Request for Extradition (960 AD)

[Capsavian Hopewell]

Greetings, King Elkad of the Avalonians.

For years, our people have enjoyed an amiable relationship of open trade, even though we are so many leagues apart.

So it is that I was disappointed to learn that the good people of Avalon have been harboring Yourcenean fugitives.  I am unsure what honeyed words these alleged war criminals may have spun to earn your trust, but I can assure you they are a vile bunch, unworthy of shelter from justice.

I therefore call upon you with a Request for Extradition [close borders with daVinci Y].  For the good of international peace and justice, cast these fugitives from your islands and send them adrift so they may stand trial for their crimes on Dernish soil.

I have sent the vessels DNF Trekker and DNF Indefatigable to retrieve the Yourcenean fugitives.

Thank you for your prompt compliance with this request.  I eagerly await your positive word.   

Vali Capsavian Hopewell

[Elkad]

Vali Capsavian Hopwell.

You wish New Avalon to banish poor lost sailors from their refuge?  There are no political figures onboard, no great war leaders, no marines, just men fleeing for their lives, their homes destroyed.  Yes, New Avalon offered them sanctuary.  The Yourcenean people were good neighbors to New Avalon before we fled to the isles, yet we would do the same for any in their plight.

War crimes?  By simple oarsmen, probably rounded up by a pressgang, and then trapped in the bowels of a crowded ship knowing only hard labor?  We find these allegations unlikely.  Search for Agamemnoff and vengeance elsewhere.  You have my assurances he is not currently in any Avalonian port.  These poor souls are under the protection of Avalon.

By the hand of the King
Elkad

[Capsavian Hopewell]

King Elkad,

This is not the response we were hoping for, but not entirely unexpected for a nation which has become a haven for vagabonds and cutthroats.  The Avalonian islands would seem to be a place for shady men to hide these days.

If these humble conscripts are innocent as they have convinced you, they should have nothing to fear from a fair trial.  I am convinced that they are anything but innocent.  Until they stand trial, all I have are my suspicions and gathered evidence.  I would certainly like to hear their side of the story, even as they act that part of guilty men who flee and hide from the law.

The Dernish navy will be patrolling the Avalonian islands, ready to sweep up any refugees which may attempt to flee.  If you will not assist in their extradition to justice, the Avalonian islands will be their temporary prison.

Vali Hopewell

[Viktor Ahriman]

King Elkad,

As neighbors, we urge you to immediatly let Aidern capture/destroy the Yourcenean vessels.  We do not want wanted fugitives in our back yard.  Please comply with Aiderns request.

Nuahs
Foreign Advisor

[da_Vinci]

Leonardo responds from his Hermitage ...

The news of the coercion efforts against Avalon have reached us ... and begs for a comment.

My dear Vali,

The Yourcenaeans indeed have nothing to fear from a FAIR trial ... that is why they fear a trial at YOUR hands!  We recall the definition of fairness that you applied at Dunharrow.


My dear Nuahs,

I must chuckle at your entreaty to Avalon as a "neighbor".  Just how neighborly was that invasion of yours, do you suppose?  Avalon had to endure your troops in their back yard ... certainly you can tolerate a few harmless Yourcenaean illegal immigrants in yours ... they are there already!

Leonardo, hermit and crab

[Viktor Ahriman]

Well since you keep bringing it up, we do not deny that we invaded Avalon.  It was publically announced in our embassy.  We do not deny that we cause Avalon to pick up and move.  Why do you continue to press this issue.  I state again, the city of Eagleton was under constant pressure from Avalon culture.  With this our lands around Eagleton ended up being swallowed by Avalon culture.  The city of Eagleton started to starve.  With a duty to the people of Agarthia, we could no longer tolerate it.  We made that decision to remove the threat.  Now remember, we had the will and ability to destroy the Avalonians.  Unlike your kindness to the Matriarch, we allowed a way for the Avalonians to survive.  We allowed them to migrate to the islands.  Under this we forged a treaty that Agarthia and Babylon will never bother the Avalonians again.  We have stayed true to that treaty.  Agarthia considers Avalon a friend now and hope that the wars of the past can be forgiven.  We never had any querrel with the Avalonians, it was just unfortante that at that time Avalon had more culture that we did.  Again, as a leader of a nation, we cannot let a city starve.  It was a very important city to us and still is.   Now go back into your caves

Nuahs
Foreign Advisor

[da_Vinci]

The question, my dear Nuahs, is whether Avalon considers you a friend ... not the other way around.

