[Roleplays] :: World Cup 92

by **Aleirave** » Wed Oct 05, 2022 8:18 pm

Upon Arrival
Ceni 3-1 Aleirave
Aleirave 4-4 Gyatso-Kai

"Releo!"
"Michael!"

As Michael Wylen and company got off the plane at the sandy airstrip outside Lahaira, his old friend Releo was there to greet him, as if it had been years since they'd last seen each other... although in reality it had been more like six months. "I trust that all has been well with you..." Releo asked Michael.

"Yes, yes, all is good... oh, by the way, these are Kenny and Melissa, they're the friends I was telling you about!"
"Why hello there, welcome to Aleirave!"
"Hello..." the two said in unison.

"Anyway, pack your bags, we don't have much time to get back to my place before dinner's ready..." Releo told the group.
"You made us dinner?" Melissa asked.
"Yes, I have steaks in the oven and they should be ready in about half an hour. Only the best for my guests!"

Over the dinner table, the group got to talking about the pickle that both Aleirave and the rest of Eshialand found themselves in. About Reval, about her agenda, and about the state of the Aleiravan Integration Initiative, which she was all but abandoning. Of course, with a discussion like this going on, Releo just had to ask the mainlander cohort...

"So, what made you all decide to go searching for the king?"

"Well..." Kenny replied, "isn't it obvious? After all of this discussion about the funding gap, the fate of Aleirave, and the entire nation... there's only one solution. We must look for the king. That's the only way."

"Did you have any idea that he was going to run off to Aleirave specifically?"

"You see, Releo..." Michael answered, "William told me that he was going on a trip with his girlfriend, and this was right about the only place in the multiverse where he ever would've thought to go."

"So... it was on a hunch?" Releo responded.
"Well... uh..."

"Don't worry, your hunch has some truth to it. Around the time the king went missing, there was definitely some chatter about royal sightings around town. I think... oh, maybe for a day or two back in January? People were seeing him left and right... 'the king's in the Beachside Café', 'the king's girlfriend was shopping downtown'... then, the sightings stopped. No planes left the island either, William and Summer were just... gone. Poof. Into thin air."

The "search party", or so it were, paused when Releo told them about this. Not only were they right about where to look, but the people of Aleirave probably didn't have a clue of what could've happened either. "Are you sure there was no other way to leave the island?" Melissa asked.

"Not a one. The day the sightings stopped, the wind was a bit strong for most ships to risk embarking in. Without planes or boats, there's no way the two left the island. Then again... there's no way all of would just stop seeing them, right?"

Releo was now just as confused as the others. He had never really thought too much into why the sightings stopped, how the king could've vanished with no way off the island... this was far too mystifying. "Well, that's certainly some good info we could use..." Kenny replied, "...tomorrow. Tonight, let's just enjoy the rest of this meal and then hit the hay. It's been a long, long day..."

by **Nephara** » Wed Oct 05, 2022 8:52 pm

Xitizian States 0 - 0 Nephara
(4-4-2) 12 - Strand; 2 - Schrader, 5 - Clevinger, 22 - Mitteager, 3 - Lind; 7 - Anharbour, 4 - Southsea, 11 - Swainsona (8 - March 76'), 11 - Loeher (26 - Kvasina 82'); 21 - Vetiver, 14 - Slazenger (9 - Kurtishi 76')

Nephara 1 - 0 Reçueçn
(4-4-2) 1 - Provost; 17 - Meadows, 5 - Clevinger, 6 - Scales, 25 - Levering; 13 - Brewer, 4 - Southsea (19 - Belltower 80'), 15 - Sauber, 26 - Kvasina (11 - Loeher 73'); 21 - Vetiver (24 - Reisinger 63'), 10 - Harper
Goal: Brewer 32'

