Baptism of Fire 78

[Farfadillis]

WELCOME TO FARFADILLIS AND MERTAGNE!

Link to the bid

Welcome to the 78th Baptism of Fire [BoF] tournament, being hosted by Farfadillis and Mertagne. This is the in-character [IC] thread for the tournament, and confirmed participants may begin posting rosters and roleplays [RPs] from this point on. If you are not a confirmed participant or if you wish to make an out-of-character [OOC] comment, please do not post here. OOC comments should be posted in the World Cup Discussion Thread [WCDT].

The BoF is a tournament for new nations to the World Cup [WC]. As such, this opening post [OP] is divided into two sections:

• The first section is for entirely new players. If you are new to the NS Sports forum or to football roleplaying, or perhaps returning after a long absence, we strongly recommend you read this section.
• The second section is a specific guide to this tournament and all participants, regardless of whether you are an experienced player or not, must read it as it contains specific, novel information pertinent to this tournament.

Table of contents

• Brief-ish introduction to NS Sports for the newcomers

• Tournament details
  • Group draw
  • Schedule and format
  • Boom!™ Best Eleven
  • The Executive World Cup Committee doesn't know what it's doing
  • Notes on other issues
  • Host IC information and venue listings:
    • Farfadillis
    • Mertagne

Brief-ish introduction to NS Sports for the newcomers

Well. It seems you have decided to venture into the world of NS Sports. Or should I say multiverse? Multiverse, definitely. Many questions will arise, and we seriously cannot cover them all. Some will always escape us, and there probably will be new ones brought up by you. However, we can cover the basics.

First of all, you might ask yourself, how does everything work? Well, quite simply, nations sign up, and they get into the competition (or its qualifying stage, if any). There are very few exceptions to that. Then there’s group draws and the like. Pretty simple so far.

Then, you have to post your roster. Surely, your nation is represented by people. Wait, actually, sentient species. Make it species. Actually, just make it something. We’ve had sentient blancmanges competing before, so just something will do. Anyway, you should definitely post a roster. As this is the Baptism of Fire, you most likely will have to start from scratch… which is awesome. You can create your star, your scapegoat, your captain and your manager. Choose their name. Their sex. Their species. Their personality. Their way of playing. Their position. Anything! The more detailed, the better. You can use name generators, or even player generators (if you can be bothered to make one). Maybe your nation uses English names. Maybe your nations uses Portuguese names. Maybe your nation has its own unique names. Maybe your nation uses codes instead of names. You’re free to choose. Finally, you can choose your style modifier. It’s a number ranging from -5 to +5, which determines how defensive/offensive your team is. -5 is a maximally defensive team; analogously, +5 is a maximally attacking team.

Then there’s the way of producing scores. We don’t pull them out of our posteriors just like that. That would not be professional. We let random numbers pull results out of their posteriors, minimizing our liability! But, seriously, scores are far more complicated than most other things.

There’s basically three things our score generators (scorinators from here on out) take into account. First, rank. That will not be a problem for this competition - everyone’s new, and therefore have a ranking of 0. Second, roleplaying bonuses. That’s the biggest part of the entire game. If you want to go far, you must RP. Rosters fall into this category, too. Basically, at it most basic, you can roleplay your match by writing a report about it. You can also roleplay a revolution, one of your players killing your president, or literally anything. RP’s are graded by hosts, and they will influence your performance. Think of them as PEDs, except they’re encouraged and the system won't care if you use them. So, PEDs (Disclaimer: this is a purely out-of-character perspective; your approach to actual, in-character PEDs is for you to decide). Anyway: the better your RP’s are, the better your team will fare. Similarly, the more you RP, the better your team will fare, in the sense that there are various instances for you to RP, which we will call matchdays. There's a set max bonus for each matchday, so RPing frequently is a much better strategy than blowing all of your creative energy on matchday one.

All of this does beg the question, however: what stops NS Sports from becoming a writing competition?

Well, it’s the randomness. There’s three R’s for scores: Rank, RP and RAND. Randomness is what makes things interesting. Basically, the best RP’er does not get a guaranteed win, just better chances. Many upsets have happened, and you should definitely never write your team off. Randomness can be a pain in the behind for some, and some kind of Godly gift for others.

Randomness is frequently referred to as “Margaret” here. Think of her as some kind of Chaotic Neutral Goddess. That should go straight into the NS Sport Glossary section of your brain. She will be mentioned frequently. You’ll get to know her to her full extent if you stay long enough.

Lastly, there’s somewhat less important things like permissions, cut-offs and other things. Permissions are what you allow your opponent to do with your players/nation/etc. Do you allow them to card your players? What about sending them off? And what about injuring them? And making all the goals of the match incredibly unbelievable? What about kidnapping your entire team and making you lose by default? All of this is covered by our handy permission box, which will be available for copy pasting at the end of this section. Cut-offs are when the hosts (in this case, Farfadillis and Mertagne) post saying cut-off and maybe add something to the post so it's not too drab. It means no more RP’s will be graded for that matchday. Soon after the cut-offs, results are posted. Often, they’re edited into the cut-off post, so refresh the page frantically. Or be patient. Either works.

This is just your first step here. Contrary to what the size of this forum may hint at, it’s generally agreed by everyone in this small subcommunity that we are the subforum with the most organized way of RPing. You may find yourself pouring your heart into this game-within-a-game soon! Anyway, best of luck to all participants, regardless of whether you end up staying in NS Sports or not.

Don’t forget to check the stickied threads! They’ve got some important information in them.

If you're interested in what other, smarter people have written to introduce BoFers to NS Sports in the past, feel free to check out the following: 1, 2.

Finally, as promised, here's an example of a roleplay permission box (with no permissions yet set):

Code: Select all

[box][b]My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:[/b]
Choose my goalscorers: Yes/No
Godmod scoring events: Yes/No
RP injuries to my players: Yes/No
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes/No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes/No
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes/No
Godmod other events: Yes/No[/box]

Tournament details

Teams will be randomly sorted into X groups of 4, with the eventual format still up in the air as we do not yet have a final sign-up list. Each team will play each other team in their group once. Draws will be permitted during the group stage. The final standing in each group will be according to the following tiebreakers:

• Points
• Goal difference
• Head-to-head result
• IC coin flip/drawing of lots (OOCly, matches are scorinated using the RP bonus accrued by each nation)

At each stage, tiebreakers will be applied succesively until one nation is eliminated, then will be reapplied (starting from the beginning) as needed until all ties are broken.

Group draw

Matches in Groups A-D will be scorinated and ICly played in Mertagne, while matches in Groups E-H will be scorinated and ICly played in Farfadillis.

GROUP A
Football Tiger
Kyhun
Maphidon
Fort McKinley

GROUP B
Aleirave
Gortolekua
Caribbia
Unpleasant

GROUP C
Hopal
Macbon
Montesina
TotoMishin

GROUP D
Trollish Islands
Cardenao
Kuraita
Forbidden Territories

GROUP E
New Eestiball
Stresia
Delte
Serdtgyu

GROUP F
Reorganized Portugal
StrayaRoos Barrier Islands
Efnakia
Mon Sold

GROUP G
Gardelrya
Sudilia
Tjorl
Tyskerlund

GROUP H
Tekatus
Gadria
Kamisato Ayaka Nation
Potenzia

Schedule and format

22 APRMATCHDAY 1
1 vs 4, 2 vs 3

23 APRMATCHDAY 2
4 vs 3, 1 vs 2

24 APRMATCHDAY 3
2 vs 4, 3 vs 1

26 APRROUND OF 16
R1Winner A vs Runner-Up B
R2Winner C vs Runner-Up D
R3Winner B vs Runner-Up A
R4Winner D vs Runner-Up C
R5Winner E vs Runner-Up F
R6Winner G vs Runner-Up H
R7Winner F vs Runner-Up E
R8Winner H vs Runner-Up G

27 APRQUARTER-FINALS
Q1Winners R1 vs R2
Q2Winners R3 vs R4
Q3Winners R5 vs R6
Q4Winners R7 vs R8

28 APRSEMI-FINALS
S1Winners Q1 vs Q2
S2Winners Q3 vs Q4

29 APRTHIRD PLACE PLAY-OFF
T1Losers S1 vs S2

30 APRFINAL
F1Winners S1 vs S2

Cut-off time is likely to happen between 21:00 UTC and 22:00 UTC for both halves. Teams will play all of their matches in the same host nation except for, perhaps, the third place play-off and the final, which will be played in Mertagne and Farfadillis, respectively.

Boom!™ Best Eleven

Sponsored by the all-encompassing Farf company, Boom!™ Uranium Mining, at the end of the tournament a team consisting of the tournament's best performers will be announced. This will be a highly-subjective thing, both ICly and OOCly. If you'd like any specific player of yours to have better chances of getting included, please do mention so in an RP. To increase the chances of one or more of your players getting picked, RP well, RP often and pray to Margaret for some good results.

You do not need to take any action to participate in this mini-competition but if you do not wish your players to be considered for selection please explicitly state as such in your RP permissions box.

The Executive World Cup Committee doesn't know what it's doing

For the uninitiated, the Baptism of Fire hosts are voted on by the Executive World Cup Committee [EWCC]. This voting body is supposedly composed of representatives from the most experienced nations in the Multiverse when it comes to hosting: the requisite for admission into the committee itself is to have hosted a World Cup. However, despite all this presumed experience and good judgment, they have nonetheless picked two nations which could be described as not ideal hosts. Farfadillis, in particular, is very... sui generis. This will result in the circumstances surrounding different matches to be potentially out of the ordinary for the teams that come from more standard and competent nations. Matches might get delayed, venues might be changed on short notice, referees might die en route to the stadium, etc. If you, as an OOC user, do not like these RP prompts, you are 100% free to ignore them at no cost to your RP bonus. Similarly, do not expect extra RP bonus for not ignoring these prompts. They're here just to help you have fun, so tying RP bonus to them would defeat their purpose.

Notes on other issues

Discord. NS Sports has a Discord server. Here's an invite. It is not an official NS function and not all users are members of it. As such, all tournament updates will be posted on the forum.

Etiquette. Any user breaching etiquette by spamming OOC comments, blatantly disregarding others’ RP permissions, engaging in plagiarism, or otherwise breaching NS Sports etiquette, will receive a warning from the hosts. Any user who continues after being warned will have their RP bonus reset to zero.

RP permissions. The hosts strongly encourage all users to, at a minimum, set their ‘Choose goalscorers’ RP permission to Yes. If you do not, do at least provide instructions for how goalscorer should be picked. If you do not do this either, we will not look upon it positively.

General restrictions. No user may RP destructive damage to the people or infrastructure of the host nations e.g. stadium collapses, unless they have cleared these things first with both their opponent and the relevant host. No user may introduce COVID-19 or any such pandemic to the host nations or to other users’ nations.

Style modifier changes. Each nation may change their style modifier once during the tournament. Contact the hosts to arrange this.

Everything else. Other than issues to be resolved by NS site moderation staff, or by the World Cup Committee and its Executive, the hosts’ decision will be final on any other issues.

Thank you to Græntfjall and Sylestone for allowing me to more or less rip off their entire BoF 74 opening post. Presumably. I haven't actually asked them if I could.

[Farfadillis]

ABOUT FARFADILLIS
potentially outdated map for reference

A nation is usually defined as “a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.” A country is usually defined as “a nation with its own government, occupying a particular territory.” As such, contrary to popular misconception, Farfadillis is neither a country nor a nation. The reasons are twofold: first, to what extent governments exist in Farfadillis in the current day is a matter of fierce scholarly debate, and second, there are various ethnicities in Farfadillis that appear to have diverged culturally centuries ago, although it is impossible to know for sure because historical records are very hard to come by in Farfadillis.

So, having clarified what Farfadillis is not, it would be perhaps helpful to give information about what it is. Again, academics haven't ironed out the details and reached a consensus, but it is generally agreed that somewhere between eight and fifteen ethnostates, depending on who's counting and how, coexist on the island of Farfadillis, with the most cited figure being nine. We will henceforth assume that this last figure is, indeed, correct. As such, Farfadillis could be considered a “Plurinational Entity” in the literal sense that, whatever it is, it is definitely an entity, and it certainly has more than one nation in it. For simplicity, when we say Farf we will mean any ethnicity from the island of Farfadillis.

Although members of any given Farf ethnicity would spit on you for even implying they are similar to any other given Farf ethnicity, the reality is that all but one Farf ethnicity share a lot of cultural common ground. In fact, their cultural common ground is particularly distinctive and makes it hard for Farf refugees to set each other apart in other countries, where their differences between this common ground and the local culture tend to be far starker. This cultural common ground includes, but is not limited to: a general disregard for authority and order (in any sense of the word), a seemingly unhealthy obsession with fire (although some of it is down to fire being a very important part of the various Farf religions), recklessness (risk-taking behavior, if you want to be more charitable), and a very inconvenient ability for distraction.

The various Farf ethnicities do differ considerably, however, and this is reflected in the ongoing border friction between the various ethnostates. This is despite the fact that, ironically, Farves display omniglottery: the ability to learn any language to a native level with minimal exposition. They are not psychics, so can't just know what words mean without having heard them, but they can visit another country and talk like a native within a month if they want to. Most older Farves speak their local language, as well as Ferdullaelan, because in the past Farfadillis was a country, and Ferdullaele, as the capital, was a cultural hegemon. Farves who live on the border between two given ethnostates generally speak both languages, in many cases having picked up the other language passively and unintentionally. This heavily facilitates migration between ethnostates, as neighboring ethnicities are generally not too different-looking, and as such a Farf from any given ethnicity could cross a border and pretend to have always been a member of the other side's ethnicity. This has the interesting consequence of making the borders between ethnostates cultural melting pots, mish-mashing the cultures of both ethnicities far more than outside Farfadillis.

