Negotiations at Ragusa

The Holy Father and the Doge Frederico of Genoa will attend on behalf of the alliance.

OoC: That's fine with me should the Sultan consent.

Representatives of Spanish Lombardy are more than welcome, despite not being coastal, as it is only fair that they have an interest in the affairs of their fellow Italians. The Rector of Ragusa is to be present to chair the discussions, and he has generously accepted the use of the Rector's Palace to host the discussions.



In a great hall a number of tables have been aligned in a circle. Venetian and Balkan cuisine is on offer every evening for the duration of the talks. This includes a lot of seafood, with plenty of flavour and rare spices, a combination of Venice's position on the water, and its contact with the east. With the Balkan influence on Ragusa, a number of Turkish treats are available, including Borek and Baklava, as well as 'Balkan' coffee (read; Turkish coffee).

The representatives are introduced group-by-group, in order of their arrival to avoid arguments over precedence.

A funny-looking man in a funny-looking hat, a Turkish page of somesort, no doubt, stands beside the door to make the announcements.

"The Holy Father of the Catholic Church, the Bishop of Rome, Pope Clement, the Eleventh of that name," the Papal delegation is welcomed and given seating and refreshments.

"Doge Federico De Franchi Toso, representative of the Republic of Genoa and the Bank of San Giorgio,"

"The first citizens of Lombardy, representatives of the Spanish Crown in Italy,"

"Don Homer Corleone, representative of the Serene Doge, Alvise Mocenigo of Venice, former Captain of the city of Spolato,"

"Reis ül-Küttab Efendi, Naili Abdullah Pasha," with that announcement, the representative of the Sublime Porte enters the room, and takes his seat at the Ottoman table. He is accompanied by a dragoman fluent in Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Italian, Venetian Italian, Greek, Spanish, Croatian, and French, as well as written Latin. These qualifications have earned him a place at the side of the Reis Efendi, who speaks only Turkish, passable Persian, enough Arabic to pray but not enough to hold a conversation, and the ability to read some Latin (the best bang-for-buck choice for any young Turk wishing to read western intellectual works). The Reis has only just earned promotion to the higher ranks of the bureaucracy, and a seat on the Divan, having previously performed quietly and efficiently at a range of minor posts.

The Rector of the Ragusan Republic opens the negotiations, with a brief introduction in Italian. He then opens the floor to the offer made by the Ottoman delegation.

Standing to his feet, next to his dragoman companion, he begins to speak quietly in his own language, "Beyler, arkadaşlar..." he begins. Once he is finished, the dragoman relays the message in Italian, the common language of the Holy League.

"Gentlemen, friends, welcome to Dubrovnik, as the locals call it. We apologise first of all to the Venetian delegation that we have chosen to speak in the mainland Italian tongue, or as it was once, the Tuscan dialect. In order to save time, we have adopted the most common tongue second to Latin for the proceedings. I ask you to refrain from giggling at what must truly sound strange to you, the odd familiarity of a different dialect, combined with the accent of my dragoman. Though it is mild, the Greek islands are hard for him to fully shake off," the dragoman controls a brief smile.

"The offer we present to you, esteemed potentates of Italia, is as follows:

-The Ottoman fleet shall withdraw from the Adriatic with immediate effect.

-The Sublime Porte will guarantee the safety of Italian states from raiding by the fleet of Turkey and her subjects.

-The Holy League and the Ottoman Empire shall be at peace once more.

-The Holy League and the Ottoman Empire shall swear to uphold this peace with a non-aggression pact, effective for ten years, and renewable.

-The Ottoman Padishah will personally offer financial support to the Venetian University of Padua, which he admires greatly.

-Current trade agreements between the Ottoman Empire and members of the Holy League will be protected, and the Ottomans will be open to more agreements in future.

-Ottoman armies will not set foot in Italy.

-Italian armies will not set foot in the Ottoman Empire, or the lands of its subjects.

While of course we hope that this offer is sufficient, we are here to talk, and we are happy to open the floor to your own opinions."

The dragoman and Reis Efendi sit down, and leave the floor open to contributions.

The Spanish Lombards observing the proceedings start to make Italian noises, the equivalent of obfuscatory scoffing and nervous laughter. Others start to play with the ruffs of their collars fumblingly while eyeing the Sublime Porte with vehement apprehension.

