The Order of the Lion

[pbrione]

I will echo the points that Petr made. We see nothing wrong in principle with a group of citizens deciding to take up arms in defence of Bretonia. However, I have a few points that need to be addressed in order to assuage some concerns.

1. The issue of taking characters out of the BAF into another faction is something that I know there have been concerns about in the past. That's not to say you can't do it, but I would expect the BAF leadership to at least be consulted before other factions "steal" any of our members.

2. Whatever your views, the Bretonian government clearly views the corsairs as a secondary threat when compared with Kusari. I would therefore suggest like Petr that you try to avoid using BAF ships when possible, as almost all BAF ships being manufactured would go straight to the Leeds front.

3. If you intend your organisation to operate (inRP) under the "control" of the Bretonian government, I would be concerned about us being held responsible for any real or perceived "gamma raids" or "corsair pvp abuse". Not that I am suggesting there will neccessarily be any, but I cannot tell in advance how close in practice your activities will be to what you have laid out in your well-presented post. The mere fact of a Bretonian group operating in the Omegas has the potential to lead to all sorts of trouble. If you can handle that, then good on you, but I wouldn't want complaints from other organisations that a Bretonian government sactioned group was causing problems. For instance - your ZOI marks Omega 11 and Omega 7 - true there are corsairs there, but those systems are under the protection of the Rheinland Military, and I would fear the consequences of a Bretonian military order trying to operate there. You maybe need to think through your political and diplomatic position a little more carefully to avoid causing any "diplomatic incidents"

4. If, on the other hand, you intend to operate as a fully independent paramilitary organisation beyond the control of the Bretonian government, then I would need to be assured that your forces don't start getting in the way of regular BAF operations, or trying to do the BAF's job for them. That would mean concentrating on the Omegas, and not being seen in northern Bretonia unless there was express need to do so. Also you would need to remember that you would not have authority over civilians in the way the BPA and BAF do, and would not, for instance, be able to enforce the laws of Bretonia. I would doubt you would even be able to halt the ships of smugglers taking supplies to the corsairs or selling their artifacts for fear of simply becomming vigilantes, something you have expressed you don't want. Basically you would be limited in fighting genuine corsair IDed ships for the most part, which could limit your RP opportunities. Again, you need to think carefully about how your organisation fits into the Bretonian system as a whole - e.g. (and this is just one example), would you submit to orders from regular BAF or not? What about BPA, or MI5? If only in certain cirumstances, what would those cirumstances be? Answer questions like these, and you will find your position much clearer, making it easier for others to judge your faction.

If the above points can be addressed satisfactorily, I am happy for you to proceed. Though I'm sure Dieter will have his own views, and again our support depends on how you act in practice in-game, not just on your written proposals. We will need some convincing that this is not going to end up causing more trouble than it is worth.

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Sir Stanley Nelson




<span style="color:#000066">Charles Canning </span><span style="color:#000066"> Foreign Secretary</span>