Second contact — the Pearled Council

Until 2174, the survey's working assumption was that the Tyrian Court was, if not the only Pelagine polity, then at least the only one that would treat with humans. The assumption was the survey's, not the Court's; the Court had not, on any record, claimed exclusivity. It had simply not, on any occasion, mentioned anyone else.

The encounter

A scheduled survey transit through the bathyal at approximately 2 300 metres recorded, at the edge of submersible range, a structured array of long-wavelength signals that did not match any known Tyrian register. Subsequent runs over the following months identified the source as the principal architecture of what is now called the Silent Chord, and an envoy from the polity present there made formal request to be received at a marker.

The polity

The Pearled Council, as the survey came to call it. Distinct from the Court in voice, in seat, and — the survey believes — in ethos. Whether the two polities represent two cultures, two regions, two periods of a single tradition, or four, the survey does not pretend to know. The Court has, on the question, declined to comment.

The treaty extension

The Treaty of Marker I was, after consultation with both polities, extended in 2175 to permit Pearled Council meetings at the Brassgate, at ADS depth. The cadence is half-yearly. The conventions follow the Tyrian protocol with several adjustments that are not, by the Council's preference, made public.