14th Winter Olympic Games :: RP Thread

[The Transmondian Commonwealth]

Laurianne Shepherd had luggage, notes, and take-out food boxes scattered around all over her room at the B&B in Mattapan. She had the TV on in the background, tuned to a Vilitan channel, which was currently showing an ad for Vilaye Energy Drink. Laurianne had no idea what a Vilaye Energy Drink was. They didn't sell them in the Home States.

She knew she wanted a pair of cocoabos to bring back to the Home States, and she was debating whether it would be easier to buy them or to sneak into the Cocoabo Forest and abduct them. It would probably be cheaper to abduct them, but it felt wrong. Better to do the honest thing and try buying them first.

The ad break ended and some kind of ice skating came on. The announcers were talking up a couple of skaters named Yureka and Malla that Laurianne had never heard of before. Not too surprising. She wasn't from this world, so there were bound to be skaters that were a big deal locally even if she never heard of them.

She went online to look up the contact information for the Cocoabo Park, but then got distracted because the announcer on TV announced that the Yankee ice dancers Hector Jay Subway and Leann Fulton were about to skate. Laurianne had heard of them and she stopped what she was doing to watch. She was a little surprised that they had bothered to come out to compete in a world like this, one that was so different from the Home Countries and had so little contact with New England. And she thought it was a little silly to specify Hector Jay Subway. Was there another Hector Jay around? As a matter of fact, there was. A little while after Jay and Fulton, Hector Jay's doppelganger from the Dark States came up to skate, paired up with a totally unfamiliar woman named Veronica Bourdeaux. They were both visibly nervous, obviously out of their depth.

Laurianne realized she'd totally lost her train of thought because she was watching the ice dancing. What was she doing again? Oh, yes, calling the Cocoabo Park. Her call went straight to voicemail and she got a message telling her to call back during regular business hours. She glanced at the clock. If she hadn't been distracted by the ice dancing, she could have caught them before the office closed for the day. She was annoyed with herself.

[Kriegiersien]

Olympics Noir – 3


“Did you see that? How they accelerated the stone with their brooms and then let it go and it slowed down, changed a bit the direction, passed the defense and stopped exactly where they wanted? Curling is such wizardry. I love the sport. Remembers me of another one I played.”

Imoen was amazing and in the moment amazed. I just nodded, but the match between Liventia and Kriegiersien didn’t interest me as much as the other people in the bar who were thrilled and rooted for their team, mostly for the host.


In the first days I had made photos from Imoen and send them with this .. Smarthing my client had given me, over the .. interwebthing, modern magic in my mind, to her. Photos from her talking with other people. Athletes. She made many contacts. Touching, hugs. But an affair? It had been no big problem to come into her surrounding as long as we could avoid her teammates.
Then doing stuff for ourselves. Relaxing.

And never did I get the feeling that there was any romance going on. Any try to start one. She was a chum or the daughter you wanted to protect.

Since yesterday I had stopped making and sending photos.



We left the bar after the end of the match. The locals went on celebrating.

“Aww, man, don’t you think the girls could have won this? Ah, no matter, they can still win the next games.”
She linked my left arm with hers.

At a small side road I stopped.

“Imoen, I have to tell you something.”
“Shoot.”
She looked at me excited. I took a deep breath.
“I am a Private Detective. Someone, who told me she was your spouse, wanted me to watch you.”
For the first time I saw confusion in her face.
“I have no spouse.”
“I thought so. Do you know her?”
I showed her a photo of my client. It was helpful that I had a hidden camera in my office.
She looked at it for a long time.
“I have never seen this person. Or at least I can’t remember.”

“I know you, witch! And that is enough.”

Only some feet away in the dark alley a figure had emerged. It was my client. She draw nearer, covered in a long dark coat, which she suddenly dropped. She now was clad in .. armor? Although, the black breast plate, hat and the high boots covered so much not, that she looked now even more exciting than naked. And horrifying.

“When no new messages came from you, I thought she had either killed or bewitched you. It isn’t the first, as I see.”

“What is all that about?”, I asked, positioning myself between the two.
“I would like to know that, too”, I heard Imoen asking.
The woman came even closer.
“I am a Witch Hunter. I hoped you would provide me with the chance to set a trap and you did. Our order will reward you for your help.”
“I can’t remember I signed for that”, I said.
“The Cellphone you got from us helped us to always track you and give as the right opportunity. It has come now. I thank you for that.”

She raised her hand and I saw a device flashing on her wrist.

In that moment I had the urge to stop whatever she had in mind and grabbed her arm. With unexpected strength she freed herself, let me fly through the alley and I hit the ground hard. Something left the device at her arm and pierced my chest.
It was painful. Fatal. I could only watch what happened next and these next seconds seemed for me to happen in slow motion.

My ex-client send a flash through a device from her other arm towards Imoen. Imoen raised her hand and a transparent, gleaming bubble surrounded her, that blocked all shots fired at her.
The witch hunter suddenly draw a cruel looking, rattling chainsword from her back and jumped at Imoen with a shout.
Imoen retreated, mumbled some words in a language that sounded like something I heard once in school. Or a TV show. When she had finished, a sparkling something of threads left her hand towards her foe, hit midair and disintegrated her.

Nothing was left.

Imoen scratched her head, then rushed over to me.

“Damned, hopefully no one saw that. I would get into so much trouble. Aw, John, you just shouldn’t have been involved in the whole mess. But don’t worry, we will fix this.”
“As long as you are ok… would be bad for the team otherwise...I am just relaxing a bit on the ground here...”, I mumbled, before I blacked out.




My name is John Marlow. I am a Private Investigator, as it says in golden letters on my door. My last job made me enough to pay the bills, some renovation and the TV. A boring job, I even forgot what it was about. The Olympics show some hockey and bandy. Kriegiersien would advance in both to the next round.
It knocks on the door, possibly the next client.

Just another day in beautiful Scorpion City.

[Vilitan Union]

Bodynii Duo earn Bobsled Gold for Vilitan Union

Parra Kala Sliding Complex, Parra Kala Mountains, Yeaddin, Vilita :: The Union of the Lands of Vilitan Origin Winter Olympic Delegation had hit a simultaneous Peak and Trough in their success at the XIV Winter Olympic Games in Yeaddin and Neverend as they raced towards an all-time best overall Medals Haul yet entering Day 10 of competition, hadn't recorded a gold medal in 4 Days of events much to the dismay of the local fans in Yeaddin. Unlike the XIII Winter Olympiad in Prescott where the disparate Vilitan Union delegations recorded nearly half of their Medals at the top of the podium with 9 Gold Medals amongst a total Haul of 19, there had been just Five Gold Medals won by the Vilitan Union in their co-home games thus far. It looked like that could change however at the Parra Kala Sliding Complex when the Men's two-man Bobsled competition resumed with a Vilitan duo at the top of the leaderboard with Quakii Estat and Exidii Motoqivic having the fastest combined time after the two completed runs.

The Duo were first on the course for Run #3 and it was perhaps to their detriment as they posted a time of just 52.39 seconds to plummet down the leader board. It was a bit of history repeating itself for Estat and Motoqivic who suffered a similar fate during the XIII Olympic Winter Games in Prescott as they held the lead heading into the final run but bobbled on Turn 7 and shuffled back to the 4th position, missing out on a medal entirely. In Yeaddin, they still had one more run but the task was made all the more difficult as they went from top spot to nearly half a second behind the lead position and were even overtaken by their teammates Brento and Gireffi Bodynii.

On the Final run the two Vilitan sleds ran nearly identical times down the course but Estat and Motoqvic needed something spectacular and it would not happen as they sat in 3rd place with the Top two teams still to go. The West Phoenicians posted a middling time of 51.96 which was enough to take over second place, knocking Estat and Motoqvic who had led after Two Runs off the podium and out of the medals while ensuring the Bodynii's would have no worse than a Silver medal. THe final sled was that of Ryan Carmike and Gerald Anderson of Taeshan who had a bit of a slow start and put them right in the grasp of the Vilitans as the tracker picked up their pace down the hill. The splits would show on the screen as the crowd watched in excitement. -0.002. Then -0.001. As the split hit 0.000 the crowd began to buzz. There were just two more splits to go. 0.000 once more as the Taeshani duo headed to the bottom of the course. As they crossed the line the time flashed across at 52.09, a slow time hampered by the poor start at the top of the course. The split updated to +0.001 and the local crowd erupted as it meant that the Vilitan sledding team, based right there in Parra Kala, had secured their first ever Olympic Gold in Men's Two-man bobsled. They Bodynii's, who had been considered the '2nd Squad' on the team behind Estat and Motoqivic, were mobbed in celebration. As the most consistent duo throughout field over the Four Runs, Bodynii and Bodynii didn't have a shiny 51.5x second run like their more decorated teammates did but the split of just 0.13 seconds between their best and worst runs was the tightest among all competitors and it was that consistency that led them to Vilitan sliding history in Yeaddin.