The Reis Efendi sighs as the dragoman whispers in his ear. The Reis Efendi mutters the occasional phrase of frustration or bisbelief, “Of yaaa!”, “Allah Allah!” accompanied by strange gestures. When the dragoman finishes, the Reis pauses, and then gives his response. The dragoman rises from his seat once more,

“We are sorry to hear that this rumour still pervades. There is very little truth in it. We have been in discussions with the French for our Austrian campaign, but have yet to settle on any terms. The Austrians are hostile to our ambition to attack Vienna, and we have no interest in the wars of Frenkistan, so it is difficult to have an actual arrangement in place. In the smoky back rooms of Greek tabernas and Turkish sherbet houses there have been many wild suggestions and speculations, but none of them resulted in as much as a shaking of hands or the nodding of heads, let alone a formal agreement. In short, there is no, and there has never been, any agreement between the Sublime Porte and the French State in regards to Italy. There are currently talks being held which may be the embryonic form of an agreement over the Habsburg domains, but these are so bogged down in detail and differences of perspective that we, frankly, don’t even have the time for an agreement to divide Italy.

“The other matter, that brings some truth to the accusations, is that the Sublime Porte called up a great fleet of corsairs to aid it in the capture of Morea. While it transpired that they were not needed, they had already been summoned and so were put to work in raiding the Austrian coast. In return for their service, the corsairs were promised the opportunity for spoils. Since the Sultan forbids any looting in Morea, saying that it should be treated as a part of empire being reclaimed, not as a conquest, this had to be offered elsewhere. The plan was to offer raids on the coastal areas of Italy, either during a war with the Venetians (which never transpired) or on the return home. The greatest victim of this raid would have been the Papal States, since they control so much of the west coast of the Adriatic. Venice may also have suffered if they had decided to fight a prolonged war with us.

“This policy is now out-of-date. The Sultan wishes to replace the offer of Italian loot with the promise that if no great treasures are available in the course of the Sultan’s campaigns, the Ottoman treasury shall pay an end-of-campaign bonus to the corsairs instead. If our proposals are accepted, a small bonus will also be guaranteed on top of any loot, in order to encourage the corsairs not to molest Italian provinces following their period of service with the Ottoman fleet.

“That, friends, is the truth. As honest and unfiltered as I can offer in regards to both any planned raiding, and to the allegation of a secret deal to divide Italy between Padishah and King.”

Following a few days of obfuscating and noise making, Don Homer stands to give his answer.

"Weighed down with many cares and burdens, the time at last has come when I may speak freely."

He seemed to be chewing the inside of his cheeks. He blinked, heavily, repeatedly. His nostrils flared, and relaxed again.

"WHEN." he suddenly bellowed, "We received the news of invasion, from the Turk," he stabbed a finger towards the Dragoman and Reis Effendi, and after a pause, continued softly; "We knew once more, that the continent was to be plunged into war, following the traditional Ottoman method of nibbling away, EEEERODING, and destabilising, to build its power over Europe. That is how the enemy empire has operated in the past, and how it will continue to do."

He inhaled deeply through his nose, suddenly sweating.

"After hypocritical declarations that peace was the intention, the true plan could be enacted. The destruction and piecemeal consumption of the Italian peninsula. Of Rome! Of Europe! Aided by the inaction of the Frenchman. Allowed by the destruction of the Austrian. Encouraged by the factions of the Italian."

"Thus then, the broadcast begun from Thrace of opportunities of peace, protestations of innocence, and for what? That the encirclement of Europe could begin again.Some have believed these words, and will pay the due price, in due time. Venice and her government feel that we must assume responsibility, to counter this menace."

"Though circumstances have dictated time and time again," he crescendoed, "that we remain silent, do to so now would be a GRIM, and INDECENT, dereliction of duty, to Venice, and YES, EVEN EUROPE."

"Today, great divisions of Turkish soldiers stand as wolves at our door. There are continual violations of our seas and lands by slavers and thieves, and our people vanish away into the night over an Ottoman shoulder. Turkish sailors consider it sport to nonchalantly violate our waters, perhaps to show to us that they already consider themselves masters of this land. The time has come for us to counter the plots of those in Istanbul. The fate of Venice stands with the soldiers of the Holy League."

He sits down, and quietly;

"It's war, boys. It's war."

"It appears," began Pope Clement, "that all Christendom stands as one."