Drusilla Brindle scuffed the floor with her impeccable black boot. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and her colleague in the Defence portfolio, Petrarch Yearling, outwardly held two of the most important posts in the cabinet, fitting rewards for two of Pike's earliest loyalists. In a party traditionally riven by factional infighting, there had been something refreshing about Pike, who did not care about factions, only about his cult of personality. And now they'd followed him all the way from his underdog leadership bid to government, and now they were... ?
"Oddly, somehow, bored."
Yearling snorted. "How d'you manage to get bored as the MFA of a key Terranean power, Sil? Especially at a time like this. Crises everywhere."
"Yeah, but..." Brindle's mouth quirked. "Crises happening to other people. Far away."
"Mm."
"Fact is, I think a lot about what I'd do to resolve the quagmires."
"Even the ones with no right options?"
"Oh, especially those ones!" Brindle sighed. She was the kind of person who played deep-simulation 4X games on the hardest setting to relax. "But think about it. Sure, you got a run-out to shake hands with Bastion, yeah, nice new ship. But it's not like that was even a deal we cut."
"Mmm." Yearling pulled the wine from a cabinet. It was that kind of an off-the-book meeting, he sensed. "And Nyowani Kitara's the same. Lindt's war, Klose's peace, that's how it's remembered... by the people who remember it was our blood shed to secure that peace." Living under Bastion's shadow had many advantages, but Corvistone's central role, arguably the most influential nation in securing peace in Nyowani Kitara, had undeniably been diminished by perceptions they were merely acting as Bastion's catspaw. "On which note," added Yearling, "it might not be the worst thing to keep our noses out of danger here."
"Yeah." Another sigh. "Even so. I keep thinking we have some role to play..."
"Yeah, but we played it in Pavola. Another direct intervention would be a pipe dream..."
"I know, I know. I'm not talking boots on the ground, of course. But-- Pasarga? We can't take a side, officially."
"That's a blessing," said Yearling, bluntly.
"I'm aware." And it was. Nephara's blanket refusal to engage with the system of monarchy was the political equivalent of a blank rain-cheque. "There might be some sport in helping them re-integrate, when the dust settles. If whatever Pasarga looks like after the fact is still interested in the CRC."
"And Cassadaigua?"
A snort. "That situation's reached your ministry, more than mine."
"Nah. The dust is settling. And old Cassie's on her last legs..."
"Sure. But we still don't have to-- can't back anyone. And the man on the street doesn't care. Looks at the name and thinks about the qualifiers to come, hah." Brindle sipped. "We've got eyes on Yuezhou, of course. But that's a situation that isn't our problem, and greater involvement wouldn't be welcome. We've acknowledged them, sure; done everything we can to re-integrate them into the CRC. But relations aren't going to properly thaw for some time, now."
"Yeah. Similar situation with Graintfjall. Relationships with the Winter Queendom are... . . ."
"Don't say it." Brindle was already smirking.
"Fffffrrrosty."
She snorted. "Moron."
"And that's useful for us, because that frees up our resources for our imminent invasion of Brenecia."
"Of course. Unless they beat us to it, invading themselves."
"That has seemed the plan for quite a while now," agreed Yearling. "The challenge, really, is what damage we could possibly inflict that's worse than what they do to themselves..."
"Yeah. And besides, the last thing we need is to inherit that debt." Yearling considered it all, swirling his glass. "You know that Yue saying?"
"Oh, there's so bloody many Yue sayings..."
"A curse, rather. 'May you live in interesting times'?"
"Oh. Yeah?"
"Then consider this your blessing: 'May interesting times happen to other people'."
They toasted to that.

