UPDATE:
03/13: Removed choices 2, 3A/3B, 4A/4B; Rewrote choices 1, 5, and 6. Created another choice involving the military.
Description: During a recent geothermal experiment in @@NATION@@'s countryside, a huge chasm was opened, filled with eerie caves, underwater lakes, and never before seen lifeforms. A probe dropped into the chasm was quickly devoured by a creature near the surface of a lake, obscured by darkness. An odd assembly of scientists and mystics have begged their way past your secretaries to discuss the pit which has been dubbed a “Pit of Nightmares” by the popular media...
Issue invalid for nations with low scientific advancement (~100 and below)
Choice 1: A high ranking military officer approaches your desk and salutes. “Officer @@RANDOMNAME@@ reporting, @@LEADER@@, this place is clearly dangerous. Some folks are claiming it is of unholy “religious” importance. I beg to differ. We should bar this place off and set up a military outpost. We can try and ‘tame’ these so-called ‘eldritch horrors’ for our military. If that doesn’t work, well...” @@HE@@ leans in towards you, grimacing. “...we can always use them for target practice.”
Fallout: The military’s new line of weapons seems rather “fleshy”.
Choice 2: A man covered in necklaces and mystic symbols approaches you, leading a much larger group of similarly clad individuals. “Greetings, I am cleric @@RANDOMNAMEMALE@@ of the @@ANIMAL@@ Tribal Mystics Association. In our great oral traditions, it was prophesied that such a chasm would be found, the chasm of the great horrors who descended from the stars. We demand you surrender control of the chasm to our people and our mystical cause. The Eldritch Beings must be appeased, and their demands are great.” He begins sputtering what sounds like nonsense, which his crowd begins wildly reciting.
Fallout: Mystics pick straws to see who will be dropped into “The Infinite Chasm of Nyarl-Azzaroth.”
Choice 3: Your Minister of Science @@RANDOMNAME@@, who has had @@HIS@@ head in @@HIS@@ hands for most of the meeting, speaks up. “Come on people! ‘Target practice’? ‘Eldritch horrors’? What a load of poppycock, I mean it’s a chasm for Pete’s Sake! What’s waiting down there is a world of scientific discoveries and wonders! We should send more research teams down there to see what truly lies in those depths. Mineral deposits! Water reservoirs! Entire chapters of the world’s history could be trapped in the walls of this chasm! It’s ridiculous to think some ‘eldritch abominations’ reside bel-” before @@HE@@ can finish @@HIS@@ sentence, a group of dark-clad individuals come and carry @@HIM@@ out of the room.
Fallout: Chasm-spelunking researchers rarely return from their sabbaticals.
Choice 4: “Gosh darn guberment, get yer hands off of this chasm!” screams tin-foil clad conspiracy theorist and radio personality Mareks Jonas. “Your byzantine government should butt out of anomalies and let the professionals get to work here.” He flashes you his degrees in Cryptozoology and Extraterrestrial studies, which are written in crayon. “For years, your slimy bureaucracy has prevented the public from knowing the truth on anomalous items, like the Maxtopian Crystal Skulls or the contents of Area 50. Revoke all surveillance on national parks, museums, military bases, and everything else! Just let us uncover the truth!” He begins fishing through one of your filing cabinets before security drags him out of the room.
Fallout: National museums and parks are vandalized frequently by ‘researching’ conspiracy theorists.
Description: During a recent geothermal experiment in @@NATION@@'s countryside, a huge chasm was opened, filled with eerie caves, underwater lakes, and never before seen lifeforms. A probe dropped into the chasm was quickly devoured by a monstrous creature near the surface of one of the lakes. A gaggle of scientists, ecologists, and tribesmen have begged their way past your secretaries to discuss the pit which has been a “Pit of Nightmare Fuel” by the involved research teams...
