Talk:Falasan Inquirer/June07

Darka: Puppetmaster of Atamara?

Your article has a few missing pieces to it that make it sound fairly ludicrous to anyone who knows them. Firstly, the Eston operation has been largely commanded by Estons general and other military leadership. Secondly, Darkas old general had not been doing his job as well as he used to in his golden days. That is why he is now not the general any more. Combine these two facts and you get an army that does silly things like the suicide missions you've mentioned.

You also manage to neglect a very long history between Darka and Eston(and Talerium). Eston owes its existence to Darka and Darka owes the same to Eston. Darka has not forgotten that. The alliance with these two is historical and they're pretty much the only real alliances Darka has. Anything else seen on the diplomacy screen is just remnants from past contracts or the result of a current contract. Still, Darka is working under a contract to Eston as we speak.

Also, we were not under any sort of contract when we looted RedSpan to the ground. It was personal, but we're not stupid enough to think we could have fought against RedSpan, Abington and Carelia alone. Fortunately we had friends willing to help us. - LilWolf 10:19, 23 June 2007 (CEST)

• Ah, I see what you mean from your first paragraph. Evidently, you are stating the incompetence of the generals of Eston and Darka, as well as this mysterious "other military leadership". I presume that you would rather blame your suicide missions on the lackwittedness of your allies. And allies they are, as you just pointed out. Yet in the end, you seem to have misunderstood my point. What was the significance of your suicide missions? Why, none else to proving your dedication to Eston as an ally, and your un-mercenary behaviour. If you were truly as mercenary as you claimed, you would have had no qualms in rejecting such foolish orders.

As for the long history between Darka and Talerium...yes, Talerium did help Darka come to the position it was today...and when Darka became a mercenary, it went against all that history, resulting in what Talerium knows as the "Darkan Betrayal". And yes, this was done for large sums of gold...and when the contract expired, Darka left. Ah, for the days when Darka was a true mercenary. Has this happened with Eston today? Darka supports Eston, yet it supports not Talerium? What kind of double-speak is this? And what is this "diplomacy screen" you speak of? A screen which conceals your true intentions?! Further connivance...if you say to the world "I am this man's friend" and then think in your heart of hearts "This man is no friend of mine"...are you not lying?

Concerning your contract to Eston...yes, you prove my point once more and even admit to outright alliance with Eston. How much need Eston pay Darka? A measly ten hundred gold? Fifteen hundred? Pshah, peanuts. Can other realms trust that their bids will be handled fairly with such favoritism? Of course not.

Finally, did I state that you actually had a contract with the Cagilan Empire? No, I said you "awaited" a contract. Perhaps I should have stated that you awaited a potential contract. Ever trying to hide your cover, you could not help but grasp at that chance.

PS-Might I know by what name you are called? I fear that the monnicker "LilWolf" says little to me.

--Rathkanouros Kalantis 18:31, 23 June 2007 (CEST)

• Some comments, Rathkanouros, for your young mind is slipping you.

"Darka supports Eston, yet it supports not Talerium? What kind of double-speak is this?" Tell me, Rathkanouros, what support does Talerium need? Is Talerium fighting a direct war with any realm? Is Talerium involved in a conflict like Eston is with Falasan, fighting only a few regions from their capital and barely able to hold off the enemy's army alone. I'm not going to twist it around, Eston's military leading staff is incompetent and not consequent, which is the result of the so-called suicidal attacks you speak off.

"How much need Eston pay Darka? A measly ten hundred gold? Fifteen hundred? Pshah, peanuts." I truly wonder, Rathkanouros, how you, a simple journalist from a newspaper of a realm at war with a client of Darka, can possibly know the details of the contract between Darka and Eston. I have always known that journalists were to be to the point and correct, with arguments based on evidence. Show me the evidence that leads you to concluding that Eston has to pay less for a contract, or bring objective issues if you can't proove your thoughts, or resign as journalist.

