World Cup 78 - Roleplay Thread

[Taeshan]

It was a rough road trip to Eura the weekend before as the Purple Knights lost 2-0 to a familiar opponent in Eura. For the 10th time the two Rushmori rivals battles and for the 5th time the side from Eura came out victorious. So the team returned home to the now familiar environs of X Island Metropark to take on another new opponent in Sulsuland. The Knights came home looking to get a needed victory and looking to keep pace with the leaders of the pack, and after a surprise Eura loss to Frejo in an early game the Knights had full opportunity to put themselves in a solid position with 4 games to go and all to play for.

The Knights weren't messing around as the game got started and almost immediately Miles Snavely had the ball in the back of the net against a seemingly unaware Sulsuland defense. The goals would continue to come for much of the game from here. Snavely would record a hat trick by the end of the night with another goal before halftime and a third on a late header to make the final score 5-0. His strike partner tried his best throughout the game not to be outdone as Landon van Neymar had a brace of his own, and recorded an assist on the second Snavely goal. The rest of the team looked sharp throughout and ultimately the Knights came away with one of their easiest victories ever.

[Qasden]

Wednesday•23:32•Taxson Airport, Qasden—

2-1, the scoreboard had sung. The audience at Merellin Park roared in overwhelming joy, watching their beloved Vans climb the rungs of Group 14. More and more hope had begun to course throughout every citizen within the Blue-Red borders. 3 hours later, the stadium had emptied out, and our gang meets up again at the city airport, bound to travel to their next opponent, Savojarna, in the Rushmori clutches.

The 2 Zacharies sat by the gate with only Timothy between them, slouching and snoring over the headrest. Meanwhile, Rosie was meandering about the large hallway scouring for duty-free shops.

After the win earlier against Goluta, we are now third in our group, below Tobiasia due to goal difference and their 2-0 victory today against Yesopolitha.
Quite a strong performance today, yes?

Sols's expression turned quizzical without turning his head.

Wasn't our best, but was a confidence riser. Jon and I will be discussing strategies in Savojarna before the matchup in a secluded area, as to hope nobody eavesdrops and fools our intentions.
You're making it sound like some form of drug deal.
A drug deal of athletic statistics, if that's what you mean. The Savojars are right behind us in the standings, so it's best we don't get sabotaged in such a critical match.
I see. So aside from the issue, who else must we face?
After tomorrow comes a break, which is key to use for training and maybe a friendly. Afterwards, we will face Tobiasia at the Stade de Solis in Fyre for the final match of the qualifiers' first half.
Ah. So if we want to finish the half in second, we will need 2 wins, correct?
For the most part. We could draw against Savojarna and beat Tobiasia and still finish 2nd. What really concerns me, however, is our rematches against Port Christopher and Brenecia. PCR may not have taken us down at their place, but there's no doubt they'll be a vengeance-seeking squad in T.V. City. For Brenecia, we'll need something along the lines of the win over Valladares last cycle. A win would bring us into significant power. Maybe even first. But the real cake is the amount we'd beat them by. Should we make another screwup in the next half, we will need to rely on goal difference to take us beyond Tobiasia and into the main tournament in Bonesea and Cosumar.
I'm sure Merritt and you have those covered. You'll have seen the entire fleet by then, and will easily be able to counter their strats. In short, Qasden should be able to handle every opponent thrown at them.
I suppose that's fair.
By the way, where's Fraiser? Our flight is about to board?
*sigh* She's over there.

Sols points to Rosie, holding 3 different colored bags with miscellaneous items filling them.

It's incredible how cheap the shops are here than T.V. City!
That's due in part of T.V. City being an internationally connected hub. We gotta have an economy some how, you know?
Heh, alright. So we're going straight to Savojarna, right?
2 layovers, Rosie.
An hour-long layover at the capitol to drop off Tim and pick up Rees, and then a 45-minute layover in Cenial to transfer over to the flight towards Sjoedrhavn.
Well shoot. I was hoping we'd get a direct flight.
Like I said, Rosie, Taxson isn't as international as TVC, and we have yet to sign contracts and such with the Savojar government that would enable Qad and Savojar aircrafts to travel between the two countries with ease.
Yeah Yeah. Let's just hope Rees is already prepared.

A female voice interrupted the trio's conversation.

Group A for Flight 1720 to T.V. City is now boarding.

The group shook Timothy awake and got into the line, waiting to start their long journey to Savojarna.

[Farfadillis]

The Kamikaze
A site dedicated to Farf football

Youngsters Section

Oskar Holst
submitted moments ago

Tíbürçìó surprised most everyone with three of his call-ups this cycle: Lüí Wçêíl's, Xíxì Êns' and Oskar Holst's. I intend to give you all a decent idea of what they're capable of in the following weeks. Oskar happens to be the youngest of the three, and as a consequence arguably the most surprising inclusion. A player with boundless potential, no doubt, but what has he really done to merit a place in the senior squad?

Ok, one of the first things one may look at is the results of the Di Bradini squad of which Oskar was part. They were... unimpressive, to say the least. Xíxì and him were bright spots in an otherwise uninspiring generation of Farf youngsters. They didn't even do that well, as their midfield didn't provide them with many chances. So, what has Oskar done to impress the gaffer so much?

For fans of Ausharmuj Marusi, it should be fairly obvious: he's their best player, by far. A player with considerable experience in the first tier, regardless of his age, is always worthy of consideration for a spot in the senior squad. Add to that that he's the best in his team, and Tíbürçìó can already justify calling him up. If you add to that the fact that he's seventeen, and that "experience does not hurt" is Tíbürçìó's motto, the call-up suddenly begins to make a lot of sense.

But, who is Oskar anyway? Oskar, son of Henrik Holst and Sirkka Juhl, was born in Tuukkanen, Frion. He joined Ausharmuj Marusi at the tender age of seven, and is said to be a very passionate fan. So, the kid is probably living the dream. He broke basically every record in the Frionite youth leagues. This is not as impressive as it sounds, since not many good footballers pop up in Frion, but it still speaks to his ability. Between ages ten and fifteen, he averaged over two goals per game.

What makes Oskar special? Basically, he's got it all. I've watched him quite a lot, and if I had to choose one player he reminded me the most of, it would be Gustaf Kolehmainen, the Polarian striker from about twenty years ago. Now, I know not many of you got to watch him, but the man was the ideal striker. Physical, a menace in the air, but also fast and nimble, and ridiculously lethal inside the box. He could score from anywhere. Oskar is a player in that mold. An absolute machine. He already terrorizes defenses at the age of seventeen, who knows where he might get.

If I had to place him in a list of Farf players with the most potential, he'd place very high up the list. I am pretty sure he's not quite a Wínrôuge, Kâí or Dandalleion. However, I wouldn't completely rule it out. At his age, Wínrôuge was actually at about his level (though he became even better than was expected), Kâí was already starting for the national team and Dandalleion was actually not a footballer at all. So, now that I think about it, comparisons are hard to make. However, Dandalleion was comfortably the NT's best player just four years later. But anyway, I'd expect Oskar to be one of the best Farf footballers of all time, but just a tier below the all-time greats. Think of him as about as talented as Mâás Fôx, who is sort of like the other three, but most place him just ever-so-slightly below them.

Oskar has gone on record saying he would not consider a move to a bigger Farf club. He's likely to leave for a big foreign club soon, as a result. His loyalties lie with Ausharmuj Marusi and that is that. So far, no concrete offers have come from aboard, but that's likely to not hold true for much longer, specially if he is given playing time at the international stage.

Overall, Oskar Holst is one of the most talented names in recent years. Expect him to lead the frontline for many years in the future.

[Chromatika]

Chromatika 2-0 Equestrian States
Lineup vs. Equestrian States: Nier; Morningstar - Aart - Ellen; Kelly (C) - Montague - Hellion - Liam; Rien - Andisori - Antonio. Subs: Harbin -> Liam ('55), Ria -> Nier ('62), Victriane -> Rien ('82)
Goals vs. Equestrian States: Andisori '78 assisted by Kelly; Victoriane '88 assisted by Andisori. Player of the Match: Keira Andisori (1 goal, 1 assist)

In the first game of a crucial three-game stretch to decide the leader for Group 5, it was the host side and the Top-ranked team in the Group that ultimately prevailed over the Ponies by a score of two to nil in the Capitalizt Dome. It wasn't easy at all, as the Ponies' four-leggedness helped immensely in keeping the game tied up at nil-nil, and it took some ingenuity for the Chromatiks to ultimately prevail.

Foremost in the bevy of good news was the form of Jillian Nier, who showed that her recovery from her injures shoulder was evident in sixty-two solid minutes before exiting the game to conserve her strength in the favor of Mia Ria. The two combined to pitch a shutout - a feat helped by the back three and side midfielders doing a wonderful job every time the Ponies entered the Chromatik third of the pitch.

Meagan Kelly showed the continuation of maturation of skills after coming back from childbirth, dictating the pace of the game stretches at a time and assisting on the game-winner, which was scored by the ever consistent Keira Andisori. Kaytlyn Victoriane showed versatility on the right wing, relieving Trenn Rien and putting the game out of reach. This gives Silian Parker yet another possibility on the pitch, as now he could field a front three of just speedsters, with Victoriane and Dragana on the wings and Andisori up top, supported by Kelly, Montague, Sybill, and Harbin, who are faster than their counterparts. If ever he deemed it was time for the Chromatiks to run circles around an opponent and lose out a bit on size, he knew what he could do then.

The second of the three key matches will see the Chromatiks go on the road against the Free Republics, a side that is just now starting to get back into prominence after an absence. Currently sitting at a record of four wins and two draws, and the match being on the road before the momentous match against Damukuni, the match has the words "Trap Game" written all over it.

Mia Ria is expected to start in goal, and Victoriane is expected to actually start in place of Rien to see if she can handle a whole match on the right wing. Jazmin Dragana is also expected to make the start instead of Gabriella Antonio, who's being pulled to rest in her not-so-young age, to her discontent.

As his experiments continue, Parker will be hoping that they don't incur any setbacks in the due process.

Expected Lineups @ Free Republics: Ria; Morningstar - Aart - Ellen; Kelly (C) - Montague - Sybill - Harbin; Victoriane - Andisori - Dragana.

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OPERATION NEW HOPE

Dossier 3
Name: Didi Farrot
Previous Color: Middle Yellow
Age: 37
Height: 5 ft 4 in
Weight: 140 lbs
Eye Color: Hazel Green
Hair Color: Blonde
Handedness: Ambidextrous
Occupation: Shift Manager at Black Raven Technologies, Chromatika's foremost electronics company
Family: A younger sister, Andie, who is a teacher at Mt. Niar High in Z'ai'ai; Mother works as a florist in Chromatik City
Sexuality: Lesbian. Has a girlfriend, Michelle Key, whom she's been with for the last twelve years in secret.
Personality: ISFP. "Quiet, friendly, sensitive, and kind. Enjoy the present moment, what's going on around them. Like to have their own space and to work within their own time frame. Loyal and committed to their values and to people who are important to them. Dislike disagreements and conflicts, do not force their opinions or values on others." Didi is a kind soul who tries to get along with everyone, and is very amicable as long as you don't intrude on things that are hers, especially in relationships. She loves to respect others and only asks that they respect her back. She will also take on jobs that other people don't like to for the sake of them being done and the others being happy as well.
Education: None. Learned to read and write, but that's about it. Excellent hand-eye coordination and motor skills, knows how to put things together very well.
Project Involvement: Didi was recommended by Victor Henrier, President of Black Raven Technologies, as she is perhaps the person with the best tinkering skills that the company has ever had. When approached and asked if she'd like to participate, she agreed without much persuasion, speaking to understanding the importance of such an endeavor. She has been taken off of her previous position and instead been given her own personal workshop where she can start planning, designing, and building various devices that might be useful for the purpose of the Project.
Recommendation: Be sure to have Didi relaxed and feel under no pressure. Has a brilliant mind that was suppressed by the previous system. Encourage creativity, discovery, and trials despite possible errors that may occur. May need to shelter from negative instances so that she can focus on the work at hand. Solid potential member of The Project.

It made perfect sense to Colonel Monett why a person like Didi would be on the list. In the Jungle, knowing how to make simple tools by hand would be very important, and Didi definitely fit into that mold. She may not be able to explain why everything worked, but having someone who could create tools and also innovative answers to questions that would undoubtedly rise as the Project ran into unforeseen trouble will be essential to the team. She would be another core member and a sorely needed one.

[Mriin]

Mari shuddered along with the plane. "Why are we taking a Buyanese airliner, again?" She looked over the barren passenger compartment--that didn't look much different than a cargo compartment, honestly--at her teammates splayed out in various states 'relaxation'.

"There's barely any other options." Joren stood at the front of the cabin, next to a coiled-up Don, both scribbling on a magnetic whiteboard they'd stuck to the wall. "Buyan isn't exactly a hot vacation spot."

"I holidayed there once." chimed in Uhlon, flat on his back staring at the pale gray ceiling. "Food wasn't bad, but there ain't much else doing."

Don spun his head around and cocked an eyebrow. "A holiday in Buyan? Uhlon, the country's just opened their borders after almost a decade. How could you possibly end up in Buyan when you were, what, eighteen?"

Uhlon managed a shrug, which is pretty difficult lying on a hard floor. "Ask the potions. Was spring break if I remember, and ain't nobody on my uni's team was ever sober."

"Wait." Mari perked up in her seat. "You played drunk?"

Uhlon rolled his head over to return the look. "What, you ain't done that a'fore?"

"No, that sounds like an awful idea! I'd be tripping all over myself or something..."

"It's not all that hard," said Solara, doing some weird yoga thing behind everyone else. "I wouldn't recommend it, sure, but once you get running you're fine. Assuming you don't get sick, but that's just knowing your limits. Plus you make some real cool plays when you're not overthinking things."

Mari looked back and gave a playful scowl. "You don't count, Solara. You could outrun all of us in your sleep."

"They at least could have stocked today's paper," mumbled Malia, flicking the broadsheet that'd been carelessly stuffed between the seats. "Did you all know we were exactly tied with Farfadillis before the Cheongji game?"

Joren gave her a sideways look. "I know we both had ten points; what do you mean exactly?"

She turned the paper around and ran a finger across the standings table. "Four games played, three wins, one draw, zero losses. That's normal enough, but we also both had seventeen goals, and seven goals against. And then, obviously, the same goal difference. It's a bit spooky."

Solara grunted as she bent backwards and tapped the back of her hoofs. "So are we in first, then? Since we four-oh'd Cheon, but the Farves only won three-oh."

"Yeah--urgh, how are you doing that?" Malia winced imagining herself attempting that, then shook that thought away. "Anyway, yes, we're actually at the top of the table for now. And if we can handle Buyan, there's a good chance we stay there--Farfadillis is up against Barunia, I doubt they're going to get away with another ridiculous blowout there."

Joren took that moment to direct everyone's attention to the whiteboard. "Speaking of handling Buyan, that's what Don and I have been discussing. Now, we all know they've been putting up pretty mediocre results so far--only two points through five games--so we should definitely take a confident, aggressive approach like we have been. We just need to keep in mind that by far their best player is their keeper, Pawlo Marciak. Damn near won the last Champion's Cup with Crisisbless, a Nepharan side."

"However," Don reached up with a claw deftly grasping the comparatively tiny marker and circled the blue 'x's at the top of the field, "Buyan also given up one of the highest numbers of goals so far. Sure, nearly half of them came from that one match against Farfadillis where they almost seemed to intentionally throw the match, but for what is ostensibly supposed to be a defensive team with a star keeper they're been having a rotten time keeping the ball out of their net. What I can tell from the video I've watched of them is that it seems their back line has good mechanics, but no leader. They'll just miss obvious coverage and let through drives that should never have happened. So I'd say this will be less of the case we had against Juvencus, Cheongji, and the *cough* Polarians where Joren would just collect stray passes all game. We'll need to actively play well and make concerted drives, and mostly keep an eye out for when they balls up their positioning and leave a path wide open. Solara already does that well enough, but I'd like to see specifically Aldo and Wanny working hard on reading positioning cues, and for Joren to work on being more willing to just take a shot when the chance presents itself."

