They came in boats of iron and smoke. Strange men and stranger, clock-shaped helmets. It was not the first time the Risuners had seen seen worshippers of the English-speaking Holo pantheon, but it was the first time making contact with these peculiar people. Donning dark blue coats and standing in formation, eerily still as if built into the deck of their ships. They met no resistance, and oddly enough no interest, as they marched out with rifles past the pink fur-clad natives. They met neither still as they walked to the nearest settlement, a peculiar one with finer dress with a taller hat speaking up in the crowd.
"Risuners, I come to represent the map making efforts of the VTWBG, a union of nations across the globe." He bowed low, formal and stiff. "I am a Kronie from the northern island of Infinity. I hope to make good relations with your people, and to introduce you to the world stage."
No response, save for disinterested stares. Some of the natives continued to go about their business. Just as the sharply dressed foreigner was about to question if these people spoke Global, one among them spoke.
"And? What do you want, stranger?" The man raised an eyebrow, still carrying a sack of nuts, looking more annyoed at this pause in his work than curious of this display. "Risuners keep to ourselves."
"... And what is it you Risuners do here?" the Kronie asked, rising and straightening up. "Please, educate us on your culture."
"We work our nuts," another native said. "We enjoy our nuts. And when the holy month comes, we feast upon the nuts heartily." He seemed to be a little proud of their way of life, chin raised and chest puffed. "All in the name of our goddesses."
"We wait upon our goddesses," said another, a youth, "We wait upon their singing in their divine voices. Long have we waited and long shall we wait."
"Two spirits as one, the sultry Ayunda and the chipper Risu," the first native continued. " Both demand of us much nuts. We have much work and worship to do, we have no interest in this... map making."
The Kronie leaned forward with every word from the Risuners. Constant nutting, a penchant for their goddess's songs, "sultry"? Were these people descended from the Takeshis, like his own people? And if had to say Infinity was not already interested in this region's position and possible resources, he'd be lying. He gestured to his aide, who had been recording this dialogue, to stop for a moment. "... If you've no interest in the world at large, then I do not represent the world at large. Now, I represent Infinity."
He procured parchment from his pack - was he prepared for this? - and began reading from it. "Infinity holds every nation's rights to their to their borders and to their territory dearly. In the..." he trailed off, eyeing the disinterested crowd before continuing, "mutual interest of all Kronies and all Risuners, Infinity offers to take this land as her protectorate - loyalty for loyalty, we will defend your country to our last breaths in exchange for your compliance."
If any Risuners objected, they kept it to themselves, as quiet as the rest of the remarkably bored crowd.
"Do you... accept?"
...
The clock men sailed back north, the soldiers and sailors cracking open crates of Kronii Milk to celebrate, dancing and drinking for a job well done. But the diplomat did not join them, holed up in his cabin, fiddling with the freshly sealed envelope in his hands. Signed documents that could possibly alter the course of history, change the world.
Or maybe he was thinking too hard. Maybe at most, these papers just meant a lot of money for his superiors and a much easier time for all his nation's ships. He knows the higher-ups back home would be happy to know they can work on that canal now, making trade with the western end of the mainland far easier.
Ah, best not fret over what the future holds, he thought to himself. Time is the goddess', concern, not his. He loosened the buttons of his coat, leaning back in his seat as he opened a vintage bottle of Kronii Boob Sweat. A job well done indeed.
At the very least, maybe this meant they could all get to know some of those native women better.
Infinity is happy to announce that it has acquired the lands of Risuners as a protectorate. Infinity will defend it's borders in exchange for the natives' loyalty. We have been given free range over the land, and it will be developed to the benefit of both Kronies and Risuners alike.
Thank you for your time.
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Weeks have pass since the nation of Infinity declared to the world that they took the land of Risu as a protectorate.
The recently created Minister of Foreign Affairs is in high spirit to have a milestone like that under their belt after so many mistakes in their short record.
'This has to be it,' a kronie says with an inside voice.
'What are you mumbling about kronrade?'
'This has to be it, this has to the turnaround for our Ministry, this is the moment when we show our people; our priestess; our leaders; and our goddess that we can open to the world and flourish as a open nation. This is when we can say that all our false steps are behind. This is a turn for our diplomacy. This--'
'Well, you must have heard about the news coming from the outside world that say we annexed them and, given our advanced technology, they are expecting us to become imperialist.'
'They believe that because they don't know us. And they don't because of us, our isolationism. But that will change.'
'Then again, of course you think that, you were the one to make the deal!'
'And yet, I can't keep calm for some reason. Something was amiss that day I tell you, all the sequence plays in my mind and it feels like I just barged in there and came back with a meaningless paper. They didn't care, no even one of them, totally unmoved by a proposition of alliance!'.
'Be calm my good man, your balls must be shirking and fading away inside your body with all this worrying that the prostitutes we hired for latter won't find them to fondle and step on them. And I know you my little fellow clockman, that is something you wouldn't like to miss'.
The worrying man forces half smile, but his mind and heart don't legitimize it. His worries won't leave him.
Days pass, then sudden news break in the Ministry.
A letter. No, not even a letter as there is no envelope, a simple piece of rustic paper, so much that the texture of the material it was made of can be feel in the fingers. Seems unimportant, but alas looks can be deceptive and this is the case. A junior officer takes it from a soldier with dead in his eyes, his hand trembling. He looks at it confused, then reads it. His heart skips a beat, he knows what will unfold when this news reach the top heads of the nation. No one in the land can know, if so the several anti-world rebels will savor every word in this piece of primitive paper and that will throw more fuel into the fire of their cause. Nonetheless, after careful adjusting his ribbon, he proceed to break the news on the ministry. He knows, even if he is not to blame, that his, and every kronie who knows the existence of this cursing item, faith is to be no more.
...
'Brothers of Infinity, we sons of the goddess, as you know, took into our fold a nearby nation as a protectorate. You learned about Risu, the land of the Risuners. Some of you, with justified wits, argued about us not only approaching and becoming partners with foreigners, but also with calling a external land as a protectorate. We told you at that moment that a kronie loves first the goddess and then the land she gave us, and that we never will allow to be separated from either; and that this primitive about us we apply it to the other inhabitants of other lands. Sovereign is, as always has been, a value incrusted in the heart of kronies.
'Stop the chatter you you government pig, your lies w--'
'Silence. Order must be retain. So... as I was saying. Sovereign. That is an inalienable value of our people, so we have revisited our posture about the land of Risuners. They are, and always should be, the rulers of their land. As of today, we consider our agreement to them void, and we tell them that they are independent. Our nation should be united, but not if our values are put into question. They have agreed that this is for the better. We are proud to have taken this decision. So now, people of Infinity, you have friends in Risu. The Risuners, as... simple... as they may be, are equals to us--'
'Lies... LIES, LI--'.
'...they are equal to us. So embrace them as brothers and nothing more! (...) Now, lets recite our hymn to commemorate this historic moment'.
'In an unforgiving land strive the sons of Kronii,
their means forever interwoven in cycles
of heavenly and cursed use.
But Eternity is not but a mere moment
under the watch of The Sapphire Eyes.
Our faith won't be shaken
Infinity is happy to announce the independence of /risu/, as per their new representative's request. We hope act brings our nation closer together as friends, partners, and even allies.
Thank you for your time.