[Ioudaia]

Ferrandieu Ski Sports Centre, Neverend, Liventia
Day 10, Women's Freestyle Skiing Qualifiers

Calypso bat Liyam Cresusa and Berenike Gabi bat Noit Tsafir leapt for joy as enthusiastically as Chaya did. "I can't believed we all qualified! This is amazing!" Chaya could barely control her excitement. "Ioudaia has almost a quarter of the slots in the finals! We could win two medals... we could sweep them!"

Berenike laughed. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves!"

"Why not? It's fun!" The three young women, and now a larger group of Ioudaian skiers, laughed raucously. Kyra Glezos was among those chuckling and nodding. "Who doesn't fantasize like that?"

Chaya looked around, and realized the size of the crowd around them. "Oh, wow! Adults! You're finally taking us seriously!" She burst out laughing again.

"You're the only game in town today." Kyra was all teasing smiles. "We're either done with practice runs for the day or not yet started."

Chaya couldn't be bothered, and she turned back to Calypso. "You really nailed that Switch Double Cork 900!"

"Yeeeaaahhh..." Her reply had a dreamy tone. "I was hoping just to avoid botching it, I... I didn't expect it would work so well. And you! Where'd that Double Flatspin 900 come from?"

"Years of practice!" Chaya said proudly, and for a moment, she looked down her nose at her teammates, as though completely full of herself. Then she started giggling.

Eventually, the laughter and mutual congratulations ended. The other Ioudaian athletes drifted away, either to practice, the olympic village, or sightseeing in Neverend, leaving just the women's halfpipe team in Kedem ben Tebaeus.

"Hey, Chaya."

"Hi."

"I was thinking..."

"...that yesterday was a strange date?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Maybe. But how about another? Something easier. There's plenty of woods here, lots of private spots. Maybe just go for a walk or a ski."

Chaya blushed. "Alone with a boy!?. People will talk!" But she was charmed as well. "Ok, it'll have to be short. We need to get in a little more practice before the finals tomorrow."

"Sounds good. How 'bout now? You've got your skis, and I brought mine... just in case."

The two of them skied off, chatting.

[Taeshan]

A Team and a Dream: The Story of the Taeshan Olympic Team

The women's curling team has finally managed to get a win, but of more importance is skipper Mathew Shusterman's Men's side who won matches 3 and 4, and stays undefeated. An 8-6 win over Quebec followed by a 10-7 defeat of hosts Liventia puts the side 4-0 and with a big battle of the final two unbeaten sides with Mattijana in a possible Gold Medal preview. The side will have their work cut out for them as the Knights have managed to win more total points, but the Mattijana defensive effort has been a little bit better so far. Rajun Carpathia was able to directly qualify to the Big Air final in the first round, and sees her chance at a medal in this olympics come up soon after a great early effort.

In Yeaddin the duo of Ryan Carmike and Gerald Anderson were the final pair down the ice with a chance to win gold, but ultimately became the 6th silver medalist winner for Taeshan falling .01 seconds behind the Bodynii duo from the host Vilita side. They become only the second Bobsleigh medalists in Taeshan history, and earn the first ever two-person medal in the event. In the Ice Dance Oliver Farnsworth and Jamie Bryant sit fourth after the Rhythm Dance and have a strong chance at medals moving forward if they can keep up their strong performance. In a stunning reversal of the men's pursuit speed skating the women's team of Emmy Hochuli, Emma Horatio and Kameron Cope set the olympic record in qualifying only to get knocked out in the quarterfinal. Hopefully in the next olympics they will learn what the side the men faced in their quarterfinal did, you just have to qualify, then you can win.

Finally it was a quarterfinal matchup for the Purple Knights Men's Hockey team against Saintland with a chance to face Savojarna. The heavily favored Knights won the match 3-0 and it was an overall impressive matchup. The defense and goalkeeping were on par, and the offense had their second biggest attack of the tournament overall. Goals from Captain Jackson Gagne and Tyler Pierre in the first gave the men in Purple the early lead, and a third from Fordham Lafayette made it a certainty the Knights moved one step closer to the medal rounds. They face Savojarna in the next matchup in Eelandii.

[Ioudaia]

A Shopping District Near the Olympic Village, Neverend, Liventia
Day 8, continued

As the group wandered down the main street, Jessica and Charlie were already starting to become a source of gossip, though Jessica and Charlie was happy to introduce themselves to people. Yet, Jessica was unsettled about the talk of Charlie being a celebrity, if she is one. "Oh dear.." Jessica thought, unconformable, thinking it was a bad idea to tag along with the group.

"Paparazzi much?" Charlie whispered to Jessica, where she knew what Charlie was talking about.
"Should we go-" Jessica was about to whisper some more, until Tamid showed up to ask about which restaurant they are interested in. "Restaurant?" Jessica asked, where she glanced at Charlie for a second. "It's best we eat somewhere with lots of protein....and some available drinks that isn't just alcohol. I'm sober."

Tamid flashed his most reassuring smile. "Sure, this place seems to have a lot of protein dishes: meat, fish, poultry, and vegetarian, and plenty of soft drinks." As Tamid directed the group in, Peneleos caught his eye. "Problem, Peneleos?"

"Not sure yet. Get us a private room, though. Sela and I will bring up the rear to make sure everybody gets in without trouble." For a moment, Tamid looked troubled, but then he returned to his previous welcoming expression.

There was only a brief wait to get a private room – it was a bit early for dinner, so the restaurant was pretty empty – and Peneleos and Sela made sure they weren't followed inside. The group ended up at a pair of long tables, and Tamid offered Charlie and Jessica their choice of seats.

"Well, this restaurant is nice, Jessica. I'm sure they have something for you here, also." Charlie said to cheer up Jessica, though she was going to want some pomegranate juice, if they had it. "I see if they have something with lettuce with it. And something that is similar to my tea back home." Jessica sat down at the table, sitting directly near to Charlie, where they waited for their menus.

Meanwhile, outside of the restaurant, the tails who were following Jessica and Charlie had to stop outside, since a waiter at the reservation desk immediately raised an eyebrow at the band of security wearing Hawaiian shirts behind the group. With no other choice, they started chatting about trivial stuff to act less suspicious. But people already knew something was off about them.

Peneleos asked Sela to take the first watch at the private room's door, while he sat down opposite Charlie. There was some light-hearted jostling among the Ioudaian athletes for who would get to sit nearest the foreign celebrities. Sarit ended up across from Jessica, on one side of Peneleos. On Peneleos' opposite side was Tamid, and on Sarit's free side was Chaya bat Meiri, putting a young man, Kedem next to Jessica.

A flock of waiters descended on the group, filling water glasses, handing out menus, and finally announcing the day's specials. They then hovered nearby to answer questions about the menus.

Peneleos barely waited a second after the waitstaff had started hovering before talking to Charlie and Jessica. "You seem to have fans in Hawaian shirts. They've followed us here. Any idea who they are?"

Sitting down at the table, Jessica started to feel comfortable, where she requested to the waiter to get her a tall glass of pomegrante juice, along with some water. "Can't have any actual alcohol. Part of a diet that I do." Jessica explained her drink choice, as Charlie was reading the menu. Then, Peneleos asked about the "fans" in Hawaiian shirts. "Hawaiian shirts? This isn't Vilitia?" Jessica said, where she immediately knew what Peneleos was talking about. "Oh, you mean the Leader's personal security force? I'm not surprised. If I see them, they just walk away pretending they are not involved with me. It isn't paparazzi, but it's our ruler's way of trying to harass me as always." Jessica said, taking a swig of her juice, along with a small laugh.

Peneleos showed a sour smile. "Oh, him. This isn't the first time I've run into security forces from your country.

"But why you personally?"

"Is this going to be a problem, Peneleos? There are people I can talk to about--" Tamid sounded concerned, but Peneleos waved him off.

"Shouldn't be, but keep your phone handy."

[OOC: Collab with Main Nation Ministry, to be continued...]

[Liventia]

Day 11 cutoff.

[Recuecn]

The announcer's voice rang through the Eelandii Iceplex, and like any hockey rink, it echoed and amplified until the arena rumbled. Ladies and gentlemen, your Reçuecian... National... Women's Hockey Team! And to the cheers and applause of the crowd, out came the twenty-five players, wearing the red, gold, and purple colors of Reçueçn in three broad diagonal bands across their uniforms. They skated a lap around the rink before lining up for the national anthems. The crowd sang along lustily, and returned to its uproarious state as the closing notes still rang in the air. The Reçuecian players congregated on the ice in front of their bench. Only Elea Lörtscher didn't join the huddle--her pre-game ritual was slightly different. Standing back on the center ice, she faced away from her team. With her helmet on it was impossible to tell if she was looking up at the fans and taking in their energy and excitement, or simply staring at the ice ahead of her, focusing for the game ahead.