Joren seemed a little surprised by that last bit. "Wait, what about me?"

"You know as well as I do your record is full of nothing but converted headers, kicks from the line, and a ludicrous amount of assists. You're always thinking about how to set up a goal ten seconds in the future, and I've seen you pass up perfectly good shots right now because of it. This is the game where we're most likely to be given free chances at goal, so look for those opportunities, and take them. The more we batter Marciak in goal the more likely one will slip through."

[Aggrey-Fynn Land]

LANDER SPORTS NETWORK TV

Your plug for all things sport.

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MORNING SPORTS REVIEW LIVE

Karina: Good Morning Aggrey-Fynn Landers! Thanks for tuning in to Lander Sports TV. My name is Karina Katie, and this is my co-anchor Tyson Rufus.
Tyson: Thanks Karina! It is 7 in the morning here in Samueltown, so it is time for the sports review.

AGGREY-FYNN LAND SHOCKED BY MYTANAR REGION

K: The main story today is that Aggrey-Fynn Land has been shocked by Mytanar Region in a close-fought 1-0 game.
T: Mytanar Region FA is a very secretive organization, apparently. So secretive that we do not even know who scored the winning goal!
K: The Mytanar Region FA did not release their lineup for the game. We also do not know who manages the team.
T: The only thing we do know for sure is that they are unranked, they somehow beat us, and it was their first win of the campaign.
K: When I woke up and saw the result, it had me scratching my head. I don't know how the Superstars could let this happen.
T: Fortunately, we still are in fourth in the group, are a handful of points off from a qualifying spot, and have a game in hand.
K: Well that's enough from us. We want to know what you think about the result. Call in if you want to give your take on the game!

THE VOICE OF THE FANS- CALL IN NOW!

K: We just got our first call. Hi, who is this?
Caller: My name is John Griffin, and I live in a town that's 10 or so miles north of Sunnyside. I actually went to the Aggrey-Fynn Land vs. The Isles of Avon game.
K: Really? What was it like, seeing such a great game in person?
J: It was an unforgettable experience, Karina! I was able to see the action unfold as Aggrey-Fynn Land took down a established side and got the three points.
K: So what are your thoughts on the game?
J: I think it was bound to happen sooner or later.
K: Why so?
J: I mean, if we can go into to games where we are at a severe disadvantage on paper, and pull out a draw, or a win, why can't another team do that to us? It was a disappointing game, but these things happen; the team has to roll with the punches. The best thing to do is to move on, and bounce back next game.
K: That's a very interesting perspective John. Thank you for calling in.

---

T: Ok, I have a caller on my line now. Hey, how's it going?
Caller: It's going pretty good, Tyson. I'm Penny Angela, and I live in Grove.
T: Grove, huh? How are the beaches treating you?
P: I actually live pretty far inland. *chuckles* I haven't been to the beach in a few months now!
T: That's not good. If I lived out there, I would be on the beach every day! Well, anyway, what did you think of the result?
P: For me, it was a wake-up call; if those boys were smart, it would be a wake-up call for them too.
T: How is the result a 'wake-up call', Penny?
P: We've seen what the team is capable of; these past few games are proof of how far they can go when they are at their best. So to me, losing to an unranked team, a team that has not won a single game in the qualifiers until now, that just shows me that the boys were being lazy! They need to play every game as if it's their last, because if we keep playing like this, we'll be going nowhere fast!
T: But that's kinda harsh, don't you think? After all, it's just one game, and it's their first loss. There will be lots of time to make up for the points lost.
P: I guess so. I'm just really excited for the team and how they have been doing recently. I want them to make the World Cup.
T: So do I, Penny. Thanks for calling.

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K: Ok, I have a caller. How are yo-
Caller: I HAVE A BONE TO PICK WITH A CERTAIN MYTRASH REGION.
K: And who do I have the pleasure of chatting with right now?
Caller: THE NAME'S DONNY. DONNY TREMORS. AND I-
K: Donny Tremors? As in the Assistant Manager of the national team?
D: YEAH. AND I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT-
K: Shouldn't you be with the team, preparing for the next game?
D: DON'T TELL ME HOW TO DO MY JOB!
K: So... why are you calling?
D: I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THE GAME.
K: So what did you think of it?
D: FIRST OF ALL, LET ME SAY THAT THE MYTRASH REGION IS A TERRIBLE PLACE. THEY ARE IMPOVERISHED AND UNDERDEVELOPED SAVAGES. SECOND OF ALL, THE GAME WAS A FLUKE. THE PITCH WAS LIKE A MUD BOWL. THE BOYS WERE TRIPPING OVER THEMSELVES WHILE MYTRASH REGION SOMEHOW WAS ABLE TO FLY AROUND THE FIELD AS IF NOTHING HAD HAPPENED. THIRD OF ALL, THE RESULT WAS A FLUKE. THE GUY WAS SO FAR OFFSIDES, I WAS WONDERING WHAT DRUGS THE REF WAS ON WHEN HE DIDN'T RAISE HIS FLAG! HE WAS PROBABLY PAID BY THEIR FA!
K: Well, Assistant Manager Tremors, that certainly was a mouthful. What is your team planning for the next game?
D: WELL IT WILL BE IN SAMUELTOWN, SO HOPEFULLY SEMARLAND WON'T TRY TO CHEAT- IF THEY KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR THEM!
K: It's been... nice talking to you, Mr. Tremors. Have a nice day. Good luck to you and the team.
*silence*
K: Well, it seems as if Donny Tremors has hung up.
T: That was an... interesting conversation.
K: You can say that again.
T: We'll be back after these commercials.

[Kel Assuk]

The Road to the World Cup
Chapter 2: The Heat Impacts Everything

Eric had been to many places in his life, even more so now that he'd taken this job as manager of the Kel Assuk team, but of all those places, he liked Schottia the best - and perhaps Kel Assuk the least. Well, maybe he should amend that statement - he didn't like Kel Assuk's weather. At all. There was no shade to absorb the sun's rays, which made the country a good place for a solar panel site but not a good place for any human life whatsoever. Everyone was subjected to the scorching hot rays, and Eric constantly was forced to slather on sunscreen just to walk across the street for groceries. Plus, there was the sand. It was course and rough and irritating and got just everywhere - Eric hated that scene from The Attack of the Clones but here, it described the sand just perfectly. It was constantly blowing around, it got in your eyes and your shoes, and it was just everywhere, even in the city. That line bore repetition - there was no getting away from the sand. At all. Plus, there was no water - oases were few and far between in the wide desert expanses, and the country was lucky if it got three inches of rain in the entire year. Bottled water, cold and refreshing, was always a treat in the boiling hot expanses of Marandet. Eric knew he couldn't live in Kel Assuk permanently, but he reasoned he could stay there for three more years, when his contract expired, and then hightail it off to a locale with a cooler climate. For the climate, Eric admired the Amalen - they had found ways to adapt to it, survive in it, and even thrive in it. Eric probably couldn't become an Amalen himself - born and raised in a country where it was perpetually raining and there were always clouds on the horizon, the concept of living in a baker's oven was totally foreign to him.

At least there were some benefits to the dry heat that drifted in on the desert winds and never seemed to drift out. The Amalen were used to the heat - visiting football teams were not. Eric knew about the theory behind home advantage in regular circumstances; cheering fans disrupted the rhythm of the away team and helped to energize the home team. Here, in Kel Assuk, where nobody seemed to care about football all that much, that effect was negated, but there was another trick up the national team's sleeve: the heat. Since the Amalen had lived in the heat their entire lives, they were more acclimated to it, they were used to it, they had a bigger lung capacity so they could run around in the heat longer. Nellietopia, the team's next opponents, did not have the advantage of having their home training ground in the desert, so Eric naturally expected Kel Assuk to have an edge over the visitors; plus, Nellietopia was unranked, despite having a long history of football, so Eric thought that the team should have a fairly easy match in the Tin Hinan Stadium in Marandet.

Apparently the issue of the heat worked both ways, though. Game day arrived, and it proved to be a particularly hot day, with temperatures almost reaching forty degrees celsius. Kel Assuk's defense proved fairly slow and sluggish throughout the match, making quite a few defensive errors; Eric was forced to rotate several members of the defense out, and bring in some of the subs to bring in fresh energy to the match. Ninety minutes is a long time to be running around in sweltering hot weather, and by the end of the match, everybody was sweating and gasping for breath. At least it wasn't humid; if it was humid, there would be even more problems with heat stroke and exhaustion than there were without a lot of moisture in the air. Nonetheless, the Nellietopians, who didn't bother to send Eric a list of their players before the match, proved surprisingly able to adapt to the hot conditions in Kel Assuk, while his own team performed disappointingly bad in the heat. Although the team won, thanks to the youthful energy of the team's attacking trilogy, the defense was far too sluggish for Eric's liking, and they made far too many mistakes that let in unwarranted and unecessary Nellietopian goals. Aksil Saidi-Sief seemed to make too many mistakes, too; he must have still been reeling from the concussion that he suffered in the game against Tumbra.

Eric thought of making a complaint to the Kel Assuk Board of Sport about the quality of the pitch, which was not optimal, to say the least, with dying grass all over - but then he remembered the nation's climate. Sandy, hot, and dry. Plants, just like humans, don't like growing in sandy places, and they need water as much as humans do. Last time he checked, the grass growing on the pitch was a plant, and it didn't like these climactic conditions one bit. No wonder it was dying in droves. Eric then switched gears from the performance of the grass to the performance of his players. He figured he had developed the offense well enough, or at least brought it to an adequate level for now; the midfield was alright. The defense was the real problem. It was way too leaky, nobody worked all that well together, people tended to lose track of their assigned man, and the players weren't all that skilled technically, or tactically, to begin with. The defense needed a tactical awareness of what was going on, and the technical skills to go with that awareness in order to actually do something about it. The problem was, the defense had neither. Eric needed to undertake a crash course on everything, basically. But he had a plan. He would take the next couple of days and solely devote it to the defense, make it less leaky, more coordinated, and more tactically aware. After he made some changes, maybe the team could start to be more competitive against the higher-ranked teams. Just maybe.

[Turori]

Cocoa-bo, an establishment taking its name directly from the beloved national animal of Turori, started as a small dessert shop in Kionao. However, it was only after they added chocolate topped drinks to their menu that their popularity started to soar. As more and more patrons scooped up their chocolate flavored pick-me-ups, demand for the Cocoa-bo product skyrocketed and soon new franchised locations were popping up all throughout Turori. Shifting to more of a social 'hang-out' then just a casual place to drop in, get a dessert, and leave, the new locations started adding small foods such as Bagels for the morning, Soups and Sandwiches for Lunch or Dinner and Salads for the entire day. Cocoa-bo has expanded outside of Vilita & Turori. Their first regional location was opened in Andossa Se Mitrin Vega and the company continues to explore avenues to further increase its image, expanding the company footprint across Atlantian Oceania and beyond.

Cocoa-bo is now taking its latest marketing campaign, "Everything's Better With Cocoa-bo" on the road along with the Turori National Team, bringing to bus stops, digital screens and social outlets the image of the host countries flag and backstory 'altered' to show how it would be "Better with Cocoabo"...

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Elgenstad

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Elgenstad, most well known across the multiverse as the self-proclaimed home of the 'Triple Decker Pram', has a simple and to-the-point kind of flag.

The Mountain Moose is not only the National Animal of Elgenstad, but also its favorite dish. A good main course of Elgish Mountain Moose will wet the palate of any meat lover. The Moose also makes an appearance on the Elgenstad National Flag. Well, the Moose makes more than appearance. The Moose is actually the only feature on the National Flag of Elgenstad. On a field of light blue, it provides a perfect backdrop to highlight the silhouette of the Moose.

But how much better would it look with a Cocoabo instead of a Moose? Afterall, how proud could a nation be about an animal that they just keep eating. Before too long there won't be any left, surely, and it will be time for Elgenstad to make some important decisions about which animal would take the Moose's place on their National Flag. After all, you can't pay homage to an animal you've eaten out of existence, can you?

So why not the Cocoabo? Cocoabo are thriving in the Cocoabo Forest now and I'm sure the Cocoabo Preservation Society and the Tropicorp Team at Cocoabo Park could spare a flock or too for re-colonization... if the Elgenstadders needed it. Until then, lets just have a look at what a post-Moosepacolypse Elgenstad might look like.

---

Astograth

---

The Flag of Astograth has always stood out as a bold show of strength. What kind of strength? Well one can never really be to sure. Is it military strength? Is it a Fortress designed to protect the Astograthian people? Or is it a prison, keeping something else contained behind its walls?

Of course, a Castle or Fortress is nothing without its protectors. Something belongs in the walls of Astograth but one never knows as the chain from the main gate leads off the field of green and outside the boundaries of the flag itself.

So who could be the protector of the fortress? And what mighty beast could guard its gates?

Never fear, the answer is now here! Just imagine for a moment, a time of yesteryear. Perhaps in some dimension before the current inhabitants of Astograth arrived. The great Fortresses of Rumiatzi manned not by the ancestors of Astograth's current inhabitants but instead by Cocoabo.

Imagine the scene, a pair of Cocoabo sentries man the watch tower. Trained in close combat, these two Cocoabo have also been trained in archery, ready to defend against any foe who dare approach the gate.

However, no one really knows how good a Cocoabo would really be at Archery; so naturally there must be a second line of defense. In comes the giant fire-breathing Dragoabo, guarding the gate and letting no enemies past. The flag of the Cocoabo flying high above the Castle and each Cocoabo charged to defend it would fight to the final 'coo' before ever seeing another flag flying above. Everything's Better with Cocoabo! .

---

[Flardania]

Opening Theme

---

Bonjour et Ohayōgozaimasu Kirishima. Welcome ladies and gentleman back to another World Cup 78 edition of the Kitsune Report, brought to you by the Nagatomo Sports Network (NSN), sponsored by Air Pacifica, and Pocari Surge. Here at the Kitsune Report, it's all about Kirishinan sports and with matchday six of World Cup qualifiers having been completed, 135 teams, 30 spots and 12 matchdays to go, I'm your host, the fan you can count on the most, to bring you Kitsune news, Keitaaaaaaa Woo! Without any further delay let's get grooving to some world cup football once more!

I have mixed emotions currently about a certain international squad as of late. They have been slow out of the gate and are honestly underperforming. They remind me of the Kitsunes struggles during qualifiers for World Cup 77. This is an experience you never want to have when you are trying to qualify for the World Cup and you have the talent to do such a thing. So considering how similar that situation is to our situation just last World Cup I want to root for this team. But. This same team during just last World Cup qualifiers, when we were in that position and barely squeezed into the World Cup. This squad, which to be fair needs to win games too, was one of the teams that made our last World Cup experience miserable and then shot past us in the ranks. That's right I'm talking about the team ranked 31st. Mercedini.

Now granted their situation is a bit worse than it was for Kirishima during World Cup 77 as they have one win less than the Kitsunes had at this point last World Cup and they are in a tougher group both on paper and even moreso in reality. When you look at Nephara, Starblaydia, and group leaders Darmen it is certainly not a fun group to be in right now. It will be interesting to see how they adjust after their slow start and while I am not rooting against them, from a prospective rival point of view, it's not easy rooting for them either.

Heif 1–2 Kirishima Review:

After emerging from their matchday 4 bye with a 1-0 win against Kalumba on Matchday 5, the Kitsunes were on the road as they traveled to a land more mysterious than Sulsuland. Because I am an awesome host despite the little information out there I manage to find some facts. Heif has a Population of 2,150,000 and their capital is Hallsburgh and the largest city, where I think the Kitsunes played their match against Heif is Osburgh. Geez considering how hard it was to find something, you would almost think they ceased to exist or something lol. Anyways Heif entered this matchup pointless while the Kitsunes were coming off of a tight 1-0 win, making it their third consecutive win. Kirishima was the better team on paper but the challenge was actually following through with the projection to maximize the value of the win over Eura and more importantly stay in front of Eura.

