De Republyk is a fertile land but its people are more than farmers. They are builders, merchants and sailors: the water forces them to adapt to life with the water. They are not foot soldiers and they are not conquerors, so instead of outward barbarism the Republyk looks outward to its neighbours with genuine interest and the desire to cooperate.

By ship, the Hollander Kees Rademaker departed to Nottinghamshire, with the intention to address the Central Board of the Trades Union Congress. Himself a member of the Staten-Generaal, his success will likely decide his chances of becoming the next Stadhouder.

By land, the Gelrenaar Jan-Jaap Teunissen, another member of the Staten-Generaal, was sent as an emissary to Cologne. The people of the upper Ryn are known to the people of the lower Ryn but Rynlaand, as the Gelrenaars call it, is feared for its militaristic conquest of places close to Gelrelaand, and so the main objective of Teunissen is to ensure that the Rynlaand has no intention to go to war with the Republyk.