NEPHARAN NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION - FORTNIGHT 4
Goalkeepers: 1 - Aranea Provost (Spartangrad, EUR), 12 - Medusa Strand (Chromatik, CMT), 20 - Toxothea Sebring (Crisisbless)
Defenders: 2 - Ophelia Schrader (AFC Treason), 3 - Radeka Lind (Jinja City FC, BNJ), 5 - Reniira Clevinger (Herzegovina City FC, BNJ), 6 - Anaximander Scales (Brinemouth), 17 - Tosca Meadows (Brinemouth), 18 - Sven Copperhead (Crisisbless), 22 - Ettard Mitteager (AFC Treason), 25 - Kyri Levering (Northern Union, BRE)
Midfielders: 4 - Cassander Southsea (Brinemouth), 7 - Kestrel Anharbour (Crisisbless), 8 - Renate March (Herzegovina City FC, BNJ), 11 - Arachne Loeher (Wirr Tsi, CMT), 13 - Madita Brewer (Northern Union, BRE), 15 - Tasha Sauber (Spartangrad, EUR), 16 - Isolde Reader (Myana, CMT), 19 - Sonya Belltower (Sabrefell Athletic), 23 - Kurtis Swainsona (Revolutionaries, EUR), 26 - Lindse Kvasina (Istria City FC, BNJ)
Forwards: 9 - Davor Kurtishi (AFC Corvistone), 10 - Bravura Harper (Ulsa, EUR), 14 - Idina Slazenger (Tihon, CMT), 21 - Felixe Vetiver (1830 Cathair, AUD), 24 - Vasya Reisinger (West Cuono Rangers, TMB)

BYE
Nephara 2 - 0 Tjorl @ The Gauntlet (Treason)
East Murbley 0 - 4 Nephara
Nephara 5 - 1 Koronavia @ Phoenix Rise (Corvistone)
Xitizian States 0 - 0 Nephara
Nephara 1 - 0 Reçueçn @ Farham Arena (Sabrefell)
Kelssek vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Mertagne @ Eagle's Club (Brinemouth)
Saterun vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Pluvia SI @ The Gauntlet (Treason)
Cassadaigua vs. Nephara
BYE
Tjorl vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. East Murbley @ Farham Arena (Sabrefell)
Koronavia vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Xitizian States @ Phoenix Rise (Corvistone)
Reçueçn vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Kelssek @ The Gauntlet (Treason)
Mertagne vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Saterun @ Eagle's Club (Brinemouth)
Plusiva SI vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Cassadaigua @ Farham Arena (Sabrefell)

by **Guanacasteca** » Wed Oct 05, 2022 10:00 pm

Tibás, Southern Province – 08/10/2002

Dismantling the army in a country that prides itself on said culture is a mission that is almost impossible, clean out 180 years of “glories” which have been a situation that has caused poverty, suffering and torture to people from across the Republic, with corrupt schemes encysted in the system it is, already a cancer on metastasis. As always, the time comes and there’s need to remove the cancer entirely before it is too late, and there were signals for the Guanacastecans that the time had already arrived, as the country couldn’t be sustainable due to the amount of debt accumulated to buy equipment and satisfy the guilty pleasures of the higher echelons of the commando.

People has had negative opinions of the military through the time, with special emphasis in certain incidents or crimes that have cemented an unpopular opinion of the institution in the Guanacastecan society. A brief recap might help the readers to get up to date on what the Guanacastecan army really is.

It was the year of 1965, a socialist movement had started to pop-up in the region of Nicoya, a zone that has always pushed hard for Southern independence. The movement, called Guanacaste Rojo (Red Guanacaste), had a manifesto asking for equal conditions for people from the region of Nicoya, independence for the south and the dismantling of the army. Noting that there was a notable anti-army feeling in the region, Diego Sánchez, a colonel, decided that it was time to act and militarise the whole region for the sake of neutralisation “terrorist factions that could damage the integrity of the nation and could alienate the youth.”

In May of 1965, Sánchez received authorisation of the army and, by then dictator Mauricio Torres, to militarise the whole region of Nicoya to identify “subversive agents” and “treat them as the law asked for” which was a euphemism for torture or killing of dissidence. Sánchez took a group of 4,000 men to explore different cities from the region, they were keenly interested in Golfito, a port town of 8,000 inhabitants and a cradle for the movement of Guanacaste Rojo. A brutal operation was conducted the 15th of May of said year, the army took advantage of the innocence of people, as the military offered all of them food and clothes, to which the inhabitants couldn’t reject.

