Sworn neutrality my ass. We made it clear from day one that D'Hara would not tolerate a foreign polity in Paisly.
Well, you then declared neutrality, so do I believe the thing you said first, or said last? You can never know which thing to believe from the Veinsormoot when they contradict their previous stances. You put a lot of emphasis on the "We absolutely will be neutral, we swear it" so I was inclined to you know, take you on your word.
For the record, you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about regarding D'haran attitudes because you saw it from Aurvandil's side which obviously was not involved in the internal affairs of D'hara and Terran, Noblesse.
Rynn and D'hara completely went neutral for a significant portion of time, giving absolutely no aid to allied forces, which caused great strife between Alura and Rynn, and nearly ruined their relationship. Pissed us the hell off, it did. I was ready to write off D'hara at one point. Rynn was very hopeful and dedicated to stay neutral and I very pointedly remember the inconsistencies in Mendicant's actions and words being the cause of strife. Not to mention the supposed Lurian supporters who were working for Mendicant behind the scenes, though that's all speculation and pointless. Hell, Alura has contacts in every nation on the continent, that doesn't mean their entire nations are allies or even friendly with Alura (or Terran for that matter), it just means she has a lot of friends. So, on that token, the Lurian thing is just hearsay and can't really be used against Mendy, sadly. Anyway, the point is, Rynn and D'hara in fact WERE neutral, and as much as I tried I couldn't convince them to do otherwise. If it weren't for certain events and things said by Mendicant, the neutrality would have continued. The Provincia thing though was the final !@#$-you. Even with the neutrality ended, D'hara was still not going to re-join the war until that little insult came to be. It completely changed our plans and really brought the entire coalition together, so thank you for giving Rynn an excuse to marry Alura sooner than planned and bring the armies of D'hara to Paisly.
Also, for the record, Barca is horrible at communicating. Despite being a Marshal and then Ruler, I heard absolutely nothing about peace talks, and when it was finally mentioned (and far too late, might I add!), absolutely no details were given. Peace talks should ALWAYS be occurring - that doesn't mean anything's actually happening. Unless we heard from Barca that there was progress in the peace talks and they asked us to back off, it might as well be another empty Gaza Strip trick. Quite the contrary, Barca ran to us and asked us to get involved so we did, and then bailed on us. I literally sent messages to multiple Barcan nobles who, as Aurvandil was closing in, DECIDED TO LEAVE THE REGION. Who the hell LEAVES the gathered armies of the allied forces defending YOUR territory right as the enemy arrives? And not one of them ever bothered to reply to my messages. I have to admit, that was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in over a decade playing strategy-war games online. Then, Barca's General went MIA, no one would reply to our damn messages, and we figured Barca had collapsed from within. Next thing I know there's Zuma around and they're coming back to life, and I just scratched my head and wondered what the hell happened in the time they were silent. Barca's leader is actually sort of communicating in the Moot now, once in a blue moon, which is literally the most I've ever heard from Barca in the time I've been playing. I really want to trust and believe in Barca but they've not shown me much reason to. Hell, I've more faith in Asylon's ability to remain (in-)consistent right now than I do in Barca, and that's just sad.
A lot of things could have gone differently... A lot of things.
Yes I've been quite candid about how my opinions are just that, opinions built upon my perception from here in Aurvandil and I've even said on this thread that my perception is likely to be incorrect but I won't know that unless I'm corrected. But anyway.
And it's hard for Mendicant to be consistent in his strategy and palns when he's getting screwed over and told different things by different people all the time with most of them trying to be politicians and playing him, with a constantly changing diplomatic and war front.
As for Barca, understandable they were hideous to try and talk to in diplomacy, which is what fuelled the invasion, perhaps they'd be more inclined to pay attention to Mendicant and put the effort in when they were given the impetus, a la war. Interesting that Barca asked you to get involved when Suffete Brackern was trumpeting to Mendicant how he agreed this was a duel and one easily resolvable between our two realms with no need for foreign interference whatsoever, and when you did involved made it quite clearly sound as if you forced it on Barca and he had no choice because Barca is just a duchy of the Moot (My way of describing it).
I thought you said they were "neutral".
