Treaties of Gildenhall.

Diplomatic action

Tension between the Cobalt Order and the Crimson Coast had been brewing for some time. Would diplomacy win out?

After the Crimson Plague the Cobalt Order had rendered great aid to the people of the Crimson Coast. In the aftermath they came to posses a great deal of land, either gifted to the Order in gratitude for their service, or given to them by the will of their former inhabitants, now deceased from the plague. By the turn of the millennium the Order was administrating nearly half the farmland in the Crimson Coast. So long as all obeyed the Ordering this was not seen as an issue. The Cobalt Order functioned as a state within the state, but still as a part of the Ordering, a very useful part at that. The healing services the Order provided was one of the main stabilizing factors which kept the Ordering from shattering under the blows of the Crimson Plague, and the First Scourge.   This all changed in the 13th century. The Battle of Driftwood and its aftermath shattered the Ordering. The Crimson Coast Cities declared themselves independent one by one. Karabir The Binder and his Cobalt Order were the only ones situated to halt this breakdown of Ordering authority on the Crimson Coast. Negotiations took place between the Crimson Coast and Karabir. The Crimson cities were then engaged in war with the Silver Lotus, and as such their hand was weak in these talks. Eventually in 1235 it was agreed that the Cobalt Order would not attempt to force the Cities back under Ordering authority. In return the Churches, Monasteries, Abbeys and Temples, as well as farmlands, estates and villas owned by the Cobalt Order on the Crimson Coast would not be subject to the Cities' laws or taxation.   The arrangement worked out well for a time. However, after the Silver Lotus had been decisively defeated the issue of Cobalt Order influence in the Crimson Coast became relevant again. Not least because the Karabir the Binder was still nominally attached to the Ordering. The issue was further inflamed by the Cobalt Order claiming it had received the right to "legitimize" or "de-legitimize" rulers of Crimson Coast Cities during the negotiations. A tense moment occurred in 1356 when Cobalt Knights refused to allow a group of Samurai to pass through a mountain pass claiming the area was "holy ground, not meant for infidel feet". In the ensuring skirmish three knights and two samurai were killed. A war was nearly sparked. It was avoided at the last minute by frantic negotiations between the Binder himself, and the Shogun appointed to deal with the Cobalt Order. The Cobalt Order agreed not to block travel through its lands, and the Crimson Coast agreed to ignore the Cobalt Order's pretensions of monopoly on legitimate power. The agreements of 1235 and 1356 became collectively known as the treaties of Gildenhall.