Attacking football is what Kirishima has been focusing on as of late as they seek to optimize the offense by using the team's offensive depth to the best of its ability without being careless on the defense. That attacking mentality was displayed yet again as Yabuta had a shot opportunity in the 4' minute after breaking away from the defense but was unable to capitalize as the shot was off-target. The opposition would try to be more successful with a shot attempt in the 7' minute that was saved by Miyoko Hojo. Renée Guidice would try not one but two attempts on goal in both the 10' and 13' minutes with the first being saved and the latter being off-target.

It was Josuke Ichikawa's turn at attempting to score in the 31' but while the shot was on target, it would be saved by the opposition. The opposition would try to mount their own attack with shot attempts in the 35' and 46' minutes but both attempts were saved by Hojo who seemed poised to get another clean sheet. Both teams entered the half with the game tied 0-0 with the shot attempts reading 4-3 in favor of Kirishima.

In the second half the Heifan fans were feeling confident as they were still in the game and their team had a home field advantage. The Kitsunes sought to rectify that problem as quickly as they did against Kalumba. The Kitsunes had seemingly made some observations on how the opposition played as Yabuta broke free in the 53' minute with an excellent pass from Izumi except for this time as the defense and keeper swarmed around Yabuta as they did in the beginning of the game, rather than take the shot Yabuta passed the ball to Ichikawa who scored. Ichikawa would have room for more glory as Ichikawa would find his childhood friend Sayo Matsuoka, who came in the 70' minute, with a nice pass resulting in a goal in the 72' minute.

The opposition would try and make it return a one-point game in the 74' minute but the shot was off-target. Yabuta would try to do more than assist and score himself in the 77' but he was called offsides, preventing the three-goal lead. While the Kitsunes were unable to score, the opposition was able to score in the 81' minute but that proved to be a little too late. Hojo would not add another clean sheet to her Qualification session with that game, but the more important part remains. The Kitsunes got the win. Final score Heif 1, Kirishima 2.

Following the match, Seong Mi-Soo, had this to say. "We went into this game knowing that while some felt that this game was a foregone conclusion. We were quite as sure. Now don't get me wrong, we were feeling confident but trust me when I say that we know from experience that anything can happen in football as our team has both benefitted and fell as a result of it. For example look at Eura, who in the media could've predicted that frejo would've defeated Eura tonight. So it takes proper preparation and taking every match seriously to not necessarily prevent upsets like those. But reduce the likelihood. We are facing a very good team next time out. I enjoy the cushion provided by out place in the standings and the Eura loss. But cushions are not meant for slacking. It is simply meant to help recover from accidents. We will seek to win once more in our next match."

Heif 1-2 Kirishima 
TBA       J. Ichikawa (53')
          S. Matsuoka (72')

Kirishima v Taeshan Match Preview

Kirishima returns home to the Aincrad Arena in Akihabara to face the Purple Knights of Taeshan. This will be the first time the two teams meet since World Cup 72 Qualifiers where Taeshan won the first matchup and Kirishima won the second leg, which was their first win in that Qualifiers. Hey we were pretty bad then it was only our second qualifiers. Kirishima is now the better team but this squad will definitely respect the talent of their opponents. This is Kirishima's last major obstacle in the first half of qualification so the team needs to have the utmost of focus. Yabuta, Nguyen, and Fujisaka will be home so I expect them to dazzle their fans and inspire their team to a win. Until next time, Lets Go Kitsunes!

Post by: Keita Woo

[Starblaydia]

Part One: Takeaway
Part Two: Duchess
Part Three: Fidget
Part Four: Torque
Part Five: Omen
Part Six: Leap

It wasn't often that Simeone Di Bradini was able to take a day off and visit the mundy realm to watch Starblaydia play, but with The Holy Empire comfortably undefeated and on top of Group 13 (though he was sure The Mammoth Compendium of World Cup Lies would have something to say about that) he had the opportunity. Both Starblaydia and The Holy Empire had a rest match in their nine-team groups on the same Matchday and, as luck would have it, Starblaydia had accepted a request from the Disunited Kingdom of Spaam for a friendly match. Even better, it was going to be in Starblaydia. Even with the assumption that he would always be allowed to go about his business as he saw fit, Simeone never liked to place a burden on the Frostican administration to ferry him back and forth from the Dreamed Realm at his every passing fancy. By now, a personal trip to what he still considered his 'home' was an event he always looked forward to. When watching the white and purples play, even more so.

It was also difficult not to be fêted as a hero wherever he went in his native land. As his appearance never aged any more, he had never been subjected to the stinging fate of celebrity, his spirit crushed by a passer-by asking "Didn't you use to be...?" or similar, because he always looked like Simeone Di Bradini. He assumed Ázëwyn Fëanáro would have the same trouble as well, as an ageless elf she was never going to visually change in the average lifetime of one of her fans, and worse her beauty made her catch the eye far more easily than however good Simeone ever looked in either of his lifetimes.

They never needed to speak when they met. Of course, in public it would be strange to have these two footballing legends simply stare at each other when they both entered the room, but when the cameras and the onlookers were away, the two could just be in each other's presence. The silence was never awkward, never frosty and never tense. They didn't need to be physically close, either. Here, in the Home dressing room of the Stadii Di Bradini, with the second half getting under way as Starblaydia led by three goals to one against Spaam, Ázëwyn stood, still as a statue, by the touch-screen board that served for their tactics. Simeone, after giving a short motivational talk to the team about the game and the rest of qualifying, had waited until the room had emptied and walked over to Ella Kabeya's place, the current owner of 'his' number ten shirt, and sat on the bench. They didn't even look at each other, he and Ázëwyn. The crowd cheered and chanted, the stadium announcer got everything revved up, muffled through layers of concrete and press and officials milled around outside, all talking at once to create a white noise of background voices. Simeone and Ázëwyn didn't need to block it out. They didn't have to, because it didn't matter.

It hadn't been that way before, when they'd first met. Thousands of years ago for Ázëwyn, a hundred or so for Simeone, even though no-one could have really told the difference. Each had known that the other was somewhat preternatural and had been intrigued to find out just how. Just like when two fans of the same rarely-seen TV show, or niche fandom, are able to spot each other by a phrase, reference or manner of speaking, Simeone and Ázëwyn realised they were in the same boat, seemingly the only adults in a world of children.

It had not felt that way as the two armies had lined up opposite each other. Simeone had been in battle before, he had been at the living, fiery hell of the Armaghetto where innumerable vatghouls had been bred to take over the Dreamed Realm, and he'd marched and fought his way to the Black Gate to break the siege and relieve Juan Tzimisces' forces. He was free of those shadows, so he'd been told, but he'd never felt truly free. Here on the fields of what would become Starblaydia, or what might not become Starblaydia if he lost, he felt trapped, and within that trap the gnawing pangs of genuine fear once more gripped at his heart.

He could tell from the way she looked at him that Ázëwyn sensed it, though she gave no outward signs of feeling anything herself. Elves were damn unreadable when they wanted to be. Simeone assumed he'd be fine, for a given value of 'fine', because back then he'd never considered himself as anything other than the main character in his own story. It had taken until a special match at World Cup 73, around 80 years later, relatively, for him to realise, happily so, that his destiny was not the centre of the multiverse. Even then, in this moment, he wondered if this was where his destiny finished, at the tip of a cold steel blade on a muddy, blood-soaked field in what might never become Starblaydia.

He saw the knights, the Jhani Cavalry, the Daii. That made him feel better. They were all so obviously the finest warriors of their generation. Every one of them was a tall, broad, well-fed and well-trained master of war. They towered over ordinary men and Simeoen had seen with his own eyes just how good they were at the business of death. In solid armour with fiery warhorses beneath them he knew that, if deployed correctly, they could destroy any military formation in existence. Deploy them wrong, however, and even the finest of knights would be next to useless. He didn't, however, have much faith in the peasant levy. Though they were clothed in the trappings of their lords, mostly with Coraluna's orange and yellow in tunic, tabard or some other form over the top of their brown, dirty, smelly clothes. They'd be more comfortable with pitchforks and pickaxes than with swords and shields, but this was what he had to fight with, so this is what would have to do.

Ázëwyn gave him comfort, as he already knew of her agility from the training ground, and surely she'd be equally adept with bow and sword as she was free-kicks and through-balls. That kind of eye-limb co-ordination is the most useful transferable skill a sportsperson of any field could have, and the arts of war would put them to the test in the coming hours. Simeone was more concerned, however, by The Four. They hadn't called themselves that, or been specifically named as such, but 'The Four' summed them up. Ser Leoric, the red- and receeding-haired old warrior, with a belly to match his battlefield voice. Alyssa his sister, soon to be Luna Alyssa Coraluna, with the same fiery red hair and piercing eyes that seemed to measure your soul. Quicksilver, the woman who wore a man's armour, decorated with the finest silver inlay, and finally Ser Montfort, tall and imposing in his black-polished armour, an equally black tower as his sigil on a grass green field. The Four were always together, talking, smiling, looking off into the distance. There was something 'off' about them, Simeone thought. Not in the same obvious way as Ázëwyn and himself saw each other as different, but somehow both stranger and more-normal at the same time. It was as if the more normal they seemed, the more they were not being themselves.

Ahead of the vast army they had brought together was an army more vast still. The Romanic Empire, with their carmine banners decorated with golden beasts, leading uniformly-equipped soldiers in strips of overlapping metal and chain mail. Their trumpets and drums meant they marched as one, making the earth rumble as they got ever closer. At the head of their long lines was a man on a horse. Simeone could make out no further detail than that, but Ázëwyn merely squinted at him.

"Older human, short silver hair. Fine armour with gold detailing. A white lion pelt around his shoulders. Proud and noble. Confident."

Leoric nodded, and Ázëwyn pulled out her bow. They were at least twice the distance of an arrow's path, but Ázëwyn nocked an arrow and pulled back the string until it touched the side of her face, arm fully extended, arrow pointing up high into the sky.

"To your left," Alyssa said. Ázëwyn gave the most subtle of nods and loosed the arrow with a crisp twang of the bow. Immediately another arrow appeared in her hand, and she nocked it as swiftly as a bird flaps its wings. She adjusted her aim, Simeone could see, barely a flinch to the left, before shooting the second arrow a moment after the first.

Simeone had lost sight of both arrows almost immediately, but from the initial trajectory he had a fairly good idea of where they were intended. Even at this distance, Simeone could see the Romanic general stand up in his stirrups. At what was evidently the last second as the arrow sped towards him, he ducked and shifted his weight to his right - Ázëwyn's left. Suddenly a soldier behind the general was felled by an arrow. Somehow he'd seen it coming and dodged it, leaving some poor soul behind him to take the impact.

He didn't, however, see the second arrow, which found its mark in his neck, punching into the soft exposed flesh uncovered by helmet or chestplate and out the other side, spraying a fountain of blood as it hit. Simeone saw the body of the general fall from his saddle, crashing to the ground as the horse he had been riding tried to shy away and bolt for clear open ground. There was confusion in the officers and men who had surrounded the Romanic general, and any fear that was setting in had to be dispelled, which is why the Romanic trumpets sounded almost immediately. The advance.

"Have you go fifty thousand more of those shots in you?" Simeone said

"There are not quite that many arrows in my quiver," Ázëwyn replied, "nor arrogant commanders in the enemy ranks."

Simeone was about to say 'good shot', but he'd not missed Alyssa's involvement. What was it with those Four that he couldn't quite put his finger on? He had no more time to think from that moment on, because until the battle was over there was no room for such things in his brain. A battlefield is a place where if you're not focused on staying alive, then the possibility of dying soon becomes an inevitability. You have to constantly maneuver, keeping up your strength while carrying the weapons that never get lighter. Armour is something that you notice when putting it on, and realise how heavy it is when taking it off, but never notice the weight as you're marching, not realising the draining effect it has on your energy or how much it makes your shoulders ache and legs tire. The straps that hold the plate in place dig in to your flesh, no matter how much padding you have underneath, and the oil used to keep it from rusting gets everywhere, making you a filthy, sweaty, bloody mess even if you do manage to survive combat otherwise unscathed.

But no-one survives unscathed, unless you never make contact with the enemy. As part of the vanguard, leading the centre line of troops across the plains and into the heart of the enemy, you'll never avoid the enemy. While the cavalry fight with each other on the wings of the formation, the real battle is won and lost in the centre. The ordinary men, none of whom were professional soliders on Simeone's side, versus the trained and drilled cohorts of the Romanic Empire; he couldn't see the Daii coming out victorious, no matter how well their cavalry smashed the Imperial forces, there was little they'd accomplish against a solid phalanx of Romanic troops.

Simeone had been in these situations before, both on the football pitch and the battlefield. All those times when you're not expected to win, and you're not even sure you can, but still get through it, survive and pull off the victory. With all his instincts telling him this was a lost cause, and that his life would end unheralded, unfinished and unimportant, he marched forward with the troops under his command. At least around him he had the men at arms of the Daii, actual trained and experienced warriors who knew how to fight and how to kill. The wasn't so sure about the rest of the foot soliders, though.

In some ways the battle went completely as Simeone expected it, in other ways it was absolutely nothing like he had possibly imagined.

Almost immediately, it seemed, the cavalry of the two sides met on the wings. As well trained and equipped as the Romanic forces were, their role was mostly scouting. The Daii, what would become the much vaunted Jhani Cavalry of Starblaydi history, cut through the auxiliary forces like they weren't even there. With lance and sword they utterly and completely destroyed the Romanic cavalry, chasing them off the field, capturing horses and men. But once they'd finished, they were then almost useless, as the massed ranks of infantry, even at the flanks and rear, was not something a horse would ever charge at successfully. So all the Daii could really do was harry, cutting down stragglers and pursing fleeing troops while their peasants fought and died in the centre.

They did more than their fair share of dying that day, as they were brutally cut down by the well-drilled machine of Romanic infantry. They were forced back over the pile of bodies, ground slippery underfoot with the mixture of blood and mud, and Simeone thought he was going to die. Ázëwyn was at his back, Belsaff carried his banner high, still, despite bleeding from a head wound, fending off Romanics with a gritty determination. Everywhere he looked, he could see the helmet of a Romanic infantryman. They were being enveloped, they were being slaughtered, and they were losing.

Until The Four were unleashed. It was that day that Simeone came to understand the terrible potential of magic.

Leoric, a flaming sword in one hand, calling forth flame and fire with the other too immolate bodies and leave the screams of men to haunt him for the years to come. Quicksilver, bringing lightning bolts forth from the sky in columns of shocking white power that deafened the observer and disintegrated the target. Montfort, bringing metors down from the sky and raising great stone pillars from the ground that flung bodies like ragdolls and crushed them to a bloody pulp. Alyssa, who seemed to command the very air itself, buffeting and battering their foes with invisible power, raising her brother's conjured fire into great living walls of flame, striking through the ranks like waves.

Swords were of no more use here; Simeone realised, only death remained. He dropped his sword arm to his side, looking out over the rim of his shield.

"The terror that humans do," Ázëwyn said softly beside him. He turned to look at her, both of them covered in blood and gore, splattered with mud, dented armour and bleeding from a dozen wounds between them. Everything felt so heavy, including his tongue. Simeone said nothing in reply; only silence.

Silence, just like the one between Simeone and Ázëwyn as they sat in the dressing room during the second half of the Starblaydia versus Spaam friendly. Soronúmë had just scored his fiftieth goal in a Starblaydi shirt, and the crowd rose to salute him with cheers. Simeone reached out his hand, and found that Ázëwyn's was already there. He gripped it gently, feeling the smoothness of her skin and the strength in her fingers. He closed his eyes and, for a moment, he could no longer hear the screams of dying men.