Behind her, her teammates huddled together, a mass of shoulder pads and baggy uniforms. Lynn Kern, first line defense, shouted her pep talk in their faces. Lynn wasn't one of the team captains, but she had exactly the energy needed for a top-of-the-lungs, all-stops-pulled pep-talk before an Olympic quarterfinal against one of the best teams in the multiverse. A few expletives screamed in one's ears right before the whistle blew could do wonders to get things started at the right pace. Elea didn't need that kind of energy to start in net. Plus she knew what the pep talk would be. Never exactly the same, it always followed the same format. Elea turned, facing towards her own bench now. Her coach stood there with her assistants, waiting for the Lynn's speech to be over with her arms crossed so she could give the last minute instructions. Behind the mostly empty bench was the glass, the only thing between the players and the thousands of fans, all exactly as hyped up this moment as Lynn was on the ice below. Reçuecians crowded the spot behind their teams' bench, waving flags, but elsewhere in the stands were plenty of Vilitans, as well as people from countries all across Teremara.

Elea could tell from the cadence of Lynn's shouts that she was approaching the end of her rally. She put her head down and finally skated into the huddle, stretching out her hand to the middle just as the whole team did so. Together, they gave one last shout.

"REÇUEÇN!!"

Then the players all turned, facing outwards, and whipped their hockey sticks over their heads, striking them on the ice at the same time with resounding crash. The skaters, amped up, pushed away from each other and skated tight circles on the ice before heading back to the bench to hear their coach's instructions.

Elea didn't need to hear this part either. She knew her job. Stand in front of the net and let nothing past. She made a beeline for her net, her square knee-pads clunky and clumsy as soon as she tried to travel in them. In the crease, she turned and stopped, pushing her feet sideways back and forth to scrape up the ice. She moved a little forward and backward until satisfied that she'd done all she could to add friction.

The coach was still leaning over a dry-erase diagram of the rink with the players huddled around. Elea wasn't quite sure what could possibly need explaining at the last minute like this. Maybe one of the scouts had noticed something just now about the Teremarans. As some of the skaters filed around behind the bench or hopped over the wall, it looked like the first line would be starting, as usual. All the players on the team were great, but Elea especially felt confident in the attacking power of that particular ensemble--Berthe, flanked by Marleen and Caroline had a great way of keeping the shots coming, while Lynn and Audrey kept the puck on the far side of the opponents' blue line--and thus their teammates on-sides. She could expect that Berthe and the back two would skate over in a minute to have their own quick conference and explain the updates from the coach.

In the meantime, Elea pulled a water bottle somewhere in her baggy uniform, as if she had conjured it from thin air. She tossed it on top of the net, put her stick up too, then both her gloves, and pulled her helmet off. Her long red hair tumbled loose and she shook it back like a lion shaking its mane. Putting her helmet on the net too, she ran her hands through her hair and finding a scrunchy, put it up. Plenty of the skaters played with their hair flowing out behind their helmets and over their jerseys, but Elea wasn't comfortable that way. Her hair out of the way, she grabbed her water bottle and popping the nozzle open, squeezed it into her mouth. She took a swallow, then another drink. By now, as she'd expected, Berthe and the girls were here.

Berthe swooshed in in a hockey stop, throwing up another small spray of ice from the crease. She threw an arm over Elea's shoulder and leaned in, as if imparting a deep secret. Audrey and Lynn came up too, completing the small huddle of four. Caroline and Marleen were at center ice already, helmets on, cracking jokes about something. Elea wondered how they could be so stress free at a moment like this. Of course, they weren't in goal. The team as a whole was responsible for the outcome of the game, but every time a goal went in, there was something Elea could have done to have stopped it, and she felt that keenly.

"Alright, so it's pretty much the same game plan as last time," Berthe was saying. "You've been doing great in net, so we'll be taking our time, not making any mistakes, and waiting for our chance." It was damn right that Elea had been doing great in net, although she accepted the passing compliment without a second thought. Since the beginning of the tournament, not a single shot had gotten past her. She'd led the Reçuecians to four clean sheets in a row--more than the men's team could boast of. There was a reason Elea was captain of the team, and it certainly wasn't her conventional good looks, although sadly it had to be admitted that those were probably a big part of the reason the women's hockey team, with her as the face of it, was so popular back home. No, Elea was perhaps one of the best players in the world for her position--her stats showed that much. More than that, she was the kind of leader, both on and off the ice, that an Olympic delegation needed. She had the maturity, experience, and tactical sense required for leadership during the match, and was always cool-headed. At the same time, she was easy-going enough to laugh along with the team's inside jokes and get along with everybody. She didn't have the same over-the-top energy as the practically spastic Lynn, but that was what made her so reliable. That also didn't mean that her drive wasn't there. Elea trained as hard, if not harder than the skaters, despite how little skating her position in net called for. She knew that as captain, she had to set an example. That example continued outside of practice. Elea was a model citizen, teammate and friend. Sure, she had her own issues, but she bottled those up, refusing to let them affect the game.

"We're going to try to conserve energy for the first period," Berthe went on. "We'll see how things go. Maybe test them a bit in the second, but that'll depend. Playing things by ear, like always. Then we'll push them hard in the third, where we should have a bit more energy left still."

"Same song, different verse," said Elea.

"Right."

Elea clasped Berthe's hand in hers--tricky while Berthe was still wearing her gloves and Elea wasn't. "Crush it out there." She turned to Audrey and Lynn, giving them high fives. "Wreck 'em for me, ladies."

Berthe leaned back in to give a satisfyingly solid fist bump. She grinned. "Fuck it up." Lynn laughed. Her speech had been contagious.

Elea rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling. "You got it."

Berthe put her helmet on, turned, and with a few quick thrusts of her skates was at center ice. Audrey and Lynn followed her to get ready for the puck drop.

Elea took another quick swallow from her water bottle before throwing it back on the net, pulling on her helmet, and adjusting the neck guard. Finally, she put her gloves back on and grabbed her stick, banging it on the ice to encourage her teammates as the ref raised the puck in the air.

Elea Lörtscher was alone in the net again. No player, no puck would get past her.

[Diarcesia]

October 29

The men's curling team feels the excitement building up for their matches tomorrow. After a defeat at the hands of the Vilitan Union, the Diarcesians were able to rally at the start of Draw Six against Tara and Cambray and cruise to a win. The final score is 10-3.

"I could play better, that's the main lesson I learned versus Vilita," Qimiryan Qadir of Buclatrachys said during a retrospective meeting about their performance during the day.

"We all thought about the same thing: what happened to the previous world champions when we qualified for the Olympics? What happened the last time they had a real loss? Or the last time... no," he continued.

"Go ahead," Satan Bolton, the chrysolyncophorus (flag-bearer) at Neverend during the opening ceremony, urged him to complete his thought.

"We all knew, in that moment, they were going to concede after that crucial end. So, that was the whole point - to understand that if the champions were going to lose that match in such a dramatic fashion, against us back then, by necessity we are not immune to the same mistakes. Think about it, we committed several errors that are very similar to theirs that cost us draw five."

The rest nodded.

"On a positive note, this didn't faze us, and we keep our focus on playing. That paid dividends in draw six. Let's maintain this focus tomorrow. Are we all ready?"

Qimiryan's teammates jubilantly affirmed. "Yes! We're ready! Go Diarcesia!"

"That's very encouraging," he smiled. "How about you, Avarand? What's the biggest lesson you learned?"

[West Phoenicia]

The smoky haze of the Diwali fireworks displays across a number of city-states was slowly fading. It had been a wonderful display of cultural appreciation, the colours, the candles the sweets and celebrations. The festival's had been a success.
Halloween was now fast approaching. The city-states that leaned more pagan in faith were bracing for the wild celebrations that would soon befall.

Halloween was a huge deal throughout the nation. The festivities included trick-or-treating, costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, telling scary stories, as well as watching horror films.
It was a great time not only for fun but also a time to reflect and respect the dead.
Thousands of West Phoenicians would make the pilgrimage to churches to light candles in temperance of those that departed or attend a graveyard, to place lit candles and soul cakes on the graves of loved ones.

The economy would receive a huge boost from citizens and tourist spending big on parties, charms, consultations with tarot readers and mediums. People spent nearly as much as tey did during Christmas time as each family looked to outdo each other in decorations and scaring the shit out of their neighbours.

The next three days will also be very busy for spiritual mediums, tarot readers, such as and others of their craft. With this time of year being so powerful everybody was rushing to these people to have their palms read, charms made and love spells created.
Those athletes and coaches at the Winter Games would not miss out as a small contingence of new age workers have been assigned to the Olympic delegation. It was always tempting to have a witch place a curse on a competitor, how ever the Winter Olympic athletes were not as aggressive in their approach as their summer Olympics counterparts.


For those not taking part in a sporting events the Olympic Committee had promised to host a Halloween party in the village where the West Phoenicians were staying. So far the celebrations from this party loving nation has been low key, as athletes buckled down preparing for their events.


The committee offered other delegations the opportunity to attend a Halloween party if that shows 2. It was promising to be a blast celebration fun and spooky shenanigans happening into the early morning.