Regarding the nine ethnostates we have been referring to, here we present brief descriptions of those generally agreed to be “the” nine ethnostates, in alphabetical order:

Farolera is a very populous country, and is the most economically powerful nowadays, as their capacity for self-sustenance during the anarchy years was far greater than their traditional competition, the Ferdullaelans. Their territory is filled with lush forests and fertile farmland, which is actually an important part of the Faroleran identity. After Karinthians, Farolerans are generally considered to be the least Farf of the big Farf ethnicities, but they nonetheless display all of the aforementioned cultural common ground to a very noticeable degree. Farolerans speak Faroleran, which to many foreigners sounds remarkably similar to Spanish.

Ferdullaele is the ethnostate with the most fertile land, which historically gave them an enormous headstart. However, their population was the one that failed the most to adapt to the total collapse of society eighteen years ago, and as such the ethnostate is, forgive us for making things even more complicated, not strictly an ethnostate: order (in the loosest sense), hasn't quite returned to Ferdullaele; it has instead devolved into various subcommunities exercising what would best be described as anarcho-capitalism and they, of course, hate each other.

Fröndt is a very mountainous region, and most urban centers are in those mountains. The weather is extremely dry and cold, and the fauna is unforgiving. The Fröndti are typically more hard-working and level-headed than other Farves—or so they like to believe—and think of themselves as the reasonable, neutral people of the island. The rest of the island disagrees, as do most scholars. The rest of the island disagrees. They've had trouble with the extremely harsh winters and the flying jellyfish lately, but they're a resilient bunch, so they've adapted to the times.

Induja lies at the center of Farfadillis. All of the beautiful Farf biomes clash in Induja, which makes it the most naturally beautiful of the ethnostates. By driving less than two hundred kilometers, you can go from jungle to desert to plains to mountains. Due to this, Indujans are actually quite secluded, despite bordering a whopping six other ethnicities. Indujans are traditionally... well, forgotten. To most Farves, they're just that place you have to go through to reach other places, though this attitude towards them has been relenting in recent years.

Karinthia is a recently-discovered tribe of about thirty thousand people who live in the Szoirsian desert. Some scientists believe they'd flown under the radar for millennia, somehow. They seem to speak a language with no similarities with any other Farf language. The Farves that have come into contact with them have found them very bizarre, for the most part because they seemed to pay attention to detail and have a commendable work ethic, coupled with a fleshed-out concept of respect and hierarchy. One thing about them is shared with all other ethnicities, however: they venerate fire.

Kruviš is the most populated ethnostate, though only by a slight margin and only if you're willing to trust a Farf census from twenty-five years ago. This nation is mostly one huge jungle, but closer to the coast the jungle gives way to civilization... to a degree. The fauna here is perhaps the most dangerous you'll find on the island, which is really saying something. Wasps that explode (like bombs) when stinging, spider-snakes, frogs whose poison literally sends you to hell, etc. The Kruviši are even more fiercely nationalistic than the other ethnicities but tend to direct their xenophobia more towards non-Farves than the other Farves.

Rülândéá is historically the poorest and most abused of the nations; it's safe to say the Rulandese have never had it good. Rampant crime, extreme pollution, terrible quality of life, genocide and a very long etc. The region weathered the days of anarchy much better than most other places by virtue of already being used to misery. Nowadays, the region is controlled by the Rulandese Revolutionary Army, and a fairly idiosyncratic version of libertarian socialism is currently being put in place, but it is very hard to get information from Rülândéá due to how hazardous it is to get there in the first place. They're the most well-known Farf ethnicity by far because they produce better footballers than the rest of the island combined, to the point that some of the best players in the Multiverse come from this relatively small, run-down nation. Their language is also notorious for having too many diacritics. Farves from the other ethnicities feel very insulted when it is insinuated that they, too, speak languages with an orthography filled to the brim with diacritics.

Szoirsia is essentially one huge desert with small oases of civilization. Szoirsians are used to the extreme heat and dehydration that comes with their surroundings. They resort to violence first and foremost to solve problems, perhaps even more so than the Rulandese. Szoirsians speak one of the most distinct languages of the island: Szoirsian. As a language, it seems to very transparently be a creole between two ancestral languages that no longer exist, which in turn—along with what little archaeological evidence can be found—makes the scholarly consensus be that there used to be two distinct ethnic groups in Szoirsia that, somehow, fused into one.

Tanazza is rather uninhabited, being almost exactly fifty percent jungle, fifty percent desert in terms of surface area. The inhabited parts generally lie at the edge of both biomes. Tanazzans have a notoriously hard time getting out of Tanazza because there are no roads out. The collapse of supply chains during the anarchy years hit the Tanazzans particularly hard as a result, and they are still reeling from it. They are, nonetheless, very resilient and, supposedly, very good-humored.

As a general rule, it is very hard to travel to Farfadillis. Things have gotten better recently, as some working airports have been constructed in Farolera by the Banijan and Euran relief efforts. However, travel within the country is still notoriously hazardous unless you're willing to spend a lot of money bribing the locals.

We remark again that the fauna that has developed over millions of years inside the island is very much unlike outside it, even outside Kruviš. If you hear about “radiation-eating snakes”, don't laugh: you'll look like an idiot. Imagine how you'd think of someone who laughed at someone believing in the existence of regular snakes. We must also emphasize that one must be especially wary of the frogs whose poison literally sends you to hell.

Fittingly, Farf football is obsessed with reckless attacking; Farf crowds will often get bored if your team is defensive, so expect aggressiveness from some of them if your team is boring. If your team is entertaining, however, expect the Farf crowd to cheer you on.

We sincerely hope you enjoy your stay, however brief it might turn out to be.

VENUES

La Fantás
Location: Ferdullaele
Capacity: 70,000
Fresh off passing a routine safety inspection that was three decades overdue because of an FFFF oversight, La Fantás was once again la Vherderoja's home stadium for cycle 90. The colossal stadium is situated in the ex-capital of what used to be the country of Farfadillis: Ferdullaele. It used to have a whopping hundred thousand seats, but ever since the whole anarchy thing, the northeastern stand has been inexplicably on fire, so that's one-fourth of the seats gone, plus those too close to the fire to be considered safe by Farf standards. And yes, those exist. Nobody can quite explain how the stand has managed to continue burning for about eighteen years. Pagan religions are common in Farfadillis, and they mostly venerate fire, so if you ask around you'll likely get some magical explanations. We are not saying the God of Fire is raining its wrath upon Ferdullaele, but we are saying that stand should've stopped burning long ago. Or, at least, the fire should've propagated to the other stands. We are also saying that if La Fantás were a map of Farfadillis, it would be Ferdullaele that is burning, being the most northeastern ethnostate. Again, speculation, but worth pointing out. We've gone on a tangent now. Anyway, huge stadium, fire, don't get burned, don't involve yourself with the surrounding ethnic tension.

La Snerra
Location: Ferdullaele
Capacity: 100,000
La Snerra was the national team's home in the early days, but got promptly abandoned when the much more modern La Fantás was built. Nonetheless, stadia are in short supply in Farfadillis nowadays, so the heretofore abandoned stadium will be making a comeback around forty years since it was last used... is what we were saying back when we hosted World Cup 85. The stadium has not been used since, however, and it's been over a decade so it's almost the same thing. Yes, it may be rusty and unsafe, but at least it's not on fire, and it can fit in a lot of people. As far as seats go, however, there are only enough for about 20,000 people, which could prove problematic.

Den Mytologiska Maneter
Location: Fröndt
Capacity: 50,000
One of the few stadia left relatively intact by the chaos. It's in the freezing mountains of Fröndt. Temperatures swing wildly between 5ºC and -25ºC there throughout the day, and the surrounding area is infested with flying jellyfish, or flygande maneter, as the locals call them. Literal jellyfish with what are essentially angel wings. Most of them are not lethal, however, and the ones that are make it very obvious by pulsating with different, bright and saturated colors. Except for the ones that don't and are indistinguishable from the non-lethal ones. They've been a bit a plague since, you know, the events we will be continuously referencing throughout this pamphlet. Anyway, wear a scarf and lots of anti-flying-jellyfish repellent and you'll probably be alright.

Adar Jak
Location: Szoirsia
Capacity: 32,000
While no longer the only stadium in Szoirsia, the Adar Jak will still be used because of tradition. It's a stadium situated in the most notoriously unforgiving part of the Szoirsian desert, a part which is home to precisely no living creatures besides radiation-eating snakes. Bring loads of water, because the Szoirsians won't be sharing theirs (it's kinda scarce at the moment, okay?). On a particularly hot day, matches scheduled here will have to be moved to some nearby (or not) stadium. Do not bring a Geiger counter.

Grand René Skaé
Location: Szoirsia
Capacity: 25,000
Home to René Skaé, one of the best Farf teams nowadays, and named after René Skaé the person, this stadium is located in René Skaé, the city named after the person. Nobody is quite sure who René Skaé really was, but the fact that so many things in this area have been named after him seems to suggest that he was some kind of hero. In comparison with Adar Jak, Grand René Skaé is a forgiving stadium, but don't get us wrong: you really will not enjoy a game here on a hot day, of which there are many.

La Gran Avenida
Location: Farolera
Capacity: 60,000
This stadium is home to Avenida Victoria, Avenida Principal and La Nueva Avenida, three historically big Farf teams. It is situated in the middle of a forest. The view from the highest seats is impressive. Please, ignore how dangerous the path to the stadium is, and how long it takes to arrive there, considering going by car is banned. Beware the beasts of the forest. If you ignore the inherent danger, La Gran Avenida is probably tied with La Fantás for both most modern and most visually captivating stadium.

Ojo de la Tormenta
Location: Farolera
Capacity: 15,000
This small stadium located in Azureña, a town on the coast of Puerto Farolero, is notable for constantly (say, weekly, but usually more often) attracting fantastically violent, highly concentrated storms, while somehow managing to stay inside the eye of the storm, completely unaffected. Azureña is otherwise a very nice seaside resort. Sans the storms.

Rülândéá Çölíséá
Location: Rülândéá
Capacity: 35,000
The Çölíséá (Colosseum in Rulandese) is iconic for being home to rivals Mâ Âlâmëómë and Dí Maozöxê, and for having halved its capacity due to bombings from the then-existent government. The stadium's situated in a particularly rough area of Rülândéá, so make sure to be extra careful. The stadium itself is actually quite modern, as both Mâ Âlâmëómë and Dí Maozöxê are relatively well-off clubs, but if you squint your eyes you can sort of discern that it's been bombed multiple times. The big hole in the northern stand is a bit of a tell.

Bojno Polje
Location: Fröndt
Capacity: 40,000
It stands to reason that the most populated nation on the island would have one of the biggest stadia, despite having a pretty middling footballing tradition (not for lack of trying, mind). For a 40,000 seater, Bojno Polje is patently unsafe and ugly. Scotch tape is not what is holding it together, but the fact that that's the best we can say is, well, all that should be said.

[Mertagne]

Welcome to Mertagne!

Mertagne is a nation of (very) roughly 66 million people located on the continent of [Nova] Calania, in Anaia. Mertagne consists of nineteen provinces, and is a nation of varied extremes; from its settlements, some sprawling cities and others frontier towns, to its people, some loud and outgoing while others are more shy and reserved. Whatever you're hoping to get out of your Baptism of Fire experience, you're likely to find it in Mertagne, a nation that is, in its own way, stepping back into the limelight of sporting competition after a long hiatus.

History
The nation of Mertagne was formed in response to the events of the Corvidae War, a terrible regional conflict that saw the former lands of The Inevitable Syndicate (which today exists as the Euran Oceania Territories) fall to the evils of fascism. A plucky group of rebels and refugees crossed the Lake Bekk in search of a land free from those evils, and discovered an abandoned city state that would become the nation's first capital, Neorudo. In the ensuing years since the end of the conflict, which resulted in an enemy defeat and transfer of The Inevitable Syndicate to Mertagnian custodianship, Mertagne has grown from a city state to a fully fledged nation, aided by an aggressive immigration and construction campaign funded by the sale of the Former Inevitable Syndicate to the Rushmori nation of Eura.

Today, Mertagne stands shakily yet proud as an example of the success that can come from collaboration. Democracy and patriotism are sacrosanct to the average Mertagnian citizen, after many years of it waning away in a troubled period known as The Insulation, as is the concept of international camaraderie and friendship - as evidenced in it being one of the founding members of the Anaia movement.


Tourism & Transportation
Mertagne is only just getting to grips with the idea that people might want to visit the country for a reason other than coming to work, or coming to start a family. As such, its tourism industry is in a fledgling state, and perhaps not as advanced as you may find in other parts of the sporting world. The nation does have several landmarks, including the Vessel of Victory, a large, copper statue of a ship that can be found in the bay to the north of the city of Keers, and the Road of Remembrance, a winding path that runs across the hill crest of the Veritas Valley, the largest valley in the Forkelands province to the north of Neorudo, which is lined with grave markers denoting the names of every allied civilian and combatant that lost their lives in the Corvidae War.

Transportation around Mertagne is primarily done by car, as the nation's high-speed rail infrastructure is present yet fractured. The Trans-Calanian railway runs through the centre of the nation, and is the backbone of the nation's rail infrastructure, but its international status means that domestic trains are often slow. Coaches are your best bet for provincial scale travel, as routes between major cities are commonplace. Mertagne, like its neighbours, drives on the left side of the road.

Culture
Mertagne is quite the melting pot when it comes to culture, with many Mertagnians having an ancestry embedded in other nations. Expect the cities of the nation to have a variety of smaller communities with their roots in other nations, and one of the many benefits of this is that you can always find some food in Mertagne that is to your tastes.

