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Sandy Circles
360168
Gorven International Airport, early morning on the next day
You, Stanislaw, your pilots and the rest of the small delegation enter the presidential plane. From the side of the secluded runway, away from the public, Florence and some other government officials are waving their goodbyes, while a camera crew of the government channel is filming the scene.
Due to the distance to Southkol, the capital of Kormun, the plane will refuel in Casia, a city in Nostromia. There, a representative of the CCSH will join your delegation.
The weather is calm, the sky is clear and you enjoy the first hour of the flight by chatting with the other envoys. Everybody is eager to bring this mission to a success, as your men call it jokingly.
Soon enough, you and Stanislaw retire to a cabin, taking a few heavy folders with you.
“The conflict between Lovko and Kormun...” Stanislaw begins his briefing.
The conflict between Lovko and Kormun is quite unique on the continent, for it is not a war between two different nations, but a civil war, fought among the population of what formerly has been the nation of Lovkormuny. The two countries, Lovko and Kormun, are still a united entity on paper, although nobody in his right mind would call them that nowadays.
Before I say anything else, you should know that the Lovkomuns are very religious. Whereas the Gorvians are mainly atheistic and would only go to church on the most important holidays, the Lovkomuns believe. They really do. You would have to ask a historian or a social expert for a reason, but that’s just how it turned out.
The cause of the war was a breakup of the church of Lovkormuny, the so called “Solarian Church”: Contrary to most of the other major religions, which are monotheistic, the Lovkormuns believe in a polytheistic pantheon of gods, with the four major gods being represented by a pope. Forty years ago, the popes wanted to reform the church: So far, the minor gods have been gods in their own right, each with his own place in the society of Lovkormuny, but from then on, they should be mere servants of the four major deities. I am not a religious expert, but I think an appropriate term would be “angel”.
People who followed the minor gods were enraged, while the followers of the major gods wanted their popes to continue with the reform. And they did.
As it was, most people believing in the many minor deities lived in the north, from where the Solarian religion historically descended, while most of the reformers lived in the south.
It was harmless at first. A few demonstrations, a riot, a protest movement. Then a bishop was murdered by a member of the opposing faction. Then another. Then the popes tried to declare those who did not obey as heretical, which was a terrible, terrible insult: don’t forget, the protestors thought they were the true believers, who tried to rescue the others from eternal darkness or something like that. The tone grew more aggressive.
One thing lead to another. And before you know it, we had a full-blown civil war in Lovkomuny. Their whole society was divided: One group of soldiers, clerks, workers, teachers, policemen believed this, the other believed that. Militias were formed, then armies.
Maybe everything could have been solved peacefully, if the international society would have paid more attention to the conflict, but foreigners have never been welcome in Lovkormuny and the Lovkormuns saw the whole affair as an “internal matter” and told the CCSH to keep out.
How huge the differences between Lovko and Kormun might be in terms of religion, one thing they do share: their rejection of foreigners. If it was difficult to get entry clearances for Lovkormuny before, now it became impossible. The country isolated itself and cut off all communication lines, as they said, until the conflict was resolved.
That was thirty years ago.
Since then, only little information has left the country. But what we hear occasionally has shocked the world: Neither Lovko, as the northern part was called from then on, nor Kormun, the southern part, was able to secure a fast victory. The landscape between the two nations has become a constant battlefield. And there are stories of war crimes, committed by both sides, which I don’t want to describe to you.
The fighting became less intense in the last years, but whenever the CCSH tried to start negotiations between the two nations, they refused. They said the conflict was their concern only.
There has been, however, a shaky truce, signed by the pope of Lovko, who seems interested in peace, and the elected government of Kormun. However, there’s still occasional fighting, since both nations do not have full control over their own military and hatred has grown deeper over the years.
I can’t describe what a great chance the current negotiations are, Sir. Lovko and Kormun are bleeding out. That’s not a metaphor. Due to the isolation, it’s hard to tell, but experts say, the Lovko-Kormun-War is the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the history of the continent.
In Casia, the aircraft is refuelled and the representative of the CCSH gets aboard. It’s a calm, grizzled man called Gustav Jacobsen, a Heurlyndian and experienced diplomat. His role is merely the one of an observant, since neither Lovko nor Kormun wanted any involvement by the CCSH.
Surprisingly, he is accompanied by a young, stocky woman, who is introduced by Jacobsen as Meryl Quant, despite her age a respected journalist of the Crux, the international newspaper. It’s a novelty she got the permission to enter Lovko and Kormun.
After the plane has ascended over the clouds, Stanislaw and Jacobsen enter your private cabin.
“Good evening, Sir.”
“Is something wrong?” you ask.
“Oh, no. I just wanted to wish you the best of luck” Jacobsen answers. “Also, I want to bring you a message from the CCSH: The main interest of the negotiations has to be to decrease the suffering of the people. The blood-shed has to end. “
“And in order to be successful, we have to be as well prepared as possible” Stanislaw says.
“Agreed.”
“So, Sir, is there anything you want to know about the conflict? Also, do you want to meet any of the participating parties in advance?
The negotiations officially start the day after tomorrow, so tomorrow we could arrange talks with the Pope of Lovko, who will lead negotiations for Lovko, and the Acting Field Marshal of Kormun, who will lead negotiations for, well, Kormun.”
“That could backfire” Jacobsen warns. “Either side could claim you wanted to undermine the talks by setting up an agreement with the other faction beforehand.”
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