Already some eager West Phoenicians had started to decorate their bedrooms with fake bats cobwebs and Jack-o'-lanterns. Small pranks had alrrwdy been pulled on friends, from short sheeting here, to take blood in the showers.

Members of the women's ice hockey were already in a celebration mood. While West Phoenicia did not pull in any medals today, the team had advanced to the semi-finals after defeating Valanora in over time 1 goal to 0.
They would next face Reçueçn at the Lirai Asku Castle where they prayed for a successful match. This would be the first time in West Phoenicia history that an ICE Hockey team had reached this far at an Olympic level.

[Kriegiersien]

Olympics Noir – 3.2

“Did you see that? What a shot, like a fireball hitting the goal keeper in the chest. I thought it would go right through her.”

Imoen was amazing and momentarily amazed. I just nodded, but the hockey match between Mattijana and Kriegiersien didn’t interest me as much like her or the other people in the bar who shared the thrill of the many brawls on the ice.

In the first days I had taken photos from Imoen and send them with this .. Smarthing my client had given me, over the .. interwebthing, modern magic in my mind, to her. Photos from her talking with other people. Athletes. Officials. She made many contacts. Touching, hugs. But an affair? It had been no big problem to become friends and sharing some time together as long as we could avoid her teammates.

And never did I get the feeling that there was any romance going on. Or any try to start one.

Since yesterday I had stopped making and sending photos.



We left the bar after the end of the match.

“1:0. Do you think they can win against Amuaplye in the semifinal? Then a medal would be save.”
She linked my right arm with hers.

I stopped.

“Imoen, I have to tell you something.”
“Shoot.”
She looked at me excited.
“I am a Private Detective. Someone, who told me she was your spouse, wanted me to watch you.”
For the first time I saw confusion on her face.
“I have no spouse.”
“I thought so. Do you know her?”
I showed her a photo of my client. It was helpful that I had a hidden camera in my office.
She looked at it for a long time.
“I have never seen this person. Or at least I can’t remember.”

“Because I left you.”

I recognized the voice. It was my mysterious client. Dressed in an expensive fur, lifting an elegant fur cap, she looked amazing, royal. She was standing just a few steps behind, she must have followed us.

“I am your mother.”

“Oh”, said Imoen.
“I knew it”, I muttered.

“I just wanted to get some more informations about you. It was silly of me to do it that way. Please forgive me.”

“So, you send a detective to look after me and now, after I get a shiny silver statue in Schoenwetter and are a successful Olympian, you remember that you gave me away into an orphanage by mistake?”

“I am so sorry. I had terrible problems at that time, I was so young and poor and .. ill. Your father had left us and I thought you would have a better life somewhere else.”
“And now you think you can afford to be a mother?”
“I met a man who helped me.. It is a long story. I am a Baroness now. I know I failed you and I don’t want to intrude in your life if you don’t want to. But I .. I would beg you to give me a chance to learn more about you, if you allow it.”
It was a nice story, but you sometimes don’t know if it is true or not. But it was not on me to find out.
There was a moment of silence.

“It is getting colder, why don’t we talk about this at a warmer place?”, Imoen suggested.
“I know one. There is a sweet lounge in my hotel”, the Baroness said.
She stared at me.
“Would you like to accompany us?”
It was a rhetorical question out of courtesy. I felt a stinging pain in the chest.

“No, thanks, I will go back to my motel. Have a nice reunion”, I said.

I never saw them again.




My name is John Marlow. I am a Private Investigator, as written in silver letters on my door. I was paid very generous by the Baroness, enough for some renovation and a TV. An autograph of Imoen decorates my office. The Olympics are running on my TV. Bronze for Matthias Orozco in Speed skating—Men's 500. Silver for the Short track Women's team over 3000m. Would each of them get a silver statue know or would they melt one together with four heads?

It knocks at the door, probably the next employer.

It was just one of these days.

Why did that feel like a déjà vu?

[Vilitan Union]

The Yeaddin XIV Winter Olympic Games Sponsorship Program is operated by the Yeaddin Organizing Committee of the Union of the Affiliated Lands of Vilitan Origins with the express purpose of promoting the XIV Olympic Winter Games and the Olympic Movement while securing funds for administration and delivery of the XIV Yeaddin Games.

In addition to Worldwide Olympic Partners already established through the Olympic Council, Sponsorship Partners for the XIV Yeaddin Games are afforded certain rights specific to the XIV Yeaddin Games and, with limited crossover, the XIV Neverend Games. There are two tiers of partnership within the XIV Yeaddin Sponsorship Program. Tier 1 is designated as the Official Partner Tier reserved for those companies that have made significant investment towards the XIV Olympic Winter Games in Yeaddin. Tier 2 is that of the Official Supporter level which could include Partners with Monetary or non-Monetary investments in support of the Yeaddin XIV Olympic Winter Games.

The list of Yeaddin XIV Official Partners (Tier 1) is as follows:

:: Arcticala Electrical

The Arcticala Electrical company is the main supplier of power in the Vilitan Cove region. Arcticala Electrical harnesses energy from many sources and prides in its renewable Wind, Hydro and Solar efforts. The company also runs a small scale Nuclear generation facility inside the Sorthern fallout zone. The facility is fully staffed by Robo-things and provides emergency power to the Vilitan Government and major cities. The pride of the Arcticala Electrical company are its advances in Solar Power which are on display prominently at the Arcticala Electrical Stadium and many other venues throughout the Tropics of Vilita. Arcticala Electrical will have a large display inside the Olympic FanZone in Yeaddin that will be both Educational and Entertaining allowing visitors to experience first hand some of the latest technology in energy harnessing, generation and distribution. Lighting at the Lirai Asku Castle received a special overhaul from Arcticala Electrical for these games with special consideration to the effects of ensuring the cool light would not adversely impact that Ice Surface at the outdoor venue.

:: Cocoa-Bo Eatery

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.

Now an internationstatal brand, Cocoa-bo has expanded outside of Vilita & Turori and even Atlantian Oceania ever since opening their first regional location in Andossa Se Mitrin Vega. The first major expansion of Cocoa-bo outside of Atlantian Oceania was in South Covello and the brand has even started liscensing product produced by other manufacturers such as their relationship with the BCEL Beverage Company in Baker Park. While there are already two permanent Cocoa-bo locations in Yeaddin itself, Cocoa-bo has opened temporary locations during major internationstatal events such as the World Cup Finals and will do so again as the signature Delectable Partner for the Yeaddin games with Cocoa-bo pop up stands both inside and outside every venue at the games. Athletes who show proper credentials are entitled to complimentary Cocoa-bo at the Olympic Village location while all competing Athletes and Staff will additionally receive a coupon book good for a total of five free items at Cocoa-bo locations outside the Olympic Village throughout the duration of the games.

:: CoCoCo Entities

Stood up after the fall of the reign of Lord Gregory, Turorian company CoCoCo established a footprint inside South Covello and established itself as a primary supplier of core goods and services. Internally the goods were used to provide essential raw materials and goods to Turorian shops such as Cocoa-bo that had opened a presence in country. Soon after, however, central public distribution locations were also established. The CoCoCo have established themselves on a collection of Islands off the coast of South Covello where raw goods are imported, sorted and redistributed to the mainland. Other major public-facing CoCoCo entities stood up in South Covello include Cocogas and CoCoLectric.

One of the most prominent is Coco-mart, the big box store primarily found in South Covello. Coco-marts were sood up throughout South Covello to serve as an interface between CoCoCo and the public offering excess goods to the citizens of South Covello and somewhat reasonable prices compared with what it would have taken for a citizen to acquire similar goods during the reign of Lord Gregory. CoCoCo's contributions to the Olympic Games were primarily financial in nature but there is also a 24 Hour CoCo-Mart established in the Olympic Village for the convenience of Athletes and Staff.

:: DART

The Dart is the best selling personal vehicle transportation in the Tropics of Vilita with options including fully electric, fuel injected and self-piloting available. The Vilitan Dart is also the vehicle of choice for Vilita & Turori Motorsports in the Nationstates Stock Car Racing Association.

After a large initial backlog in orders, The Dart caught up to production and order balance numbers and is now being sold on-demand at special Dart Dealers throughout the Tropics. Within the Vilitan Cove region, Electric Darts can be charged free at any Arcticala branded Charging Station through a special agreement between Arcticala Electric and the Dart group. Fuel injected and self-piloting Dart sales are increasing throughout Atlantian Oceania and the company are looking to take advantage of an Atlantian Oceania hosted World Cup to expand their footprint as the Official Automobile Partner

Dart and the Arcticala Electrical company have partnered to provide a number of zero-emission transportation options for Athletes and Fans moving from the Olympic Village, the FanZone and Hotels to the various venues in and around Yeaddin. The Dart Group also produced a special spec design for the Ice Racing competition and will have a large presence outside that event with examples of its latest technology on display.

:: Toys '4' All

The leading distributor and retailer of Toys and Games in the Tropics, Toys '4' All prides itself in providing a positive experience for children and adults alike when visiting its stores. Customers enjoy a wide selection of otherwise hard-to-find Toys and Games with Toys '4' All bringing to market toys from independent toy makers and innovators. The future of the Toys '4' All brand likely depends on being able to retain the market share from the independent toy makers using Toys '4' All as a storefront for their goods.