Mertagne is a federal tricameral republic, a unique system of bureaucracy which means that some minor laws vary from province to province, however federally mandated laws exist for larger issues. Some of the big laws that may be relevant for your nation's athletes and sports fans are:

- The age to buy alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana is 18 years.
- Tobacco and marijuana products such as cigarettes and e-cigarettes cannot be consumed in public areas. Bars are permitted to designate a smoking area, however many of these are an afterthought from the proprietors, so expect a dingy lean-to more than a lavish garden.
- Other drugs are permitted, and are sold publicly in specialist stores. However, purchasing limits are federally mandated, and a background check must be completed before you are permitted a 'narcotics license' (which is a subject of much ridicule among foreign nations). This hasn't stopped a black market from occurring, however, and the import of drugs does occur.
- The majority age of consent between adults is 18 years. Prostitution is legal for those above the age of 18, but not regularly publicised - much of the marketing for that sort of thing is performed over the internet or as graffiti in a bar toilet or phone booth.
- Mertagnian citizens are allowed to purchase weapons for personal use, however the category of weapon an individual is able to purchase varies wildly depending on the province, with rural provinces typically allowing larger weapons and open carrying. Ammunition is regulated, with a similar system to the narcotics quota in place in Mertagne's weapons shops. A pervasive culture regarding guns as dangerous tools for hunting has meant that firearms are rarely adopted in more 'civilised' areas, such as the nation's major cities.

Mertagne's currency is the Mertagnian Ducat, which has an exchange rate of approximately 1 NSD to 5 MDU. Sales tax varies on province, but is always included on the price of the item on the shelf.

More information surrounding Mertagne is available in its factbook, and a map can be found here.

A map of Mertagne's fifteen largest stadiums. Your nations will play in some of these depending on the group they've been drawn into.

Host Cities
For each match, the first listed game will be played in the first stadium, and the second listed game will be played in the second stadium.

GROUP A: DANNMARSH PROVINCE (Northern Central Mertagne)

Dannin City Stadium, Dannin (Capacity: 85,750)
Dannin City Stadium sits in the heart of Mertagne's capital, and its unique look ensures that it's both an art piece, a functional stadium, and an eco-friendly statement all at once due to it's assortment of solar panels, which wax and wane with the passing of the sun. Home to top-tier domestic team Century Mertagne, the patriotic lime and dark green seating is sure to excite any nation that comes to play here.

Spectrum Stadium, Dannin (Capacity: 37,000)
The Spectum Stadium is a cavalcade of lights and sound, and this modern stadium decked in red and blue is home to bombastic side Signal Dannin. The stadium is littered with LED panels and large screens, ensuring that the stadium's very own fleet of camera drones is able to capture every moment of the game, from the beads of sweat on your goalkeeper as the opposition lines up for a penalty to the cheeky elbow that players of home side Signal Dannin are prone to whipping out against cocky opponents.

GROUP B: PLITTERLAND PROVINCE (North-Eastern Mertagne)

Keers Dock Pitch, Keers (Capacity: 68,750)
The Keers Dock Pitch has stands on three sides only, with the north side exposed to the coast and waters of the Grinshem Sea, which sits to Mertagne's north. Keers Kannoneers, of which the stadium's yellow and white seating commemorates, are known for having a betting pool amongst their players as to when the next ball is going to be punted by an opponent out of the stadium and into the ocean, with the added bonus and complexity of a series of large floating navigational buoys on the waterfront with point values painted on them. The nearby beach at Keers is regularly visited by children in the hours after a match, to search for these lost footballs. Finding one bobbing on the ocean currents usually means you have to have a kickabout with the other children. Just watch for seagulls - if your white seat at this stadium doesn't quite match a pattern with the seats around it, you now know why...

Flynn Ar3na, New Fligsive (Capacity: 88,750)
A project that could be considered the crucible of New Fligsive, Mertagne, the Flynn Ar3na (named as it is the third stadium to bear the name) was built as a multi-year construction project between regional construction giant Flynn’s, and the Mertagnian government. The Flynn Ar3na boasts a unique design that iterates on the design of its predecessor, the Flynn Arena in Fligsive, Euran Oceania Territories. This incarnation of the stadium has sacrificed some of its seats in order to incorporate a unique art section - where the old Flynn Arena’s upper ring would have been, here instead sit thousands of individually cast faceless metal statues, each inscribed with a names of Fligsivi civilians and combatants during the Corvidae War and associated Fligsive Incident. The unique acoustics that these metal statues cause in the upper ring creates a scintillating echoing effect when sound is broadcast from the top, which provides unique opportunities in this multi-purpose stadium, home to club side New Fligsive’s Memory. It is said that sometimes, the statues create the echo of a crowd lost to time.

GROUP C: TOUCHPOINT & THE FORKELANDS PROVINCES (South-Eastern Mertagne)

Cop Limy Stadium, Neorudo (Capacity: 96,300)
The Cop Limy is an iconic stadium, formerly belonging to the city-state of Leorudo in which Mertagne was first settled long after the exodus of its former owners. Home to the original Mertagnian club side that is Lehen Neorudo, and situated in the Docklands district adjacent to the mountain that comprises of the sprawling city's 'Old Quarter', The Cop Limy is the premier venue for sports matches and concerts alike in the city. Upgraded several times over the years, the Stadium stands as a stereotype of the city itself - old architecture (present in the fancy stonework adorning the stadium's left long side) fused with the latest building styles (a white carbon fiber donut covering the other three sides, that can be lit in a variety of colours). The stadium boasts the best in electronic scoreboard technology, and has a single long strip of interactive screens surrounding the top rafters of the interior, which have been used for purposes such as advertising, light shows, and close-up camera feeds.
Located in the stadium complex is a museum dedicated to Mertagnian football, which includes the preserved former offices of the FMF, including the very boardroom where the historic COCANEFA LigAnaia was born ( - ask the oldies about that one!).

Nine Star Arch, Webster (Capacity: 66,500)
The nine large spotlights that adorn the Nine Star Arch’s titular arch have many uses; two of them during games played at this stadium are to spin and provide a light show whenever a team scores, and to provide those living in and around the city of Webster with a live score graphic, with a number of lights on opposing ends of the arch lit with the corresponding team’s home colour depending on how many goals they have scored. Many teams that play here have the dream to 'capture the arch', which is achieved by scoring more than five goals in a game, so that a majority of the nine lights on the arch are in your team's colours.

GROUP D: BESNY & YETHAL PROVINCES (North-Western Mertagne)

The Ring Tank Stadium, Ostosaide (Capacity, 54,000)
Located in Ostosaide, this stadium is home to Octosaide, and as the name suggests, boasts the region's largest enclosed aquarium on the outside of the stadium. Large enough for sea creatures of all types to enjoy their lives, the aquarium is carefully maintained by a complex climate control system. Visitors to the stadium can view the aquatic flora and fauna from two angles - outside the stadium, with binoculars at regular viewing points around it, or from the inside at the Ring Tank Aquatic Viewing Centre. The pitch, located inside and away from the view of the aquarium, is well kept and its 54,000 seats are coloured in the blue and yellow of the local side.

Spire Campus, Blackave (Capacity, 21,020)
Spire Campus is the collective name for not one but four football pitches at Black Peak University, in Blackave, one of Mertagne's highest towns by elevation. The campus, constructed using funds from the Mertagnian government and therefore mandated to host these BoF matches, has been designed to fit in with the university's rustic aesthetic. Large, gothic murals adorn much of the main stands, designed by art students from the university, and a block of student housing is found opposite one of the pitches, and is regularly inhabited by Sports Science students and those that love the game. The party atmosphere generated by the university's students deeply contrasts with the stern, conservative members of the faculty and the local residents, which creates a unique conflict melting pot with many sides for your players and sports fans to engage with.

[StrayaRoos Barrier Islands]

Goalies
1:Hamish Loian,17
2:Kai Kuaoa,23
Defenders
3;Loapalka,13
4:Kai Jiansa,15
5:Jamie Kaiplo,14,Menai FC (STR)
6:Jai Kunai,27 (Captain)
8:Kajiau,19
Midfielders
11:Luca Iapoa,16
12:Lucas Samuels,12
13:Danef,19
14:Nicardo Pau,11
15:Erla,21
16:Red ca,9
Forwards
7:Yugimo,13
9:Lucidaça,13
10:Roildo,19
EMUS
17:Emu #1,??
18:Emu #2,??
19:Emu #3,??
20:Emu #4,??
21:Emu #5,??
22:Emu #6,??
23:Emu #7.??

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes (anything with the emus)

[Reorganized Portugal]

Reorganized Portugal Baptism of Fire 78 and World Cup 91 Roster

Head Coach: Fernando Santos

Goalkeepers:
1. Diogo Costa
2. Rui Patrício

Defenders
3. Joao Cancelo
4. Cédric Soares
5. Gonçalo Inácio
6. Diogo Dalot
7. Nuno Mendes
8. Jose Fonte
9. Pepe

Midfielders
10. Danilo Pereira
11. Joao Palhinha
12. Matheus Nunes
13. Joao Moutinho
14. Ruben Neves
15. Bruno Fernandes

Forwards
16. Joao Felix
17. Andre Silva
18. Cristiano Ronaldo
19. Diogo Jota
20. Rafael Leao
21. Gonçalo Guedes

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes (TG me before it happens so I approve it or not)

[New Eestiball]

New Eestiball BoF roster
Style modifier: -0.4
Home kit: blue/black
away kit: white/blue
The roster is entirely made up of sentient door knobs with legs. Numbers only because they're doorknobs who are nerds.
4 4 3 formation,

Goalkeeper:
937
694
Defenders:
857
303
982
617
881
Midfielder:
832
457
918
951
Forward:
709
781
734
707

Mi Opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: yes
godmod scoring events: yeah right, no
RP injuries to my players: Preferably minimally, but yes
Godmod injuries: NO
hand out yellow cards to my players: yes
hand out red cards to my players: yes
Godmod other events: Only if they involve vacuums

[Maphidon]

Maphidon International Football Association

Kits:

Maphidon Lazarus Cup of Nations Roster:

Starting Lineup:
GK|Ceiro Holdast #1
LB|Kaspr Erikkson # 14
CB|Peyton Hiens #3
CB|Timo Sinclare #5
RB|Nani Heildsgrad #54
LM|Marcus Heilfyler #6
LCM|Kraus Cinco #15
RCM|Fatih al-Helfi #13
RM|Mason Woodmere-Knaxon #82
LF|Henry Garcia Valenci #7
RF|Jospeh Yrodriakios #9

Substitutes:
GK: Landon Metrarchy
DF: Hayden Layes, Kyle Obenisa, Nathen Xi
MD: Max Aljansipor, Tom Vaughan, Hamit Tynatinia
FR: Jack Arievilo

Head Coach: Justin Hagely

RP permission and other basics
Allow opponents to select goalscorers:Y
Allow opponents to godmod goalscoring events:Y
Allow opponents to injure players:Y
Allow opponents to godmod injuries:N
Allow opponents to hand out yellow cards/red cards:Yellow
Allow opponents to godmod anything else under the sun:N

Play style: +1.5

[Efnakia]

Efnak National Team - Efnak Essome Ssanbu
Dumo Hom Ccahor - The Blue and Golds

---

Kits

---

The Squad

Manager: Tutsem Katemabffu (0W 0D 4L)
Formation: 4-4-2
Style of play: Counter-attacking
Style modifier: -3

#   POS full name                           short name                  hometown                age   height  club
1   GK  Mo adraTesskel Kacceo               Mo Kacceo                   Utlo        Abmas       20    75      Danvirk FC (COR)
2   FB  Kasmab adraDdablu Kaddaske          Kasmab Kaddaske             Futle       Anddof      18    73      CmSH Muhdet'
3   FB  Fan adraLetu Kasef                  Fan Kasef                   Fen         Melham      27    74      Brookford Otters (NPH)
4   CB  Ukcca adraUmfe Katla                Ukcca Katla                 Koff        Ub          19    77      ChH Tulffo
5   CB  Sasmu adraUmo Kacceda               Sasmu Kacceda               Una         Abmas       22    75      Yutzie Sorma (VIL)
6   WM  Koktamo adraFan Kalafhaf            Koktamo Kalafhaf            Fusffacc    Melham      20    71      Yutzie Sorma (VIL)
7   WM  Mebdda adraKalfat' Kaccoddtob       Mebdda Kaccoddtob           Loass       Ub          23    72      Lublova Reds (SRS)
8   CM  Tedo adraBonbar Kanla               Tedo Kanla                  Ulfu        Tamhu       24    72      CmSH Muhdet'
9   CM  Bapam adraDdat'ul Katefess          Bapam Katefess              Set'o       Ulde        20    68      CmSH Muhdet'
10  ST  Uhtetul adraKet'ass Kahelto         Uhtetul Kahelto             Ot'         Abmas       19    72      CmSH Muhdet'
11  ST  Lanel adraSatffolfe Kamosspeffe     Lanel Kamosspeffe           Koff        Ub          24    75      Pyathora Mariners FC (TKT)
12  GK  Atner adraFatffass Kakeddalddo      Atner Kakeddalddo           Fusffacc    Melham      20    76      CmFH Urbu
13  FB  Tus adraDdotnera Kassomka           Tus Kassomka                Mutddem     Melham      18    71      KH Udfen
14  CB  Ketne adraKasmab Kahamla            Ketne Kahamla               Bonka       Melham      18    72      KH Udfen
15  WM  Ssuto adraFan Katemam               Ssuto Katemam               Tunma       Ssedbam     22    68      HH Taddme
16  CM  Felar adraLasmeff Katadfass         Felar Katadfass             Ccoccleb    Tamhu       20    72      CmFH Urbu
17  ST  Este adraOpffak Kakto               Este Kakto                  Utlo        Abmas       19    74      Kionao Locals (TUR)
18  ST  Ssehdo adraMomno Kadfuss            Ssehdo Kadfuss              Tulffo      Ulde        24    70      Icecliff Pack FC (COR)
19  GK  Muhub adraDdas Kakamno              Muhub Kakamno               Ccorapffa   Abmas       26    73      Zenit Attawapiskat (QUE)
20  FB  Ssohbo adraSuma Kaher               Ssohbo Kaher                Mutddem     Melham      24    72      Atletico Menai (STR)
21  FB  Hondabe adraCcondan Keffa           Hondabe Keffa               Oba         Tamhu       18    69      CmSH Muhdet'
22  CB  Atsal adraAcclem Kaccatacc          Atsal Kaccatacc             Ddef        Anddof      20    70      KFH Kehle
23  CB  Hat'e adraDet' Kasasmol             Hat'e Kasasmol              Satffo      Melham      22    70      Parkhouse (TLI)
24  WM  Ccalmo adraEste Kabapta             Ccalmo Kabapta              Una         Abmas       22    72      ChSH Ddaskupo
25  WM  Kasmab adraHat'e Kakas              Kasmab Kakas                Lomdumha    Ssedbam     22    69      ChH Musffu
26  CM  Kalfat' adraKupaff Kakedo           Kalfat' Kakedo              Ddaruddmom  Ub          25    69      Brenville Blue (COR)
27  CM  Fukama adraOdfolhef Kafatocc        Fukama Kafatocc             Felatsaf    Abmas       25    69      Pale United (STR)
28  ST  Bomdu adraHas Kadasfe               Bomdu Kadasfe               Oba         Tamhu       22    71      Club Racing Sept-Iles (QUE)
29  ST  Mabddosmot' adraHeltuf Kaccoddtob   Mabddosmot' Kaccoddtob      Tuflo       Melham      29    70      KSH Mutddem
30  ST  Lanel adraAcclem Kakennos           Lanel Kakennos              Monno       Melham      25    73      HH Taddme

---

The Tactics

Efnak national teams, and the country as a whole, fundamentally believe in a 4-4-2 system, based predominantly around a counter-attacking philosophy with creativity coming from wingers, strikers, and overlapping fullbacks. While there is a growing movement within the domestic game around adapting the system into a more fluid, possession-based attacking system, manager Katemabffu is still from the orthodox school, and as such this team, like all national team squads at the moment, will look to bunker in and defend, especially against superior opponents as expected in international competition.