"Stop hiding behind your mercenary veil and face the world like a real man." By Sigrid's flames, Rathkanouros, what drug has taken over control of your mind? You are obviously short of memory. Don't you remember the past conflict between Darka and RedSpan, in which Darka attacked RedSpan for serious disbehaviour on RedSpan's part? Now didn't Darka declare war on RedSpan at own initiative, didn't King Kostaja Kosunen send the Darkan forces at own initiative to sack Stargard and surroundings? How's that for facing the world like a realm man? Darka even gave the RedSpanians a few weeks ahead, so that RedSpan could prepare proper defence, but yet the RedSpanians lost. And what would be wrong if Darka has much support from other realms if Darka has to fight an enemy? Is that a crime? No it's not. It's an example of true diplomacy and a very capable Ruler doing all that. Darka is not to blame for that? You as noble of Falasan are simply extremely jealous about the wealth, power and political might that Darka has built up during the past years, because Falasan and its Ruler isn't capable of doing that.

Perhaps, Rathkanouros, it's time for you to get your mind straight and to stop writing nonsense, and perhaps, all nobles of Falasan, it is time for you to find a new editor of the Falasan Inquirer, one that is more objective and that can prove his arguments and ideas by true evidence. Van Peteghem 19:39, 23 June 2007 (CEST)

• Young? You were but a gleam in your mother's eye when I was fighting in Falasan's armies, young puppy. (ooc-you should do a better check-up on the history of the character you call young, Thomas, although it's an npc in this case. See here as to why.)

You seem to have misunderstood me. I was referring to my earlier mention of the "Darkan Betrayal".

Tis a simple enough matter of listening to the talk of merchants and traders as they gossip about the doings of their betters. (ooc-realm statistics) Any lettered fool can compare what Darka has now and what Darka had then, and produce a rough estimate. And as for calling me a journalist: ridiculous! I am no mansy-pansy journalist. I write what I write, twas only from Reilwin's cajoling that I decided to contribute to this "newspaper" of his...of which I am the only one, now. Your demands for "evidence" seem to me that I have struck a nerve.

Ah, yes...your "war" against Redspan. One in which Darka puttered about, seeking a client, finally gathering some allies and sneak attacked Redspan while their armies were out on manuevers. Darka gave Redspan a few weeks warning, you say? I say Darka used those weeks to try and find a client, to gather allies when that failed, and as side benefit, lulling Redspan into complacency.

And as for jealousy...what realm on Atamara would not be jealous of a realm which do all the following with little to no retribution?

1. Attack any realm, with at least one "ally" guaranteed.
2. Furthermore, be PAID by that "ally" to attack.
3. Avoid any retribution from your targets; you were just "paid" to do so.
4. Gain free battles, free looting and to top it all off, you get paid for that!
5. As such activities would leave Darka's lands completely untouched, and with the payment and loot to allow Darka to refit and recruit with far less cost on their own lands than any other realm, much time and effort could be used to provide Darka with the finest recruitment centres in the land. And indeed, that has occurred.

Indeed, to have accrued the following advantages and to have blinded the rest of Atamara to the fact, it must have been a masterwork of diplomacy and deceit. I applaud you, Mr_Jones and his successors for achieving and maintaining such a blindingly one-sided diplomatic victory.

As for your final words: I say to you, and to Atamara: perhaps it is time for you to find a new mercenary realm, one that is more neutral and less bound to favoritism.

PS-I fear that I know not who you might be, either. --Rathkanouros Kalantis 22:24, 23 June 2007 (CEST)

The name is Easy, Rathkanouros, former Royal Treasurer of Darka, Marshal of Sigrid's Guardians, Baron of Winser and Count of Alani and Maycxal, and currently High Priest of Darka, which means elder member of Darkanism, and since a very long time member one of the King's Advisors in Darka. Nearly three years I have served in Darka, I know what I speak of. On what ground do you call me a young puppy? On the fact that your mother perhaps threw you out some time before I was born? (ooc: great move to roleplay an npc as a veteran so you can claim him older than anyone, a very valid argument which will make you win many debates (I hope you get my irony) is that the only way your character can win arguments, by you saying he is older and more experienced?) Well I call you young because in a shorter lifetime I have reached more than you. What have you reached? You are editor, have mercy perhaps chief-editor, of Falasan's official subjective gossipping paper. Congratulations! You are still not worth a fly if you need several decades to become a supreme gossipper