After a flurry of internationstatal growth that has included sponsorship in major sporting events and officially licensed Toys for events such as the World Cup, Toys '4' All has become one of the leading Toy & Collectible production, distribution and retailers in the multiverse. The Lopinka based company will have a special line of Toys, Collectibles and assorted tchotchke's produced for the Olympic Games which will include items for sale as well as giveaway items at select venues.

:: twii.tur

twii.tur is a short message communication service based in Turori allowing users to exchange content of 140 characters or less. The service originated as a way to allow officials to receive alerts and key information such as incoming weather notifications, major events and the ability to stay coordinated during a time of crisis but was under-utilized and doubts were raised as to whether the overhead of the infrastructure was worthwhile to maintain.

As capabilities of interconnected and handheld communication devices improved, the Turorian Weather & Information Interchange (Twii) was adapted into a public facing service where users could sign up to create their own twii nodes where users would sign up to a twii group to receive all the twii messages delivered by members of that group. Ultimately, as demand grew, a fully public release of twii came at the connected location twii.tur where all users can participate in the public twii, selecting which messages to receive by adding individual users, groups or topics to their twii.tur feed.

twii.tur will be on hand at all Olympic Events in Yeaddin providing live updates through its !quickbang service allowing Olympic Subscribers up to the minute updates from their venues straight to their communication devices.

:: Vilaye Energy Drink

Vilaye Energy Drink, supposedly made from natural extracts and minimal artificial processing - but always reluctant to reveal the true ingredients - has long been a supporter of Vilitan sporting ventures. Vilaye stepped up their involvement in Vilitan sport after the restart of the Vilitan league by taking a place as sponsors of the seasonal Tropical Trophy matchup as well as kit sponsorships. Vilaye funded much of the development work for the stand up of the Vilita & Turori Motorsports team prior to WGPC 11 and has been a personal services sponsor for Vilitan driver R.L. Cruisin throughout his racing career which has now seen the Vilitan become the World Grand Prix Championship's 'Iron Man' having started more Grands Prix than any other driver in World Grand Prix history. Vilaye also sponsor a footsport field built on the infield of the race track in Rockii Coast. Vilaye is also one of the largest sponsors of Winter Sports in Vilita and Turori and has helped sponsor events in the Parra Kala Mountains for a number of seasons. Each Olympic Village dormitory will have a Vilaye Vending machine that Athletes will be able to use without cost up to five times per day just be scanning their Athlete ID. Staff will also have the opportunity to utilize the machines a total of 14 times throughout the games with no cost.

[Ioudaia]

National Biathlon Centre, Neverend, Liventia
Day 11, Mixed 2x6 km/2x7.5 km Relay, Finish

Peneleos again found himself short of breath as he neared the end of his leg. Gotta do this for the team! Just a little more... Just a little more! OK, need a little S/A here. He blinked rapidly to refocus his eyes and checked the skiers around him. Still five of us in a bunch. Don't recognize all the uniforms. After several long seconds deliberating, Peneleos quickened his pace by the smallest amount.

This last klick is taking forever, but it's working, it's working. He crept into a tie for fourth, then glacially passed that skier. One down, three to go. Let's see if they fade. He started inching up on the guy ahead of him. 250! More gas. And his pace again slightly quickened.

Coming up on three... Passed! Let's see if we can get silver! Peneleos sped up again, a little more acceleration than before, but...

Crossing the line in third place, Peneleos raised his fists in triumph. "Now I have a medal!" And so does the army.

Thinking ahead, Peneleos picked up his pace after a bit of cooling down, exiting the course, and getting as far on skis as he could before popping the quick releases and double-timing it the rest of the way to the podium. He smirked as he saw the sportscasters and his teammates hurrying to catch up. They can interview us once we're decorated.

And so they did. A talking head he didn't recognize led off the interview. "That was an amazing finish! Tell us about how you did it."

"It was the start I got that mattered, not the finish. Gelon left me in a good position, and now that I've had a minute to talk to Phyllis and Kyra, they did the same too. Phyllis gave Kyra a jump on most of the teams, and Kyra increased that lead. Each one of us played our part. I just got to be the one across the line." Might have laid the teamwork on a little thick, but duty is duty.

"Kyra, that's now your fourth medal. How do you feel?"

"I..." I hate these questions. "I really didn't expect to win three medals at these winter games. I would have been happy with just one. When it sinks in, I'll tell you."

"And how do you feel about your part in the relay?"

"Just like Peneleos said: it's kinda the point of the relay. No one person can win it. We all saw the race, you guys can check the hand-offs as well as we can. Phyllis got a good jump, I gave my finish my all, Gelon kept pumping it out, and Peneleos... Oh, man, that's how he is in practice. Don't give that man a second to think, or he'll grind you into the dirt!" She chuckled, and Peneleos echoed her, grinning.

"I might be a tad predictable, but it's what I have to do to keep up with the youngsters."


Ferrandieu Ski Sports Centre, Neverend, Liventia
Day 11, Women's Freestyle Skiing Finals

Calypso looked around the pipe and then turned to Chaya. "Look at all the cameras!"

"Yeah, it's not like it's just our networks either. Freestyle's really popular everywhere else. Oh, OK, let's wave to the Champion camera!"

Chaya, Calypso, and Berenike Gabi smiled and waved for the people streaming the live video.

* * *

Coming down from the top of the podium, Chaya's feet still didn't touch the ground. Kedem strode up to her, all smiles. "That was great! You did almost as well as I did!" He smiled wider at that.

"Smart ass!" But she grinned anyway.

"Really, you nailed some of those tricks. I've never seen girls--" Oops, stuck my foot it in! He looked embarrassed and turned away.

"It's OK. You're right: I'm short with strong legs, so I can get the hang time for the 1080s."

"It doesn't matter how you did it! You did it!" Kedem gave her a big hug. He held on for longer than would be considered just friendly.

Chaya's eyes widened as he let go and took a step back. "Mmm, maybe not on camera."

"Why not? Give old Tamid a heart attack."

"Smart ass. C'mere, you!"

"Just a sec..."

He dug his own gold medal out of a pocket and put it on before giving Chaya a big kiss. Chaya turned to he Pentapolis camera crew, and whispered, "Make it look good."

The Pentapolis crew got a lovely shot of two halfpipe champions standing in a half-hug, smiling like they were made for each other.

[Mattijana]

Ice Hockey Teams Bow Out After Superb Run

MFO SPORT



Mattijana's surprise Ice Hockey success in the Winter Olympics finally came to an end today as the women's team lost their quarter-final to Kriegiersien by a goal to nil at the Yeaddin Ice Centre, agonisingly missing out on the chance of a historic medal match.

The men were knocked out in their round of 16 match by Savojarna, going down 3-0 in Vilisorma, but with neither team fancied to progress to the knockout stages, the results still represent a huge victory for a sport that is only played at amateur level back in Mattijana.

Both the men and women beat professional teams over the course of the tournament, with the women winning their last 16 tie against Liventia 5-3 and the men thrashing Kriegiersien 5-1 in their last group stage match in a huge upset, sending them straight through to the knockout stages of an international tournament for the first time in their history.

The women also triumphed 1-0 over Cocoabo Forest in their playoff and Taeshan in the group stage and seemed to find form as the tournament went off despite a number of injuries to first-choice players along the way and a slow start that saw them finish only third in their group. Their run to the last 8 earnt also them praise from hosts Vilita as they mixed it with the best in the world.

Despite Kriegiersien having a professional league in their country, they chose not to name the players on their team and so who actually scored the deciding goal remains unknown, but her fierce shot off a cross from a teammate was enough to win the game despite a valiant performance from the Marmots.

Daniella Handanovic made several good stops, including off a brutal hit from a Kriegiersien attacker that seemed as if it would go straight through the 30 year-old engineer. When Mattijana did hit back on the break, they caused some problems, their best chance falling to student Thea Kristenson who flicked narrowly wide of the top corner from a tight angle. In general though, both defences were on top and Mattijana's forwards were ultimately left frustrated.

Professional Ice Hockey has been outlawed in Mattijana since the 10th Winter Games, but the EisHockey act was modified in preparation for the 14th edition to allow Mattijana to send amateur teams to the Vilitan Union to compete.

The move means Mattijanan Ice Hockey teams have the same funding access as all other athletes for the duration of the games, but the teams have faced a lack of financial support in the build up to the games, forcing the MattijanaEisHockeyBand (MEHB) to crowdfund in order to continue their training schedule.

That they have managed to achieve such impressive results is perhaps indicative of the talent and potential the sport has, something that the sport's national governing body will be keen to emphasise as they push for total revocation of the act, originally drawn up to protect (Field) Hockey, Mattijana's national sport.