The meeting continued and people were appreciating the good effort made by the army, but little to nobody really expected the bloodbath that this operation tuned in in the end. Military officers were, in disguise, pouring oil in the surroundings of the church, then received an order of setting the place on fire to kill the people inside. As the flames were growing in intensity and heat was extreme, the officers shoot almost everybody when people tried to scape from that bonfire. 880 people were killed that day, only 10 people survived as an entire family was working in the field to provide products for the Republic.

Things started to heat up even more since then, as the family didn’t renounce to their right of breaking up the silence. Despite leaving the country, they eventually found asylum in some other country (won’t be revealed due to safety concerns) and were able to overcome the barriers of fear and intimidation, there wasn’t any chance for somebody to make them fall silent. Truth isn’t subject to business, the Hernández family was able to tell everybody on a special session of the National Assembly Presidential Committee the atrocities made by the army, words that weren’t took seriously and were left forgotten until the last couple of months.

The family told everybody how the church was born, how decoys were used and which tactics they used to kill all the people from the town, bar them. Decapitations, children set on fire, waterboarding, torture, etc. were some of the atrocious crimes committed by the criminals hidden under military uniforms. It was a severe trauma for those persons who hid in the trees, risking their lives, to see what happened and then serve as witnesses of this happenings. They haven’t been taken in consideration for an intervention on a Human Rights Supreme Court or something of that sort, instead, secluded in the frozen cell of forgetfulness.

Impunity has run rampant, like a pureblood horse in a race, bragging its force and power in the field. The military has used thousands of different coercion techniques to intimidate people, to keep them silent and avoiding the exposure of the sewer that their institution is. With that in mind, the mission of the Alpízar government won’t be an easy one to fulfill, those are some shoes nobody would like to step in due to the pressure, responsibility of the decisions that will be taken, compromise, and, of course, the risk they will face as their daily bread with their lives. Of course, nobody said that it would be easy, but it is a necessary step to ensure transitional justice for the victims, to optimise the funds of the Guanacastecan government for the basic needs of its beneficiaries, the population of this ramshackle and poverty-ridden country.

The task is now about to begin, it is matter of getting the right contacts to make that army implode from within; people call it justice, some others call it karma, but the time has come, and nobody can reverse it. The inflection point is in front of the Guanacastecans, waiting for them to decide if they get to work and improve the country through the cleansing of institutions or, in case they fail, waiting for their demise. Those are the risks that one faces a long tradition of abuses and has a plan to eradicate it, it won’t be easy as it is already normalised in many people.

Freedom or death, but Alpízar has chosen to get out the military yoke for real. Alpízar could be a real game changer for Guanacasteca and Pavola if he executes his plan with surgical precision.

World Cup 81/82/83/84

Part 3--Leadup to the Election

The Green Party of Baker Park were the first to hold their annual gathering of party leaders and supporters over three days at the Sullivan House Hotel in Ezriquay; Barbara LeMoyne, who became party head two years ago after Jerrold Fitzcharles was elected to the Council of State, will helm the Greens in her first campaign as Leader with biggest questions surrounding the fate of its Parliamentary delegation.

Redistricting has been brutal on the party, which has struggled with an identity crisis since their beginnings; parts of their platform are closer to the Conservatives than any of the rest, and much of what they would rely on as “outsider” policy positions were staked out by the Federalists 30 years before the Greens existed.

Four of their six seats represent just two states—Osheana and Midalia; LeMoyne's own constituency was in danger of being piecemealed into three new Osheana seats to try and help the Conservatives regain ground.
With a lot of wide open races in the face of new electorates who will have no incumbent, if they can target the right areas they can retain their usual half dozen strong group, perhaps able to swing the Opposition leadership in a direction to their liking.

The Social Democratic Party ran their meeting over the same three day period that Greens held their confab, although in Newmarket for the fourth straight year; SDP Chairman Bob Handley proclaimed on the first day of the conference that the increase was one of the best things that had occurred in the party's favor in it's modern history.
The Dems want to run aggressively in districts where LTA strength was diluted as well as trying to flip two Progressive seats that are seen as up for grabs, in Endover and St Leon.

