Okay, so I took some time and read back threw some of the previous sections specifically dealing with the summit prep and here's what we seem to be working with:
The Empire overall is mostly staying out of this, it doesn't (or shouldn't) affect a lot of the other provinces but they are using it as a means to play politics with each other and to keep an ear to the ground. Our biggest opposition is going to be the Ministry of Integrity wanting to keep foreign influence out and Empire secrets in. They don't have much direct power as long as we keep things above board but we also have to play nice with them seeing as they are going to be an institute we have to deal with for our entire lives and that could seriously mess us up if we do step out of line.
The Meng are mainly wanting two things. The opportunity to further develop the southern portions of the Emerald Seas and an end to Cloud Nomad raiding.
The Wang are wanting strict maps and borders laid out, clear signs of who owns what parts of the land so future disputes can be resolved before they happen.
The Bao are going to want infrastructure built out. They want access to the lands we are going to be claiming and potentially access to the White Skies for trading.
The Jia are not wanting us to make cede authority or to come off as weak and make too many unwarranted concessions to the White Skies. They are also going to be jockeying for a position of military importance for their own clan.
The Luo want to make sure this is some sort of lasting agreement, whether that be through marriage, exchange of noble/highborn prisoners/wards, joint point of authority, or soulbinding contracts. Just something more than ink and paper.
The Diao are trying to play it cool, they don't care much about what happens as long as we don't bring the Ministry and by extension the Empire into this directly.
As for what the Sects want, the Rushing Cloud Sect is tied deeply with the Jia and are wanting military importance for themselves. The Blue Mountain Sect are just interested in historical/knowledge exchanges. The Argent Sect are fighting two different wars and want the head of whoever killed Elder Zhao.
Then we have the White Skies and their side factions.
We don't know what the main White Sky factions want out of this besides them having an academic interest in this. We can infer they want some of the other main points like maps and what not but we don't know for certain.
The Tangled Pines we know nothing about and are only guessing that they see us a potential rival for raw materials.
The Seared Lands on the other hand we know specifically want a pact of non-aggression and mechanisms in place to settle disputes. They also want to see the White Sky continuing to integrate the Cloud Nomads.
So that's all of the currently known and speculated wants of the various powers backing this. The actual goal that we have stated for this summit is to have a great Survey of the Wall and semi-permenant meeting place.
With all that in mind it seems like a bad idea to NOT have the sharing of knowledge and facility access be a major point negotiation. Making it a major part of negotiation pretty much ticks the box of half our stated goal, this place we are meeting in would become a fixed point for us to meet in moving forward because it becomes a site of interest to both sides. This gives us a HUGE advantage in negotiations because we BUILT it, we OWN it. If they want access to it we can push them to give ground in other areas, two areas I think specifically. Border safety and Empire influence.
What I mean by this is that in order for the White Sky to get access to the telescope they are going to have to make some concessions on what sort of rule we will use going forward, we can push to use more Empire like rules and laws thus mitigating any outsider influences (make the MoI happy) and we can also swing that if they want to use it they need to help protect it which pushes us more towards defensive allies than just non-aggressive neighbors. It becomes a vested interest for both parties. It helps us meet the wants of several of the clans on our side and on theirs.
All in all adding this to the docket may be an iffy thing for the MoI and Meng but it will give us the capital we need in negotiations to get the things they actually want.
[X] Yes, so many potential ties are made difficult by the sheer distance involved, but not this. Knowing the White Sky is a center of research for the polar nation only makes it a better choice.