The tribes of Iberia

This is a troubled time. We hear of wars and beginnings of wars from faraway lands as well as those right next door. The storm is bound to spread into our lands too, and we must endure it. Divided we are weak, together we are strong. And together we, the tribes of Iberia, rise! But foolish is the leader who only listens to the counsel of his friends. Let the ambassadors from other lands come, and let our ears listen to what they say and our hearts judge whether their words can be trusted or not.

Allies: House Brutii, House Julii
Enemies: Numidia
Trade: Scythians, House Brutii, House Julii, Britons

An ambaddador from the House of Brutii arrives at one of the Iberian settlements, unsure if he's at their capital. He approaches the largest dwelling, and faces the guards? Sentinels? Warriors?

Who knows how these barba- no! I must think of them as equals

'Ahem. My name is Luterius Promus, an ambassador from the Bruii family of Rome. I have been send to form diplomatic ties with the Iberian tribes.'
He patiently awaits a response.

An elderly man steps forward.

"The king is very busy gathering the tribes, so I will speak on his behalf. And by the gods, if he had to negotiate with an ambassador from every Roman family he'd never have the time for the matters of his own realm anyway."

He pauses, inspects the Roman ambassador and speaks once again:

"We have heard many things about your people, above all that you are quick to deliver steel when your words fail. How are we to know you approach us as friends, what proof do we have that your words are sincere, and why should we trust that you are not here to deceive us? Answer now, young man."

Promus grins. Oh so they're doing things this way?

'Of the three great Roman families, mine is the furthest from Iberia. It would be too expensive and too time consuming to fund a war here, and we have greater interest in other parts of the world.

Sir, may I ask, where did you hear these rumours? That we resort to war when we do not get our way? That is not the Brutii way.

All we ask for is trade; it benefits both of us, and you can be rest assured that the only Roman soldiers who set foot in Iberia will be the caravan guards.'

Ambassador Eileen of the Celtic Confederation of Gauls and Gaul arrives at the capital settlement of the Iberian Tribes. When she sees the Romani of the Brutish House diplomat she spits at his toga and sticks her tongue out. Then she composes herself and looks dignified as she approaches the Iberian King.

“Hail, mighty Chief! I come on behalf of my King and Queen, Baird and Brigid (B&B), to propose a Trade Treaty between our realms. Gaul offers horses and manufactured goods. We would like silver and friendly relations. Is this acceptable?

Also, would an agreed upon border between us of the Pyrenees Mountains be acceptable too?”

Promus scowls

'And you wonder why we call you lot barbarians.'

The old man turns towards ambassador Eileen.

"Sorry to disappoint you, my dear, but I am not King Arganthonios. I am but his lowly advisor and mentor, who manages his holdings while he's away gathering the tribes under his banner. We understand the concern of the Gauls of Gaul we might have caused by the sudden movement of our armies, but our goal is just to unite our tribes. In truth, the reason we started the unification so close to your borders was to secure an overland trade route, because we are aware of some..."

He pauses for a moment to think for the best word, and then continues:

"uncooperative tribes, that might have harassed the trade otherwise. I would have sought an audience with King Baird soon, but thankfully you spared an old man from doing such a perilous journey. We gladly agree the trade offer, and King Baird can rest assured that we will only cross the mountains to trade, or to discuss other ventures of mutual benefit."

He then turns back to Promus and says calmly: "And now we can return to you, Roman. We agree to the trade for now, but your traders are not to be accompanied by any more soldiers than is absolutely necessary and they won't set foot further inland than to our ports. I'm sure our own men, who know the terrain better, are more than capable of transferring the goods between our inland settlements and our ports."

He then sighs, tired of all the speaking, but looks up to the ambassadors, smiles, and decides to say one more thing: "Now, honored guests, would you care to join us for a feast? We have roasted boar, ale and other delicacies ready that we'd be glad to share."

“We Gauls don’t enslave people and make them fight to the death for sport,” the Celtic ambassador says with disgust. “I say you Romani are the most barbarous peoples we have ever encountered!”

She turns back to the Iberian representative and smiles. “I am glad we have come to an agreement. May both our peoples prosper from trade! And may the Pyrenees never be crossed by hostile-minded warlords! I and my companions would gladly join your feast as long as we can sit as far as possible from the Brutish diplomat.” The Gauls nod and bow their heads.

'That is excellent, I'll send your reply to Tarantum, and the first ships will arrive as soon as possible. However, we do insist on a small guard for our rarest and highest value goods. We'll look forward to a long a prosperous relationship. We'll happily join the feast too.'

"By the way, barbarian, our method to deal with prisoners is far more humane than yours. You kill yours for your false gods, we give them a chance to become free citizens. Their fate is entirely in their own hands, it is by their own skill that they can become free.'

OOC: I don't know what anime this is from, but it reminds me of this situation

Thinking to himself:

"This is going to be a long day..."