Diplomatic Relations

Balthimore's alliances are the principal reason the Crowned Realm still controls territory east of the Crownspine. Its diplomats must sustain a full military coalition, maintain western commerce, borrow extraordinary sums, and convince neutral powers that resisting Falmathion serves more than Balthimorean sovereignty.

Falmathion — Open War

Falmathion invaded after Balthimore refused to surrender the land surrounding the celestial bones. Balthimore considers the conflict an unambiguous defense of sovereign territory. Falmathian forces now occupy the excavation and additional eastern land.

Diplomatic contact continues through prisoner exchanges, battlefield negotiations, neutral intermediaries, and religious delegations. Neither government trusts the other's account of the discovery.

Frostfällt — Formal Ally

Frostfällt and Balthimore share wartime pledges. Frostfällt deploys troops, weapons, runic defenses, supplies, medicine, and specialists to the eastern theater. Its willingness to oppose Falmathian expansion gives Balthimore essential credibility.

The relationship is not without tension. Balthimore's regulation of supernatural citizens conflicts with Frostfälltian policy, and their engineers continue arguing about why imported Balthimorean plumbing freezes under impossible conditions.

Halfor — Technical and Military Ally

Halfor provides the arcane-mechanical artillery that allows Balthimore to threaten dragons in flight. Halforian engineers train crews, maintain complex systems, and adapt weapons to battlefield experience.

Balthimore depends upon this support and fears becoming technically incapable of defending itself without it. Halfor, in turn, gains critical information about Falmathian tactics and draconic warfare.

Dramor — Intelligence Ally

Dramor specializes in intelligence, infiltration, codebreaking, and operations behind Falmathian lines. Its agents map troop movements, identify factional disputes, intercept communications, and help Balthimore distinguish real offensives from political theater.

The secrecy surrounding Dramoran work means even allied commanders rarely understand its full extent.

Dregor — Secret Friend

Dregor publicly maintains neutrality. Privately, selected officials and merchants channel information, equipment, money, and supplies toward Isaac's defense. This arrangement gives Balthimore access to markets and routes that would close if Dregor openly joined the coalition.

Exposure would threaten Dregor's neutrality and could provoke Falmathian retaliation.

Grobion — Enemy

Grobion supports Falmathion through irregular fighters, raiders, mercenaries, and opportunists attracted to the violence of the frontier. Grobion forces are difficult to predict because plunder, amusement, and personal challenge can matter more to them than a coherent campaign plan.

Balthimorean soldiers blame Grobion units for some of the war's most unnecessary destruction.

The Averician Islands — Commercial Distance

The Averician Islands continue trading with western Balthimore while avoiding full military commitment. Their merchants value furniture, domestic machinery, books, and Eschbron's port access. Balthimore seeks loans and maritime supplies without forcing the islands to choose a side publicly.

Coalition Politics

The coalition is militarily committed but politically uneven. Every ally has different objectives, limits, and expectations for repayment. Commanders work directly with Isaac and the eastern war council, often with only a partial understanding of western politics.

Balthimore's dependence creates future risks. Even victory could leave foreign creditors, armies, engineers, and intelligence services deeply embedded in the realm.

Diplomatic Objectives

Balthimore seeks:

• Recognition that the excavation remains sovereign Balthimorean territory
• Sustained coalition support
• Additional anti-dragon defenses
• Credit without surrendering control of the crown
• Neutral trade routes into the east
• Religious investigation independent of Falmathian authority

Its greatest fear is not merely battlefield defeat. It is the possibility that allies and creditors decide the Crownspine is the defensible border and abandon everything east of it.