Issue invalid for nations with low scientific advancement (~100)
Choice 1: A well known @@DEMONYM@@ scientist and explorer named @@RANDOMNAMEFEMALE@@ pipes up from the group of people encroaching on your evening. “@@LEADER@@, I think this is a good opportunity to learn. We could set up an outpost at the opening, and send in teams to explore it, catalog new life forms and areas, as well as set up checkpoints for other teams. All we need is some funding and maybe some protection from the military and we’re golden!”
Fallout: Some people think the military is just private protection for influential explorers.
Choice 2: A park ranger named @@RANDONAMEMALE@@ shoves past the other scientists into your office and hushes them. “Good afternoon @@LEADER@@. This area is filled with clearly deadly animals and other untouched creatures. We could open this area to the public but block off the areas with deadly animals. What I mean is turn this into a national park. The people will come from all over to see the new areas and creatures. Can you see the money made to fund future research? Because I can!”
Fallout: Citizens go into creepy caves in parks with park rangers never to be seen again…
Choice 3A: A religious nut from the surrounding countryside jumps through the window into your office and begins berating you and the scientists. “No, @@LEADER@@!! This place is oh-so-clearly evil and should be blocked off! Let my fellow brothers and sisters of the great Church of Violet cleanse this place and not speak of this evil place again.”
Fallout: People make large religious pilgrimages but no one is heard from again...
Invalid for nations with Violetism banned
Choice 3B: A religious nut from the surrounding countryside jumps through the window into your office and begins berating you and the scientists. “No, @@LEADER@@!! This place is oh-so-clearly evil and should be blocked off! Let my fellow brothers and sisters of the great Tranquility of Yellow cleanse this place and not speak of this evil place again.”
Fallout: People make large religious pilgrimages but no one is heard from again...
Choice 4A: A man in a business suit rushes into your office with a briefcase. "Howdy @@LEADER@@, I am @@RANDOMNAME@@, and I've come here to offer you a deal. I represent a very large well-known company that shall remain unnamed for privacy reasons. I offer to you quite a sizable amount of @@CURRENCY@@ in exchange for the discovered area. The area will be turned into an amusement park with some of the subsiding caves being turned into sewage plants. So whaddya say, pal?" He sets down the briefcase and opens it to show it filled to the brim with @@CURRENCY@@.
Fallout: Corporations buy chunks of land underground to turn into amusement parks and sewage dumps.
INVALID FOR NATIONS WITH SOCIALIST ECONOMY
Choice 4B: A man in a business suit rushes into your office with a briefcase. "Howdy @@LEADER@@, I am @@RANDOMNAME@@, and I've come here to offer you a deal. I know that my company doesn't have any grounds legally here, but I see a lot of future in this investment. I represent a very large well-known foreign company that shall remain unnamed for the time being. I offer to you quite a sizable amount of @@CURRENCY@@ in exchange for the discovered area. The area will be turned into an amusement park to distract the public from, shall we say, other problems. Some of the subsiding caves will be turned into sewage plants. So whaddya say, my comrade?" He sets down the briefcase and opens it to show it filled to the brim with @@CURRENCY@@.
Fallout: Corporations buy chunks of land underground to turn into distractions for the public from government secrets.
INVALID FOR NATIONS WITH CAPITALIST ECONOMY
Choice 5: @@RANDOMNAME@@, a scientist that represents a tribe called the "Southern @@ANIMAL@@ Tribe" storms to the front of the group, interrupts the other scientists and begins yelling over you and them, "I represent my people of the Southern @@ANIMAL@@ Tribe. I hereby declare the discovered lands as that of my people for us to expand to the depths and reach closer to our inner peace!"
Fallout: Roaming tribes claim newly discovered areas, bulldoze them to build more longhouses, and slaughter the native species.
Choice 6: After the meeting one of your secretaries approaches you. “@@LEADER@@, I think we should send in tons of scientists, don’t explore it, just send in more probes. So many conspiracy theories regard things like this. This chasm confirms most of them!” The secretary then begins smashing various vases in your office, chanting something about a coming disaster, and other creepy mish-mash
Fallout: Conspiracy theorists gather on the daily to worship Lovecraftian-esque creatures.