---

The Fans

Soccer, or football if you prefer, is really the only sport in Efnakia that anybody cares about, and as such the national team is incredibly well-supported, especially in international competition. The main feature of Efnak support is the Ssaddar, a call-and-response performance involving the full squad prior to matches both at home in Efnakia and during international tournaments where Efnak fans are expected to be in the majority. With Efnakia's matches in the Baptism of Fire being held in the nearby "nation" of Farfadillis, it is expected that Efnak fans will travel extremely well to the tournament, regardless of how many may be in danger when travelling there.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:

Choose my scorers
Godmod scoring events
RP injuries to my players* (please TG/DM me to let me know, I determine severity)
Give yellow cards to my players
Give red cards to my players* (up to 2, please TG/DM me to let me know)
Godmod other events* (TG/DM me if they're interesting, I approve)

(Also available for contact on the NSSports discord)

Notes:
When abbreviating first names, "Ss", "Cc", and "Dd" are all Efnak letters and should be treated as such e.g. "WM #15 Ss. Katemam"
When referring to players with the same first initial and last name, the abbreviation should be clarified through use of their patronymic e.g. "WM #7 MaK. Kaccoddtob"

[Kamisato Ayaka Nation]

Link to the Supposed Logo of Some Sorts, I Guess
Kamisato Ayaka Nation
A blade is like a tea-leaf. Only those who sample it many times can appreciate its true qualities.

>> Basic Information

Name: Kamisato Ayaka Nation (Football Team)
Nickname: The Yashiro Swordswomen
Manager: "Kamisato Ayato" (the quotation marks are important!)
Formation: 4-4-2
Style Mod: +1
Record: 0W 0D 0L

>> Roster

Goalkeeper
Kamisato Ayaka (I)

Level 1 | HP - 1260 | Attack - 27 | Defense - 101 | Stamina - 100 | Crit Rate - 6% | Crit Damage - 52% | Energy Recharge - 105%

*These attributes will be further explained in the section below!

Defenders
Note: All defenders originally start with the same stats. Individual stats will further developed as more games are played and more experience is gained.
Kamisato Ayaka (II) - left back

Level 1 - HP - 1501 | Attack - 32 | Defense - 93 | Stamina - 114 | Crit Rate - 7% | Crit Damage - 55% | Energy Recharge - 113%

Kamisato Ayaka (III) - center back

Level 1 - HP - 1501 | Attack - 32 | Defense - 93 | Stamina - 114 | Crit Rate - 7% | Crit Damage - 55% | Energy Recharge - 113%

Kamisato Ayaka (IV) - center back

Level 1 - HP - 1501 | Attack - 32 | Defense - 93 | Stamina - 114 | Crit Rate - 7% | Crit Damage - 55% | Energy Recharge - 113%

Kamisato Ayaka (V) - right back

Level 1 - HP - 1501 | Attack - 32 | Defense - 93 | Stamina - 114 | Crit Rate - 7% | Crit Damage - 55% | Energy Recharge - 113%

Midfielders
Note: All midfielders originally start with the same stats. Individual stats will further develop as more games are played and more experience is gained.
Kamisato Ayaka (VI) - center mid

Level 1 - HP - 1457 | Attack - 53 | Defense - 83 | Stamina - 144 | Crit Rate - 10% | Crit Damage - 61% | Energy Recharge - 120%

Kamisato Ayaka (VII) - center mid

Level 1 - HP - 1457 | Attack - 53 | Defense - 83 | Stamina - 144 | Crit Rate - 10% | Crit Damage - 61% | Energy Recharge - 120%

Kamisato Ayaka (VIII) - left mid

Level 1 - HP - 1457 | Attack - 53 | Defense - 83 | Stamina - 144 | Crit Rate - 10% | Crit Damage - 61% | Energy Recharge - 120%

Kamisato Ayaka (IX) - right mid

Level 1 - HP - 1457 | Attack - 53 | Defense - 83 | Stamina - 144 | Crit Rate - 10% | Crit Damage - 61% | Energy Recharge - 120%

Forwards
Note: All forwards originally start with the same stats. Individual stats will further develop as more games are played and more experience is gained.
Kamisato Ayaka (X)

Level 1 - HP - 1436 | Attack - 86 | Defense - 66 | Stamina - 114 | Crit Rate - 15% | Crit Damage - 73% | Energy Recharge - 123%

Kamisato Ayaka (XI)

Level 1 - HP - 1436 | Attack - 86 | Defense - 66 | Stamina - 114 | Crit Rate - 15% | Crit Damage - 73% | Energy Recharge - 123%

Types of Attacks

Normals:
Goalkeepers - Make a basic save; based on Defense
Defenders - (defensive) Make a standing tackle; based on Defense
(offensive) Make a short pass; based on Attack
Midfielders - (defensive) Make a standing tackle; based on Defense
(offensive) Make a short pass; based on Attack
Forwards - (defensive) Make a standing tackle; based on Defense
(offensive) Make a short pass; based on Attack

Skills:
Goalkeepers - Comes out for the ball
Defenders - Makes a stronger standing tackle; based on Defense
Midfielders - Makes a through or lob pass; based on Attack
Forwards - Takes a shot for goal (best used for short or mid-ranged shots); based on Attack

Ultimates:
Goalkeepers - Have all their attributes increased by 25%/75% depending on whether it was a crit hit
Defenders - Makes a sliding tackle; Increases Defense by 25%/75% depending on whether it was a crit hit
Midfielders - Increases Attack and Passing Accuracy (passive) by 25%/75% depending on whether it was a crit hit
Forwards - Increased Attack and Shot Power (passive) by 25%/75% depending on whether it was a crit hit

Ultimates last for 12 seconds.

Attributes

As you can see, the attributes in the boxes have been adapted from Genshin to fit the NSSverse. This section will aid in explaining the attributes, and how they translate to on-field play.

Level
The overall level of the Ayakas; base attributes increase based on it. Characters gain level as they play more matches. However, as they progress, the threshold to level up rises. Ascension doesn't exist (thankfully) in this world.

HP
The amount of tackles or shunts Ayaka can take before becoming injured. Standing tackles constitute 20 HP, unsuccessful sliding tackles constitute 35 HP, and successful sliding tackles constitute 50 HP. These numbers will increase as Ayaka levels up. In a case of an ugly tackle, the exact amount of HP lost will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, although for now they'll almost certainly result in an injury for the affected Ayaka. Ayakas below 30% Max HP will be at a higher risk of sustaining an injury, while those below 100 HP will be considered unfit for playing, a.k.a. injured.

Attack
The basis for shots, crosses and the like (basically whatever is considered offensive). Ayakas with a higher attack will have a better chance of scoring, setting up a good cross etc.

Forwards - A higher attack translates to more accurate shooting and more powerful shots. It doesn't directly dictate whether they will score.
Midfielders - A higher attack translates to more accurate crosses and better runs through oppositions' defenses.

Defense
The basis for tackles and the like (basically whatever is considered defensive). Ayakas with a higher attack will have a better chance of winning tackles, winning aerial duels etc.

Goalkeepers - A higher defense usually translates to a better chance of saving a shot. Goalkeepers with higher defenses have higher chances of: coming out for crosses, winning 1v1 situations, saving on-target long-range shots, saving shots from 20 yards out.
Defenders - A higher defense translates to more successful tackles. Defenders with higher defenses have higher chances of: successfully clearing a corner, successfully winning the ball in the penalty area with a tackle without conceding a penalty.

Stamina
All Ayakas have the same sprint speed, but stamina determines how long one can sprint before slowing down due to fatigue. Sliding tackles, long passes, crosses and long/powerful shots also take up stamina.
100 stamina takes approximately 10 seconds to deplete. Ayakas with less than 20 stamina will not be able to do any of the stamina-reducing actions mentioned above.

Critical Hits
This is divided into Crit Rate and Crit Damage.

Only skills and ultimates can be Crit Hits.

Crit Rate increases the chance of a skill or ultimate becoming a Crit Hit, so a 50% Crit Rate would mean the Ayaka has a 50/50 chance of their skill or ultimate being a Crit Hit. A 100% Crit Rate means all skills or ultimates are Crit Hits, although this usually sacrifices Crit Damage. All Ayakas have a base of 5% crit rate.

Crit Damage both increases the efficiency and amplifies the attribute factored in for the skill or ultimate. Up till 100%, Crit Damage increases the efficiency of the Crit Hit. Increased efficiency means any normals, skills or ultimates carried out has a higher chance of succeeding based on Crit Damage. 90% Crit Damage means the attack is 90% likely to succeed.

After 100%, any surplus Crit Damage is converted to whatever attribute the normal, skill or burst is based on. 125% Crit Damage on a defender's skill means the extra 25% is converted to defense.

All Ayakas have their Crit Damage increased when they reach certain levels.

Energy Recharge
Every minute, all characters gain 4 energy unless they are injured. To cast an ultimate, all Ayakas require 80 energy. The maximum amount of energy able to be stored is 100; any extra energy is wasted.

Energy Recharge increases the amount of energy gained every minute, with a base of 100%. An Ayaka with 120% Energy Recharge means she gains 120%*4=4.8 energy every minute.

Miscellaneous and RP Permissions

Substitutions and Injuries
Substitutes aren't a thing technically in the Kamisato Ayaka Nation team. If an Ayaka is injured and can't continue, the game simply continues until the Ayaka recovers.

Recovery
Injured Ayakas tend to heal quickly. To recover full HP, they only need to eat 2 apples. However, considering all Ayakas eat apples with a fork and knife on a porcelain plate it'd probably take longer for them to eat their fill than a normal human.
Additionally, when injured Ayakas are redeployed on the field, they suffer from a 10% deficit of all their attributes, and 5% for Crit-related ones.

Can defenders shoot?
Technically speaking no, but non-forwards can adapt to and inherit the skillsets of forwards when they are in the final third, though it isn't necessary.
Similarly, defenders and forwards can inherit midfielder-exclusive skillsets in the middle of the pitch; midfielders can inherit defender-exclusive skillsets in the defensive third.

Do I have to refer to... whatever system this is?
No, usually because all this info is privy to only the Ayakas. You can talk about their systematic way of playing, or their fancy way of propelling the ball.

RP Permissions Box

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Y
Godmod scoring events: Y (generally) | TG me first, or DM me on Discord
RP injuries to my players: Y | Approach me for severity of injury
Godmod injuries to my players: N
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Y
Hand out red cards to my players: Approach me first
Godmod other events: Approach me first

[Gardelrya]

Gardelryan Mens National Football Team
Gardelryn Herrlandslaget i futball

Colors
Home: Dark blue shirt with white trim, white shorts with dark blue trim

Away: White shirt with dark blue trim, white shorts with dark blue trim

Goalkeeper: Orange shirt with black trim, orange shorts with black trim

Style Mod: +2.45

Roster
4-3-3

(Starting 11 is underlined)

CF 11- Kristian Tennefjord (21) (Relv Sisse)
13- Alv Holgersan (35) (Egerheim Kyst)

LW 8-Soren Danielsan (29) (Egerheim Kyst)


RW 9- Sig Halvorsan (35) (De Vursen FK) [C]

CM 7-Kasper Hall (27) (Lorrana City [Lorrana])

5-Aki Hagen (28) (Limmiera FC)
12- Anders Fredriksan (29) (Othlesse-Surlin United)
15- Verner Ostberg (34) (International Team)
21- Roger Van der Lippe (31) (Helager FK

DM 6-Johan Lund (24) (Othlesse-Surlin United)

CB 4-Tim Lang (23) (De Vursen FK)
2- Tomas Henriksan (24) (Relv Sisse)

LB 3- Rikard Storstand (29) (Egerheim Kyst)

RB 16- Kennet Goldschmidt (28) (Helager FK)
14- Tobias Akselsan (25) (Abelvorden Wolves)

GK 1- Gunnvaldr “Gunny” Kristoffersan (33) (Rega Oskargard)
19- Anton Mertz (20) (Limmiera FC)
22- Frederik Voll (25) (International Team)

Head Coach: Otto Castelberg

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes with reason (tg for any clarification)
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes with reason (tg for clarification)

[Football Tiger]

This is the Roster for the BoF 78 and World Cup 91

Football Tiger National Football Team

Nickname(s): The Tiger
Association: Football Tiger Football Association (FTFA)
Manager: Daniel Diamond
Captain: Mat Mount
Home stadium: White House Sport Arena
Country code: FTT
Home Colour: BLUE and PINK
Away Colour: RED and YELLOW

SQUAD LISTS

GK's
No. | Name | Age
16 Beau Clarke 32
1 Cliff Miller 24
91 Kilcline Eric 18

DEF's
No. | Name | Age
3 Dan Lie 23
24 Hal Scott 22
2 Thomas Harr 28
4 Mike Corliss 19
32 Thomas Kruise 22
12 Mark Farr 30
29 Mason Dennis 20
5 Thomas Arnold 21

MID's
No. | Name | Age
18 James William 30
25 James Brandon 31
8 Lincoln Meez 24
7 Jake Finley 27
19 Johnson White 35
6 Ben James 22
56 Archie Pratt 20
14 Raul Edward 18

FWD's
No. | Name | Age
11 Edward Daniel 20
10 Olisanugo Potter 19
30 Edward Reynold 22
39 Harry Happer 28
20 Griffin Kane 31
9 Mat Mount 28

Most useds formation: 4-3-3
Style of Play: Shortpassing/2

STARTING XI
G - Cliff Miller
D - Mason Dennis
D - Thomas Harr
D - Mike Corliss
D -Thomas Arnold
DM - James Willam
M - Jake Finley
M - Lincoln Meez
F - Edward Daniel
F - Mat Mount
F - Harry Happer

NOTE: All the rest are available as Sub.