Parliamentary Leader Kevin Considine shared the Chairman's optimism and reflected on his decision to take the Secretary of State for Housing post during the final session*.
“Let's take an honest appraisal of this last Assembly year. We did not sacrifice any principle of our core values, and the Chairman gave his blessing to my joining the sub-cabinet. That the PM had confidence to ask me to take on a role that is important to our party says a lot about her respect for us. We clearly have much to offer to any party that approaches us asking our help, as long as it is consistent with our ideals.”

The Dems are clearly the most optimistic and energized of the three small parties and it might not be a shock if they claim more than a couple of new seats.

The Progressive Party General Meeting was a low key, 2½ day midweek affair ahead of the weekend Conservative General Conference.
The Commonwealth's fourth largest political party barely registered on the media coverage meter, as around 400 delegates—one third of the number of participants as the Greens, and far smaller than the 2200 in Newmarket—conducted their routine business at the Intercontinental Belle Haven, with only a 90 minute open session available to TV coverage.
Lauren Fleisher-Vincenzo was approved on a voice vote to retain the Leadership, but what she'll be leading is still up in the air; the Progs seemed to draw the short straw in every district realignment, they've struggled to attract new members and there were suggestions that they might not even field candidates in every constituency.

the “Big Three” in part 4

*Another issue brought about by a 175 member Assembly was how to fill Cabinet posts and still have back benchers. There were certain cabinet posts that were filled by Councilors of State, but sometimes members from an opposition party were invited to take on a 'sub-cab' role—secondary political positions that covered a particular area where that person might have significant experience. In this case, Considine was asked to oversee the Housing section of the Ministry of Public Works, which he'd had considerable experience prior to being elected. It was rare an actual Leader of a party was approached, but not unheard of. Also, in some instances a person who was not a member of Parliament was asked to take on a post regardless of political affiliation, which was subject to approval by the Assembly.

Lineup vs StrayaRoos (MD8)

Johnston; Brooks, Kucera, Bauer; Eichorn, Olivera, Milton, Amber McFairlaine; Moorman; West (C), Mack
bench: Shelly Duffy, Hardwick, Freeman, Vetter, Ryan, Boyle, McDavid, Price

by **New Gelderland** » Wed Oct 05, 2022 10:59 pm

Over the past few days, this editorial board has observed with some incertitude a wide range of geopolitical and electoral news happening all over the SAREIMA regions, in change for a generally sleepy news environment with a surprising preponderance for sports and sport-related news. Banijan royal marriages, interregional jockeying in providing aid to the earthquake-ravaged Montaña Verde provinces, CRC politics in Yuezhou with Eura attempting to play salesperson (and perhaps a salesperson with a big stick), elections in Chromatika, Tumbra, Mytanija, and where else... And this is not to discount the drama taking place in Ram Ranch in Quebec and Shingoryeo, and accusations against Mercedini for endangering the SAREIMA world with a potentially pandemic disease!

All of this, strangely, is popping up during the World Cup qualifiers, which should occupy the attention of the sporting world.

How can we address all the news, and display our engagement with world affairs, in a single column? Must we pick and choose, enraging some corners of the world by not covering their momentous happenings and goings-on? We will sidestep those thorny questions and instead offer our observations on another question entirely: what is New Gelderland's place in the world? After all, an astute observer might notice that New Gelderland's name has received nary a mention in that bevy of acta diurna.

That's right. Despite New Gelderland performing amazingly well in the Olympics, despite the formation of the Confederacy of the Afanc Strait — seemingly for more sporting reasons than political ones, although we can never be sure — and despite setting itself up to be among the top two nations in the Global Athletics Tour, New Gelderland has strangely not figured much in the global discourse. Some rumours emanating from Cabo Azure have suggested that the island nation will turn to the Afanc Strait to guard against Euran and Nepharim influence, this paper humbly advances the proposition that we would not be a very useful ally in those aims.

We offer the following thesis: Perhaps it is best that New Gelderland continues its under-the-radar role in modern geopolitics, not making headlines for its contested elections, the rise of right-wing nutjobs or its semi-imperialist armed invasions of countries half the region over, only to burnish our regional standing. Instead, we would prefer to remain in the sporting headlines for doing what we do best: well, sports.