Make up your mind. D'Hara didn't attack you. It merely reclaimed its city from Quadvrium#2. Florence could have tried to appease us, rather she pissed us off every chance she got. And her realm paid the price for it.
They are neutral, but they are under the diplomatic paradigm of "If Aurvandil attacks Terran, they will support Terran, if Terran attacks Aurvandil through their lands, they will support Aurvandil, if they are attacked by the Moot, then Aurvandil will defend them". Closest thing to a balanced neutrality when Terran could otherwise just walk in and attack them on the basis of "Well Aurvandil will be attacking through here anyway", so we made it perfectly clear that we won't be using the Provincia as an ally, or route to attack, ever.
And you call them Quadrivium 2 ... as if that's a thing or means something.
Rynn consulted Machiavel much on the issue, because Machiavel was involved in a lot of talks with a lot of people at the time.
Both said the same thing to Mendicant: We'll stay neutral in the Western war, but we expect to get Paisly back, and would not tolerate a realm there.
But Mendicant decided to promise us Paisly in exchange for peace, and then changed his mind and created a puppet there instead, because suddenly, D'Hara wasn't worthy of trust.
Just like he had suddenly decided that Barca wasn't a legitimate realm anymore. Or that suddenly the treaty of Evanburg didn't mean anything anymore. Or that suddenly, D'Hara's neutrality towards Aurvandil isn't neutrality anymore.
But clearly, the Chevaliers are the shining examples of honour. You can totally trust them to respect anything they say.
D'Hara offered very simple terms: give Paisly back, and it won't be used in the war. Mendicant first agreed, then changed his mind. D'Hara has yet to break their neutrality towards Aurvandil, they just did what they always said they would, for reasons purely of their own (claims to the region and Florence's aggravating attitude).
Yes, well I think you'll find Aurvandil retracted the offer of Paisly for peace when Rynn refused it. There is a reason why we went from demanding nothing, to demanding something but negotiable, to then demanding something non negotiable, and that's because D'Hara consistently refused so we upped the stakes and made it clear we won't be diddled because D'Hara thinks we're a soft touch in diplomacy, which is the attitude you seem to have in talks with us. You think you can play us and manipulate us and we'll just roll over in talks, and we got sick of it. D'Hara isn't worthy of trust because its a realm of manipulative politicians who repeatedly tried to play both sides of the war to get the most out of it. It was only weeks ago Rynn was asking Mendicant to help him leave the Moot then wage war on S.A. and then when Mendicant offers his support, Rynn then shows all of that to S.A. as proof of Aurvandilan duplicity and aggression when S.A. can offer him a better deal. He did the same with the split from the Veinsormoot as well. You aren't worthy of trust because you'll screw us over five ways to Sunday if you're given half a chance and think you stand to gain from it.
Barca isn't a legitimate realm anymore, they're farmers living under the whim of Reine Démoniaque Haktoo, they're a non state and they lost all legitimacy in doing so. Just a more servile people under the reign of the Zuma Coalition.
So Aurvandil's going to break its neutrality now, is it?
Hillareous how they swear the Florentine squatters are a separate entity, and then are unhappy when a neutral realm settles its feud with them.
Now of course, there's gonna be some nonsense spouting about attempts to rape Florence and whatever. Aurvandil likes to decide what others do for them. I'm thinking we should start RPing how the Aurvandilian forces act ourselves. I'm assuming they probably wear fur speedos and fight with pointed sticks.
Hilarious how but hurt you sound over it. You sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. D'Hara can't act like the good guy middle man when they just aren't, they've tried to hard to !@#$ over Aurvandil whilst pretending to be our friends. Broken their word to many times. At this point, the position has reversed, Aurvandil thinks much higher of Terran now than D'Hara, when it had always since our founding been the other way around by a massive margin. Which is one hell of an achievement, considering how determined Mendicant was to hold D'Hara in a high esteem and consider them a worthy friend.
Aurvandil is going to break the ceasefire, yes, but I never declared any neutrality. I did however declare "I won't enter the lands of the Provincia nor ever use them, but if you attack the Provincia, then I will fight you". It was however D'Hara who swore not to get involved in wars in the west... then a week later did. 'Cause the sworn oath and word of D'Haran is only good for about a weeks guarantee?