[Natanians and Nosts]

-Well,another loss.Here live from the town of Exton,we just finished the transmisson of Natanians and Nosts nil,Apox one.
-Yes,this game could have finished better for us,but unfortunately the Apoxian team won.
-Let's see some important moments of the match while the collective interview does not start yet.
"The game started really equal with both teams putting a lot of pressure and nothing of important happened untill the 28th minute when Alpha had a good scoring moment,but João Foster made a great deffence.Two minutes later Ion Cáius Ademélsson dribbled Imotep Jekyll and sent a shoot straight into Anaximander's hands and that was pretty much all that twas really relevant in the first period.The second period saw Natan Nínnio Gonçalo score a goal with assistance from Mihail Heitor Fostar at the 15th minute,but the linesman saw his offside position.James Palmisano had a realy good opportunity,but João Foster made another really good catch at the 22nd minute.Apox scored its goal when Wizzard Mormentor stole the ball and gave a strong shoot straight into the net,João Foster almost caught it.At the 30th minute Gabriel Ápio Silva was in complete legal position,he shot the ball and scored a goal,but th linesman said he was in offside position,as you can clearly see from all these diferent angles at the replay,he was completely legal and the goal was annulated!!!One minute later Austin Mihai Munteănu had a good opportunity at a corner but the Apoxian goalkeeper deffended.Inga Puffin tried once more for Apox,but João Foster deffended like quething 'nevermore'!"
-This game was a hard one,lah!
-I agree.The match was really tough,but our team has played well and has shown that we may finish at a good position if we win against Suize and Legatorum,and a draw,at least,against Sameba.
-Yes,wait,now the collective interview will begin.Let's have a one minute break before.

[New Gazi]

New Gazi's lone female player sat out the big game against Schottia with an injury. Ayotunde Ibori took her spot as a center midfielder in a 4-4-2 formation. Ibori is more of a defensive player.

"My style should be more useful against a strong offensive team like Schottia", Ibori said in a press conference announcing his starting spot. "I mean, some of their middies are pretty dangerous. The coach would be good to keep this sort of tactical switch in mind."

The coach wasn't too enthusiastic about the last sentence. "I agree that Ayo will be a good swap for the game. But Anita has her benefits too." After a follow up, Coach Hausta added, "I think he's just trying to talk himself into more playing time. We'll see how he does tonight."

There would be no upset as 11th ranked Schottia defeated 82nd ranked New Gazi. The score was 5-3.

Chip Maydress, host of Vangaziland's cable talk show put his attention on the African team. "It's early in the season. We'll see how things look after the full first leg", he said. "But right now, New Gazi looks like a high scoring offense."

He looked at the Group stats. With 12 goals, the Cannoneers rank second in the group's goals for. They outscore a much more established team in Super-Llamaland by 2 goals. Granted, the Gazilians have faced some of the easier teams first. That goal tally will also most likely change once New Gazi faces them. Super-Llamaland and Schottia also have much more efficient defenses.

But New Gazi is getting somewhere. They can score goals. After facing New Gazi, Schottia has allowed 6 goals in 6 matchdays. New Gazi scored half of those goals. Other teams have had almost no success against one of the top 15 teams in the Cup.

New Gazi put three goals in the net. The Gazilians lost the battle of possession, but they made the best use of limited chances. A lot of it comes down to the Gazilians' quick, aggressive style. Imari Lefisse really stepped up on his side of center midfield.

He was the Gazilian engine with an assist, a through ball that lead to an assist and several key plays.

"The goal is always to win", said Coach Hausta. "I said our first goal would be to keep the game close. We did that to an extent. I'd like it to closer. I said we'd try to flip it. They got us with the keep away. We've got some tape and notes now though. They do too, but we'll game-plan and see what we can do."

The Gazilian scorers were Diya (22'), Niang (51'), Amare Contee (62'). The game was mostly out of reach. The late goal was more akin to "catch up" than "a close game". Still, the Gazilians found a way to score against the Group's toughest team.

The question was whether the Gazilians could keep things together, improve from here and somehow beat the odds to advance.

[Cosumar]

This cut-off comes bearing good news!

From the seven wonders to the seven colors of the rainbow, SEVEN is a number revered for good fortune by cultures across the Multiverse. So, with Matchday 7 upon us, take solace in the fact that your World Cups dreams are still Young & Alive!

---

Matchday 7 RP Cutoff
Scores Soon

[Nephara]

Makongo 0-1 Nephara
(4-4-2) 20 - Tsattalios; 2 - Rafford, 18 - Frostmarris, 22 - Bruyne, 3 - Lohengrin (19 - Surman 60'); 13 - Bereveskos, 23 - Chilmark, 14 - Gosforth, 11 - Naeher (16 - Strongbow 73'); 9 - Hawke, 15 - Cathar
Goal: Bereveskos 53'

That night, Gethin Ramsey's eyes closed for what threatened to be the last time. These days, that was every night.
They opened again - not with the glare of daybreak, not with the haze of a dream but with a dreadful, dreadful clarity.
He wasn't in a bed, anymore. And he looked in his late forties again - gruff and hale, and he was sure, able to string a sentence together without breaking out into coughing. Those had been the fucking days!
Impulsively, he rustled around in a pocket of the ratty greatcoat he found himself to be wearing, and found to his great satisfaction a cigar. There was a lighter in his hands. He lit the cigar, clamped his jaw down heavily on it, and chuckled with grim satisfaction.
And then he became aware that it was a void, an endless swirl of green and terracotta, but there seemed, somehow, to be a floor to it. His feet fell on solid ground, somehow. And he knew where he was going. Or, at least, was close enough.
He found himself seated at a chess table.
On the other end, of course, a hooded, faceless figure. No scythe in hand, at least.
△H e l l o , M r . R a m s e y▽
△Y o u h a v e b e e n d u e s o m e t i m e▽
△D i d y o u c a r e f o r a g a m e▽
He did, and there were pieces on the board. He chuckled through the cigar again.
Green versus terracotta. Naturally. And green would move first, of course, so... e4.
△Y o u h a v e l e a d a l o n g a n d r e m a r k a b l e l i f e▽
△I s h o u l d t h i n k y o u w i l l p a s s o n w i t h o u t r e g r e t s▽
Terracotta moved e5. Ramsey grinned. "It's been good." Green moved f3, a new pawn in support. "Could be better. Longer, like."
△H a h▽
Terracotta mirrored the move.
△W e b o t h k n o w i t d o e s n ' t w o r k l i k e t h a t▽
"Oh, yeah?" The grin somehow got wider. Ramsey moved a knight six squares forward. Death seemed, somehow, to frown. "For most people, maybe. I still got things to do."
△R o t i n y o u r b e d ?▽
Terracotta, by contrast, continued to move legally.
"Nah." Ramsey found a third rook from somewhere and plonked it daintily on top of one of Death's, crushing it to sickly clayish dust.
△Y o u a r e d o n e , M r . R a m s e y▽
△Y o u r m i n d i s d o n e▽
△Y o u r c a r e e r i s d o n e▽
△Y o u r b o d y i s d o n e▽
△Y o u r l u n g s a r e s o m e h o w i n a s t a t e▽
△B e y o n d▽
△D o n e▽
Terracotta moved once, then again, and again, and again. A stationary green was flanked, surrounded. The terracotta melted into grey. The world, too, started to follow...
Ramsey calmly placed a pawn onto a6 and queened it. "Checkmate," he decided.
△N o▽
"My subconscious, mate. My rules." And colour seemed to bleed back into the world... different, earthier colours. Perhaps this, after all, was his bed - and perhaps he was turning back to grey, then white, but he had to make the most of his strength while he had it...
△T h a t i s y o u r p r o b l e m M r . R a m s e y▽
△Y o u b e l i e v e t h a t t h e r e a r e t h e w o r d s f o r a n y t h i n g▽
The chess set was melting away, by now, almost collapsing into the hooded figure, who began to reach across it towards Ramsey's throat...
△I▽
△W o u l d h a v e▽
△P r e f e r r e d t o b e c i v i l▽
And Gethin Ramsey stepped away with reflexes he knew he no longer had, seized the chair from underneath himself, took it in two ursine fists and hammered it into Death's face with a crack! The chair splintered.
The dream splintered.
And then... he was there. Alone, in his bed. Old, again, and yes, still dying.
He checked the alarm at his desk, nodded with satisfaction, and turned on the television - Makongo vs. Nephara. Piece of piss, right? But who knew, with this new manager, with results like they'd had lately... ahh, like fuck was he going to pass on until he knew Nephara were going to qualify!

[Electrum]

Two weeks ago...

The opinion polls suffice to say, weren't looking good at all for Prime Minister Suarez and her deputy Nick Wood. As the leaders of the two traditional parties, Labour and Conservative, in the mandatory coalition, their poll numbers tanked after PM Suarez made the unilateral decision to allow about a million Eurans across the border before the wall was being erected. The former two dimensions which were used to organised the Electrumite parties was no longer enough: a third dimension of pro-Electrum and pro-Eura camps began to coalesce with the rise of the Electrum Nationalist Party and the Euran Unity Party. The EUP's main objective was to force the annexation of some Electrum territory to Eura whilst the Nationalists wanted to expel all ethnic Eurans back to Eura "where they belonged."

Cynthia Suarez was busily editing up a speech that she was due to give tomorrow about the border situation. Being the Prime Minister meant that not a lot of time was spent on writing speeches, and instead locked in endless meetings and discussions, as well as visits across the country to announce new policies. Instead, it was her staffers that wrote her speeches, and Suarez would come back to them and edited them until they were just right. It was to be a speech about how the Electrumite government was doing well in coping with the sudden increase in population in Electrum's north. With the red font colour and the strike through function, she heavily edited the staffer's speech on her word processor when out of nowhere, a balding man wearing his military colours walked into the room. Cynthia didn't look up.

*AHEM*
"Ah, sorry there Michael, sorry, I should use your title shouldn't I. Lieutenant-General Lansing, what can I do you for? If it's about the funding, no I'm not giving any more money to defence, we have an economy to grow, and you know, we need money for the border force too, and for the upcoming World Cup that we're hosting. Those stadium upgrades don't come cheap. Sorry for digressing." The Prime Minister kept tapping away at her laptop.
"No that's not why I'm here." Suarez kept making improvements to her refugee speech. "I'm here because our intelligence indicates that there may be some Euran interference with the refugee inflow." Suarez didn't bat an eye, but she did look up. Being that Electrumite was a pacifist nation, this kind of interaction was kind of normal between a Prime Minister and the leader of Electrum's very small military. In fact, the intelligence department of the military was larger than the force itself. "What do you mean by ... interference?"
"Our agents, who have been surveilling Governor Gibson's phone have seen that she has been in talks with a Euran Party that we do not know, to purposefully create instability in Eura which caused the larger-than-expected inflow of Eurans. Prime Minister, this explains why a million people arrived in the matter of hours: they were well prepared to travel to the border upon any sign that they had an opportunity. The Euran Unity Party, made a secret gambit with this group of people, perhaps the Euran government themselves, to create enough instability within Electrum, that it will be a matter of time before they call an annexation referendum for themselves."
"I... I see. Look I'll have you leave the briefing report on the table, and I'll have a read of it when I'm done rewriting this speech." Lansing, who was subservient to many a indifferent prime ministers bowed his head and left -- he knew she would read the paper anyways. She preferred to read the briefing report rather than have a discussion or being briefed at directly, that was the way she operated. Lansing, meanwhile, would go back to his office to continue planning the logistics required for the security arrangements for the upcoming World Cup that Electrum would be hosting along with Ceni.

After reading the briefing report as well as finishing and printing off her speech tomorrow, she called her personal secretary, Mark Waterhouse into the room. Suarez issued just a single instruction. "Get me on the phone with Judge, now."
"But Ms. Suarez, which Justice?"
"No Mark. I want the Euran Prime Minister Judge on the phone, right now."
"Right away."

Mark sneaked a look at the printed version of tomorrow's speech before he turned and walked away. He knew something big was lurking around the corner. At the very end of the speech, it simply read, "... it is for these reasons I have decided to call a snap election."

[Schottia]

The Tale of Paul Thompson

Conclusion.

Leaving

Ocean Shore Stadium, San Marco, Port Christopher. (Present day)

Almost three years had now past since Evelyn had seen the plumes for smoke rising from the edge of the golf course. Since she carried the bloated and sweating mass that was Paul Thompson to the end of her breakfast patio. Since she had seen less value in his wellbeing that she had her car seat coverings. Since she watched the steam rise from his vomit as he crouched, buckled and broken by the side of the road. Back then Thompson had been staring defeat in the face, with only his sense of humour - and perhaps his naivety - keeping the packs of salivating wolves from the door.

That was the thing about hitting the bottom though; you either exploded like a ripe tomato, or you bounced.

Paul Thompson was now part of the furniture here at Paradise Street. He was held now is similar esteem to a post-box or a road sign - something that performed a small yet essential service, which you couldn't imagine life without - infrastructure, essentially. For all his failings - and there were most certainly few of those - the guy could cook. He might have been drunk - he might have had the personal hygiene of a fruit fly - but the Thompson could definitely cook.

It had all began in Ross Renshaw's kitchen one evening. Chad Duquez had tasted some of the leftovers while raiding his teammate's fridge in a drunken stupor. Luis, Thomas, and Lucio had been next to sample his culinary delights; after it immerged that Ross had been trying to pass Thompson's marinades off as his own at a barbeque. It didn't seem to matter who tasted his food, the verdict was always the same. Paul Thompson had a seemly effortless way of taking something really simple, and elevating to a whole new level. At first glance, his dishes had the appearance of being thrown together, but the more you thought about it, the cleverer they actually were.

Never ones to miss out on a money spinner, the Ocean Shore Group had employed him at the stadium. Thompson had been made head chef, and executive chef over the club's catering outlet and the food served in the director's boxes. The restaurant itself, which sat eighty, was open seven evening a week on the top floor of the stadium, and had just be awarded its first rosette for excellence.

As Evelyn sat in the restaurant, which was simply called Paul she couldn't help but let her mind drift back to that first morning they had met. This perhaps was testament to how far you could come in life in a short period of time. No matter how hopeless life was - no matter how far from any semblance of normality things might seem - you could be woken from a state of drunken unconsciousness by a millionaire football and have your life turned around. Okay, the chances of that happening to you were pretty unlikely, granted, but Paul Thomson was living proof that it could happen. He had gone from a man facing divorce and the ensuing midlife crisis, to the most talked about chef on the island.

She glanced up at the sign on the wall, the chef's name in handwritten font, and wondered how different life would have been if she had just left him at the bottom of the garden. For her it would have been unlikely to have changes much, but it was impossible to say what would have happened to him.

'There's he is! There's the man himself.'

It was the end of the league season in Port Christopher, with only the play-offs left to negotiate. They'd finished second and given the Pirates a good run for their money, as well as reaching the quarterfinal of the Globe Cup. They also had a very winnable CEdC semi with South Saints to look forward to. The directors had taken the entire team to Paul's restaurant for some team building and a chance to "let off some steam." Had they know how much "steam" the likes of Chad and Luis let off on an average night, they might have considered a detox weekend more appropriate.

'Alright, boys and girls? And how are we all this fine evening?' Paul waltzed up to where they were all sat, and placed his hands on the tablemat. Gleaming white overalls, hair slicked back, and a cloth slung over his shoulder... the man looked the business.

'Hey Paul.' Ross got up and shook his hand warmly, while the chef delivered friendly yet firm pats to his back. Despite the fact that Thompson was undoubtedly now on a very steady wage, he was yet to move out of Ross' summerhouse. Then again why would he? It had a large open kitchen living area, bedroom, bathroom, and conservatory. It was better than most people could boast. Evelyn also got the impression that he just liked being around. Despite the age gap, and having little in common other than a thirst for beer, he had kind of found his place amongst the footballers.

