The Mending Matters
Soulmeliti - Khadra Treaty
"History often turns on the strangest of events," claimed Xeerix Zenzorax, author of The Abbreviated History of Tarien. No truer statement could be made about The Mending Matters treaty, signed by Jandor Goldtooth, Clanchief of the Underground Kingdom of the Children of Kharl and Vendralythe Styvalhyme, Forestspeaker of the Soulmeliti. At the time of its signing, it had been over fifteen hundred years since the Soulemeliti and their then Orkish allies had invaded Khardin, leading to its destruction.In those fifteen centuries the people of both nations had let the wounds of betrayal fester into a barely concealed hatred. Trade between the two nations had long ago ceased and diplomatic relations where non-existent. Indeed, at the time of Jandor's first visit, no Soulmeliti travelled to New Kharolin just as no Khadra visited New Solarin. The strange turn, of course, is that Jandor's trip to New Solarin had not been one of diplomacy, but one of art. He so loved Carni'key Kal'haiyllyn's epic tale The Dragonslayer that he made the journey to ensure he had the best possible translation from its author for its publication. His conversations with Vendralythe, who was close friends with Carni'key, came over tea while working out the intricacies of Soulmeliti metaphor and how it might flow artful in the far more practical Khadric tongue.
Everyone involved agreed that friendships forged over tea and literary discussion made the treaty inevitable. "After our debates surrounding language," Jandor observed in his memoirs, "A trade agreement like The Mending Matters was child's play." Carni'key, ever the astute observer of language and behavior noted that "What we learned while working through the translation was that the structure of each language was so intwined in how each of us thought. By forcing ourselves to think in the other's language it made us see Tarien from their boots."
The treaty, signed in 169 BC, not only promised a century of non-aggression between the two nations, it also formalized trade, establishing a commission in each nation to govern that trade and assurances to keep that trade tariff free. The first exchange, unsurprisingly, was Soulmeliti silks for Khadric Mithril, two luxuries that each nation had gone without during their fifteen hundred year grudge. Over the years, The Mending Matters has been renewed every century and the two nations have some of the closest relations of any two on Tarien. Even with the closing of the Forests in the past few centuries, Khadra merchants have received the dragon's share of Writ of Passage that have been issued.
Type
Treaty, Diplomatic
Authoring Date
169 BC
Signatories (Characters)
Signatories (Organizations)