TEAM LEADER's
Captain: Mat Mount
Vice Captain: Johnson White
Penalty Taker: Mat Mount
Set Pieces Taker: Mat Mount

STAFF's
Manager: Daniel Diamond
Asst. Manager: Frank James, Edward Wiss, Bernard Philip
Doctor's: John Wilfred, Matin Collins

KEY PLAYES's
Mat Mount [FC]
Harry Harper [FC]
Cliff Miller [GK]
Edward Daniel [FC]
Lincoln Meez [MC]
Mason Dennis [DC]
Jake Finley [MC]

FTFA

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes

[Mon Sold]

Nickname: Bowheads
Stadium: Marquis Hazra Manuel Field
Manager: Rimigio Vesser
Coach: Elbert Willems
Team Captain: Sjaak Rey
Style: -1.0

Team Roster
Starting XI (4-3-3):
#1 - Bertoldo Mondadori - GK (27, 5'5") - Palaghast FC
#2 - Floro Simoes - FB (22, 5'5") - Independent
#3 - Danilo Marin - FB (26, 5'3") - Sundim FC
#4 - Cibran Zanetti - CB (21, 6'4") - AC Beaugrim
#5 - Sjaak Rey - CB (24, 5'11") - Ostunash FC
#6 - Lodovico Perrault - DM (27, 5'8") - NE Rimallid FC
#7 - Xian Bakema - CM (24, 5'11") - Manawan FC
#8 - Nuno Cipriani - AM (22, 6'2") - Staveharrow FC
#9 - Theun Van Dale - FL (21, 5'8") - Independent
#10 - Bernardo Campo - FR (20, (5'7") - Independent
#11 - Valeriano Assies - S (27, 6'3") - AC Belmourn

Substitutes:
#12 - Helder Nascimbene (GK) (20, 5'7") - Cilaghast
#13 - Andreas Antonise (FB) (29, 5'10") - Sundim
#14 - Francis Leroy (FB) (21, 5'9") - Talenmoor
#15 - Inocenio De Vries (MF) (20, 5'5") - Manawan
#16 - Gijsbert Mazza (MF) (28, 5'6") - AC Naarwan
#17 - Noach Siena (MF)(27, 5'8") - South Alarghast FC
#18 - Egidio Van Aalsburg (F) (30, 5'5") - Amalrose
#19 - Renaud Kool (F) (20, 5'6") - Amalrose
#20 - Ariel Sessa (S) (30, 6'2") - Palaghast FC

The Lineup!


Home Colors: Teal and Yellow
Away Colors: Yellow and Teal
Goalkeeper Color: Black and Green

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes

Edit: Not a soccer guy and my mind flipped the X and I, and my goofy ass put nine players in the starting lineup instead of eleven. I've fixed that and touched up the presentation as I learn more about the game. Anyway, everything else is the same.

[Sudilia]

Sudilia National Football Team

Goal Song
Style: +1.5

Squad:
Goalkeepers-
#1: Peter Grant
(24 Years Old) (1.86 m)
#12: Anne-Sophie White
(20 Years Old) (1.80 m)
#23: Eliot Boulay
(18 Years Old) (1.80 m)


Defenders-
#2: Josephine Olson
(18 Years Old) (1.75 m) (CB)
#3: Rylan Grant
(24 Years Old) (1.86 m) (CB)
#4: Felix Lee
(22 Years Old) (1.80 m) (LB-RB)
#5: Erika Williams
(20 Years Old) (1.73 m) (RB-LB)
#12: Natalie Rogers
(23 Years Old) (1.72 m) (LB-RB)
#15: Cruz Beaton
(25 Years Old) (1.78 m) (RB-LB)
#16: Isabelle Valcourt
(19 Years Old) (1.68 m) (CB)
#18: Odin Daniel
(20 Years Old) (1.80 m) (CB)

Midfielders-
#6: Sara Carbonneau
(18 Years Old) (1.65 m) (DM-CM)
#8: Nicholas Latour
(21 Years Old) (1.82 m) (DM-CM-AM)
#10: Joshua Beauvais
(19 Years Old) (1.75 m) (CM-AM)
#14: Alice McLeod
(20 Years Old) (1.68 m) (DM-CM-AM)
#19: Zachary Laprise
(22 Years Old) (1.80 m) (DM-CM)
#22: Maria Otis
(21 Years Old) (1.64 m) (CM-AM)

Attackers-
#7: Emilie Labelle
(22 Years Old) (1.70 m) (LW-RW)
#9: Olivier Ouimet
(21 Years Old) (1.85 m) (CF-ST)
#11: Jordan Lyle
(18 Years Old) (1.78 m) (RW-LW)
#17: Nico Gesner
(22 Years Old) (1.80 m) (LW-RW)
#20: Alice Pearson
(19 Years Old) (1.65 m) (ST-CF)
#21: Gabriella Grant
(18 Years Old) (RW-LW)


Head Coach:
Oliver Thompson (40 Years Old)

Assistant Coaches:
Melodie Leboeuf (35 Years Old), Joel Paiement (38 Years Old)



Starting XI:
1 Grant
5 Williams, 2 Olson, 3 Grant, 4 Lee
6 Carbonneau, 8 Latour
11 Lyle, 10 Beauvais, 7 Labelle
9 Ouiment

Roles-
Captain: P. Grant
Vice-Captain: R. Grant, Labelle
Free-Kicks: Labelle, Beauvais
Penalties: Labelle, Ouiment
Corners: Carbonneau, Latour

RP Permissions
Choose my goal scorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but nothing severe
Godmod Injuries to my players: Yes, but nothing severe
Suspend my players: Yes, but be reasonable
Godmod suspension events: Yes, but be reasonable
Godmod other events: Yes

[Montesina]

It's our debut tournament! We are a giant heart beating in wine and gold!

Montesina is a small republic in western South America Anaia, a country of beautiful beaches with crystal clear water and snowy mountain ranges. Its national colours, wine and gold, reflect the great historical tradition of the country's land in wine production and mining. Today, the country is a neo-liberal hellhole where inflation is at an all-time high and the poorest people suffer from high prices, thanks to the ruling ProtoDictator, José Martínez Ubiña. Montesina is a growing country, thanks to its great economic potential and the work of its brilliant citizens. President José Martínez Ubiña is a strong leader leading the country on a path of progress. The country's main cities are Sán Bertrán, which is the capital, San Martín, which is part of the former's conurbation, Nueva Vizcaya, which is further north and is renowned for being taken over by drug cartels for its warm water beaches, and Iturralde, further south but still on the coast. The interior is virtually ignored by the government, except when corrupt bureaucrats want to buy votes for Ubiña and his allies is the country's major production centre, and towns like Guayama, Molinos and Mandarinas are large swathes of land ruled by corrupt oligarchies who hold the financial power are major wine producers for export. In the mountains, gold mining destroys the environment and causes ecological damage, as the government insists on obtaining minimal amounts from exhausted veins, receiving environmental sanctions from all sides, we're no longer experiencing a golden moment, and so the government works on the environmental recovery of the areas affected by mining while seeking new alternatives.

Football is the national sport of Montesina and it has been used by the government to deceive the population this World Cup season. Just look at how the elites are taking advantage by selling outdated products at low prices such as "World Cup Special Promotion" "Baptism of Fire Sale" brings dreams to the hard-working people of the nation. The country has a Football League, which is expected to join the international scene in the next IFCF and some players have achieved success playing outside the country. President Ubiña, who is one of the sponsors of "La Liga Collíbrie" hopes that these incompetents will continue to be a smokescreen for the people to ignore the corruption in the country the players will represent their country well, and that they will be sold soon to teams of other countries,after all the more football, the less the people want political rights, to take the name of Montesina to the whole world.

La Selección de los abutres de la AMF de Montesina for the Baptism of Fire and World Cup is selected by the Head Coach Hugo Medrano, chosen by being a government boot-licker his experience with La Unión, one of the most popular clubs in Montesina.

_
Depth Chart: Team plays mostly in 3-5-2, but can move
into 4-4-2 or 4-3-3.

Number	Name			Pos.	Team				Bio
1	Sergio Duhalde		GK	 Nacional			Experienced goalkeeper. At 35 years of age, he should last at most one more season in the national team. He is an excellent penalty kicker and could be used in this role.
2	Óscar Dorado		DF	 Siete de Abril		Oscar is a hard-working defender who does not give up on any ball, even if it is only to kick it away from danger.
3	Guillermo Arias (C)	DF	 AS Lutetia			At 28, Arias is possibly at the best moment of his personal life. Newly married, playing for a foreign team, and captain of the national team. It is a well-deserved success for the young man who is recognized for his great sense of positioning on the field.
4	Alexis Navarro		MF	 Club Sparta			Rising star in the midfield of Club Sparta, where he competes with Leo Artemon. With Lisander out of the Cup, will Navarro show that he can take over as the starter in the defensive midfield of the Principality's most successful team?
5	Pedro Guarín		MF	 Nuevo Sol			Guarín is a decent defensive midfielder with vision and accurate passing. He made his career at Nuevo Sol, but it is unlikely that he will accept to leave the club from Mandarinas.
6	Agustín Molinos		DF	 Siete de Abril		Ranging from defense to left back, Agustín Molinos lives up to the name "windmill" for his great speed. His stamina is not so great.
7	Fernando Madero (A) 	MF	 La Unión			A major idol in La Unión (he has never played for another team), Madero provides perfect crosses and when he is on a good day, he works wonders on the edge of the box.
8	Juan de Soto		MF 	 Atlético San Beltrán	Unlike most people from Montesina, he comes from a wealthy family and has chosen football more as a leisure than necessarily as a job. It's almost unfair that he has so much quality in midfield.
9	Damián García-Hirsch	FW	 VdÖ Berlint			Born abroad, García-Hisrch is the son of a Montesinan father and a foreign mother, so he has dual citizenship. Raised in San Beltrán and trained in the canteras of Siete de Abril (His father is a Communist), later he moved to Varmennia with his mother. He plays in the country where he lives, but has chosen to represent Vinotinto y Oro because Varmennia does not participate in the World Cup. On the field, he has a privileged vision and his passes are millimetrically planned.
10	Ricardo González	FW	 La Unión			Ricky Gonzalez is the number 10, the team's maestro, with his astounding dribbling skills and deadly shots. At 27 years of age, he is the guy that kids want to be. He is dating Lara Mellita, a famous singer in Montesina and has his own clothing line.
11	Mario Lopez		MF	 Atlético San Beltrán	A left-sided midfielder and owner of an extremely strong kick, he is a footballer and, curiously, also competes in road cycling events.
12	Matias García		DF	 Siete de Abril		García is literally the 12th player in this squad. When Medrano wants more speed, he removes a midfielder and places García at right-back, turning the 3-5-2 into a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, depending on Madero's position.
13	Patrício de la Hoya	GK	 Atlético San Beltrán	A young 23-year-old goalkeeper, "Patito" is the most likely to replace Duhalde in the first-choice position for the future. An avowed fan of the #1, who has made no secret of his admiration for his idol, De la Hoya has started practising penalty kicks under the influence of him.
14	Tomás Montero		DF	 Universitario		A young defender with good performances in La Liga, he could learn a lot. But as the captain's substitute, he is likely to get little time on the pitch.
15	Sebastian Frías		DF	 La Unión			"Feo", as he is called because of his hair, is a left-footed defender with enviable agility. He commits few fouls and if given the opportunity, he will fight for the position with Molinos.
16	Kevin Martínez		MF	 Nuevo Sol			"La pulga" is only 19 years old. Quick and agile, he has a reputation for getting rid of fouls and taking the game forward on the right, crossing or shooting.
17	Diego Piñera		MF	 Independiente		Another young midfielder, he was chosen because he adapted to the fast paced style that coach Hugo Medrano practises.
18	Mariano Solís		MF	 Atlético San Beltrán	One of Atletico's young talents, as García-Hirsch, Solís is a speedy midfielder with the same characteristics as Martínez, but playing on the left side.
19	Sebastian Sanchez Ruiz	FW	 Club Roche			"Bastian" Ruiz is a striker who moves very well to receive the ball. A typical No.9, he lost his position to García-Hirsch, but should not give up a spot in the starting 11.	
20	Franco Bernal		FW	 Estudiantes de San Martín	Bernal is a perfect man inside the box. He's got the coolness, speed and dribbling skills to spare. However, competing for the position with Ricky Gonzalez is an extremely inglorious task.
21	Santiago Mastrangelo	FW	 Nacional			Although criticised for his poor form at Nacional (which is the team with the lowest goal average this season), Mastrangelo is a striker with a good shot and does not usually waste clear chances.
22	Marcello Franzini	GK	 La Unión			Franzini is a very good goalkeeper, with a respectable record at La Unión. He should be Duhalde's immediate replacement in the first instance, but he knows that at 29, he can't compete against the strength of CASB's youthful goalkeeping.
23	Daniel Ayala		DF	 Universitario		Ayala is 22 years old and plays for Universitario de Nueva Vizcaya. As the sixth defender in a team that usually plays in a 3-5-2 formation, it is likely that he will only come on the pitch for the others to rest.