'Schottia international!' Paul held Ross in a half headlock, while turning his attention to the young man's chest, which now had its turn to received several hefty open hand slaps. 'Look at this guy, congratulations little buddy.' He looked round to the rest of the table, who broke out in quiet applause. Even Evelyn couldn’t help but smile. 'Con-grat-u-fuckin-lations.'

'Oh, it was nothing...' A red faced Ross protested, trying to flatten down hir hair and re tuck-in his shirt, having eventually escaped Paul's clutches.

'Listen to him! Listen to this guy!' Paul once again appealed to the room. 'Too bloody modest.'

This interaction, and the row of smiles on both sides of the table, underlined the change at Blue Coast over the last few seasons. There was a togetherness now, and a sense of team spirit, where there hadn't been before. For all their imperfections, they had seen that there was some camaraderie in being imperfect together; and they had proven that they were capable of great results if they all pulled in the same direction. Paul, without a shadow of a doubt had been a big part of that. He had almost become this weird mascot for the team, a common theme of conversation, which they could all relate to. There was no way Evelyn could have had any idea at the time, but that day she had save him from the wreckage, she really had pulled a rabbit out of a hat. She couldn't make hotels disappear, or have playing cards turn up miraculously in people's back pockets; but it turned out that she could turn a football teams fortunes on its head.

'Oi Ev!' Paul waddled over to where she sat, offering her a far more formal handshake. 'Mind if we have a quick chat.' He nodded his head in the direction of the kitchen.

The kitchen itself was hot, busy, and gleaming with shiny polished chrome. Chefs in white overalls and tall hats were busy at work doing their prep for the players' order. Plates were being moved into place, containers were being opened, all eagerly in wait for the first lines to start coming through.

'Look, Ev.' The fat chef spoke in a sage tone. 'I meant it when I said I was going to make it up to you. You know, for pulling me out the shit, as they say.'

'Paul, Paul, Please. It's fine.' Evelyn waved him away, and she meant it. 'You don't need to thank me for not leaving you to be cooked alive.'

'No actually I do.' Paul shook his head firmly; this was a new, more serious side to him. 'So here,' he handed over envelope which clearly contained a few coins. 'This is the money for you petrol, the day you drove me around the island for four hours, and it's also the two quid for the bottle of cola.'

'Oh Paul, no...'

'Take it!' He pushed her hand back and closed her fingers around it. 'My old dad always used to say, no good comes of an unpaid debt. Please.' He waited until he saw her nod. 'There's also a card in there, it's got my ex brother in law's phone number. I mean, it's been a bit dodgy ever since the old divorce proceeding got under way, but he's actually football agent, a pretty damn good one if you believe his own words...'

'But, what...' Evelyn opened the envelope and stared at the card, a little perplexed. She was struggling to process what she was hearing. In all the time she had known Paul, he had never mentioned any of this.

'You always wanted away Ev, that was one of the first conversations we ever had together. And you said it yourself, Coast will never let you leave under contract.'

'I, eh...' Evelyn ran a hand across her face. Strangely, she had almost made her peace with the fact that she was going to be here for another two seasons, until her contract ran out.

'He's already expecting your call.' Paul cut her off. 'You're a great footballer, and you have your head screwed on to boot. You should be playing in a league with more than eighteen matchdays, where people take you seriously. This guy, Chris will help find a club which will meet Coast's valuation. Just eh, try not to mention me too often; I'm not exactly flavour of the month back home.'

Evelyn shook her head, but he once again stopped her in her tracks.

'You can leave here with your head held high, look at the season we've had. It’s not going to get any better than this, trust me.' With that he placed his arm around her shoulders, and directed her back into the restaurant, while he remained in the kitchen. 'Now go back and order some food. I would recommend the squid.'

Evelyn turned back towards the team, who had already forgotten she'd left, as they poured over the wine menu. They had come through a lot together, and she knew leaving was going to mean going through a full box of tissues. However Paul was right - as insane as it sounded - Paul Thompson was actually right. Evelyn Conjure had already pulled a rabbit out of her hat, now it was perhaps time to pull off a vanishing act.

[Apox]

Carried on from here

Stepping inside the saloon, his eyes adjusted slowly to the very dim lighting inside. When he had finally adjusted to the light, he realised that he was very much the centre of attention, with all of the eyeless humanoids turned to face him. He swallowed his nerves, and tried to be confident as he walked up to the bar. The barman, also eyeless, faced him.

There was a pause.

"Um, one whiskey please." The barman looked at him, or so he assumed as his face was pointed in his direction, for another long moment before turning around and feeling with empty bottles. Eventually he returned with an empty glass, and placed it down in front of him. He looked up from the glass, to the barman and back down again, before finally saying;

"But there's nothing in here!" Another long pause, before, the barman replied;

"Are you blind? Of course there is! If you don't want it, then I think you better leave." This was not going well, and he still wasn't getting any answers. Well, it was unlikely he'd get them here. He turned to leave, but before he'd walked more than a couple of steps, he was interrupted.

"Psssst. Over here," came the low hiss and he turned. In a quiet corner, sat a young boy. He looked similar to everyone else, except for one key feature. He had eyes. Happily, he quietly but briskly walked over, although everyone else in the room seemed to have lost interest in him and had returned to their conversations. He approached the table the boy was sat at and chose the seat opposite him.

"When and where did you arrive from?" began the boy earnestly, "You can't go floating round them" his eyes flicked to the bar "like that, they don't like it."
"I only just got here, I'm highly confused. Where is this place?"
"This? I've only ever known it as Braal to be honest, why are you from somewhere different?" said the boy.
"You could say that. How did you get here?"
"I don't know I've always been here. Have you not?"
"Nooo, I very much haven't always been here. What the hell is up with their eyes?" he said tilting his head towards the other occupants of the room. The boy looked at him as if he'd just asked what colour the sky was (although based off previous experiences he wasn't sure himself any more).
"They do have eyes, we just can't see them."
"What? How do you mean, we can't see them?"
"Well, as far as I'm aware, they see in a higher dimension. That's why they don't need eyes. We look two-dimensional to them." He let out a long sigh. This made a great deal of sense. The "ball" that had hit him outside. The lack of eyes on these people. The slightly distorted world view. He opened his mouth to speak, but became aware of a slight golden fuzz behind the boy he was sat at. The boy was looking at him strangely anyway, he'd just sat there with his mouth open for a second.

"You ok?"
"No... I don't think I am" he said as the room became increasingly bright and golden. It was already distressing the eyeless occupants of the room, and they were grumpily making a fuss, while the boy looked around him in astonishment.
"What the hell have you done?"
"I haven't done anything! This just keeps happening to me!" It was once again getting golden and fuzzy all around him, and suddenly, everything was gone, the boy, the eyeless people, the saloon, everything. Where the hell was he headed now?

To be continued...

APX 1-0 NAT Mormentor 71'
APX: Anaximander -- Richardson, Gandhi O., Jekyll, Redmond -- Mormentor -- Townsend (Ingersleben 85'), Palmisano J., Puffin -- Palmisano L. (Arrowsmith 65'), Gandhi A. (Oakstone-Sandoval 79')
NAT: Foster -- Ret, Silva, da Silva, Tralto -- Munteănu, Fostar -- Vit (Munteanu 66') -- Silva (North 70'), Ademélsson, Gonçalo (c)

A narrow win for Apox, which saw Natanians and Nosts play well in the first half, with strong chances for Ademélsson and captain Gonçalo. Apox's best chance came in the 28th minute, after a nicely set up ball from Inga Puffin (on her debut with the national team) fed it through to Alpha Gandhi, João Foster dealing with the ball well. The second half was more of the same, with end to end action and opportunities on goal for both teams. In the end, it would be Wizzard Mormentor with the goal, the ball being cut back across the field to him by Imriel Townsend, Mormentor unleashing an absolute beast of a shot to score, which was described by some commentators as "a strong shoot". Just four minutes later however, Natanians and Nosts scored an offside goal which was vehemently contested by the team and managing staff, who clearly felt Gabriel Ápio Silva was onside when he took the shot. A nervy win for Apox, but it is against higher ranked opposition and so is important as the team attempts to do well on their return to international football.

ETN 2-1 APX Bolvin 27', Gandhi 50', Jaurequi 59'
ETN: Church -- Cook, Moore, Washington -- Biley, Quinlan, Stevens -- Snyder (Debusk 81') -- Bolvin (Jaurequi 68'), Peone
APX: Anaximander -- Beck, Raynerson, Jekyll, Redmond -- Menheniot (Ibrox 82') -- Townsend, Palmisano J. (c), Benzari -- Palmisano L. (Gandhi O. 58'), Gandhi A.

It's a narrow loss for Apox against the second seeds of the group, Ethane, who were probably consider themselves unlucky to leave with just a one goal difference thanks to a few acrobatic saves from Halyos Anaximander in the Apoxian goal and the strong central defensive partnership of Eurwen Raynerson and Imhotep Jeykll who have cemented their roles this campaign. The first half was a fairly tense affair, with a lot of Ethane pressure on the Apoxian goal, which eventually paid off, experienced striker Dewayne Bolvin scoring the opener in the 27th minute after Aliser Redmond fouled him just outside the box, Bolvin heading in the resulting free-kick. With Raynerson and Jekyll growing into the game it became hard for Apox to capitalise at the other end, the Ethanese defence proving too robust for Alpha Gandhi and Lucan Palmisano up front to make serious headway against. The second half started faster than the first, and although Thomas Peone had a couple of opportunities, a wonderful individual run from Alpha Gandhi where he really displayed his attacking prowess, finishing with a superb shot past Church, saw Apox back in the game. Dewayne Bolvin was brought off in the 58th minute after suffering a niggle, and the more youthful Wilmer Jaurequi came on in his stead and had an almost immediate effect, slipping past Era Beck and cutting inside the box to sidefoot one past Anaximander in goal, and eventually secure the win for his team after they closed down the game with short, precise passing.

[Red Blackiland]

Red Blackiland Sports and Off-topic Chronicles

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What's wrong in the world?

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Fans watching RB's first loss in Qualifiers, against Pasarga

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Author : Mathias Gërdorffen

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In a large city, a man on the top of a building threatens to shoot himself. In the street below a crowd gathers in a great choir of 'jump!' Hoping for the apotheotic end of that morning show. The cries drown out the cry of the baby in the garbage can of the alley next door, abandoned the night before by a weeping mother, the tears that fell from purplish eyes mingling with the blood of broken teeth and forming puddles of liquid now dry. At the exit of the alley two boys press a third against the wall, taking out his wallet, cell phone, jacket, pair of sneakers. They run when they see a policeman approaching, but he does not even notice them, worried about getting to the place where a man with a helmet is thrown to the ground, his motorcycle falls only a few meters ahead as a speeding car leaves the scene of the accident. A mob with banners passes in the distance, fleeing from grenades that spit smoke. And in the restaurant next door a man looks from corner to the commotion that in the street and soon returns to look the emptiness of the rest of salad in the plate, in shock after all this perfection of a world that thought to understand if to undo when the woman who was with He said no and left him there, silent, pensive.

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Swamp of Darkness

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Beyond the Mountains of Darkness, beyond the Empty Desert, across the Depressive Forest and across the Invincible River, lies the Swamp of Darkness. Covered with dense vegetation blocking sunlight, it is inhabited by large crocodiles, carnivorous fish and poisonous insects. Putrid gases emanate from its dark waters, and mysterious sounds are heard coming from all directions. Twigs and vines interrupt their journey, throwing themselves before them like macabre robbers. And right in the center of it, in the heart of darkness, a small wooden hut rises above the water, lit by worn lamps, its walls covered with moss and fungi, with a sign next to the door where it reads: here is a Cosmetics consultant.

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Parallel Universe

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He wore a Superman costume, with a large red cape that fluttered in the wind as it jumped from the top floor of the skyscraper. His body was found on the floor of the street tens of meters below, the bones all broken, irrecoverable for life, but with a childish smile on his face. He knew that somewhere, at some time, in some universe more friendly to dreams ... He had flown.

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Drawkons Wise Warriors: The next game of Das SpielHaus

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Learn about the dragons in the land of Drawkland

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Mainstory Quest #6 - Planing the Future

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With a new base of operations, the Insection leader is ready to make its mark on the world is automatically triggered after the conclusion of Inside Burning mission, several new quests open up, including this one starts when the Insector reaches Blárach, this is a pretty short quest, pointing out the next course of action for the Insection, just speak with Anna in the antechamber just outside the war desk, and speak with Menech'lech on the southwest battlements of the Henig's Energy room.

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Mainstory Quest #7 - Planing the Future

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Menech'lech has a friend named Jesstin Wynne who fought Maol-Domhnuich Tolmach for a couple of years, once before and now he's afraid that the Enskrik'en are under the influence of the ancient villain, Wynne has a Enskrik'en contact who may be able to say more. The mission occurs out across several locations in the world of Aekras. Menech'lech mentions he has a friend that may be able to aid the Insection against Maol, so the Insector must meet Menech'lech on the top of Blárach's battlecamps to be introduced to Wynne, a former champion warrior, he informs the Insection leader of having an ally among the Enskrik'en that has more information on the nature of Maol-Domhnuich Tolmach and his plans, this Enskrik'en ally is currently hiding in Darkwood and you, as the Insector, should travel to meet him.
So, the Insection leader must select the war desk mission 'Enskrik'en Hiding Place' to unlock and travel to Drawkwood, this village turns out to be besieged by demon-possessed people or undeads. The Insection leader is likely to meet a pair of Enskrik'en protecting an elven girl named Brenda Isaacs from the undead. At the end of the fight they will mention they are hunting a renegade Enskrik'en, and will leave the scene. The Insector may locate Brenda again in a small house farther along the road and impressed by the Enskrik'en prowess Brenda will be tempted to join the order, but the Insector has a chance to change her mind, the decision will have an impact later in the mission, the Inquisitor may encourage her to join the Enskrik'en or dissuade her, if Seratas is in the mission group, he may help in this process, in which case she will become an spy agent for the Insection.
Outside of the village of Darkwood, near a military barrack camp, in a smuggler's place once held by 'The Dark Boy', finally the Insector will meet Wynne's Enskrik'en ally, depending on the player's decisions in the previous missions, the ally can be Cadogan, Den or Llewellyn, then the Enskrik'en ally informs the Insection leader that the situation is dire which all Enskrik'en have been summoned to Tunidria by the General-Commander Hennion in one last desperate attempt to end all the Moyles forever, but he suspects some form of foul play involving Maol and that's because all Enskrik'en in Tunidria have simultaneously begun to hear what they believe to be the call of the Darkdragon, the precursor to The Boal Ritual, and in an attempt to prevent a new Moyle, Hennion suggested a drastic strategy of using blood magic and devils to make a final stand in the Fychan Reliefs, a grand network of enormous underground tunnels that once belonged to the Guairhoven Empire, spanning the length and breadth of Aekras, and end all the Moyles forever. The Enskrik'en ally too experienced this call but loudly protested Hennion's plan, so the Enskrik'en elf-mages immediately claimed he was interfering and decried him as a traitor, forcing him into exile. Just a matter of information, Moyles was a period when Gnatan Demons found and corrupted one of the Ancient Divinities, which is transformed into a Darkdragon and leads the horde to attack the surface world. Darkdragons are the Ancient Divinities manifested in the form of powerful, strong and incredible terrifying dragons and tainted by Gnatan Demons. The Ancient Divinities are sleeping beings that were worshipped in the form of dragons by a significant number of Aekrasians and Drawklandians, specifically the people of the Bruisian Empire, thousands of years ago. The Boal Ritual, was a ritual created by the first Enskrik'en members, to prevent future members from watching themselves ultimately succumb to the Gnatan Demons faints, contrary to belief of the junior members, surviving it does not confer to Enskrik'en a true immunity, but rather merely delays its onset, begins with nightmares and bad omens, and then he begin the hear eerie music and whispers, the same "call" the Gnatan Demons hear to search for the Ancient Divinities.