MEHB president Tomas Lingaard expressed his delight as the results and outlined what his organisation hoped to achieve off the back of them in an interview earlier today:

"We're really proud of our two teams for what they've achieved. The fact that they're gutted to be out having reached the knockout stages of the Olympic Games without full-time funding or even professional careers is testament to the hard work and the passion and the talent they've shown whilst representing us and representing Mattijana.

Hopefully they'll inspire loads of people across Mattijana to take up the sport. Our traditional hotbed is obviously Danskija, but we want to grow the game into the ZentraleAlpe and the Centre-North and West. They're areas where winter sports are hugely popular, but where we haven't really been able to create a massive fan base, so hopefully the teams have shown that it's a great sport to take up. We're just calling on the government to revoke the ban on professional EisHockey so youngsters have the incentive of being able to build a professional career playing our sport."

Women's captain Kaia Vranj, one of the few players in her team born outside of the northern province of Danskija, echoed Lingaard's sentiments after the match:

"We're obviously really disappointed to be out. The girls put everything into this tournament and played some brilliant EisHockey. We felt the game today was pretty even, but Kriegiersien were just that bit more clinical in attack and had enough to keep our forwards out. Hopefully we've convinced the Mattijanan public and the government that our sport deserves equal status with every other one in Mattijana. We're not here to try and overrun Hockey, we just want the opportunity to make a living out of the sport we love and to compete at more tournaments like this and show off our skills on the bigger stages. We've really enjoyed the tournament, so we're hungry for more now."

[Ioudaia]

A fancy restaurant, Neverend, Liventia
Day 8, continued

"You met the Leader?" Jessica asked, surprised that Peneleos seems to know him. "Don't worry. If those Hawaiian shirt wearing nerds are nearby, they keeping tabs on the althetes in our nation. When you live in a dictatorship with someone as crazy as the Leader, you can expect some crazy shit." Jessica took another swig. "I never met him in person, but I know security is checking me under some tabs."

"Another reason is that the Leader despises me for a variety of reasons. Because I'm technically classified as a rebel, due to my music. Even if he censors and meddles with it as best as he could. He terrorized me a lot, but I still good."

"I think you mentioned that one time after Keller had that- Ahem.. Costume she borrowed from you."

"He was planning on killing me, but he decided to start a celebratory riot for a soccer game instead."

Chaya broke into the conversation. "Why not just leave, then? I'm sure any number of countries with embassies here would--"

Tamid coughed rather loudly. "Let's not cause any international incidents, please. We're just here to compete."

"Best we not cause any international incidents like he said." Jessica stated. "Yeah, it's best we don't get onto that topic. Leader would get pissed at me again."

Chaya seemed to want to pursue the topic, but her expression slowly returned to neutral.
"So..." Peneleos began, trying to think of what to say. "If they're just going to stand there, that shouldn't be a problem. They can watch us, and we'll keep somebody posted to watch them."

"I'll do it!" Chaya chirped.

Peneleos nodded. "Relieve Sela in..." He checked his watch. "Eight minutes. You take the next ten. Let me know if anything changes about them: posture, movements, establishing comms with somebody."

"Yes, sir!" Chaya was dead serious about it.

Peneleos returned to the previous subject. "How do you get away with it? The last guy your security forces were having trouble with wasn't treated so gently."

Jessica heard what Peneleos and let out a laugh. "Oh he doesn't do worst to me. But he still makes it unpleasant." Jessica explained to Peneleos. "It's more of a harsh lecture, but he adds some things to surprise me. He really does a good job at making things unpleasant when tormenting me. But, he still scared me on certain times. Due to how unpredictable he is. One moment, he's all psychotic, but the next moment, he's strangely human. It's weird to explain. It's like he has his own agenda. Something about Keller, though but I don't want to talk a lot about her since she's busy back in the nation." Jessica explained to Peneleos.

Peneleos' brow furrowed with disbelief. "If you were married to this person, I'd say you should leave your abusive relationship. But since you don't want to talk about that, who's this 'Keller' and what can you say about her?"

Kedem spoke across that conversation. "Just thinking, Tamid, we could ask the restaurant to chase those guys away without causing a scene. They're just standing there, not ordering anything, and they are bothering us."

Tamid nodded. "Let me consider that for a bit."

[OOC: Collab with Main Nation Ministry, to be continued...]

[Liventia]

There's your cutoff for Day 12.

[Diarcesia]

Women's Curling Games in the 14^th Winter Olympics: Recap
29 October 2019

As the Diarcesian women's curlers prepare for draws seven and eight tomorrow, let's look back on the games they played in Neverend so far.

Draw One
Diarcesia v Xabia [9-8]
This thriller was won after a double takeout at the last throw, bringing the last stone right next to the Diarcesian shot rock, scoring two points to gain the final edge over Xabia.

Draw Two
Diarcesia v Darmen [9-6]
The Chiyginian skip Gwenivere Barbosa helped her rink pull ahead of Darmen starting in the seventh end. Prior to this, both teams swapped leads in the scoreboard several times, with the gap not exceeding one point.

Draw Three
Diarcesia v Reçueçn [5-6]
The beginning proved to be atrocious, with Reçueçn outsmarting Diarcesia in every throw, bringing out the hammer and taking out stones in a couple of ends. Although Diarcesia surged in the later phases, it was too late.

Draw Four
Quebec v Diarcesia [7-6]
Quebec capitalized a mistake made by the Diarcesians in the fourth end to capture the lead. They never looked back.

Draw Five
Vilitan Union v Diarcesia [6-5]
This is a head-scratcher. They got beaten up like how their mens' counterparts fared in their own Draw Five. The Diarcesians repeated the error they made in Draw Four. It's no surprise the Vilitan Union outscored them soon after.

Draw Six
Kelssek v Diarcesia [5-7]
The alternate Bethan Johnsdaughter is brought to play as Diarcesia regrouped to snap their three-game losing streak. The fast ice helped.

[West Phoenicia]

The pink rose petals hung in mid air momentary after being plucked before floating sleepingly to the ground.
Memories of he loves me, he loves me not filled her mind, a small smile gracing her lips as she remembered the childhood song. She plucked another petal off the rose, a gift from a fan who tossed it at her after the Alpine skiing—Women's downhill event. A sweet gesture, from one of the many people who had crowded the event to watch some breathtaking skiing.

Gracie Sunshine sprawled on her bed, all the training and the event today, with all the cameras, crowds and officials had drained her or energy. It was time for a break, she had worked so hard, so she had earnt it.

She had been training for this moment at the Winter Olympics, all her hard work and discipline led to this moment.
A rose petal fell upon her duvet, a comfort from home. Orchid pink in colour, it had swirls of scarlett and blue undertone and a big ole bring yellowish orange Sun. Like her namesake, she loved sunshine. Nothing to extreme, she hated the summer heat, and would often travel to those city-states that were cooler in the summer months.
The warmth she loved was the late Autumn sunshine, after a day working and training hard on the slopes, to kick back on her porch, with a glass of Chenin Blanc white wine alongside a bowl of sweet apricots and a good book to read on her kindle.

She rolled over lazily on the bed, her roommates were off checking out Neverend, buses and the train systems were free to athletes. So her cheapass room mates were taking advantage of the free service to check out the three major shopping centres located in the city. Her room mates were shopaholics, each had brought an empty suitcase to fill with goodies purchased in Neverend.

She hung a do not disturb sign on her door. It would do little to keep her coach out of her room once they returned to the village. It would not be the nicest encounter. Nor sympathetic, her coach didn't roll that way. Hence why she flew out of the facilities as soon as the event was over.

Gracie knew she had sucked at the downhill event. It had not been her best performance.

She had pulled in a silver medal in the same event at the Nations Sport Federations Council Winter Game. It had been at the start of her international career, but since than it had gone down quick, than the downhill event itself.
She had finished in 46th place at the last Winter Olympics. 24th at these games. Which evened out, less contenders this time. Good friend and teammate Christine Bass had finished 15th, so that was an awesome result. But definitely room for improvement. Just qualifying wasn't enough anymore when you had such amazing skilled competition.
With her dreams dashed at these days, she had one last chance to make an impact before she retired. She would be headed to her own Regional Olympics soon enough, less competition, so a better chance to make a dent in a top top finish.

She heard her name being called, recognised the twang of her coaches accent. It didn't sound terrifying, maybe her coach was going to go easy on her? Or maybe it was to lure her out with soft, kind words before the rant began. It would, it always did.

[Savojarna]

With less than two minutes on the clock, it is time to get nervous. On the bench, Fridtjof Ragnarsson has collected his players around himself. Savojarna's national ice hockey coach is more than ready for the final few seconds as he calls his timeout. Ragnarsson holds himself back while Denis Patrishin, the offensive coordinator of the side, instructs his team what to do on the upcoming neutral zone face-off. Looking to the side, Ragnarsson sees the match clock loom like a gigantic messenger of doom: 01:42 - TAESHAN 2, SAVOJARNA 1. Six men line up to make their way back towards the blue line, with Ragnarsson having changed his lineup to four forwards already. Jonas Gulbrandsson lines up in the centre of the ice, right at the Taeshani blue line, ready to lunge forward. Stefansson and Bryzhnev line up on the edge, facing off their wingers. In the middle, Simonen has lined up to take the faceoff. Erik Kristiansen stands on the red line, securing the back against a counter, and Nick Hoyman turns around to skate back to his goal. "Remember, Nick: as soon as we have the puck, RUN", Fridtjof remembers him. Elegin stands at the ready, waiting to hop over the boards as the fifth forward. Savojarna is desperate, and everyone knows it. No need to hide anything, Fridtjof thinks as he goes up and down the boards. The referee drops the puck.