Montesina jerseys are made by a famous brand. It is just a mass-produced model where the crest has been applied, contrary to what the federation likes to boast. It is sold for inhuman prices. It is a jersey made with the best of technology, prepared especially for the national team! By buying it, you help sponsor local football. Noteworthy is the extravagant blue and wine goalkeeper's shirt, made to the taste of Duhalde and De la Hoya.

It's me,Mario Lisander! "You're free to do anything as you want, I don't care", said President Ubiña.

Style Modifier: +3
Choose my goal scorers: If penalty goals, they must be scored by Sergio Duhalde, Ricky González or Fernando Madero. Otherwise that, Yes.
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but TG Montesina or Lisander to inform.
Godmod Injuries to my players: No
Suspend my players: Yes, but TG Montesina or Lisander to inform.
Godmod suspension events: No
Godmod other events: No

---

[Macbon]

Macbon Football Fedration
Roster for Baptism of Fire 78

First international: StrayaRoos 1-1 Macbon (Friendly Match)
Prediction: Reach further in the Knock-out Stage!

Home Stadium: Stadio Olimpico, Vitelogna (capacity: 80,000).
Known as L'arena delle onde due to the waves paints on the walls, this stadium played a big role in the opening season of SS Vitelogna winning them the 1^st Lega Macbon A title.

Uniforms

Style modifier: +3.

Head Coach: Bernard Dieudonné (57)
All-time NT Record: 0-1-0

Formation: 4-4-2

The Roster (starting XI as of the first match in [b]bold):

Goalkeepers:
GK #1 Adelfo Circo (23) - SS Vitelogna

GK #11 Jean-Claude Chappuis (28) - Free Agent

GK #13 Alessandro Lombardi (19) - SS Vitelogna
Defense:
CB #7 Aronne Tortorelli (29) - AS Pevara

LB #8 Bardo Fittipaldi (30) - Pimo FC

CB #14 Gregorio Vittone (26) - AS Pevara

CB #20 Teodor Primožiè (27) - Pimo FC

RB #22 Ammar Rojc (27) - SSC Novacelio

CB #23 Philario Gallo (26) - UC Luranto

LB #39 Leandro Lucas (24) - Free Agent

RB #42 Marcello Rampone (28) - SS Vitelogna
Midfielders:
RM #5 Gian-Luca Ferrari (27) - ACF Fiumimura

RM #12 Michelangelo Mendola (29, CAPTAIN) - Free Agent

CM #15 Mario Peduzzi (24) - Free Agent

CM #16 Velio D'Alesandro (30) - Pimo FC

CM #19 Cristian Perazzo (28) - ACF Fiumimura

LM #32 Odorico Maltese (20) - SS Vitelogna
Forwards:
CF #9 Clayton Bruno (28) - AS Pevara

ST #10 Silvio "Sil" Romano (25) - UC Luranto

ST #77 Garimberto Lazzaro (24) - Pimo FC

CF #21 Graziano Montagna (29) - ACF Fiumimura

CF #24 Gionata Mariani (18)- Free Agent

ST #33 Laurentino Santarsiero (27) - SS Vitelogna

RP PERMISSIONS
If my opponent roleplays first, they may:
Choose my starting lineup: Y
Choose my goalscorers: Y
Godmod scoring events: N
RP injuries to my players: N
Godmod injuries to my players: N
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Y
Hand out red cards to my players: N
Godmod other events: Y

[Tekatus]

Free Land of Tekatus Baptism of Fire 78 and World Cup 91 Roster

The Iron Giants
Style Modifier: +5, The Iron Giants really enjoy playing like a coordinated swarm, overwhelming and outmaneuvering their opponents as best as they can.

Head Coach: Max Arbiterbuilt V.25

Goalkeepers:
1. Boot Factorbuilt V.33
2. Optix Sturnweilerbuilt V.3

Defenders
3. Junior Factorbuilt V.37
4. Plexi Factorbuilt V.41
5. Alpha Sturnweilerbuilt V.17
6. Gimbal Exemplarbuilt V.2
7. Leopold Exemplarbuilt V.12
8. Ratchet Nullbuilt V.24
9. Clank Factorbuilt V.1

Midfielders
10. Sprinter Legionbuilt V.27
11. Striker Legionbuilt V.33
12. Beta Sturnweilerbuilt V.3
13. Megn Nullbuilt V.86
14. Risk Factorbuilt V.10
15. Helix Factorbuilt V.76

Forwards
16. Theodore Centralbuilt V.12
17. Isabel Memorbuilt V.49
18. Gamma Sturnweilerbuilt V.8
19. Scarlex Nullbuilt V.16
20. Candle Factorbuilt V.28
21. Impulse Factorbuilt V.4

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but no deaths.
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Not without talking to me prior
Hand out red cards to my players: Not without talking to me prior
Godmod other events: No

[Fort McKinley]

The Fort McKinley People's Republic National Team makes it's debut in the Baptism of Fire following a three match exhibition series in something called the ACF. The team with play for the glory of of our People's Revolution.


Formation: 4-4-2
Style: -1.3
starters are in bold

1 Jimmy Paul Smith GK
18 Sammy Pete Davis GK

2 Ronnie Floyd Jones RB
3 Eddie Burt Miller CB
4 Lee Myron Clark CB
5 Mickey Joe Beard LB
22 Aaron Roy Morris D
14 Davey Charles Young D

6 Larry Sam Smith CM
7 John Hugh Davis RW
11 Ernie Clyde Beard LW
8 Simon Jay Allen CM
21 Lee Myron Clark CM
12 Willie Tom Clark CM/W
16 Mike Don Morris CM/W

17 Pat Tim Davis F
9 Dennis Gene Young F
10 David Guy Allen F
13 Steve Wayne Smith F

Manager: Chris Joseph Gray
Coaches: Martin Ben Gray, Kevin Homer Young

The People's Revolution Stadium is located in Shiloh Springs, seating capacity is 38,000

Like most Commie regimes, obviously there is a certain amount of disconnect from reality in what the News Agency reports.

In the event my opponent RPs first, they may...

Choose my goalscorers: YES
Godmod scoring events: YES
RP injuries to my players: YES, but those that would be for just the duration of the match (TG in advance would be appreciated as well)
Godmod injuries to my players: See Above
Hand out yellow cards to my players: YES
Hand out red cards to my players: YES, but again, a heads up in advance is appreciated, as I would do for you.
Godmod other events: TG what you have in mind, I'm easy to come to an understanding with

[Delte]

---

River Delte Representative Team
Tournament Squad

---

Attacking Modifier: +3

First Colours: Blue shirts; black shorts; gold socks
Second Colours: All white
Nickname: The Representatives
Formation: Attack-minded 4-4-2 Diamond

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes

The Representatives are a team of amateur players from the Delte Valley area of a largely empty corner of the North Pacific region. As such, they have all paid for their own train tickets to get to Farfadillis and/or Mertagne, where they hope to win enough prize money to get their money back and cover the loss of pay from their usual employment. They haven't been told yet whether losing all their group games and being eliminated immediately will earn enough to reimburse them in full. There is a national shortage of graphic designers along the River Delte, with the one professional - young Slim Dyndeling, who plays football for Ughmirren FC in the Delte Valley Tuesday Evening & Sunday Lunchtime Super League - failing to win selection for the representative team and consequently refusing to help out with natty team graphics.

The Delte Valley Tuesday Evening & Sunday Lunchtime Super League is the principle men's 11-a-side league and The Representatives are a men's team; women's football along the river is primarily under the auspices of the Friday Night & Saturday Morning Ultra Premier League, a six-a-side highly technical fútsal code. The women of the Delte prefer not to engage in silly and artless games of 22, although in both the team's tour manager and purser, they remain in charge of the fortunes of this representative escapade.

Starting XI
#	Name			Pos. 	Age	Club			Employment

1.	Osward Ess		GK	25	Sullenden Parish Rovers	Boat mechanic
2.	Eremo Olde (C)		DL	31	Sullenden Parish Rovers	Planning officer
3.	Kim Samrodd		DR	29	Oswark Town		Teacher	
4.	Skelimino Bane		DC 	32	Ildemorton		Physical therapist
5. 	Aleard Sullenden	DC	40	Brewery Social 		Brewery technician
6.	Burus Tasher		DMC	18	Oswark Town		Apprentice builder
7.	Ardrake Steng		ML	31	Ughmirren FC		Nutritionist
8.	Onun Tasher		AMC	17	Oswark Grammar School	Sixth form student
9.	Tai Cerotha		ST	23	Deltemouth Pacific	Dock worker	
10.	Irki Mynster		ST	20	Toddwardine Athletic	Postal worker
11.	Dr. Orem Ustingham (VC)	MR	37	Ughmirren FC		Physician

Reserves

12.	Orold Quagar		DL	19	Ildemorton		Trainee plumber
13.	Perran Garimund		DR	24	Oswark United		River patrol officer
14.	Unto Squaker		DC	37	Oswark Town		Craft artist
15.	Darra Cankal		DC	37	Deltemouth Pacific	Customs officer
16.	Enor Perro		DMC	21	Oswark United		"between jobs"
17.	Ustan Galtona		ML	37	Oswark United		Crane operator
18.	Kaldening Rayler	AMC	21	Ughmirren FC		Rivers & canals worker
19.	Skelloryn Per		ST	23	Oswark United		Labourer
20.	Kim Angeman		ST	32	Oswark United		Weigher & measurer
21.	Ard Shyntaugh		MR	35	Sullenden Parish Rovers	Lockgate operator
22.	Elmrod Onry		GK	17	Askirk Rangers		Ice cream scooper
23.	Aughran Lerold		GK	19	Deltemouth Pacific	Car wash attendant

HEAD COACH:	Enda Clentin, usually Mr. Clentin, PE teacher of Oswark Grammar School
ASSISTANT:	Morho Bellish, often 'Bellybob', PE teacher of Oswark Vocational High School

TOUR MANAGER:	Bella Thorn, travel agent and fútsal MVP for Sullenden Sixers
PURSER:		Uma Chapola, senior bank manager for the Corn Exchange & fútsal player for Oswark Diamonds

(C) Captain / (VC) Vice Captain

A combined management committee formed of members of the Delte Valley Tuesday Evening & Sunday Lunchtime Super League and the Friday Night & Saturday Morning Ultra Premier League represents the de facto authority for the sport and identifies as the All-Week Super Ultra Premiere Football Association, or simply the FA, and employs one full time administrator/chief executive, Issenda Tenning (plus her PA, Oughar Sule). Issenda is a canny CEO who encouraged 'multi-task selection' which approximately means that some players were picked more for the additional skills they could bring to the squad; for example, Dr. Orem Ustingham is probably not the very best winger in the Super League but he is definitely the most highly qualified doctor (graphic designer Slim Dyndeling is probably better being a winger than Dr. Orem). Likewise the playing staff also features a physio, a nutritionist and an ice cream scooper who were selected for their additional skills. Teacher and rightback Kim Samrodd was nominated 'Most Literate Player' on the team and subsequently has a secondary role as tournament reporter for the Oswark Parish Advertiser and it's sister outlets the Smite Times, Deltemouth Morning Bugle, and the dual online-print media Toddwardine Beastmarket Journal and News of The World.

ABOUT DELTE

Delte is not a country. It is not in a country. It doesn't belong to a country. The people of Delte are not sure where they are, precisely, but it is somewhere in the North Pacific and seems to be very far from anywhere in particular, although they can get trains to anywhere in particular if they need to from Oswark station.

Delte is a narrow populated strip of fertile river valley approximately fifteen kilometres wide and ninety long, along the length of the course of the River Delte, located in a wild, largely empty and unnamed region and isolated from the nearest geopolitical entities and populous distant communities at the far corners of the cartographer’s charts, save for transportation routes - rail and road - which pass through the valley on the way from one significant populated centre to another, hardly without stopping. The valley sits in a largely north-west to south-east orientation from the river source in the marches to its issue in Smite Bay at Deltemouth, and the river itself is approximately 170 kilometres in length, of which around 75% is navigable by commercial craft with a series of controlled locks.

The main administrative and cultural centre of the Delte Valley is Oswark, or Oswark-upon-Delte to give it the correct and formal title. The population of the market and tourist town is approximately 12,000 and makes up around 25% of the total population of the river community, which is around 48,000 at the last census. The community is administered by the Delte River Trust, DRT, with the elected board representing a cabinet and the Managing Director the de facto ‘head of community’. Tessa Sack is the present MD for the Trust; she commutes to the DRT office at Oswark Lock from her home in a typical rural farmstead off the beaten track in the wilds of the valley.

During its industrial prime, Oswark was a major hub for waterway transport and for various key industries including wool production, fabric dye manufacture, brewing, chandlery and agricultural inputs, with an agragrian base outside of the town. At that time it was one of the largest inland ports in the region connecting two canals with navigable river. In modern times with the decline of water-based transportation much of the industry went into steep decline to be replaced by a service-based economy in the town, although in recent times some manufacturing has returned in cottage-industries to serve the local population. The wider river basin community still operates a largely agrarian sector.

[TotoMishin]

I am told that there is a misprint on the home and away kits, the manufacturer has yet to apologise. Don't worry I'm sure the misprint won't make it to the actual games.

Lineup

Starting Lineup
TotoMishin players have an array of slavic names, they have been simplified and shortened here for the sake of foreign commentators. I mean who is going to pronounce Lipanovinksi correctly or even Bogdanovchalskiovski? Best to save them the embarrasment and go with some simple names.
Irvan (GK) -

30 yrs, 6ft. A capable goalkeepr with gloves of steel, not literally though mind. He can block almost anything that comes into his path, most of the time.