For all our aspirations of being an international superpower, well, we just don't think that's realistic. But strangely, we have a wonderful sports program that can compete with the largest superpowers in the world on an even (more or less) playing field. It's true that the ancient myth of the "Olympic peace," of wars decided on the sporting fields and not the battlefields, is just that, a myth. But we like the idea that the myth brings us: the idea that sports can prove a battleground for our differences while letting all those involved walk away from the game unscathed. We also like the idea that the winner at the end of the day simply isn't the nation that speaks loudest or carries the biggest stick.

And it would serve the SAREIMA community to remember this — especially in World Cup qualifying season.

by **Geektopia** » Wed Oct 05, 2022 11:46 pm

SportsSurveillanceCams.geecom Pickup of the Month for November 8203: Before Equestria, newly-appointed Julio announces his permanence by trying to have Sistek, Dameţrice, Jerykah, and Upson mingle with everyone else. Also, shoe guidebooks are passed out with no lack of questions being asked about them.

Julio: Alright, everyone. Before we get to introducing Sistek and all manner of recent call-ups, I wanted to tearfully introduce the news, even though most every one of you knows this, of the retirements of veterans Germaine Sophie, Autianna 'ardiquswaa, Dargy, Blask, and Shammami. Of course, faces we haven't known of for too long that are pursuing other careers would be Boblett and Jakius Krutiqayir Tarun, but I want you to respect them equally, or in other words, as much as you would the parts of our squad from generation eighty-seven that have left the roster. I believe that our second-most capped player was pursuing another career before this and was already of considerable age by the time he joined, even having convinced his son to do something with his life, it's true. Thus, I respect our captain from his previous career greatly, and I want to say that if he should ever raise another son and vest all of the fathering firepower that he's capable of into that person and have him grow up to be an athlete of our standards, I will be one happy man. Of course, I need not neglect the other bastions and how they fit into our 3-4-3, so I do remember that Shammami was also brought up in the eighty-seventh qualifiers, but I'm not quite sure of what it is that he exactly did besides covering up a lot of the cracks that Swenty showed against Banija in the first game of group play, but my judgement sure could be clouded for my judging his over-reliance on not telling important things to his family, having a very weak/lacking speaking voice, and the fact that he was a brawler on a trip to one of our away tours and decided to take out his rage on some guy's girl (weird). Of course, I know Blask from my time at the national team in the nineties and I see him being a positive factor in our upcoming group games. He'll take on a partly invisible role of assistant to the sports scientist Trujillo Villanueva, but you all will be able to see him more often than not giving instructions to the more experienced players. Trujillo has instructed me to prepare a presentation for you, but I'm confident that we can pick that up sometime else. For the time being, I'd like Sistek and some of my top picks in the country to introduce themselves, and as a precautionary measure, I'd ask that they hide their cleat guides or cleats if asked by anyone who doesn't know who they are. As always, once the introductions are finished, feel free to speak and form any kind of questions you might have.

Sistek: Hey, I think I walked into the wrong gym. So, before my introduction, I'm gonna say I didn't understand what was written on my cleat guide, or should I say EVERYONE ELSE'S cleat guide. It details here that the shoes you've given me have some sort of a "piston head"? This relates more to the engine on an automobile, so how is it implemented on a shoe? Just curious.

Njongue: Right. So there's a spot on the inside where the shoe has two components: The piston head that pushes on the mesh, and then the inner spikes that extend from the bottom of the shoe upwards are these two components.

Julio: Jong, you weren't supposed to give Sistek the answer he wanted there because he didn't introduce himself first and didn't have the chance to respectfully wait for the other international rookies to finish doing the same thing! How many times am I going to go over this with you?