So tell me, what would you know about the so-called "Darkan Betrayal"? Sure, you can situate in time and tell the basic lines of what happened, but can you tell the inside? Can you tell why and how and by who and what for and all that, the reasoning behind that? You use that as an argument against Darka, so clearly you and I have a different interpretation of that concept, and since you are a commoner and a stranger far away from Darka and I have lived the culture of Darka, I can only conclude that once again you write nonsense you know nothing about. Stop using the so-called Darkan Betrayal, you know nothing about it, so you cannot use it.

Forgive me that I called you a journalist earlier, you are not indeed. You listen to gossips of commoners and slaves and write down what they tell you in this farce paper. And then you say I misinterpret your words, but you misinterpret everything. This gossip isn't even worth looking at, if it wasn't for me not having anything else to do, I would join the rest of the continent in ignoring this cry for attention from a commoner like you who reached nothing in his life and started a gossipping paper to at least have a title.

You should really stop listening to the gossips of people, since you only listen to Falasanites and they only care about painting their enemies black. They can't stand Darka helping Eston, so they hate Darka and paint them black. Let me for once give you a real and trustworthy source of information: myself. I was there, I heard the discussion, I was one of his Advisors, I know what happened, and that is the following. Darka was under a contract from a realm. I don't recall which realm, my memory is not as good as it once was, but it doesn't matter. While Darka was serving under that contract, RedSpan made Darka angry by having one of their infiltrators, AJ, assassinate our Royal Treasurer Mr_Jones, to collect the large bounty on his head. Tony the fool of RedSpan said "AJ worked on his own account, I have nothing to do with it". King Kostaja Kosunen responded "I don't care whether or not he had received an order to do so, he is and remains a RedSpanian and is under your responsibility, you must be able to retain him. Pay us the bounty plus a sum to cover mental cures for Mr_Jones and losses made due to Mr_Jones' inactivity". Tony refused. King Kostaja Kosunen said that Darka was going to finish the contract they were currently serving and would then attack RedSpan. So in the weeks before Darka attacked RedSpan, they held on to the agreed terms of the contract, giving RedSpan time to shave their goat's arses and set up a defence, and then and only then Darka attacked. Darka did not seek for allies to help them, they didn't need to and didn't want to. RedSpan had assassinated their Banker, caused them damage, so they, warriors as the Darkan soldiers are, wanted to sack RedSpan themselves. You know what followed, RedSpan's military force was rediculous and Stargard was sacked. Now that's the history of the attack on RedSpan, and it pleads for Darka's loyalty to their mercenary status and the honour that comes forth to it.

You try to make your jealousy an argument against Darka, but you're failing over and over again. Contact the Council of Falasan, tell them to become mercenaries as well and see how it turns out. Until then, you don't know what it's like to be a mercenary realm so you should not speak of. The thing is, attacking any realm on the continent, sure, very nice. Only, before Darka does that, they must have a client that is willing to pay them for that, that is willing to have the diplomatic lead of facing war, and to be the front of the war and the defence. If a realm is prepared to do that to another realm, then there must be a valid reason for that. They want to attack that realm, want extra help and hire Darka. That's what being a mercenary realm is about, and I don't see what could possibly be wrong with that.

A neutral mercenary? No other realm comes closer to that than Darka. Only, you should not expect that Darka accepts a contract from a realm that has taken a contract personally and attacked them personally, nor from a realm that has helped that first realm in facing the consequences of their stupidities. On the other hand, Darka is honourable and not hypocrit, Darka thanks its existence to Eston, Darka may choose which contracts to accept and which to decline, and I believe it is only natural that they decline contracts against the realm they thank their existence to. That is also what you call favoritism, but what I would prefer addressing by the terms honour, respect and dignity.

It seems to me you have no valid arguments left, you can come up with new ones, but I'll waylay them just the same, because no valid arguments are there since the statements that they argue for is wrong. You would do best to give up, since it will only bring you disbelief and less credibility. Easy 00:34, 24 June 2007 (CEST)