Drawkons - The Ritual

Well, The Enskrik'en believes that Maol was dead by Wynne's own hands, but the Enskrik'en ally looked into the matter more, knowing that, as with an Darkdragon, Maol may not die easily, through his own investigation, the ally has come to believe that the call felt by the Enskrik'en is not being produced by a Darkdragon, but by Maol, in order to command the Enskrik'en members. The Enskrik'en ally says that all Enskrik'en's have gathered at a Bruisian Ritual ritual tower in the Klienein and asks the Insector's aid in investigating. The Insector must select the war desk mission 'Searching for Clues in Klienein' to unlock and travel to this region of Klienein, util then the Enskrik'en ally will remain on the battlements at Blárach. In Klienein, the Insection leader shall travel to the ancient ritual center tower, meet Wynne and his ally there, they will inform the Insector that the Enskrik'en within the tower have already begun their ritual, as the group enters into the tower, they will find a group of Enskrik'en lead by Calcas Brodrick, a Dhuinnian master, then it is revealed in the game that Calcas Brodrick is working for Maol, and has manipulated the Enskrik'en into willingly performing the ritual. The blood magic, in fact, transform each Enskrik'en that performs it into a demon/devil, and this would transform the entire order into a devil army capable of entering the Fychan Reliefs, fighting the Gnatan Demons, and eventually kill the Ancient Divinities as they sleep, preventing any future Moyle, however, the ritual has another side effect, enslaving the demon-transformed people to the control of Maol. Boldrick will also reveal the nature of the Insector/Insection Leader/Player-Controlled Charachter's mark as a means to safely cross The Divide, metaphysical barrier that exists between the physical universe of Drawkland, Aekras, and the spyrital of Drawkland, the Drak. Boldrick attempts to subdue the Insection leader, but is thwarted by the mark, as Boldrick flees out from the scene, the Insector is left facing the demons and Enskrik'en that had already performed the ritual, after the fight, Wynne and the Enskrik'en ally ally will regroup with the group, then a brief dialogue on the reasons behind the use of blood magic by the Enskrik'en gives their perspective on the situation, trying to justify the Enskrik'en as being misled will cause Seratas to disapprove and Bondi Marrick to approve, if he's present in the group.
The Enskrik'en ally believes Boldrick fled in the direction of the Garanhon Fort, an abandoned Enskrik'en fortress, then Wynne and the ally agree to scout ahead and confirm the Enskrik'en presence before returning to Blárach. Return to Blárach, and go to the war desk room, and select the 'Operation Wandering with Spyrits' which needs a level 21 of energy to start with, then your counselors will explain the plan, the Insection forces will attack and mount an encirclement to the Garanhon Fort attempting to use choke points to their advantage, holding back the demon army while the Insection leader shall reach General-Commander Hennion. The next part of this mission involves entering in the spyrit world Drak, taking Seratas with you will lead to additional insights due to his unique familiarity with this universe, if you take Cvallach with you will lead to additional dialog about Celestial Ngallah, and it is impossible to change your group after entering in the fort, inventory can not be stored or sold, so before start this part of the mission it is recommended to free up inventory space to avoid overload.
Right after entering in the fort, the Insector is faced with a massive and huge battlefield, the Insection's forces assault the fortress and batter their way inside, so you as the Insector and their companions enter the fray. To secure the gate that was breached, the Insector must eliminate a group of spyrits with a Enskrik'en orb-speller, once they're defeated, Gerward will join the group, introducing again to everyone the overall goals of the initiative, and point out the next problem, too much resistance on the camps in the battlefield are preventing the Insection's army from gaining a proper foothold, follow the road to find a group of Enskrik'en archers with a senior one and beyond them, a gate leads north to the Beavin Yard, but will be guarded by a pair of spyrits that will spawn as the group approaches, near the place. In the Beavin Yard, the Insection leader stumbles upon a fight among Enskrik'en members, a few Enskrik'en warriors have refused to be sacrificed for the blood magic ritual, and are fighting off a group of Enskrik'en orb-spellers and spyrits, after the battle the remaining Enskrik'en can be told to surrender or fall back to safety, if they fall back they will not initiate further conflicts with enemies, or if the Insector remains quietly with Bondi in the group, he will convince them to fight alongside the Insection, then go through the door to the west, another door to the same direction, leads to stairs heading up to the battlecamps, a patrol of spyrits with a Enskrik'en archer will be found along the stairs.
Time to reach the battlecamps. After reaching at the place, the mission objective will be updated, finding Hennion remains the main objective, but an optional goal of clearing four encirclement points is not mandatory but results in earning big rewards in experience, energy levels. The first point is guarded by an Angry Demon, type of devils/demons fueled by and attracted to rage, but are ultimately simpler and less devious than their other kind. The second one is guarded by Enskrik'en orb-spellers, a Gweir Demon, which have been classified as perverted spirits of hope, a variant of the Malleable Demons, who can be turned into various forms, and a Envy Demon, ncredibly powerful demons, the corrupted form of spyrits. Wynne will assist in this fight and afterward can be directed to fight with the group or stay to secure the battlecamps. The two last points, are guarded by a group of spyrits and Envy Demons, once all the points has been cleared, the Insector should return almost to the third point, to go down a flight of stairs. Then, the group shall go towards the north, through a set of four doors, back to the Beavin Yard, where they will meet a group of Insection members fighting a Envy Demon.
In the main yard, Boldrick is revealed at last, presiding over Hennion's sacrifice to bind a demon to her, if Brenda Isaacs was not recruited as a spy agent of the Insection earlier in Drawkwood, she will be the sacrifice; otherwise it will be another Enskrik'en, the ritual will be interrupted by the Insection leader, who will try to explain how the Enskrik'en are being enslaved to Maol, if Bondi is in the group, the Insection leader ask him to speak to the Enskrik'en, an additional dialogue option is available if the Historic Mind item was acquired. The Insector claims and especially the mention of Maol seem to move Hennion, who starts doubting Boldrick, then he calls Maol's dragon to attack the Insector, at this point, Hennion understands Boldrick's deception, she will order the Enskrik'en members in the yard to help the Insector and pursue Boldrick. The demon-possessed enslaves Enskrik'en orb-spellers, spyrits and a Envy Demon in the main yard will attack the group with the aerial support of the dragon, after the battle, head south along the battlecamps, spyrit and devil/demons will be encountered along the way, and the dragon will continue to attack from above. Hennion and Boldrick are discovered engaged in a fight, Hennion nearly succeeds in slaying Boldrick before the dragon attacks, mauling her, near death, she enacts one last attack to destroy both herself and the dragon, the force of her spell shatters the walkway and all plummet, so the Insector and his group are saved when the Insection leader opens a rift and all fall through.

Drawkons - Spyrit of Celestial Ngallah

The Insection leader, the group, Wynne and the Enskrik'en ally are trapped physically in the Drak, to be more specific, in the Raw-Drak,and must now escape by locating a rift that corresponds to the rift that had been opened in the main yard of the Garanhon Fort during Boldrick's ritual. Before climbing the stairs ahead, the Insector's group xplore the area surrounding them, in the north you can find a couple of new Insection text entries, in the west supply boxes, as well as a group of necromancers and spyrits, to the southeast, another group of spyrits and a table that can open a new quest, one of the quests objective is located nearby, a candlestick that may be placed on the same table, the chair by the table can now be interacted with to gain a magic energy point, another Insection text entry is available. Climbing the stairs, the group finds what appears to be the spirit of Celestial Ngallah but it is unclear if the vision is the Celestial Ngallah or a spirit, but the entity knows the truth of the events at the Bowen Range Temple, it is revealed that the Insector's memories of the event were stolen by the Painwallader, the general of Maol's demon/devil army, a creature that feeds on terrors, Painwallader was in fact the origin of the false calling that the Enskrik'en experienced, so slaying demons will help to restore the Insectior's memories, if Cvallach is in the group, additional dialog will be available when encountering the spirit of Celestial Ngallah.
Then, four necromancers will appear and attack, each one releasing a memory that must be collected, when all four memories are collected, the truth at the Bowen Range Temple is revealed, the Insector interrupted Maol ritual in an effort to save the Celestial Ngallah and touched the mysterious orb in the process, and the mark was the result of this contact, it is also revealed that Enskrik'en were collaborating with Maol in the ritual as Enskrik'en elf-mages were magically restraining the Celestial Ngallah for the sacrifice, Ngallah tells the Insector that he must make haste, as Painwallader will be now aware of their presence in the Drak, she disappears, to "prepare the road ahead" as the group will follow. Thereafter, the group will reach a clearing where Painwallader detects them, it will talk to the group with Maol's voice, taunting them, then a group of spyrits appears at the bottom of the stairs, next the party will face attack by giant spiders called Fastlegs, the same ones that you could see when the player-controlled charachter was present in the Drak at the start of the game, they have names such as elf-mages, templars or moyles as they are related to text entries found in the area describing the fears of various people around Aekras. The main road to follow continues towards the north, while a secondary path leads south to a dead end, along the way, the Insector can inspect the effigy of a burning man, a Envy Demon will spawn and attack, and hear more of Painwallader's taunts directed to the member of the group, the dead-end presents an crystal mirror that will give +1 point of intelligence level to the Insector, but spawn two envy demons and a group of spyrits, back on the main path after dealing with more spiders, the group will encounter the Celestial Ngallah again, she can be questioned further, and instructs the Insector to battle more demons to recover more memories, there's a supply box nearby to restock potions, necromancers can be battled for further memories, which reveal greater information.
It was in fact the Celestial Ngallah and not Henig Kraseneich who appeared in the Bowen Range crack, she died as the Insector escaped, slain by demons and devils to make sure the Insectior could flee, therefore, this entity can be seen as the spirit of Celestial Ngallah, or a spirit that has merely taken on her form, Wynne and the Enskrik'en ally get into a hot argument about the Enskrik'en culpability in the Celestial Ngallah's death, to which the Insector can agree with either or urge them to put the argument aside for now, as more fastlegs attack the group. Defeating the fastlegs, opens the barrier ahead, beyond which lies a group of spyrits and a fear-demon (fear based demon who comes in both a lesser and greater form) waits. Beyond these enemies, the group will reach the Celestial Ngallah's spirit once again, as she is being attacked by a group of fastlegs, the spirit will once again disappear after this fight, and the group will face a split in the path, both sides will lead to the new location of the Celestial Ngallah, the higher, southeastern path is guarded by two envy demons and a fastleg, the lower, northeastern path is guarded by three fear-demons and one necromancer, it holds one of the objectives for the table quest. As the group approaches the Celestial Ngallah spirit where the two paths reunite, they will be attacked by waves of spyrits, necromancers and fastleg spiders lead by envy and malleable demons, after the fight, the Celestial will head northeast, explaining the Insector should exit the Drak and close the rift behind it.
The rift ahead leads back to the real world but it is blocked by the massive spider-like form of Painwallader, the Celestial Ngallah spirit sacrifices herself to subdue the demon, asking the Insector to give a farewell message to Leilara before doing so, with the demon temporarily indisposed the Insector must face the aspect of Painwallader left behind, a fear demon and fastleg spiders, the aspect will use barriers to protect itself, it is vulnerable to electricity and spirit, but immune to other effects as fear, frozen, asleep and another physical effects. When the demon is defeated the spider demon reappears, blocking the group's exit, a pivotal decision will have to be made, one of the Insection's allies, either the Enskrik'en ally or Wynne, must remain behind in the Drak to fight the Painwallader, buying time for escape, whoever is chosen will likely die. If Wynne is chosen, will demand to remain behind to fight the creature as Wynne feels Maol is their responsibility and the Enskrik'en ally must remain to restore the Enskrik'en order, when charging the creature, Wynne will say farewell to Menech'lech and their love interest (if you choose a female charachter), if Wynne does not have a love interest, the Champion's final words instead correspond to their personality. If the Enskrik'en ally is chosen, after the revelations about the Enskrik'en involvement in the Celestial Ngallah's death, will demand to remain behind to fight the creature, choosing the Enskrik'en ally as the sacrifice may have impact upon the next pivotal decision made.
After returning to the fortress from the Drak, the Insector closes the Drak rift that was opened and destroys the remaining demons, as well as Boldrick's hope at creating a demon/devil army, he has been taken alive for judgment, then the Insector will reveal that one of the companions sacrificed themselves to save the rest. The knowledge of the vulnerability of Enskrik'en to the power of Maol, and their culpability in the death of the Celestial Ngallah, makes their presence in Tunidrian contentious, the Insector must make a decision on the fate of the Enskrik'en in Tunidria, whether to exile them from Tunidria due to their potential for corruption, or to allow them to remain and fight for the Insection, at this time the Enskrik'en ally, if alive, is the last surviving senior Enskrik'en in Tunidria. If Wynne is alive, a nearby Enskrik'en will comment that the Tunidrian Enskrik'en's are now leaderless and have no one of significant rank to guide them. If the Enskrik'en are exiled, will leave Tunidria and leave the Empire without any Enskrik'en presence, the sequence of war desk room, operations beginning with Investigation of Rowlands becomes available. If the Enskrik'en joins the Insection, they will remain and rebuild their order, joining the forces at Blárach, the series of war desk operations beginning with Protect the Rowlands becomes available. The mission ends in a conversation with Leilara at Blárach after the above decision.

[Starblaydia]

Part One: Takeaway
Part Two: Duchess
Part Three: Fidget
Part Four: Torque
Part Five: Omen
Part Six: Leap
Part Seven: Screams

"Korra," Julius had to keep himself from yelling, "what in the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Just a second," she replied gleefully. Korra finished tapping away on her keyboard, hit the enter key with a little flourish of her fingers in the air, and spun her office chair around to face him. She gave him her best smile, and raised her eyebrows. "Whatever do you mean, daddy?."

"Don't start that," he said, controlling the fury he felt as she looked at him devilishly. "The World-bloody-Assembly?"

"Oh please," she dismissed his implied complaint, "we've done it before; it was really useful for looking like we're an accountable, friendly nation."

"But the resolutions we'll have to ado-"

"No," she cut him off like a dog you're trying to make sure doesn't get on the couch, "they'll only apply to the office. Which is, literally, an office. How have you ever run a country before?"

That insult stopped him dead in his tracks. He was the man who ruled the Protectorate of Starblaydia. What he says, goes, and it had developed into an economic behemoth that nobody has messed with for generations and one that still led the work in style, creativity and efficiency. His was a nation where every citizen led a comfortable life and none were left behind as his rule, and the rule of those before him, carried them throughout there lives. He was hailed every time the national anthem was sung, and every year on Protectorate Day children drew pictures of him as part of their family, the cool uncle that they always loved to see. With him at the helm, Starblaydia had prospered and led the way forward. Where Starblaydia led, Calania, Atlantian Oceania and the world, even, followed.

"And it did that," Korra snapped, "all by itself without the slightest iota of guidance from you!"

"Dammit, stop doing that," Julius shouted, "there's no need to be in mind any more. We're together now. I don't know why you're acting so strange, Koraa, you've changed."

"No, Julius," Korra said, standing up square to him, stepping towards him slowly with a menace that he could feel in his heart, "you've changed. Where is the vibrant man I first connected with, a man who could and would move heaven and earth to get what he wanted and what was right. All the advice I've ever given you in your whole pitiful life has been good, it has led you here and now what, you question me now that I'm in a place to be able to do this for myself, for the good of the country, and not have to rely on you seeing that it makes sense first? You don't trust me any more?"

"Of course I do," Julius said, trying not to wonder if he meant it, "I'd do anything for you. Always"

"Anything?" Korra said, suddenly becoming a lot less threatening, her hands sweetly behind her back as she put one foot daintily in front of the other and closed the final few steps to stand directly in front of him.

"Anything," Julius confimed.

"In that case," she said, softly placing per palms on his chest, moving them upwards and snaking them over his shoulders, intertwining her fingers at the back of his neck. She leaned forward, on her toes, to whisper in his ear. "You should kill my so-called mother."