Tupanski (LB) -

26 yrs, 5ft 10. He is well ... crap, but he is our only left back so there's that.

Bavorski (CB) -

27 yrs, 6ft 3. A strong, solid defender who can tackle anyone ... on the occasion that he remembers who his teammates and where the ball is and where he is supposed to going and what he's supposed to be doing. You know what you get the picture.

Michal (CB) -

28 yrs, 6ft. The other cb in this pairing. Is he good? Well that depends on what kind of day he's having. Best to stay clear of him when it's raining though, or snowing or any day really when it's not nice and sunny.

Zurew (RB) -

31 yrs, 5ft 7. Your bogstandard right back, there is not much else to say. I mean he can pass and run so he does the job.

Sergej (CM) -

26 yrs, 5ft 10. Sergej is simple man, he gets the ball and he passes it forward. It's a bit repetitive but the does it well. Does he move... not really, that might be a bit exagerated but I don't think I've ever seen him move more than 10 meters if needed.

Imran (CM)-

23 yrs, 5ft 6. He is truly the unexpected, might pull of an insane trick or loose the ball while looking at a of flight birds. Might score a golazo or an own goal. You just never know!

Servan (CAM) -

29 yrs, 5ft 11. His temper is as powerful as his shot, formidable with he is riled up and he is going to find a reason anyway. Whether its the fac that the referee's socks are the wrong colour, his shirt isn't tucked in properly or the fact that someone swore at him. Regardless, he is always in an eternal state of anger.

Lipan (LW) -

21 yrs, 5ft 8. The definiton of Skillz^TM, he can pull out a double rainbow flick sombrero with chocolate on top in the time it would take anyone else to take a stepover. His passing though leaves something to be desired.

Irinski (RW) -

25 yrs, 5ft 9. Simple put a golazo scorer, his dribbling and movement are phenomenal. Except he is really camera shy, so don't expect any post match interviews.

Bogdan (ST) -

34 yrs, 6ft 4. Ah Bogdan, tall as a tree, built like a tree. A reliable striker with a thumping header. He is also about as fast as a tree too.

Subs
Bivan (GK) -

32 yrs, 6ft 2. His gloves may have holes in them, but his cheery smile will lighten everyone up afterwards!

Czen (LB) -

25 yrs, 5ft 10. He is not really a left back more a converted left winger who still has glorious ideas of going forward and scoring. That usually doesn't work out too well.

Servoski (CB) -

23 yrs, 6ft 3. young, inexperienced but really good at hoofing the ball up the field, err I mean great long passing ability.

Mian (CB) -

22 yrs, 5ft 9. Listen, there is a reason he is a sub and not starting. It's not because he is short! Ok, maybe it is just that. Otherwise, he is pretty good.

Stupac (RB) -

24 yrs, 5ft 7. Fast, I mean very fast. It seems he just likes to sprint up and down the pitch for fun. Gives the opposition a hell of a time trying to catch him, even he doesn't have the ball. Hell of a distraction tactic.

Vlad (CM) -

33 yrs, 5ft 10. Vlad is a simple lad, gets the ball then does a perfectly timed and execeuted long ball forward. I mean it's simple really. Doesn't take years of training at all!

Tergej (CM) -

32 yrs, 5ft 11. Tergej is like Sergej's brother, except for the fact he likes to lose the ball all the time. Don't worry he'll get the hang of it one day. Hopefully anway.

Michalczuk (CAM) -

33 yrs, 6ft 1. Probably the man with the longest name in this team, almost as long as his freekick routine.

Strinski (LW) -

21 yrs, 5ft 8. Young wannabe superstar. Does he have the talent? Well that's debatable.

Poboris (RW) -

29 yrs, 5ft 10. The GOAT and I will not be hearing it any other way. Simply the GOAT. He does suffer from excessive ankle injuries, which is why he is on the bench all the time. Expect him to make about 1 appearance.

Feltan (ST) -

24 yrs, 5ft 7. Is he small? Yes, can he sneak around the oppostion? Absolutely it's his favourite thing to do. Provided he doesn't get caught off side.

Divan (GK) -

20 yrs, 6ft 1. Aah, I forgot about him. Yes, his name means carpet I think. Though, he isn't someone to walk over. I don't think you could anyway, he is pretty tall.

Manager
Manager: Serg Ivanovich
Playing Style: +2
He likes to play, aggresive attractive football. He is also scared he might let go of his lead, so me likes to play a bit of a mixture. You will also see him gesticulating from the sidelines, it his prefered method of communication. He also shortened his name to Serg, from Sergej. It fits his eccentric personality though. Honestly, a post-match interview with him will never be normal.

Commentators
Ardan Toris : A true patriot, will always tell the players that they are doing horribly. Very animated as well.
Micki Atvan: Very elegant and reserved speaker, will make you think you're watching something from the 70's.
Boris Helvan : Your regular modern commentator, don't mind him waffling he likes to bring up absurd and unrelated statistics.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes, only 1 per game please
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes, tg me first though
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes, no more than 2-3 per game
Godmod other events: Yes, tg me first

[Hopal]

The Hopalian National Team
at the 78th Baptism of Fire

Kits

Nation Name: Hopal
Trigram: HOP
Nickname: The Suns
Formation: 4-3-2-1
Style Mod: -1.0

Staff
Head Coach and General Manager: Tom Villiers 47 M
Assistant Coach and Tactician: Robert De Ville 56 M
Goalkeeping Coach: Adrian Turcotte 30 M
Defensive Coach: Allison Woodville 43 F
Offensive Coach: David Horages 39 M
Head of the Medical Staff: Dr. Liam Samuelson 49 M

Starting 11
GK Alex Gargin 26 M
FB Kaylee Haboshinter 20 F
FB Kay Redford 32 F
CB Allison Terrace 20 F
CB Brian Atwood 21 M
CM Kelly Hart 25 F
CM Peter Fikudal 27 M
CM Wendy Stein 24 F
OM Jake Gonchar 28 M
OM Justin Gubre 25 M
CF Tommy Sanchez 27 M

Reserves
GK Travis Durant 21 M
GK Joilee Parik 21 F
DF Hector Cruz 20 M
DF Kyle Barker 19 M
DF Hunter Dablohaber 21 M
DF Lucy Anderson 29 F
DF Karos Yamover 26 M
MID Don Duble 25 M
MID Kevin Bird 21 M
MID Garrett Golden 29 M
MID Lewis Archer 25 M
MID Harris Frey 22 M
MID Kaylee Marks 26 F
AT Erin Tarter 20 F
AT Fred Goule 24 M

Captain: Tommy Sanchez
Assistant Captains: Kay Redford, Peter Fikudal
Penalty Kick: Tommy Sanchez
Free Kick: Tommy Sanchez,
Corner Kick: Peter Fikudal, Jake Gonchar

---

About the Team

Head Coach Tom Villiers is trying for a bit of a rebrand of the Hopalian National Team after their performance at the 15th Independent's Cup. Tom Villiers had taken over the Hopalian National Program about a year before that 15th edition of the Independent's Cup. Now he had really changed the course of the team, which hadn't been very well maintained before his takeover. It had years since they had participated in a major international tournament, and he rebuilt the team, bringing in new younger players into the lineup, and driving out some of the veterans. Now the results at the 15th Independent's Cup or IAC were a bit of a mixed bag for Team Hopal, they got off to a good start and there was a lot to be hopeful of for Team Hopal, and there seemed to be a solid core there for the team. But as the tournament progressed the team, particularly the defence and goalkeeping really fell apart. Villiers had shuffled up the defence more than a few times over the course of that tournament, and he really found his formula by the end relying on youngsters Allison Terrace, Kaylee Haboshinter, and Hector Cruz, alongside steadfast veteran Kay Redford. He really pushed out veterans Helen Briere and Henry Gowen, who had been staples of the old Hopalian National Team, but after bad performances at the IAC weren't even named to this team to the Baptism of Fire. This follows the theme of other longtime veterans not being named to the team including midfielders Justin Sanchez and Helen Hernandez. But the collapse of the Hopalian defence at the IAC was really a problem for Team Hopal as Villiers had really turned the team into a more defensive group. But there was much promise in the core of midfielders and with striker Tommy Sanchez, a longtime veteran of the team. But a big problem for Team Hopal going into this Baptism of Fire is goalkeeping, which was just reduced to ashes during and after the IAC. The longtime star goalkeeper for Team Hopal, Adrian Turcotte, who was named Captain of the team going to the IAC was absolutely horrendous for Team Hopal at the IAC, Villiers kept him in net probably more than he should have during the IAC, because of his long tenure and old star power. But that power in him was just gone at this tournament, and he substituted and ultimately retired after the end of the tournament. But his longtime backup, Alex Gargin, who has been named as the team's goalkeeper going into this Baptism of Fire didn't do much better during his international debut, getting obliterated just like Turcotte did. After the end of the tournament it was Goalkeeping Coach Helen De Retna who retired, leaving Hopal without a goalkeeping coach going into this Baptism of Fire. Now the Baptism of Fire was really important to Tom Villiers, as a formal introduction for Team Hopal onto the international World Cup soccer scene, and so he wanted the team to perform. But on such short notice he couldn't find anyone to become the Goalkeeping Coach, he brought in newly-retired former star goalkeeper turned national disappointment Adrian Turcotte to become Goalkeeping Coach, a decision which will be much judged by the Hopalian populace. But going into this Baptism of Fire there is much at stake for this Team Hopal.

---

RP PERMISSIONS
If my opponent roleplays first, they may:
Choose my starting lineup: No
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod other events: No

[Montesina]

The Baptism of Fire is about to begin, and 20 of the 23 players selected by coach Hugo Medrano, who were already training with the national team in San Beltrán, travel to Mertagne late hpje night. The last three, who play outside Montesina, should join them tomorrow. According to AMF, defender Guillermo Arias and striker Damián García-Hirsch will take a plane in Lutetia, the capital of Galliena. After a stop in Lisander, they are due to meet up with Alexis Navarro and the three are expected to arrive together in Webster, where they will join the team that begins its journey at the Baptism of Fire on Friday against Macbon's national team. The atmosphere, however, is already tense even before the players leave the country.

That's because García-Hirsch, arguably Montesinos' best active player, is known for his harsh criticism of the government of President José Martínez Ubiña. However, the National Government is the team's main sponsor, given that the financial situation of the country's companies is not the best. As such, Medrano, who is a declared supporter of the government, is in a very difficult position. He obviously couldn't help selecting Damián for the national team, after all the fans idolise him almost as much as they idolise Ricky González. Not taking DGH to the Baptism of Fire would generate negative repercussions among the fans. However, by calling him up, he causes discomfort in the president and his supporters for bringing a political opponent to the team that should be a major political asset to Ubiña. A fact from the politics section that usually goes unnoticed by football fans is that Damián's father, Haroldo García, is one of the national directors of the Partido Revolucionario Obrero de Montesina (PROM), Ubiña's political opponent.

Officially, Ubiña's spokesman, Matías Bernoldi, reported that the president is not thinking about politics and does not care about the private and family life of the national team players, only about their performance on the field. However, Damián is very influential among young people, and his openly leftist position bothers more conservative sectors of parliament, allies of the president, who accuse the young player of "turning the football field into a political platform". There is open talk in government political circles that "Medrano needs to control Hirsch's contact with the press".

The striker, through his profile on a social network, commented on such lines:
"I'm a football player, not a puppet. If I am going to the World Cup, I'm doing this for the nation, not for Ubiña. If Medrado wants a political puppet, he can select anyone else. I won't accept having my right of free speech curbed in any way."

Medrano did not want to comment on the words of the player. He limited himself to saying that "all players have the right to express whatever personal positions they like", and that he "hopes that personal opinions do not interfere with the team's greater desire, which is to do a great job in the tournaments to come."

The coach does well to adopt a diplomatic stance. Damián is needed, but must not be overlooked. If García-Hirsch is bad and the team is good, it will be a victory for Ubiña. If both player and team do well, it could be a victory for both sides, as long as tempers do not get so inflamed. If both are bad, then it's a defeat for everyone. The only case that the government wants to avoid at all costs is that the team goes more, but with Damián being the player with the most media coverage, because then the victory is Damián's, PROM's and all the president's opponents'. After all, don't expect that if the striker scores a goal, he will celebrate in a behaved or government-friendly manner. What to expect from a guy who, the last time he scored a goal for the national team, showed an undershirt with the following printed on it: "Here's your president", and an arrow pointing to his private parts?

---

[Kamisato Ayaka Nation]

Ayaka did not feel good.

---

The Irodori Festival had, thankfully, gone pretty smoothly. Bar the fiasco with Zhenyu, nothing much of note had happened. The proceedings went by without a hitch, guests were happy during their stay in Inazuma, and the Inazumans themselves finally had something to be happy about after the whole Vision Hunt Decree. The Tri-Commission, holding Inazuma's first festival since opening up, had excelled at their duties. It was definitely something to be proud of, but that day, Ayaka didn’t feel particularly well.

As Ritou saw off their last guests, everyone went to clean up the place. After all, the place was Inazuma’s only international trade port before being repurposed for the festivities. As everyone went about their day, Ayaka could feel her stomach gnawing as her stomachache worsened tenfold. Just what was in her food to make for feel like this? It didn’t help her day had already started on a bad note. She woke up to neck discomfort; her pillow was also unusually stiff, but she wrote it off to be her housekeeper changing it when she was away.

It was sometime during the afternoon when the stomachache had reached a critical point. Ayaka felt a dying need to use the toilet, and simultaneously felt like puking as well.

“Brother, I’ll be off to the bathroom. I don’t feel so good…” her voice, laced with discomfort, trailed off as she informed Ayato, her brother, before rushing off. Ayato merely nodded and let out a grunt of approval. He trusted her not to get herself too lost or end herself up in the hands of some nobushi. Surely a short toilet break wouldn’t hurt?

