. Squinting his eyes slightly, Waldeck opened his mouth to speak his mind.

"Crimes that severe would warrant some kind of note to the government-in-exile, wouldn't they?" He asked, stopping his hand in the last second before it could move to grab a cigarette from his breast pocket. "Especially if the Head of State is being accused." He paused, letting the Advisor of the delegation discuss something for a few seconds with Waldeck in Vaktan Traditional, before he resumed in a language the judge could understand. "We only have two more things to discuss. Firstly, would it pain you to at least tell us who accused him? And secondly." He cleared his throat. "How well would a gold bar be exchanged into Yairen?"

[Sophie]

She began flipping through the notation on her desk before arriving at her desired page. "It would seem that ever since Selinkov arrived in Kumosenkan he was under observation by Law Enforcement. On several different occasions, Selinkov was caught on tape committing the aforementioned crimes. He was finally arrested when he was on a, and I quote, 'drunken tirade outside of the Capitol building, cursing the Empress, and was placed in handcuffs once he began urinating on the fence surrounding the building.' Gold could... technically be used to pay for his fines directly. Though it is a bit unorthodox and it wouldn't count against his fines until the gold could be properly valued by the Treasury."

[omega]

The colour drained from the nobles' faces upon hearing the reason for his ultimate arrest, the two showing telltale signs of worry. But unlike the two, Waldeck remained unphased, and let out an audible chuckle. "I'm getting too tired of this." He spoke, finally giving into his urge, and procuring a cigarette from his breast pocket, and before long, he ignited a match, lighting it shortly thereafter. "And how long would the Treasury take to get a final value for the gold bar? While we do have all the time in the world, I don't expect our supporters being quite understanding of our Emperor being in prison."

[Sophie]

"First of all", The Judge frowned, snatching the cigarette out of Waldeck's hand. She extinguished it on her desk before tossing it in the bin. "Smoking is illegal within the Hall of Justice. Second, it would depend on the weight of the bar and its purity. Do you have it with you? I could attempt to give you an estimate."

[omega]

He grumbled, quickly putting the matchbox back into his pocket. Composing himself again, he looked at her with unamused eyes. "I doubt any of us would still be alive if we dragged gold bars around like they were ten Złatnik bills. We can send it to where ever you need it first thing tomorrow."

[Sophie]

The judge frowned. "Today is the only time that I have for you. If you were to send twenty-five kilograms of gold to the treasury department then the debt Selinkov owes would be considered paid and his sentence would be commuted by five years putting his remaining sentence at twelve years."

[omega]

"Bullshit." Waldeck snapped quietly, fiddling with the match box inside of his pocket as he eyed the judge intently. "Besides sending almost all our gold reserves we took from our treasury, there has to be something else we can do to get him out. Preferably in the next two weeks." The two others talked, dragging Waldeck into the conversation soon after. Speaking in hushed tones, they gauged the potential possibilities and everything in-between. Eventually though, at the behest of the witness, Waldeck returned his gaze and spoke. "Perhaps we can offer you some help. We don't know much, and I personally didn't care to know, but there's one black spot of knowledge that eludes us. Your little puppet state in Touli. Maybe we can strike a deal - release our dear Emperor, and I'll personally aid the government there for however long is necessary."