Namaste Peter.
The Ninjas salute all the Mad Scientists.
Since Ninja General_W (who does not speak about himself in the third person), has continually failed to catch up with Peter Grimes – we decided the time had come to just write a formal letter.
A Glorious Era of Peace
First – let us extend our thanks for the new peace treaty. We salute you as friends and look with great optimism towards the future of our two peoples. We still haven’t seen that officially signed version… so we’ve taken the liberty of drafting a seal you may want to use. If you like it – it’s yours royalty free!

We can even send you higher resolution versions if you’d like. The Ninjas are a formal people, and we put great stock in proper ceremony… so we humbly request that you please attach this seal (or one of your own devising) and return the treaty at your earliest convenience.
The Others
Peter asked about the ones called “Cavaleiros” – and if we had attacked one of their explorers. We have done no such thing. To the contrary, we have tried several approaches to build a friendly relationship with them, and been continually rebuffed. Rather than work with us – they opted to declare war and move through our territory that way. While there have been no “real” hostilities yet, things aren’t exactly friendly.
But beyond any petty squabbles over workboats and exploring – our wisemen (those who watch the tea leaves for hints about the goings-on in strange lands) have observed a series of trades and behaviors between the Cavalerios and the Kazakhs. We’ve mentioned this before, and don’t want to belabor the point… we just want to emphasize our belief that we have a natural opportunity to cement an alliance to counter-balance an emerging technology powerhouse. Togeather, they're going to be very powerful, as just this turn - we observed the Kazak economy soar past the 100 GNP mark (must have built an academy?). We also have some concern that the Cav-Kaz alliance may try to trick you into helping them in their push for Civil Service. We just want you to be aware that anything you help them with will almost certainly flow to the other team. (example: we believe you traded Iron Working to the Cavaleiros, who then turned around and immediately gave it to the Kazaks. Unless we misread your involvement there?)
The Big Idea
So here’s what we’re thinking – we haven’t fully formulated this yet (hence our desire to chat more informally… but oh well) – but we want to get this out on the table so we can start talking business. We’d like a tech alliance with you. We’re willing to beeline straight to alphabet (and indeed, we’ve started working on writing already). We’re willing to trade you writing, alphabet, Metal Casting, etc… the whole of Ninja knowledge. In exchange we’d like any knowledge you have that we lack – and to form a tech-trading embargo against the Cav-Kaz alliance. Hopefully – one of us will find Saturn soon, and we could bring them in on this deal so that we don’t end up on the wrong side of a 3v2 world.
Obviously this is just a starting point. We very much would like to hear what you think about such an idea and how we can best make it work for you.
Looking forward to hearing back from you soon.
Your friends,
General_W,
Daimyo of State, SANCTA
Peace is now certain
But threatening clouds gather
Join hands for success.
For your consideration: