The rest of the continent had closely observed the political changes taking place in Neolandia. The death of Ilehas was celebrated throughout the Empire of Katolis: it is famous the prayer that held Opeli in the temple of Justice (with the eloquent title "Righteous are the gods, for They punish the wicked").
On the contrary, the birth of the Magic Republic was cause of great concern in all the courts of the continent. Everyone remembered what had happened the last time a dark magician had personally assumed power in a nation: the memory of the Virenian Invasion was still fresh in everyone's mind.
At the imperial court Aanya proposed to invade Neolandia taking advantage of the rebellion of the nobles: but as I have already written, the dark magicians managed to quell the revolt too quickly for it to be possible to mobilize the Katolean army, and the idea of the invasion was discarded.
It was therefore a surprise for everyone when, in early August, a messenger from the Council of Mages of Neolandia arrived at the capital of Katolis, with the proposal to organize a meeting to discuss the terms of peace.
"What game are the Neolandians playing? Do they really think we would fall into such an obvious trap? No, it makes no sense... unless they're telling the truth. But is it really possible?" writes Callum, decidedly confused.
The other members of the court were no less puzzled. The Imperial Council divided into two factions.
On the one hand, the Empress, Lady Opeli and Lady Rayla, along with Lord Nissem, were convinced that it was only a Neolandian trick to buy time, and intended to reject the proposal. After all, the fight against dark magic had always been one of the cornerstones of Queen Aanya's policy, and we must remember that after the death of Tiadrin Rayla had developed an even fiercer hatred towards dark magicians.
On the other hand, Ezran, Callum, Lord Vrigel and General Gren thought it appropriate to accept.
Ezran, it is known, hated war, and he did not want to leave any stone unturned to end the massacre. Lord Vrigel was of the same opinion: traders, he used to say, thrive in peacetime. As for the High Magician and General Gren, they pragmatically believed that accepting the proposal would have offered an opportunity to gain more information about the enemy in view of a future resumption of hostilities.
This was the great underlying issue of the imperial diarchy: because Aanya and Ezran had the same powers, their disagreement could block the work of the imperial council for days, even weeks.
Fortunately, in this case the standoff lasted little. After two days, a compromise solution was found.
The messenger returned to Shafiz with the news that the emperors would accept... on one condition. The meeting should have been held at the Rock of Katolis. It was, obviously, a diplomatic trap. As Callum himself writes,
"We want to force them out into the open. We know they don't trust us as much as we don't trust them. I am certain they will refuse."
So, imagine the surprise of the court when a crow arrived from Shafiz with the answer of the Council of Mages. It was a laconic message of only two words: "We accept."
Callum's journals give us a detailed idea of how the rulers reacted to the news.
"I haven't seen Ezran this happy in years. On the other hand, the empress is furious: she did not expect such an answer, and it is now too late to cancel the meeting without losing face.
Both are emptying the wine reserves of the cellars: Ezran to celebrate, Aanya to cool the anger."
Katolis could not back out now, even though no-one except the Emperor really believed that such a meeting would have brought results.
On September 4, 1244, the Neolandian delegation arrived at the Fortress of Katolis. Taleq had struggled a lot to find the right man to entrust the post of ambassador: in the end, the choice had fallen on the Councilor Policar of Siripolis. Lord Policar was an atypical dark magician: born in Katolis, despite being a dark magician he had at first opposed the Virenian Usurpation. More than his ability with the arcane arts, he was famous for his refined manners, his love for the arts and especially for music (he was himself a virtuoso psaltery player), his vanity, and, above all, for his rhetorical ability, so much so that he earned the nickname of "golden tongue".
He knew that hatred of the dark magicians was strong in Katolis: both he and his superiors at Shafiz were aware that the proposal would have been rejected. The real objective of the delegation was another: to show the continent the goodwill of Neolandia, and to obtain from the Empire of Katolis the diplomatic recognition of the Magic Republic.
To achieve this goal, Lord Policar gave full vent to his oratorical skill. In a series of speeches, the famous Ezranics, he pleaded the cause of his nation. I quote as an example an extract from the Third Ezranic:
"You, my lords, look at Neolandia and see Viren. You look at Neolandia and see a danger, an enemy. But tell me, noble rulers of the great Katolis: at the head of the army of Neolandia, when Viren invaded Xadia, were there dark magicians? No, my lords! There was King Kasef! And at the Battle of the Sand, was it the dark magicians who ordered the assault against your thirsty army? No! It was King Ilehas!
But you dark magicians helped Ilehas, you will say. Yes. We helped him, we even supported him. What else should we have done, since the other human kingdoms persecuted us? What would you, noble lords, have done in our stead?
But now Ilehas is dead: he was your enemy, but it was not you who defeated him: it was us, the dark magicians! All we ask is a place to live in peace, and continue practicing the noble art of dark magic. I beseech you, mighty kings, let us put an end to this senseless bloodshed!"
The cunning "golden tongue" did not just speak. In the days he remained in Katolis, he worked day and night to ingratiate himself with the members of the court: in this he was helped under the table by the Emperor, who knew that such an occasion would not have occured again.
Lord Policar even managed to gain the support of Lady Rayla when, as a sign of goodwill, he promised that he would have freeed the enslaved elves in Neolandia (these were at least half a thousand of individuals, captured during the raids of the Neolandian fleet on the coast of Xadia in recent years).
Quoting Lord Callum's diaries, "the ambassador is undoubtedly a person of great ingenuity, and very reasonable. Even the Empress-and the gods know how difficult it is to change her mind-admitted that "Lord Policar's proposals are not without some common sense". It is a pity that such a man is an enemy, because his qualities make him an extremely dangerous adversary".
In truth, both Katolis and Neolandia were tired of the war. Policar's proposal came at the right time: after six years of uninterrupted conflict, even the warlike Aanya wanted only an excuse to finally get peace, possibly saving honor.
Despite the efforts of the Emperor and the ambassador, in the end the peace agreement was not signed: it did not surprise anyone, except perhaps Ezran, who when it came to peace was still rather naive. Lord Policar's mission was not, however, a failure: he had obtained a year-long truce from the imperial authorities, much more than the High Director himself dared hope. It wasn't peace, but it was a very significant first step in its direction.
Keeping his promise, Lord Policar convinced the Council of Mages to free all the elven slaves of Neolandia: he succeeded so quickly that some thought the whole operation had been planned in advance with the cooperation of the High Director. Most of the freed Elves returned to Xadia or Katolis, but the Apostates remained. They were those elves who, in order to be freed from slavery, had decided to collaborate with the Neolandians, even to the point of learning dark magic. It was a very small minority: most elves would rather have died of hardship in slavery than break the most sacred taboo of the Xadian religion. By agreeing to join the dark magicians, the Apostates had denied their homeland and religion, and were abhorred by the other Elves, making it impossible for them to return to Xadia. They became instead the most fervent defenders of the Magic Republic, so much so that they managed even to access important positions (the elf Sunfire Fulceri even became High Director after the contested elections of 1340).
Just when it seemed that the Great Western War could have ended, a new crisis emerged, which risked to blow the efforts of Ezran and his advisors: this time, however, the threat came from the East. Xadia had risen up.
