Two Earth years have passed since then. The initial scramble has somewhat, but not fully, calmed. The Asteral Accord now occupies, or at least claims, not just Amphitrite, but also Vesta, Eros, Phobos, and Europa, moon of Jupiter. It also has a colony on Luna, but there are many other colonies on it and it does not claim the entirety of it. Ceres was already claimed by another Crowned who started in the asteroid belt, like them.

What is the purpose of this expansionism? Despite its eagerness, the Asteral Accord is uninterested in war or conquest. Rather, it wishes to position itself as the premier trading polity in the Solar system, facilitating trade between the planets, Luna, and the asteroid belt, and being an alternative to the slaver Ivory Leagues, who are setting themselves up as the water-based trading polity on Earth. Though to be able to compete with them, they would need to have very efficient and high-throughput orbital capabilities, which their new Edict-given magic should help with.

They have already established trading relations with some polities, but now that they and the other states of this new Solar system have mostly finished setting themselves up, it is time now to formalize diplomacy. Very important for the niche they are trying to fill.

The Asteral Accord has already taken imagery of the new Earth in orbit. It is surprisingly easy to figure out the borders between the domains of the Crowned — many of them have Edicts that alter the land, and where there is an abrupt change in the ecology that is not otherwise supported by the underlying geography: there's your border! They contact people in orbit through radio. English remains a very popularly spoken lingua franca, even today, but many nations have Edicts that promote the Lavender language as being the language of society. The Asteral Accord does not have any such edict, but it does use the Lavender language liturgically and it has programs to ensure that everyone citizen has at least some facility with it.

Being a spaceborne polity, the Asteral Accord cannot really be said to have nations it borders which it should spend more effort establishing diplomatic relations to. There are the polities in the asteroid belt, of course, but all of the polities on Earth are largely equidistant to it. So, it creates criteria to decide which countries should receive diplomatic attention — either to receive it first, or receive more of it.

They assess each country in turn. This time, they are looking at the The People's Republic in the Seat of Providence, or Providence for short. One of the Asteral Accord's ships has established radio communications with them from orbit.

A country which possesses things the Accord desires is more important. Obviously.

A country which is big in population or land is more important. Being bigger means more scale. And it also means being a bigger threat; a country which they definitely ought to have diplomatic channels with.

A country which has access to Orgone is more important. A country which has access to more Lores is more important. You definitely want to have diplomatic channels with countries with magic!

A country which is more favored by Teiatat is more important. This one is harder to assess objectively, but it remains an important factor still.

A country which they have leverage over is more important. If the Accord possess things that the other country really wants, then that means they can charge highly for it.

A country which is more stable and lawful is more important. They don't want to bother with trying to have diplomacy and treaties with countries who have poor leadership, constantly changing leadership, or duplicitous leadership. This one is hard to assess objectively, especially in this early stage, but it still remains very important.

A country which has better cultural fit with the Asteral Accord is more important. Better cultural fit means easier relations, easier trade, easier everything.

Providence happens to check most of those boxes! It's not the largest of states (that honor probably goes to the empire forming up across Asia), but it has a population in the hundreds of thousands and a large-ish territory pinned between two great lakes. That location gives it plenty of fertile farming land (made more so with the power of Edicts), and access to large amounts of fresh water.

The republic also has access to all four Lores that Teiatat, in his generosity, shared with the peoples of Earth. This is but one sign of His favor — more lie in the unusual bounty of the land, the strength of their magics, and the rumors of favor from the Prince in Lavender's Herald. The people of Providence are happy, healthy, productive, relaxed, law-abiding, clean, and organized. The majority of them speak English, but the Lavender Language is taught in schools, and expected to become the dominant language within a few years.

On the other hand, their location makes it hard for them to expand much further — they share borders with a number of different polities, many of which have firmly rejected the new way of the world. They have no spaceships, nor off-planet holdings, but by all reports seem eager to obtain both. They've even built a small "spaceport" (little more than a landing pad and some small buildings) in advance of having any working spaceship designs.

Farming land or fresh water is not important to the Asteral Accord. It is self-sufficient with regards to food due to the nutritionally-complete-mushroom farms that they started out with in Amphitrite, though they are seeking to import various plant cuttings and seeds so that they can eat things other than mushrooms. However, Providence has access to the oceans (even if it is not the most convenient route) through the Great Lakes Waterway, and that is valuable. That would set them up to compete against the Ivory Leagues to become the dominant trade polity in the Solar system.

Despite this, Providence scores highly on most metrics. The Accord decides to assign them top priority for a diplomatic visit.

All of the Asteral Accord's ships are utilitarian things designed to transport people and materials. That is not really a good look, if they're trying to do a diplomatic rush. Therefore, they have retrofitted this ship to be able to accept honored guests — though they are planning to land a delegation before they invite others to come up to the ship.

The AAV Vault sends the following transmission in English, since that is the language that they have been conversing in.

The Asteral Accord wishes to send a delegation to the People's Republic in the Seat of Providence and establish diplomatic relations with each other. The Accord wishes to learn more about your Republic and its culture, and discuss the possibility of trade deals and treaties.

If this is also desired by the People's Republic in the Seat of Providence, please suggest a place and a date and time where the Accord may land a shuttle.

They give shuttle landing requirements. They are extremely forgiving and just require that enough space is available — the shuttle is house-sized — and that there is a clear path from that place to the sky. The landing requirements do not set a required safety clearing space and, as written, the shuttle could conceivably land in a city plaza. It's very likely to be a magical shuttle though the Asteral Accord does not explicitly say this.