Julius tried to step back but was locked in an iron grip that simply wouldn't let him step back. She was much stronger than she looked, and short of a martial arts throw he didn't think he could get out of the hold easily.

"I... I can't do that," he stammered, "she doesn't deserve that, never."

"She doesn't deserve her position, either," Korra shrugged. "She's in the way."

"You can't tell me to do that."

"I can, I will, and I have," Korra leaned in again to his ear, closer this time with a breathy whisper in his ear that made the hair on the back of his neck and arms stand on end. "Or I could tell them that you touch me."

"What?!" Julius tried to break away but she still held him firm. "That's not-" he automatically began to deny, but of course it was the truth. "They'd never believe it."

"Oh," Korra said, looking up at him with her impression of big, wide, puppy-dog eyes, "but they would believe that a magical girl has been talking to you in your head for a century, and you married a random woman who looked like her so you could invent a child and then reveal her at the right moment, the very morning after sharing a bed with her for the first time? I'm sure they'd believe that instead. But, then again, you never know who might have recordings of what we did. Of what you did to me. That's why they're called the Secret Service, though, because they keep all of yours."

"You're a monster."

"No," she said, in the offhand way that one might turn down a suggested dish because they simply didn't feel like it, "I think you'll be the monster."

There was a long silence between them. Julius couldn't believe that she was blackmailing him into murdering his wife. Of course, he'd only ever loved Korra. He'd loved his Chorus, and here she was, living and breathing in front of him finally, and to keep her he needed to have his wife killed. She was nice, and sweet, and she smiled prettily at parties like a Lord-Protector's wife was supposed to. She didn't deserve to die, but Korra was right, she didn't deserve to be the Lord-Protector's wife, consort to the most powerful man in the country. But could he do it himself? How? Who could he even order to do it? Would his Venators silently obey, or more likely refuse such a ridiculous order? Starblaydi leaders didn't go around murdering people any more, they never did, really. At least not the legitimate rulers, and there'd only been one illegitimate one in the previous three hundred years. He just couldn't think of a way.

"Okay," he gave in, "but you need to arrange it. I just can't."

"Alright," Korra said with warmth in her voice. She kissed him softly on the cheek, and for a moment he considered trying to back away again. "Just be sad when it happens. Off you go."

As he left she turned around, closing the door behind him with her mind. Korra smiled, her chest shaking with barely contained laughter. She snorted to control it, quickly gave in, and produced a full laugh from deep within her body. It was Viannor's laugh, the same laugh as when Curzon's plane had gone down, the same laugh as when Lexi had thrown herself from her balcony. It always made her feel good when she took these definitive, no-going-back steps along the way in her grand schemes. She tapped a button on her desk's phone, while simultaneously searching a drawer for a specific phone.

"Bring the van to the basement," she said, tapping a text on the phone she'd selected at the same time. "Five minutes."

The time is now. Be ready.

It was the only text that phone had ever sent and the only one it ever would send. She glanced at a clock. The sun was still up outside, but it would soon set by the time she reached her destination. Not being able to operate outside outside during the daytime was one of the few real inconveniences of her vampiric nature, but at least there were offices with no access to natural light where she could be seen through the day, so as not to spread any rumours, as outlandish as those might seem. The blacked-out, unmarked government van that she traveled around in when necessary to change locations during the day wasn't anything out of the ordinary, either. This visit, however, was.

The van pulled up outside in the spacious grounds of the official residence of the wife of the Lord-Protector, Gianna Starblayde. Korra walked up the long, straight, paved path to the front door; she was a daughter coming home, after all. Gianna met her at the front door and they embraced warmly, kissing each other's cheek in a lingering hug.

"Come inside, dear," Gianna said, "you should tell me when you're planning on coming and I can rearrange my schedule more easily."

"Sorry, mum," Korra shrugged sheepishly, as they walked up the white marble stairs and into one of the reception rooms.

"So tell me," Gianna said as she closed the large double-doors behind them, "is it now, Your Grace?"

"The time has come, Gianna," Viannor confirmed, no longer wearing any kind of pretense of being Korra. "You've served me so well all these years, and now you get your rewards. I'm going to sire you tonight, right now, and you'll be able to serve at my side as a being of ultimate power for eternity. Now, first, I need to drain you of most of your blood. Then, I'll give you some of mine to drink, and after a dew days you'll awaken and arise as a fledgling vampire."

"I've waiting for this day for more than thirty years, Your Grace," Gianna said excitedly, "I'm ready."

Viannor fixed her eyes firmly on those of the woman who had played her mother to perfection. Just like she had stepped confidently towards Julius earlier, she did the same to Gianna, but the reaction was vastly different, almost like a religious ecstasy. Viannor put her hands on Gianna's arms, and ran her hands up, over the older woman's shoulders, to her neck. Gianna closed her eyes and exhaled softly. Leaning forward slowly, Viannor tilted Gianna's head to the side with pressure from her thumbs. Opening her mouth, Viannor's vampiric fangs extended and her breath caused goosebumps on Gianna's neck. She could feel the woman's heartbeat pounding in her chest, so fast and powerful that her chest was visibly shaking in time to the pumping of her heart. Viannor knew that would soon be a thing of the past.

Gianna let out a small gasp of pain as her vampiric leader penetrated the soft flesh of her neck. Instinctively she reached up and pulled her arms tight around Viannor, pulling their bodies close. Hips, thighs and chest pressed against each other as Viannor began to drink. Warm, fresh blood direct from a human source was the most satisfying thing in the world to a vampire. With it, one could tell if the person they were feeding on was a smoker, what sort of alcohol they drank, if any, how much fatty food they ate, how much iron they got. The colour and the consistency and the taste were different for every person, a unique flavour so intoxicating that Viannor often wondered how each person she met tasted.

With each gulp, Viannor's strength returned as the blood filled her and recharged her. With each glup, Gianna's heart beat a little slower, her breath a little more shallow. Her legs buckled underneath her and instead Viannor's iron grip held her upright. Gianna's head dropped and she was out. Viannor took more of her blood, almost unable to stop until the woman was completely drained, but she had to stop herself, had to leave just enough in there. It was always a guess, always instinctive as she felt the life force of the person in her arms.

Holding the woman who had worked for the majority of her adult life to pretend to be her mother for all these years, Viannor opened the double-doors with her other hand and walked out onto the landing. She stepped slowly to the rail of the banister, following it until she got to the top of the stairs. She shifted her grip, one hand firmly held the material at the front of Gianna's shirt, the other the waistband of her skirt in the small of the back.

"No more pain," Viannor said softly.

Like a ragdoll, Viannor threw Gianna's lifeless, but still barely alive body down the hard marble stairs. The woman tumbled and fell as a dead weight, the sickening sounds of flesh smacking flat against unyielding stone and bones breaking against the luxury material as she was cast down, rolling and falling over an over again until she landed in a crumpled, broken heap at the bottom of the stairs. She barely looked human at all, and a pool of blood began to form underneath her. Viannor could no longer hear Gianna's heart beating. Viannor vaulted the bannisters and lightly landed on the marble floor below. Without looking at the corpse she had just created, she left the house, closing the door behind her.

"Bye, mum!" she said loudly and cheerily, waving to the non-existant woman who'd otherwise be looking out of the window.

---

"If you're just joining us it's half time at the Stadii Di Bradini and Starblaydia lead Yuezhou by two goals to nil. The Red Dragons initially came here with the thought to attack, but it's been largely Starblaydia on the offensive, Pawel Zapotowski and Ella Kabeya providing the goals. Javier, let's just have some analysis of Kabeya's goal, as it was a corker of a team move."

"It's a combination of Jin Guiyu not picking up Kabeya's run, followed by Soronúmë's incredible cross that goes right in the danger zone between back line of defence and the goalkeeper. There's just that little bit of curve on it that means Wei just can't afford to come out in case it curls too far out, and when Jin isn't up to speed with Kabeya, it's a case of pick that out-"

An emotional Starblaydi fan at the Starblaydia-Yuezhou game
after hearing the news of Gianna Starblayde's death

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Javier, but we've got some breaking news of national importance coming to us tonight, and ladies and gentlemen I've got the sad duty to report that Gianna Starblayde, wife of our Lord-Protector, has been found dead at her home. Police are saying that it appears to be a tragic accident while Mrs Starblayde was home alone. I speak for everyone here at SCB:Sports when I say that our thoughts and prayers go out to the Starblaydia family, Lord-Protector Julius and Her Grace Korra, and that we stand with them at this horrific time. For more details, please turn to SCB:News that has rolling coverage of this terrible tragedy and will bring you the latest as events unfold. For now, though, it's a case of 'the show must go on' as we return to our commentary team of and Jerome Fernandes and Kansu Lyku."

"Thank you, Davide, such sad news coming out of our nation's capital tonight, and I can tell you that the news is filtering through to the Starblaydi crowd here, they're very much in shock at the news as it ripples around the ground. There are fans in tears, here, holding their heads in their hands and comforting each other in this time of national mourning. Ye- I can hear several chants of 'Starblaydia' coming from around the ground, along with 'One Gianna Starblayde', a touching, spontaneous tribute from the always amazing Starblaydi fans. Wherever they go in the world they get a reputation as great guests, and now they're one again showing their class and decency as they pay tribute to our lost Lady in the best way they know how.

"The teams are coming out for the second half, and Starblaydia's players are all holding hands, they must have heard the news as well, and the applause rings out around the ground so loud, that I'm having to almost shout to be heard over it. There's chanting and celebration of life among the clapping, and I'm going to have to take a moment here, I'm afraid, because I've got a lump in my throat..."

---

In the seventy-sixth minute, when Hanar Nauglamír played a through-ball for Ella Kayeba, the leading young Starblaydi striker controlled the ball, knocked it inside Han Ruoyang and fired a shot directly into the bottom corner, the stadium practically exploded in pent up joy. Ella Kabeya immediately grabbed the badge on her chest and kissed it, pointed to it, sprinting towards the Starblaydi fans. As she ran she looked to the sky, raising one arm to point upwards to the heavens as she tugged at her badge

"That one's for you, Gianna!" Ella screamed her dedication to the sky above, caught perfectly by the television cameras as her teammates surrounded and enveloped her, fist clenched against her heart.

Viannor couldn't help but laugh.

[Drawkland]

IAROCAV
The immortal leader of Drawkland is one of the most famous figures of Sonnel. Indeed, Iarocav may be one of the most influential people to ever grace the multiverse, at least his corner of it. Leading Drawkland to its inception, through many wars, and to where it stands today, the nation would likely be lost to time without his efforts protecting it, through political, spiritual, and metaphysical strife.
Only decades away from his 5000th birthday, Iarocav's dreams are populated by him having faint visions of the future or reliving memories of his past. During the 78th World Cup, for whatever reason,
the First Drawkian begins to relive his childhood and ascent to the leadership of Drawkland, way back in the more ancient times. What follows is an account of these dreams.

More weeks had passed since Iarocav had led Patrol 89 to the edges of Hellenmack's territory. They hadn't taken any more expeditions to the enemy kingdom, nor had they really done anything outside the confines of Sadeg's valley. All things considered, it was relatively quiet, even overall among both forces. Some attributed that it was a cooling of tensions that would lead to further peace. Others insisted it was merely the calm before a terrible storm. Iarocav himself would rather than tensions cooled but he was prepared for fighting in any case. He trained for years for a reason.

Presently, Iarocav was in the library with Charlolad and Taykonna. They were huddled around the same book - the one about the procedures for Sadeg in the case that the king dies without an heir.
The book was rather thick, as it contained many specific instructions and even some historical examples, and thus the trio was intent on studying the entire thing. Even if Sirvatal eventually generates an heir, it's still an interesting read all the same. After all, it's not like there were very many alternatives. Perhaps you'd like to pretend to read something in a foreign script instead?

"It still seems a folly to attempt to put these things to memory," Charlolad sighed, "After all, Sirvatal isn't even ill of health!"
"You say that," Taykonna shrugged, "But his father before him, Anranatal, passed away very suddenly. It was a huge shock, of course, Sirvatal was still very young at the time, and of course you two were only a twinkle in your fathers' eye."
"If the war with Hellenmack comes to fruition then it may indeed spell the end of his reign. Perhaps this is why he's become less aggressive in his military command as of late," Iarocav chimed in.
"Don't mention that," sighed Charlolad, "I'd hate there to be a war. I wouldn't want to see y-"

Just then, the town bell rang 7 times in rapid succession. This was a call to the stronghold, the keep in the center of the castle. This meant that Sirvatal, or somebody else with much authority, intended to give an address to the people. Thus, Iarocav and the others left the library and strolled through the courtyards to the keep. There was a small balcony where Sirvatal himself already stood,
his wife at his side, and a herald at the other side. He stood, surveying the incoming crowd, patiently awaiting the moment where he could begin speaking. He wasn't in fancy dress (he rarely was anyhow), in fact, he seemed to be in light armor. Would this be a declaration of war on Hellenmack? Some speculated. His wife is there, maybe this is about an heir? Said others. All the citizens of Sadeg could do was wait. The bell rang once again, and the people quieted in their incessant murmuring. At that moment, Sirvatal began to speak.

"Those of Sadeg. I have gathered you here this day for an important announcement for the future of this glorious kingdom in this glorious land. I am indeed aware that many of you will have many questions once my main address here has concluded, and I will do my best to answer whatever inquiries may scratch at your minds. But first, the point of my calling you here today. As of late I have been plagued with many visions. Visions of what the future could bring, should I take one course of action or another. There are many things happening in the world, in this kingdom, right now, and the fate of all of us hangs in the balance. But one vision, a specific one, has invaded my dreams time and time again. I do not know how many of you are aware of the legends of old. But one of them refers to a massive fiery mountain, one far south from here. However, this vision has seemed to call me to it. You may think me insane, but I've spoken with many wise people from around our kingdom and all of them say that I should follow this calling. I do not know why or how I shall go about it, but something seems to tell me that if I go on a quest to this mountain, that it shall ultimately better our kingdom. And so, I've decided to embark on this quest. I will have to leave this kingdom."

This sparked much conversation and even some shouting from the people below. The king leaving his kingdom? Unheard of! How will we go on?

"I know how you all may be alarmed by this news. I had to think very long and very hard about this decision. I suppose the biggest question will be how the kingdom will operate once I take my leave.
We all know that I do not have an heir. But, I have looked into the customs that our ancestors have put forth and I have found a solution. Thanks to a book that was found by our archivist and librarian,
I have discovered that in past generations, when a king passed without leaving an heir, Sadeg would hold a tournament of sorts. It would be a 64-entrant combative tournament, the winner of which would become Sadeg's new royalty. I do not know if this will be necessary. I may return within days, or I may never return at all. Thus, I've decided that, if, an entire year after I begin my expedition,
I do not return, then this tournament will be organized and run its course. I can only ask that whoever wins this tournament shall gain the respect that you all have given me. It is my wholehearted belief that the powers above shall ensure the greatest potential leader shall win the tournament."

When Sirvatal mentioned the librarian, Charlolad and Iarocav looked, shocked, at Taykonna. The old man certainly had not informed them of the fact that he'd found the book for the benefit of the king himself. At the mention of the tournament, Charlolad and Iarocav looked at each other with equal amounts of shock. "Maybe the studying wasn't all for naught," Iarocav murmured to her. She simply rolled her eyes.

"In the interim, I will appoint a weathered and experienced military officer to lead this kingdom until the one year marker comes, if it ever does. I have not decided exactly who I shall appoint, but that matter will come later. I plan to leave in exactly one week's time. I will now take any inquiries."

Of course, there was much shouting at that point. Many people wanted to know many things, but the loudest one was quite obvious. "What of the threat of Hellenmack?!" bellowed a deep voice in the crowd, likely from a brute of a soldier.

"Hellenmack seems to be growing less and less of a problem every day. I've already lessened aggressive activity against the kingdom in hopes that tensions will cool long enough for me to return or for the new, permanent leader to be selected. I will instruct the interim ruler to not increase tensions and to keep the kingdom as safe as possible."