Finding a small stream to do her business was easy enough, but getting there was a whole other problem. The further Ayaka went, the more her vision blurred. As she became disoriented she could feel the vomit well up in her oesophagus. The sharp pain in her abdomen intensified and tears welled up in her eyes. At that point Ayaka didn’t know whether her blurred vision was because of whatever she ate or her tears. Was she poisoned? What did she do to deserve this? Many questions swirled her mind as her legs wobbled under her. She couldn’t even stand straight anymore. Dropping to the floor, she clenched her stomach as she tried to regurgitate whatever she ate. Was it too late? Had the poison already encroached her entire body? So many questions and so little answers…

Suddenly, drowsiness enveloped Ayaka’s entire being. Was this the end for her? Would she die because someone had dared and succeeded in poisoning her? For the first time in quite a while, a surge of rage and hopelessness went through her body. Who dared to do something to one of the most prominent people in Inazuma? She’d only turned 20 recently. She wasn’t even engaged to anyone yet! She was too young to die, and would Ayato, even with his determination and prowess in leadership, be able to single-handedly manage the Yashiro Commission as the sole remaining member of the Kamisato Clan? She couldn’t die yet. Not like this.

Even as Ayaka grew more sleepy, she still fought on. Even as she desperately to stay awake, the drowsiness got the better of her.

“If this is what it feels like to die, maybe it isn’t too bad then…” she thought to herself as she fell into a deep slumber. The last thing she heard was Ayato’s worried attempts to wake her up, and frantic calls for help.

“Sister, are you well? You don’t look too good. Hello? Are you awake? You can’t be serious, hello? Oh archons, this is horrible,” Ayato’s worry turned to desperation as he tried to wake Ayaka up, “Someone call the doctor, my sister is ill. Ayaka, please, you need to wake up. You can’t go yet, not now…” His voice broke in a way. Ayaka had never heard that sort of tone from him ever since their parents passed. The way he almost cried… it was a side of him rarely anyone saw. Ayaka herself felt like crying when she heard her brother in that state, but at that point she couldn’t do much, only apologise in her heart for being that huge of a burden for her brother.

“I have dishonored... our clan…”

---

Ayaka, finally, woke up in an environment she was entirely foreign to. All she could hear was constant high-pitched beeps and some fuddling about. Not to mention, it was unusually cold. It was as if someone’s Cryo vision had gone berserk and froze this entire place. Still, the fact that she was still breathing healthily was a miracle in itself. Just then, she could hear some more rummaging. Was there someone else in the room?

Ayaka tried getting up from the chair she was apparently sitting on, but she could feel her arms, legs, and torso being restrained. Looking down, she realised there were straps — secured with locks — around them. Scanning the setting she found herself in, she could see several weird looking cups with colourful neon liquids in them. Several files were sprawled all over a table. There were some more intricate items in the brightly-lit room she was in that she had never seen in Teyvat before. Was she in a different universe? Was this the Abyss? Had she ascended to Celestia?

To Ayaka’s right, she could see a blue-haired someone wearing a white suit of some sorts. Strange, she was sure she had seen that specific style of hair before. When said person turned around she got the shock of her life.

“Ayato?!”

———

“T-this is a prank, right? You’re going way too far,” Ayaka incredulously said while simultaneously pinching herself. Ouch, she thought. At least she knew she wasn’t in an awfully elaborate hallucination, but she wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not.

“Prank? I’m frankly surprised you haven’t caught on yet. Though, seeing I haven’t told you the specifics of this, well, project, it’s probably oversight on my part,” “Ayato” responded rather nonchalantly. Despite the fact that he was supposed to be her brother, Ayaka didn’t feel the same warmth Ayato would give her back in Teyvat. This Ayato was much more uninterested in whatever was happening, and he clearly didn’t care that she was taken against her will to wherever she was.

In a way, one could call him cold-hearted.

“We’ll be participating in a competition called the World Cup. Your aim is to reach the semi-finals of the competition proper — not the qualification stage or any other affiliated competition — within 8 cycles. If you do, you’ll go back to wherever you were before this. If not, well, let’s just say the consequences are less than desired…” “Ayato” trailed off with a dangerous undertone in his voice.

“Oh, by the way, we’re playing football,” he plainly reminded before leaving the room. Ayaka stared at the door he walked out off with wide eyes. This wasn’t even scary anymore, it was just ridiculous. She had to get out of here, fast. She didn’t care about whatever conditions “Ayato” had given; all she knew was this was a world she shouldn’t have been in.

Just then, she could hear some, albeit faint, mumbling in the back of her mind, she didn’t know what it was or whether she was just imagining things, but those voices… they felt so friendly, so welcoming, so familiar.

Suddenly, the straps around her body unlocked, and Ayaka was free to move about.

“Come out now, you’ll be meeting your teammates. Please, just don’t faint when you see them,” “Ayato”’s voice boomed in the room. She didn’t know where it came from, or what he meant by the last sentence, but she feared any repercussions if she didn’t follow, so she walked up to the door and opened it.

Greeting her was 10 other Kamisato Ayakas. Ayaka fainted.

---

“Is she okay, doctor?” Ayato asked anxiously. Doctor Baizhu, who had to come from all the way from Liyue Harbour, creased his forehead as he looked a bit hopeless.

“She’s conscious, which is the best we can ask for. But, there’s one glaring problem: her consciousness is absent," he said, trying his best to sound sympathetic.

Ayato's look of confusion was all Baizhu needed to continue his explanation.

"While I'm merely a medical, not psychological, doctor, I can say with some confidence that this is an attested disease documented in one of Liyue's many annals. It's caused by a type of spore found in Khaenri’ah. What I mean to say is, while her physical body is still here, what makes her distinct from everyone else — her personality , consciousness, her soul — isn't present. She's merely a vessel. Of course she'll still be able to do whatever she needs to do; this won't hamper her daily activities. However, the Ayaka now won't be the same as before," he explained.

Ayato, upon hearing that, felt very conflicted. Would this be the new status quo? Would Ayaka remain a lifeless girl until she dies? Ayato couldn't bear with this: he had to find a way to bring her back, even if it meant disrupting the whole world in its tracks.

"Is there... is there any way we can bring her consciousness back?" Ayato asked desperately.

"For now, no. Ancient texts have found no answer to this yet," Baizhu replied, "However, her consciousness can come back on will, though there isn't a set pattern."

That was all Ayato needed. Reaffirmation that he had a chance to bring back the Ayaka of old. And from that day forth, that was what he sought to do.

He would be bringing Ayaka back.

[Tyskerlund]

Tyskerlund National Team

With Tyskerlund out of the U-18 World Cup with one win and two losses to their name, Tyskerlunders could only wait for when more football will come. Their wishes were granted long ago, but now, their wishes would be presented to them through the 78th Edition of the Baptism of Fire! Das Gefrorene Bataillon steps up to the senior side, with the team being composed of mostly professional league players, along with a few players from the U-18 side. With a completely different team composition, play style, and head management from the U-18 side, how would Tyskerlund's players fare on the senior international scale? It's up to them to decide by playing the game itself.

The ideal objective? Reach the quarterfinals. At minimum? Try to get out of the group stage.

Here is the full information of Das Gefrorene Bataillon.

The Team

NATION INFORMATION
Nation Name        The Holy Kingdom of Tyskerlund
Shortened          Tyskerlund
Trigramme          TYK 
Team Name          Das Gefrorene Bataillon / The Frozen Batallion
Fanbase Name       Das Ehrenamt / The Honorary

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
Manager            Artur Bohlen  (38)
Assistant Manager  Roman Palotás (38)
Formation          4 - 3 - 1 - 2 / 4 - 1 - 2 - 1 - 2
Style Modifier     +2
Offensive Play     Quick Passing, Forward Attacking Possession 
Defensive Play     Counter Pressing

PLAYER INFORMATION
- - -  Name                Age Club
CF     Aayden Schönfinkel  19  VS Iderliebe
CF     Eugen Kisling       20  1. FC Handersea
CF     Theo Surmann        23  Gehesch SC
CF     Dominik Grassl      20  Halfasten VF

AC     Henry Nesselrode    23  Halfasten VF
AC     Raphael Katzmann    20  VdF Handersea
AC/CF  Flori Sperber       22  FC Trutzen

LM     Emil Korsch         23  VS Iderliebe
LM     Konrad Haberlin     23  1. FC Handersea
LM/CM  Marco Poland        22  VdF Handersea

RM/RB  Michael Segert      20  FC Trutzen
RM     Kaspar Gerstäcker   19  VdF Handersea
RM/CM  Rob Möhring         17  None

DM     Timon Bergler       21  FC Trutzen
DM     Karsten Blaustein   23  VdF Handersea     
DM     Reiner Schiele      21  Halfasten VF
DM/RM  Marc Oehlenschläger 18  None

LB     Lennard Gottfried   19  VdF Handersea
LB     Achim Gräbner       16  None

CB     Oliver Slesinger    22  Halfasten VF
CB     Abraham Bruckmann   24  Gehesch SC
CB     Fynn Wittke         22  VdF Handersea
CB     Marcus Schaumann    18  None
CB     August Fleming      17  None

RB     Linus Seiler        21  1. FC Handersea
RB     Rolf Creuzburg      19  VS Iderliebe

GK     Kilian Dinter       21  VdF Handersea
GK     Kuno Feit           17  None
GK     Marc Reder          19  Halfasten VF

The Tactics

Tyskerlund Starting Eleven

Quick Passing, Forward Attacking Possession (Offensive)
The general idea of this offensive set-up is as goes: Tyskerlund relies on quick, rapid passing among their players to quickly move the ball upfield, and generate spaces for their players to push forward through, relying on possession. However, unlike usually waiting for the enemy to give space, Tyskerlund pushes the ball forward with their passing, space generated or not. This means that Tyskerlund will rely on their players dribbling ability, technique, and finesse with the ball at their feet. This is where forward attacking comes in.

Counter Pressing (Defensive)
The general idea of this defensive set-up is as goes: Tyskerlund will, when possession is lost, and as quickly as possible, press the opponent to quickly earn possession of the ball back. This also involves cutting off possible passing routes, and attacking the player who holds the ball with tackles and challenges. What makes it interesting is that Tyskerlund's players will constantly inter-change their positions. From pressing the opponent to guarding passing routes, to attacking the opponent. This helps Tyskerlund keep momentum in case breakthroughs happen against them.

Other Information


Großes Stadium of Handersea (56.300), a stadium that has been underwrapped by the SLVT for the Baptism of Fire and World Cup (Which is the cause on why despite publicly available for visit, is not used by any team during the Erste Liga).

My opponent, if they RP first, may:
Go absolutely ham. But keep it within boundaries that i expect you would have.

[New Eestiball]

Honest to Margaret, this would certainly be a group for the doorknobs. This was their first international tournament, and they were playing defensively. The heavy on the attack Delte squad would not be a great final day, but it would be easier than the other two teams. The doorknobs knew next to nothing about the two teams of Stresia and Serdtgyu, so all in all, the people in Tallinn were nervous. Those that were paying attention to the sports, at least; a major trade deal had just been signed, and, as any person knows, government > sports when it comes to airtime.

[Delte]

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The Representatives
News From Nowhere

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OF COURSE, most people had heard of a ‘World Cup’ that happened out there somewhere very remote from the valley of the Delte, but allegedly it was for 22 players which was less interesting than the Friday Night & Saturday Morning Ultra Premier League, the community’s favourite 6-a-aside championship; furthermore it was contested, so the rumours went, in fancy dress with many teams turning up costumed as vicars or cavemen or faeries or something. It sounded more like the annual chaos that was the Rothwarrodton village carnival, but with a football bobbing about in the mad parade. One year Emel Radogar, landlord of the Six of Staves public house in Oswark, whilst messing about with his satellite dish trying to illegally tune in to the North Pacific Sky channels, accidentally stumbled across an obscure broadcast in a foreign language which happened to be a live match, turning out to be a group match of World Cup ’78. That year the regulars of the Six of Staves, plus a few new barflies as word got around, were treated to several rounds of the competition. They tuned in fascinated to a snowy screen to watch matches with an alien commentary frequently disrupted by more egregious interference or incomprehensible adverts, followed by analysis no-one could understand - even Ms. Ryna Polestar, the modern languages teacher at Oswark Grammar School roped in to provide translation, who had a minor career crisis when she discovered there were modern languages even she had never heard of. And she’d been travelling, too. Unfortunately the broadcast cut-out three minutes into the final, and despite Emel’s best efforts on the rooftop twiddling with his dish, it was never to be found again and that was the end of the World Cup as anything but rumour for many years to come.

Things changed somewhat recently when the a bullet train from the Meridien Mainline, which usually passes through Oswark station at 260kph five times a day on its way from one distantly significant population centre to another, surprisingly stopped at platform 3 (this only happens once in a blue moon and even the stationmaster wasn’t expecting it) to deliver a wanderer back home from far, far away. Or wanderers, I should say: it was Aleard Sullenden, his wife Vi and the children, back from their holidays. Aleard had raised eyebrows at the brewery where he worked when he told his colleagues he was going to take his annual leave in a far far away place. He’d got a brochure, booked tickets, had his jabs, bought a train ride to the far far away, and gone off on his holidays in a most adventurous fashion. Some said Vi was not so keen, especially getting the bullet train to the distantly significant population centre where they would start their travels. But Aleard was most insistent and the children became extremely excited when he roped them into the argument, and they overpowered her with pleas and good behaviour and presents and the showering of much affection. By-and-by, and against some predictions, they all came back a few weeks later with healthy-looking sun tans, outlandish garments, and a lot of photographs to share with the community.

Directly from the station, Aleard flip-flopped round to the office of Issenda Tenning, head of the All-Week Super Ultra Premier Football Association, and therefore in charge of everything football in the valley; he had a flyer he’d picked up in the far far away place that he wanted to show her. It was a sign-up sheet for the ‘World Cup’.