Treaty of Westminster
The English and Spanish diplomats are signing the Treaty of Westminster, a formal alliance against France, in the Painted Chamber of Westminster Palace. The scribe records the agreement while the guar
Setting
The Painted Chamber in Westminster Palace, a grand hall adorned with intricate murals depicting biblical and historical scenes. The room is lined with tall Gothic windows allowing afternoon light to filter through stained glass, casting colorful patterns on the stone floor.
Characters
English Diplomat
primary
A middle-aged man of aristocratic bearing, with a well-groomed auburn beard and sharp, calculating grey eyes. His tall, lean frame carries the posture of one accustomed to courtly decorum, with hands that move precisely when gesturing.
Spanish Diplomat
primary
A middle-aged man of slight but dignified stature, with a carefully groomed beard streaked with gray. His sharp, dark eyes betray keen intelligence beneath a composed exterior. His olive complexion and the faint lines around his eyes suggest years spent in both courtly halls and foreign travels.
Scribe
secondary
A middle-aged man with a lean build, sharp features, and ink-stained fingers. His keen eyes scan the parchment with practiced precision, and his posture suggests years of disciplined service.
Guard Captain
background
A broad-shouldered man in his late thirties with a stern, weather-beaten face. His piercing blue eyes scan the room with military precision. A thick red beard, neatly trimmed, frames his square jaw. His hands, resting on the pommel of his sword, bear the callouses of long years of weapon training.
Dialog
English Diplomat
Should it please your master, we might consider this clause mutatis mutandis - the mutual defense obligations being, as it were, contingent upon timely notification of hostilities.
Spanish Diplomat
With all due respect, such conditional phrasing would render our compact prima facie invalid in the eyes of Rome. Might we instead specify 'within forty days of intelligence received'?
English Diplomat
Forty days sits ill with our maritime realities - the Channel being, as it were, subject to Neptune's whims. Twenty would better serve both crowns.
Spanish Diplomat
It would behoove us to consider that land forces require thrice that span for mobilization. Unless... your king proposes to bear the full burden of coastal defense?
English Diplomat
By Saint George, no - but neither shall English gold finance Iberian campaigns while French privateers plague our merchants. Thirty days, with provisions for naval exigencies.