Savojarna immediately win the faceoff. "YES!", Fridtjof shouts on the boards. He waves at Hoyman, skating out as fast as he can, and shouting at Elegin. "GO GO GO, score one!", he shouts as the Russian sprints onto the ice. The task is clear: One goal before the siren goes off, and the dream is alive. No goal, and Taeshan go through. They have to stay calm, cycle the puck around, and all that, but nobody has that in their mind right now. Stefansson fires it off, with Simonen diving right onto it. But two Taeshanis close the door immediately, the Savojar is removed from the crease. Faceoff in the zone. 01:15 - TAESHAN 2, SAVOJARNA 1. The next attempt.

Again, Savojarna secure the puck fast, and crash the net. Cycling the puck is not on anyone's mind anymore. Simonen passes it across the slot to Bryzhnev, but there is a defender in the way. He dives forward, knocking the puck to the side, and Elegin swoops down to secure the puck. Immediately, it is flying back onto the net, hard and low, perfect for a rebound. In the middle, Gulbrandsson has sensed his teammate's plan and charges into the slot. He immediately hits the free puck, knocking it towards the goal again. But again, he is checked away and gets knocked away by Quarant. Landing flat on his back, the Savojar sees the puck secured by the giant purple wall in the Taeshani goal. Again, play is whistled off. 00:54 - TAESHAN 2, SAVOJARNA 1. The players slump off to the bench, gassed by play, for the next attempt.

Now, Ragnarsson has to bring out new ideas. Malinsson, Hejman, Gränlund and Jaskinen make their way out to the ice, together with Falborg and Ingerman's crushing slapshot. The bench congratulates the six men on their effort, but they are tense. Everyone knows their dream is in peril, but they are ready for their last fight. Hejman ties up his opponent at the face-off, Gränlund swoops in and drops it back to Ingerman. The Savojars know exactly what to expect now. A double pass with Falborg, and the defenceman winds it up. His slapshot goes straight to the goal, Jaskinen dives for the deflection - but there is a wall in the way yet again. Williamson's shoulder blocks off the puck, falling right in front of the goalkeeper. Again, Gränlund is there and digs up the puck, shoots again, deflected again. A scramble before the goal, but Taeshan clear. At the line, Falborg lunges for the puck but misses just about. Johnson Kent's clearance slides down the ice and misses the empty Savojar goal by about half a metre. Icing Taeshan. 00:27 - TAESHAN 2, SAVOJARNA 1.

Finally, they start moving the puck. It is as if the immediate catastrophe allows them to think more calmly again. Their shot at glory is now. Malinsson does what he can, circling around the Taeshanis and distributing the puck left and right. One more shot, Ragnar Fridtjofsson thinks. Diving through two defenders to the goal, Malinsson expects the pass from the wing, but Jaskinen finds another way. Dropping the puck back to the line, Falborg swoops down and smacks it with full speed. There is no way Williamson can reach this shot, but it flies off just a bit and slams into the boards behind the net. First to the puck is Dominik Gränlund, but in these final seconds, the persistent grinder is for once not strong enough. Jordan Maxwell is right there and stops the winger like a brick wall. The puck on his stick, he flicks it out towards the centre, over the jumping Mikael Ingerman. Falborg sprints back with all his might, but the way is too long. In the eyes of Ragnarsson, time slows to a crawl as the puck approaches the line. Three metres. Two metres. One metre. Half a metre. The purple bench stands in anticipation. Then, the puck crosses the line.

To his right, the bench erupts and spills over as Maxwell jumps into a purple sea. Behind him, the fans - largely leaning to Taeshan thanks to the long-standing Savojar-Vilitan rivalry - cheer to the goal. Behind him, the team's heads slump immediately as the referee whistles it off. 00:14 - TAESHAN 3, SAVOJARNA 1. The dream is dead.

[Kriegiersien]

We are in the Olympic village in Neverend. Half of the team members of the Kriegiersien Freestyle team are sitting and standing together in a room.


“So you made yourself known to the entire Olympic community...”

“You are exaggerating.”

“..got yourself a Silver Statue to always remember your face in the capital..”

“Sorry that I didn’t totally blew it after winning the Qualification like you and Anora.”

“..killed a Witchhunter on foreign soil..”

“You are welcome. I don’t know where she was coming from..”

“..so that we had to relocate and change the memory of a muggle witness..”

“He is fine.”

“..twice, because you didn’t use a good memory and I had to fly the whole way to Scorpion City and back to give him a better one..”

“Perfectionism can be pathological, you know?”

“..and the Zombiecalypse started.”

“That is hardly my fault.”

“Just kidding with the last one. Doesn’t matter. You are really a pain in the bum”, said Shao.

Imoen opened her mouth for another response, but then sulked instead.


“Ok, after we successfully insulted each other, what now?”, asked Anora.

“We go on. We are trying to not attract attention too much, win some more medals and then we vanish when the competitions are over. The president holds up his part of the bargain and everyone is happy.”

“What bugs me.. Do you think he wants us to be killed so that he doesn’t has to do it? That he is behind the Witch Hunter?”

“I don’t think he would be that stupid. Nah, sounds like some small freakish order. There are so many factions and intrigues in Kriegiersien, could be anyone. For now, stick together, no more trips, no adventures.”

“Boring. She was no big deal anyway. One of the worst ‘ambushes’ I have ever dealt with.”

“For now. And at least she was able to get into the country armed. That is a feat. And maybe..maybe they send someone less stupid and more powerful next time. So stay put.”

“So we are staying together and what? Watching the hockey semifinals?”, Tim asked.

“That is a good idea”, Imoen rejoiced.

“Here on the TV”, Shao said.

“Oh, come on.”
Imoen slumped back into her chair, seizing the TV remote.
“The next time you invite me to Muggleland, remind me to say no.”


She switched the TV on. Three Kriegiersien men were dancing with the Kriegiersien flag on the ice, after winning the Speed skating—Men's team pursuit.

“Wow Erickson and Gang won Gold. I know Cassius, he was so happy that he made it into the team at all. And wondered if they could win a race. Luckily he gave me an autograph when we.. nevermind. He is a good dancer.”

“So you just made a visit to Yeaddn for him. I just hope you didn’t tell him you are a wizard”, grumbled Shao.

Imoen tried to change the channel and subject.

“Oh and Emma won silver in Alpine skiing. I am so happy for her. She is living with her family on a farm. With cows and stuff. She asked me to.. visit her..”, she stuttered.

“Yes and then you can make a joined trip to your silver Statues in Schoenwetter and talk about magic.”

“Oh. Just let us watch the bandy match. Kriegiersien against Terre Des Gaules, semifinal, that should be exciting”, Imoen had switched to the match.

“I guess Kriegiersien wins 11-2”, said Anora.

“That’s oddly specific. Wait. This is a rerun and you know the result.”

“Yes.”

“Idiot.”

[Liventia]

Amidst Olympic success, Liventia's baseball teams feels forgotten
NEVEREND— Did you know Liventia's baseball team are in the last eight of the World Baseball Classic, their fifth straight WBC playoff appearance since returning to international play? No?

Well, you're not alone. Except for the baseball die-hards, most of Liventia's sporting attention has been on Neverend, joint-host city of the ongoing 14th Winter Olympics.

And what an Olympics! Ten gold, eight silvers, five bronzes; comfortably Liventia's most successful return from a Winter Olympics since it last hosted the 8th Winter Games, and there's still four days to go. Oh, where were we? Baseball? Right.

That, exactly, is the problem facing the WBC team. They've been forgotten by the bulk of the country, regular fans and casual sporting observers alike.

"When we're the only team in action, or if it's us and the cricket team, we get almost equal coverage," the team's designated hitter Dermot Rowntree complained.

"But forget about that this tournament. We haven't had a single slice of reporting in the papers; there's no-one out here in the Free Republics for the playoffs because everyone has assigned all their reporters to Neverend and Yeaddin; and if we're lucky we get a 30-second spot on the TV sports news.

"We feel forgotten about. We could make the semis of the WBC, and no one will notice or care, because whoop-de-doo, we're leading the Olympic Games medal table at a home Games."

The Baseball Federation of Liventia, perhaps fearing a rebuke from the Liventia Olympic Association, distanced itself from Rowntree's comments.

"We respect what Dermot has had to say about this issue, but we believe Liventia's sporting landscape is diverse and all Liventian sporting success is celebrated equally," a spokesperson responded in an email to queries.

