Ticciano Conference

The Ticciano Conference was held on 19 July, 1885, in Ticciano, the duchy of Pisiano in southern Fanaglia. The leaders of the nations of Fanaglia, Inoroth, Vjiay, Wirbel, The Voerdish Free State, Dalruanazkal, and Greater Deytwa met at the Hotel Luna Rossa to discuss the logistics and political implications of constructing an Intercontinental Railroad across the breadth of Amplector and connecting to Promethia in the west, across the Valorian Isthmus.

Despite there being much heated debate on several issues, including the establishment of a regulatory Rail Council, what such a council's powers should be and how it should enforce those powers, and whether a nation had the right to impose tariffs on goods passing through, but not stopping in, that nation, the conference came to an agreement in only one day. Several compromises and concessions were made, but, in the end, the key points agreed upon were as follows:


 * Establishment of a Rail Council.
 * Disputes between nations regarding the Intercontinental Railroad (ICR) are to be settled by the Rail Council.
 * The Rail Council may be called upon to mediate internal disputes within an investing nation that involve the ICR.
 * Investing nations are required to maintain their segment of the ICR to a level deemed satisfactory by the Rail Council.
 * Should a nation not maintain her segment satisfactorily, after three warnings by the Council for the same infraction, the Council shall hold a maintenance auction to private businesses, after which the lowest bidder shall receive the contract and perform the maintenance or repair(s) and the offending nation shall be billed for that business' services by the Council.
 * The Rail Council may not levy its own taxes or tariffs; taxes and tariffs are the exclusive right of the investing nations, and even then only in the event of cargo offloading within that nation.
 * No nation may impose tariffs on traffic passing through, but not stopping within, her borders.
 * Any restriction of access to the ICR by a foreign nation is forbidden.
 * All powers not explicitly granted to the Rail Council are reserved for the individual investing nations, including the possible need for military enforcement of the Council's regulations and mandates.

This last point, usually referred to as the Federal Clause, is often considered to be the main reason for the ultimate failure of the Rail Council. It essentially laid plans for a Council with no teeth to enforce its own regulations. The Council eventually came to be regarded as weak and no to be taken seriously. Vjiay was the first to take advantage of this clause, blatantly violating its regulations against taxes, tariffs, and access restriction. Despite the Council's numerous complaints and threats, the unwillingness of the other investing nations to go to war (for that was viewed as the inevitable result of any sort of military intervention in the matter) allowed Vjiay to continue her insolence and insubordination. The resulting tariffs continued to rise in the time after the completion of the Intercontinental Railroad and indirectly brought about the War for Voerdish Sovereignty.