That didn't seem to help, as people started asking more and more questions, creating a cacophony of sound inside the castle. More questions were asked and answered, but at this point Iarocav and Charlolad talked to each other rather than pay attention.
"What do you make of this?" Iarocav asked her.
"Oh please, please don't enter that dreadful tournament if it comes to light," pleaded Charlolad, "You know it will be filled by the most brutish idiots this kingdom has to offer. I don't know what our king is thinking!"
"We've both read the text, you know killing is against the rules in it. I have nothing to lose. And besides, I highly doubt it'll happen anyway. Sirvatal is a wily man, I believe whatever he finds at the fiery mountain, he'll be back within the year."
"Speaking of which," butted in Taykonna, "I believe we have a few texts in the library about this mountain. Would you all be interested in seeing what they have to say?"
"Yes, of course," both of them answered.

At this point, the bell rang again, which meant the gathering was over. Despite many people still asking for answers, Sirvatal disappeared off the balcony and back into his keep. The crowd dispersed,
the people seeming to fade out just like the-

---

Iarocav woke up with a start. His back hurt a little bit. He looked up and realized he'd fallen out of bed. The loud frump noise that occurred because of this had clearly woken up Meliauden, and she crawled sideways to the edge of the bed from which Iarocav had just fallen.
"Dear! Are you okay?"
"I feel fine," Iarocav assured her as he sat up on the floor, "So much for a quality yacht. It must've swayed too far over."
"That's what you get for sleeping on top of the covers," his wife replied with a wink.
"You know I was feeling hot after that party last night. What with the win against Cassadaigua the night before, and then Anthor and RedBlack taking a loss last night, it was a ripe time to have a celebration. Let's hope those trends continue."
"Indeed. I'd like to get home, however."
"Me as well. Let's hope we're only a few miles out from Avon at this point."
Meliauden looked out of the window as Iarocav stood up. Not too far from the boat was a coastline. It seemed the yacht was following close to the shore, relatively.
"Must mean we're close," Iarocav noted, and Meliauden nodded.
"Can you tell what country this is? Don't we have binoculars somewhere?"
"Sure," said Iarocav, reaching into a small pouch which was inside the nightstand, and taking out a pair of binoculars which appeared to be a weird mix of steampunk, futuristic, and fantastical.
"Still your best impulse purchase," she chuckled, and Iarocav agreed as he looked out the window with them.
"You know those mod markets on Senetei are the real deal," he replied. "Hmmmm ... looks like we're close. I think those are New Gelderland flags there," he turned a dial on the binoculars, "and yeah. The people don't look salty enough to be Nepharim."
Meliauden laughed at that, and Iarocav turned to grin at her.

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

OOC - The Mammoth Compendium of World Cup Lies lives up to its name; you're free to believe it IC'ly, but please don't believe a word of these RPs OOC'ly. They're a compendium of lies.

THE MAMMOTH COMPENDIUM OF WORLD CUP LIES
World Cup 78 Qualification

Matchday 7 – Discorporation at the Hippodrome!

First of all the good news….

Football associations across the multiverse are flocking to sign the BOB petition to save mundy civilization by banning bye days. Audioslavia, Krytenia, Bonesea, and Spaam are just some of the prominent nations who’ve decided to band together with HEFA and the Holy Empire in their justified crusade to outlaw this pernicious practice. Starblaydia have also rallied to the cause, with Imperial assistant coach Simeone Di Bradini playing a prominent role in convincing his nation of birth to sign up to BOB.

Has your nation signed the BOB petition?

And if not, why not?

Now for the more troubling news….

It is with deep sadness that the Mammoth Compendium of World Cup Lies announces the news of the loss of the entire Eastfield Lodge team in the Imperial Hippodrome last night amid confusing scenes. Condolences have been sent to the families of manager Lowell Brown, coach Shabeen Ahmad III, and the rest of the squad.

While most mundies might not be entirely clear on the details, here in the Dreamed Realm we’re well aware – and entirely appreciative of – the fact that most of the Commonwealth of Eastfield Lodge exists in a bubble universe (the Holy Empire had no role in the events that led to the creation of the bubble universe; the Holy Empire is not responsible for the actions of individual imperial citizens; HEFA, ISPI, and SBIS deny any involvement of any official party in the Holy Empire over said events). Bubble universes are cool.

Unfortunately, said bubble universe may not be quite as stable as the Eastfieldians think it is.

Now, you may remember the Eshan match, when the Holy Empire’s squad was looking forward to matching itself against a team whose playing style should have led to an entertaining matchup. Much the same was true of the present match. What could go wrong when playing a compassionate and civilized (by mundy standards) team with an attacking style of play? Even better, the match was scheduled to take place on an alternate Tuesday, leading to expectations that the Empire’s Constantine Comneno would be invisible for the duration. Everyone was looking forward to a pulsating tie.

But, as we note, the Eastfieldian bubble universe isn’t as stable as the Eastfieldians think it is. After all, they didn’t use trained oneirologists to set it up, so it stands to reason that it’s limited by flawed mundy conceptions of time and space.

Under normal circumstances, building a portal from a mundy nation to the Holy Empire is simplicity itself. No special calibration is necessary. But the Eastfield Lodge bubble universe has an unquantified chaotic instability in the P axis that froominates the wheezle in the shoggleboosits. As readers will be well aware, froominating the wheezle can lead to any number of problems if the shoggleboosits hasn’t had a jaggle recalibration of the minklefood prior to the switching of the lipplesink.

No doubt our loyal readers can see what’s coming next.

Because of the froominaion of the wheezle, the Eastfield Lodge team simply discorporated at halftime. At that point the visitors were actually leading 2-0, potentially leading to a shock upset of the multiverse’s GREATEST TEAM EVER. Instead, the shock discorporation forced the hosts to award a 3-0 default bye to the Holy Empire.

All is not lost for the Eastfield Lodge national team. Should the minklefood be recalibrated with a jaggle calibration instead of the hilariously inadequate shoofle recalibration originally used by the Eastfieldian ‘scientists’ (more like witchdoctors, but there are only so many casual snide insults we can throw out at mundies each matchday), then it might be possible to retrieve the corporeal form of the visitors. Imperial oneirologists are offering to lend their expertise to the mundies to achieve this very result; we don’t want anything bad to happen to their squad, even it’s realistically all their own fault anyway. Should the jaggle recalibration of the minklefood avoid further froominating the wheezle (especially in the shoggleboosits), then there’s every expectation that the Eastfieldians will be able to field their normal squad in the next match.

But, as usual, the mundies will no doubt be incredibly ungrateful for all of the help we’ve provided.

So it goes.

[Kalumba]

The Great Attractions of Kalumba

Published by the Tourist Bureau of Kalumba

Number Seven
Saint Michael's Cathedral


Kalumba has always been a devout nation since the introduction of Christianity in 1742 and one of the most impressive buildings in the nation is Saint Michael's Cathedral. Until 1962 the cathedral was the tallest building in Kahali, when the first residential housing blocks were constructed to help alleviate the slum problem besetting the capital. In spite of the new high rise buildings the cathedral still offers magnificent views of the harbour from the bell tower.

Constructed from imported Purbeck limestone in 1846 the cathedral was consecrated by the Archbishop of Kahali, Roderick Waterstone in September 1849. It also became the seat of the Archbishopric and the centre for all Protestant worship in Kalumba, and the site of the most important ceremonies in Kalumban history. It was on the steps of the cathedral that independence was declared, and at the altar where the peace treaty concluding the bloody independence war was signed. It is also where each new president of Kalumba is confirmed in his office.

Within the cathedral a visitor can see the graves of great Kalumbans, like Captain Salisbury and his son, King Lobengula and Abel Chimpota the great independence activist and former president. Also a tourist can pay their respects to the war memorial dedicated to all those who fell in the independence war and the Kalumban Parachute Regiment memorial, who's home is the cathedral which is dedicated to the Archangel and patron saint of all paratroopers.

Tourists are able to explore the cathedral for a small donation on all days except sunday, when the cathedral is in use as an active place of worship. Visitors can attend services but must be prepared to be turned away if local turnout is high.

Don't Delay, Visit Kalumba Today!

[Tinhampton]

The (disorganised but) Collected Works of Aidan Thornton
08 October 1909-28 May 1987. Seen by many as Tinhampton's "greatest" poet, and arguably its only famous one.
The Final Requiem?
Written a month before Thornton's death, a poem about what he saw as the mess of the leftist government at the time.

---

04/1987

As I walk past this tarnished land
With neither football club nor marching band
I wonder of foreign desert sands
And think of how this could be

A city neither here nor there
Once under tyrannies and of lice in our hair
And "PETROSHENKO'S GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION LAID BARE"
With little prescience I see

No snap elections due to time
Whilst I notice that the following is now a crime:
Impersonating a bureaucrat - it costs a fine
of a thousand dollars, guilty often the plea

Ministers for Houses, Roads and School Reform
Our bureaucracy cannot repair what has been torn
Of our once-great city, which is now shorn
Not of dollars; instead of trees

A government, little more than somebody's hitch
Whilst young boys yell "Nobody likes a snitch!"
And the young girls call each other a bitch
Our scapegoat, of course, being poor old Lee

Lee, with Martin the Silo Guy
Wanted to take over, and then had a try
But failed, military forces effectively applied
And the government got a nuke free

And as such to the desert sands
Of that place - Democratic Yaradan
Independence was, for it, quite the scam
Rules, regulations as far as the eye could see

Our city is soon to fall into this
And our lives will be far from bliss
Government red tape set to be the kiss
Of death, as I shall momentarily see

Of such, it's worth saying: no more beer
To appeal to the newfound immigrants coming here
This is a ship with no wheel which to steer
The future - in a bad way - may well be here

Can't we just have peace (not the status quo, of which I am bored)
A government not "of Neil Kinnock born"?
Is every conclusion so forlorn
As that of the death of which I'll soon agree?

So, when I die, then the type of city we'll appear
Is as one with nothing to fear
Nothing to recognise
Nothing to live in
Nothing.

[Union of Socialist Alpine Republics]

The Alpine Union finally wins!

Linlithgow, Republic of Caledonia - (NAP) After losing 6-2 against Electrum in Centralis, Electrum, the Union of Socialist Alpine Republics received Kosovakia at Inbox Stadium in Linlithgow, Caledonia. Inbox stadium is the home of the Linlithgow Rangers Football Club, commonly named Rangers F.C. The Alpine Union beat Kosovakia 4-0. The first goal came at the 29th minute when Sascha Welzmüller passed to Pawel Wawrzynkiewicz who passed back to Sascha Welzmüller. Sascha Welzmüller passed to Amelia Zalwowska who dribbled and passed to Jean-François Kleineheismann on the right. Jean-François Kleineheismann shoots and he scores, 1-0 USAR!

The Bisons added another goal at the 58th minute when Sarah Schroffenegger made a cross to Zbigniew Zajaczkowski who shoots! The ball hits goalkeeper #1 and goes behind the net, it's a corner kick! Pawel Wawrzynkiewicz kicks the ball in front of the net, the ball touches defenseman #3's leg and goes into the net, it's a goal against his team for defenseman #3! A minute later, Midfielder #7 passed to Midfielder #9 who tries to pass to Striker #10 but Krzysztof Januszkiewicz blocks the pass. The ball is loose and Przemyslaw Zawistowski takes the lose ball and passes to Yannick Ksiezniakiewicz who dribbles and makes a long pass to his teammate with Pogon Miedzyzdroje in the Alpine Championship, Zbigniew Zajaczkowski, who shoots and scores! The score is now 3-0 for the Reprezentacja Alpejski!

The Alpine Union added another goal at the 77th minute when #7 Pawel Wawrzynkiewicz passed to Amelia Zalwowska who shoots but the ball hits the cross bar. #77 Yannick Ksiezniakiewicz kicks the lose ball in an empty net and the score is 4-0 for the Union of Socialist Alpine Republics! The USAR is now 6th in group 8 with 7 points in 6 games. On next matchday, the Bisons will travel to Cosneolta, who'se in 4th place with 10 points. Cosneolta is a fiscal paradise where most of mercedinian corporations have an offshore bank account. So both Cosneolta and Mercedini are evil nations.

BOXSCORE

29th minute: Jean-François Kleineheismann assisted by Amelia Zalwowska
58th minute: Defenseman #3 (goal against his team)
59th minute: Zbigniew Zajaczkowski assisted by Yannick Ksiezniakiewicz
77th minute: Yannick Ksiezniakiewicz unassisted

YELLOW CARDS

Alpine Union: Bartosz Strzyzowski
Kosovakia: Defenseman #2, Midfielder #6

RED CARDS

Alpine Union: None
Kosovkia: None

[Turori]

Cocoa-bo, an establishment taking its name directly from the beloved national animal of Turori, started as a small dessert shop in Kionao. However, it was only after they added chocolate topped drinks to their menu that their popularity started to soar. As more and more patrons scooped up their chocolate flavored pick-me-ups, demand for the Cocoa-bo product skyrocketed and soon new franchised locations were popping up all throughout Turori. Shifting to more of a social 'hang-out' then just a casual place to drop in, get a dessert, and leave, the new locations started adding small foods such as Bagels for the morning, Soups and Sandwiches for Lunch or Dinner and Salads for the entire day. Cocoa-bo has expanded outside of Vilita & Turori. Their first regional location was opened in Andossa Se Mitrin Vega and the company continues to explore avenues to further increase its image, expanding the company footprint across Atlantian Oceania and beyond.

Cocoa-bo is now taking its latest marketing campaign, "Everything's Better With Cocoa-bo" on the road along with the Turori National Team, bringing to bus stops, digital screens and social outlets the image of the host countries flag and backstory 'altered' to show how it would be "Better with Cocoabo"...

Yttribia

When the Turori National Team trek to Rushmore to visit the land of the purple imposter they are greeted, for the first time, with a new Yttribian flag. Gone is the wheel and spoke design of yore and instead one finds a more simplistic naval inspired design.

Of course, the colors are far from traditional; unless you are from the East side of Lake Bekk, but nevertheless the pattern could only be simpler if it was a horizontal tri-color.

But, what's that peaking through? Could it be a Cocoabeak?

Why yes, while the natives may not see it now, It would be hard for a Turorian to not instantly see the impression of a Cocoabo with its Nouteak punching through the centerline of the color transitions.

Of course, the perfect symbol of diversity, the Cocoabo sees no color and likewise the Cocoabo can be seen nosing through both the white and black. Why wouldn't you want to celebrate the Cocoabo?.

Ceni

Turori's toughest opponents during World Cup 78 Qualifying are also its most dangerous opposition off the pitch.

With the Cenian flag paying homage to one of the famed celebrations of bird massacre, being a direct representation of a Thanksgiving Tablecloth, it is only natural for Cocoabo and their protectors to be wary of travel to the credolands.

Furthermore, with their politically focused reporting and hard-to-come-by coverage of any sporting events, even if the Cocoabo were to show up in Ceni - no one would notice if they go missing. The fear of a Cocoabo ending up as the main course for Thanksgiving Dinner in Ceni is a risk too great to take. Luckily, it will be the Citizen Squad traveling to Ceni instead of the Cocoabo on this occasion.

However, should the Cocoabo outpace the Citizens, they may still have to travel to Ceni in the future. So why not start a campaign to get the citizens of Ceni to love the Cocoabo... as a friend and compadre...? While keeping the Cenian flag in the fall home color pallette, but trending it towards the color of the Cocoabo instead of the color of the spilled blood and burnt skin of aviary creatures cooking in the oven. The silouette of the Cocoabo graces the center of the flag, with a hope that it is to pay homage to the acceptance of the Cocoabo - not as a literal interpretation of the first stage of preparations for Thanksgiving Dinner.

So, perhaps with the exception of Thanksgiving Dinner... right?... Isn't Everything Better with Cocoabo?
.