"The Federation congratulates its winter sport colleagues at the Olympic Association for their successful Olympic Games so far and sincerely hope for continued success for both them and us," he concluded.

For its part, the LOA deferred all media enquiries back to the Baseball Federation of Liventia.

(OOC: Cross-posted with WBC RP thread.)

[Ioudaia]

A ski trail in a forest near Neverend, Liventia
Day 12

Peneleos, leading the group as it skied along through the woods, asked for the rest of the men's team to join him at the front of the pack. He dropped his voice to address the three of them. "Gelon, Amyris, could I ask you two to do me a favor."

"Sure."

"So long as it's not too much."

"Gelon, please go with Sela. Drop back about a klick and do a little recon. Amyris, please come with me on a similar errand out front. I want to ditch eavesdroppers.

"I'll have the others slow down. Does that work for everybody?" Getting agreement, the two pairs departed while the main group slowed to a walking pace. When they regrouped, he and Sela agreed that they were by themselves, and there was no evidence of anybody else around.

"Ok, folks, let's pick up the pace again. Let me and Sela drift back to the middle of the pack." There was a bit of a pause while people flowed around them.

"So, let me start by confirming what you all are pretty sure of anyway: Sela and I are soldiers. We're members of the Allied Forces Training Corps. We met on a mission.

Kyra broke stride long enough to raise a hand, still holding her ski pole. "So you're special forces?"

Peneleos tossed his head. "Yes and no. Our primary mission is teaching. We are trained in both conventional and unconventional tactics, which by some definitions makes us special forces. But we're not like... well, I'm sure you know that some of the Engineer Pioneers do more than building bridges. Nor are we like the Sea-Air units. Both of those forces are definitely special forces, and their deployments are kept secret. We're often sent out openly, as part of diplomatic arrangements with other countries."

"So what were you suggesting to Jessica?" Chaya started to ski faster, to get closer to the two veterans."

"Something other special forces do. Sorry, you'll have to imagine that one."

"Can I ask when we're back home?"

"Yeah, that won't be a problem. You won't get much more of an answer, but I can give you a little more."

"Cool! So how'd you and Sela meet? In the heat of battle? Secret meeting, uh, briefing?"

Sela laughed. "Heat would have been wonderful then! No, we were freezing our asses off. Sir, can I say where?" Getting a nod for a reply. "Do any of you know where the Techas Badlands are?"

"That's in San Tophae, right?" Raam Jeshurun perked up. "There's a civil war or something there, isn't there?"

Peneleos answered. "And Ioudaia supports self-determination for the Techa'i people."

"But it's damn cold there in the winter." Sela picked up the story. "The Badlands are hard enough to get around in during the summer." He looked again to Peneleos, who simply smiled. "The other side thought they were completely impassable in the snow. I'll have to admit, so did I.

"Then this officer comes looking for guys who can ski. He says he has a better idea than just sitting around trying not to die of exposure. Well, I'd skied a little before then as a kid, and I got a little more ski training before being sent to Techas, so I said I did. But I'd never skied long distances before, and especially not with 40 kilos of weapons and gear on my back."

"Wow, I didn't know a machine gun weighed so much!" Chaya belatedly realized Sela hadn't told her about that. "Er, that's what I've heard."

Sela laughed. "We know how word gets around. The 14 weighs enough... 14mm, that is, but not that much. But include ammo, food, a little winter 'camping gear', and it adds up pretty fast."

"How do you even move with that much weight?"

Sela snorted. "Very slowly and carefully. Some days we made only a klick or two, but there was one glorious day were we made twelve."

Chaya's mouth hung open. "Twelve kilometers with 40 kilos? No way!"

"There's a way, but it's not easy. It did take from before sunrise to early evening, though."

"So was there a battle?" Kedem was excited by the prospect. "You won, right?"

Sela's glance to his commander was met with an answer. "There was. The other side had a solid base in a good position, and they had a lot of people there. We had complete surprise. There was fighting, yes, but more like a siege.

"Another part of the Training Corps had been teaching some of the Techa'i to fly combat missions, and once the weather improved, a couple of them joined in the fun. So, they won the battle. We just got it started, and kept it going until they could end it.

"That's all open, by the way. Grey stuff, not black. You can talk about it at home, but not here."

The group skied on in silence for a while as the rest of the teams digested the story.

[Ioudaia]

A fancy restaurant, Neverend, Liventia
Day 8, continued

"Married?" Jessica said, seeing how Peneleos is disapproving of the Leader. Jessica was about to say something, until Tamid mentioned that the security agents from outside were still standing there, waiting for Jessica and Charlie. "May I?" Jessica asked, before getting up from her seat to head outside. Outside of the restuarent, the group of men noticed Jessica looking at them with an annoyed scowl. "It's too obvious, you fucking people!" Jessica said, getting angry. "We're just tourists, Jessica." an agent immediately said to Jessica, where Jessica immediately knew it was them.

"Could you stalk someone else for once!? Jeez, I'm with some people!" Jessica said, walking towards one of the agents.

"We also need to make sure the demon that was identified being with you doesn't do anything dangerous."

Jessica immediately raised an eyebrow, before she delivered a kick to the agent's groin, where they immediately groaned in pain. "Just fucking leave! You're already scaring the kids!" Jessica said, where the agents immediately fast walked back to the Olympic Village.

Meanwhile, back inside, Charlie had some stuff to say. "That is going to take a bit. For me, I hadn't encountered the Leader in person before. Based on what Jessica told me, it isn't swell. Plus, I'm sure he's still in Vilitia." Jessica came back and sat down. "Took care of them. I don't know what the Leader's deal is. I'm not marrying him. Nor I doubt anyone wants to marry him. He's too misanthropic. But yeah, I forgotten not a bit of people hadn't heard about what happens in the nation. Keller Harrington's the Princess of the nation. She's literally the most sane higher-up there is. And a massive tsundere at that."

The Ioudaians watched the scene outside with a mixture of expressions: interest, excitement, and bafflement.

"What happened outside makes no sense," Peneleos said flatly to Jessica. "Even in free countries, attacking the police is asking for trouble. In 'dictatorships', as your country apparently is, it's suicide. I've been to places where that could have gotten you shot, imprisioned, or worse.

"Your leader seems merely oppressive and harrassing. So I'll have to pick up Chaya's point, with due respect to Tamid: why not just leave?"

"I done that multiple times back home. It works for once." Jessica explained, as she sip her juice. "The Leader is going to go after my ass, but I'm still going to survive. Why I can't just leave? Because I'm friends with other people who can't do the same. Plus, even though the Leader censors my music, I still need to get the youth a bit rebellious to tell what is right and wrong." Jessica said.

"You need to realize also that Jessica had been in the military once. And she's already ripped." Charlie said, where Jessica immediately blushed.

"Y-yeah. I already have some muscles to kick some asses. That's why they can't really push me around like that."

Chaya couldn't help but chuckle. "Even I'm ripped, and the guys are all bigger and more muscular!" There was a ripple of giggling at the table: Jessica had well-developed muscles, but not like olympic athletes.

Peneleos stared people down until they stopped laughing. "No need to make fun." Once he had quiet, and some sheepish looks, he went on, replying to Jessica. "Since you have friends to worry about and kids to keep informed, there are some people I can introduce you do who can help."

Tamid shot him a warning look. "Peneleos..." He drew out the syllables of his name.

Peneleos smiled and raised an hand in acquiesence. "Just a little teaching, and just an introduction. Nothing more. I understand our priorities."

[OOC: Collab with Main Nation Ministry, to be continued...]

[Liventia]

Four days left including this Day 13 cutoff.

[Diarcesia]

"Hey sis," the speed skater James Black picked up his ringing phone in his quarters, interrupting his supper.

"Hello, is this James Black?" asked a woman's voice. James did not recognize it.

"Yes, who is this? You're not my sister," he answered

"No I'm not, I see that you're listed as an emergency contact."

"E-emergency? What happened?"

"The lady who had the baby...she'd been stabbed a lot by, who I can't remember who, but she was, she's always been very... her back... her abdomen is, what? Her whole back is, she's been stabbed, like, three to four times.... And so everyone came in from the street, everyone came out, everyone was going to the hospital, it's chaos. But your sister, and the baby, they just lie in the rain there. She never got better."

"This must be a sick joke. Are you telling me-," James trailed off

"When the police finally arrived, their arrival was so rapid, so dramatic, that the young nurse was taken to the ambulance in no time. We tried to perform CPR, but I've never seen something like this... the other doctor said it was too late. She died in the back of the ambulance. I was so, I kept thinking of what, when... and I lost hope."

Tears are already flowing from James' eyes. Struggling to find what words to say next, all he can mutter is, "How about the baby? My nephew?"

"He lives and is in our care."

"Thank you. I'll take it from here," James ended the call.

---

The nurse was identified as Esther Beulah (née Black). After her death on the way to the hospital in Diarcesia, one of the staff, Mrs. Vera Oláh, notified James of what happened.