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Kethren comes walking into the conference room flanked by the usual contingent of Sarah the Aide, Steve the Guard, the less usual companion of Nuala the white robot tiger, and Floriana the calico ser is of course, on his shoulder as is often the case. He takes his seat at the table, and waits patiently for the others to arrive.
Xanya walks into the room not long after Kethren. her aid and guard follow her too. She gives kethren a wave and then moves to a seat at the table.
Aina follows after the two, quietly muttering to herself while tapping away at her tablet. She manages to find a seat beside Kethren, and even reaches up, apparently absently to pet Atreu, who seems to be asleep.
It's about this time a Nemoni courier ship appears, about a foot long, emblazoned with the Nemoni coat of arms on its top as it flies in to settle atop the conference table gently. Once settled into place, a few hatches on top open and a holographic display appears in which the Nemoni ambassador can be seen.
Kethren nods to the hologram "Welcome, ambassador." then turning to the rest of the table "And thank you both for showing up on such short notice. I have apologies from the remaining members who were unable to attend, so I think we can proceed with business. Any questions before we get started?"
Xanya nods to the ambassador and then shakes to Kethren. "no I don't have any questions yet."
Aina sets her tablet down and flashes a smile, "No questions from me yet." Atreu seems to wake up when the hologram flicks on, and he stares at it with wide eyes.
The ambassador nods. "My thanks for taking the time to consider our request. Permit me to introduce myself. I am Talerin, Ambassador from the Nemoni Senate. I am presuming the nature of the request is known?"
Kethren nods "And I'm Lord Kethren, with us tonight are Ladies Aina and Xanya. I believe so, yes. It's my understanding that you wish to secure trade relations for food and alcohol, as well as permission to set up a colony. Am I leaving anything out?"
Xanya nods as her name is spoken by Kethren and then keeps listening.
Aina flashes the ambassador a smile as she's introduced, then nods as well, but lets Kethren do the talking for now. Meanwhile, Ghost seems to have just appeared atop her head and stares at the holo as well.
The ambassador nods once again. "That is correct. As far as colony space, I am sure that there is much to discuss on that point. For us, at this point, it is merely an inquiry, and no solid resolution is by any means required. Any information about the world that you can provide as far as environment that could pose a danger to us would be helpful. If an agreement is reached, however, we only need something like a small cave, remote and out of the way, which would serve our needs nicely." he says, shuffling some papers on the desk before him. "In regards to trade, our needs are naturally simple. Our primary food sources are typically insects, but barring that any vegetable matter would suffice, and of course alcohol is welcome for both consumption and fuel for our vessels."
Kethren nods thoughtfully "Well, we /do/ have some caves here, but I'm afraid they're already inhabited by some cat like critters that make Nuala here look positively harmless... so, I rather doubt the council's going to be too willing to let you set up shop there, as it were. I'm sure we could come up with an alternative, though. The only other possible sticking point I can see off the top of my head is that while we do have food here, we're importing nearly all of it right now. So we'd probably have to charge a little extra on that end until the farm is set up, which should hopefully be in the next round of construction."
Xanya keeps listening to the conversation.
Aina nods in response to Kethren, "Yes, the inhabitants are rather...Unwelcoming to anyone. I could look into the caves, though. I won't guarantee I'll find one that's uninhabited, though. And I'm not comfortable with making the native animals relocate." She tilts her head slightly and glances up, then wrinkles her nose before she shakes her head, causing the two atop it to latch onto her horns.
"Naturally we would not wish to cause such impact, and we can wait for trade until such time it can be made available. Our current supplies are holding steady but we are always wishing to ensure sufficient supply routes since the Zar destroyed our homeworld." the ambassador says.
Kethren nods "Well, I'm not seeing any reason to deny the colony request, and if any here say otherwise, please speak up so concerns can be addressed. How insistent are you on it being a cave, per se? We could probably plant a tree or two and form an artificial one somewhere for you. It's pretty much how we've been building the entire city thus far. Very ecologically sound."
Xanya nods with Kethren's words. "Growing a cave or other construction for your people should be easy enough"
Aina smiles at the ambassador, then at Kethren while nodding, "I was going to suggest the tree idea. They make amazing buildings."
"Trees are an excellent alternative. We have used them before on Nemonus... a single tree could hold tens of thousands." the ambassador says.
Kethren smiles "Well, I had more in mind training the roots to form up something cave-like, rather than say, hollowing a tree out, or living in the branches. We are, of course, flexible."
Xanya continues to listen again unsure about what else she can add at this point.
Aina continues to smile, "Kethren is pretty amazing when it comes to designing things. He knows about the trees and how they work." Again she glances up at the two atop her head, and murmurs something briefly.
"That is acceptable as well. We can wait until the tree in question is fully developed." the ambassador says. "However the prospects sound positive for settlement. I do appreciate you taking the time to consider our proposal. We can have a more accurate count of initial settlers ready by the time the tree is developed enough for settlement."
Kethren smiles "Thankfully, these trees grow remarkably fast. It's the planning stage that takes the most time, but a cave shouldn't be too difficult, really."
Xanya keeps listening for now.
Aina hums lightly and glances at her tablet, fingers briefly dancing over the screen.
Kethren looks around the room "Well, if no one has anything to add, I think that concludes things for today. Once I have some plans ready, I'll make sure they get sent to the ambassador for approval, and we can proceed from there. And thank you all again for making it here."
Xanya nods. “My pleasure Kethren.”
Aina smiles at Kethren, "No problem at all. Was rather interesting to meet him."
Kethren nods and starts to stand up "Well, meeting adjourned, then." Then looks to Aina "Care to join me for some dinner?"
Xanya nods and stands up as well. "seems I will be un needed here soon. I wish you two a good meal."
Aina looks up at Kethren and nods, "Would love to." To Xanya she smiles, "Oh bah, you're always needed. We'll have to talk some time soon, alright?"
Kethren smiles and leads his way out of the conference room. Tiger and assorted hangers on heading out with him.
Xanya nods to Aina. "I'd love to talk to you some time. Hell I even got some idea's running trough my head for which I could use your help, most likely."
Aina stands and grabs her tablet before moving to follow Kethren, "Sounds great, Xan. We'll talk soon, ok? Let me know when is good for you." She waves to Xan before turning to follow Kethren.