And my cave is quite cozy, thank you ... I am making fine progress on my Codex Trucester.

Leonardo

[Capsavian Hopewell]

Leonardo,

I am unsure if this note will find you or not.  Since you do not advertise the location of your present abode, I must trust this message in the hands of your Avalonian sponsors.

A fair trial, indeed;  what would be the point otherwise, good sir?  With the international community watching closely, you can be sure that the trial will be fair and equitable.

I must inform you, however, that you have caused me some pain in your implication that Aidern would be anything but hospitable, even to our adversaries.  Do you not recall how pleasant your conditions were while you stayed with us as my guest at Dernport?  Your seaside villa was provided a steady supply of refreshments and servants.  Do you feel we would be less generous in our judicial accommodations?

Very well;  if you feel that a trial in Aidern could not be unbiased, then I ask you to provide me with a list of alternative venues.  If any are agreeable to my Minister of Peace, I will see to it that your trial be held in a more neutral location.  We may even find an indifferent nation to serve as judge.

Vali Hopewell

[da_Vinci]

My dear Vali,

Your hospitality is not in question, just you neutrality on this judicial issue.

I am sure that the inevitable last meal of the defendants would be a fine feast indeed!

Perhaps if the trial also had your Highness on trial for the war crimes in Dunharrow, things would be more balanced?

In any event, we have heard that Wei has a well developed judiciary ...

Leonardo

[Capsavian Hopewell]

Leonardo,

War and the casualties caused by such overt military action cannot be compared to the outright massacre of unarmed, unescorted civilians within their own nation's borders.  To liken the slaughter of Dernish workers by the hand of Hismes with the Battle of Dunharrow is both insulting and misleading.

As to the Wei people, Dernish explorers have only just met this nation you speak of, half a world away.  How is it that you know of their existence, Leonardo?  To our knowledge, Aidern is the only nation on our continent to have met this far-flung civilization.  If I did not know any better, I would think you perhaps possess the telepathic conscience of the Dokko people which the Founders have pontificated about. 

It seems you refuse to accept the reasonable offer I have made you and your fellow cohorts in an open, fair trial.  You leave me no choice but to try you in absentia.  You may remain on the islands of Avalon as your prison until such time a verdict is passed down.

Vali Hopewell

[da_Vinci]

My dear Vali,

The comparison to Dunharrow is to the razing, not the battle.  Hismes saw the unburied dead decaying in the streets.  It most probably was his distress over that sight that made him susceptible to his demonic possession by the Ghost of Theodred.

Although you may be one of the first nations from this continent to find the other, rest assured that the other continent has found yours, and thus tales and rumors are spread by traders, bards, pilgrims, and pirates.  A wise man of the world knows how to glean information from these sources.

Leonardo

[r_rolo1]

Why does Leonardo awnsers in the name of Agamemnoff ? Leonardo never holded a fixed governemental position in Yourcenae and we didn't received news of the the death of any of the rulers of Yourcenae.....

And this discussion is nothing more that a fait divert: We all know that the Vali navy has ships that can pursue Yourcenae ships inside New Avalon without asking permission to their ruler.....

P.S If needed the court that will judge the war crimes of the so-called leader of the Imperium can arbitrate this issue while it waits for the capture of that particular war criminal. Babylon is famous for it's judicial system: In fact Babylon invented the very concept of Code of laws before anyone else

Ricardo

Ruler of the land between the river, protector of the Yourcenaeans and current holder the city of the Golden Roads

[da_Vinci]

You will see that since the fall of Yourcenae, I have not used the title of emissary of Agamemnoff.  While that was a title I once held, I was released from the King's service, as were all the Ministers, when there was no longer a nation for us to administer.

So I do not speak for the King, but I feel that the point of view of the Yourcenaeans, as best I can surmise it, needs be expressed as the one-sided propaganda from Aidern and Agarthia spews forth.  I am not an official representative of Yourcenae, just one man stating his opinion.

And so, as one man stating his opinion, perhaps given the advanced state of Babylonian jurisprudence, the trial in absentia that the Vali is so keen on could be held in Babylon?

Leonardo, Lord of the Caves

[Viktor Ahriman]

Well once the Vali destroys the last of your countrys units, we will hear silence as you will be eliminated from this world.  And thus we will finally hear no more about demonic possessions.

Nuahs
Foreign Advisor