Sistek: Friends, be calm and let your hair down. There's no need to stand on ceremony doing this unnecessary 'greeting' crap. Besides, it's so great to be unveiled like an entrée under a platter in front of legends such as yourselves, but I would rather throw out respect and get to know them on a personal level because I'm sure it wasn't exercised between you and Diminno and who we have here aren't expecting and shouldn't have to expect consideration without a bit of shoulder-bumping first; I want to know what kinds of things that drove the impetus to your success were and I wouldn't say that's so unreasonable. Now, I tell you, Schmedding really put down the cryptos on our settling in this locker room, so can anyone tell me who sponsors our kit? I hadn't happened to know.

Diminno: On our shirts exist the Fiance logo, neither of which have not been changed since the eighty seventh cycle. Very lucrative deal we had with them more than a thousand years ago and numbering. You know, some say that Schmedding used to work for that law firm, and maybe even still goes down to the courts to pay off standing forensic accountants that represent their clients and litigation as this will reignite his burning passion for the career. Owning isn't too far off from what you have to do in forensic accounting sometimes, which is bookkeeping. And by bookkeeping, I mean, keeping track of money. In his company, or the company in which he formerly worked, the higher-ups still have you take this stupid personality test thing whose results are split into four floors that contain like-minded people you have to work with depending on the result you get. Once in a blue moon, he strolls by the headquarters to check the amount of floors, perhaps even takes a peek inside, then gets caught up in some flirtatious conversation with the desk woman from a simple question that inquires whether Fiance still put into place that "Four Sects Evaluation" and how mere of a chance their workplace productivity surviving would come to be without it. As far as I know, for every four deskpersons that there are, the same evaluation is taken, though with the stipulation that every lobby's personnel for every building in ownership will depend on where that deskperson was assigned to work as of test results. I've wanted to work there for such a long time, as much as Schmedding wants to be re-employed, but he'll sure have to say good-bye to the prospect where he holds the post of a forensic accountant, as I'm sure that company have bid adieu to the position entirely based on some bulletin entries I read!

Matkowski: It's all very interesting, but I was wondering more how the institution in which Julio and Schmedding hold their positions can afford these manuals you brought each of us. This was what you, Julio, ordered Schmedding to do, thereupon having him order the footballing entity to carry these out to us? After all, these goldmanite-tinted urinals sure do tell a different story when it comes to how the RKC proportions their budget. I'm certain from all of what this costs, we wouldn't have enough room for you to impose your bling shoes and papers onto the expenses which are coming in, right?

Julio: Psst, they can't shell all that money around without giving themselves a little bit of fun while giving our national government a headache. Now, what's happened with what looks to be these careless expenditures is like this, RKC are having the goldmanite which lines these lockers delivered from rich folks who live in Islas Cardinales that actually agreed they could give back a little more than they could get given the vast amount of wealth accrued within their lifetime. It's a really small percentage of any one person on the planet which we know, so operations on this part of the stadium took a little while considering they're donating this material one pound at a time, at an average of every dozen fifty years. Oh, yes. I say "donations", because that's what both of the parties, RKC and crypto-billionaires nearing 8,100 years of age, were classifying these transactions as. It was all for the reason that RKC made it want to appear as if this non-profit construction company gathered materials for them through the merit and trust earned by guys who welded and did woodwork in other construction projects, and so this creates the impression that Schmeddings' brothers' startup company actually had existed for a long time as a non-profit construction partnership and gained all of these materials from existing and not going under debt for a long while (mind you, folks have to ask internal users in the company to know how long said company has existed for). So, that's the genius of what Schmedding did before he took over Blas Rojas in ownership of the RKC. You basically can't find any irregularities with this at all no matter how hard you look!

Germain Sophie: Hey, I'm sorry for being late to this one. You know, I don't usually have problems with truancy in regards to these meetings we conduct so often, so I'm going to blame traffic this time. Oh, you know what? I even have the details on what happened, the happenings of which made me take a taxi and despair for my Mudskipper, which used to have this glamorous brown matte paint job, but whose engine is now compounded.

Higginbottom: Oh no, you don't have to be sorry or tell that tale. I think you got here at quite the right time, as everyone who wasn't talking but was in the room had to listen to Julio's nonsense sandwich. Oh, and one other thing. You KNOW I get here earlier than anyone else, yet I didn't see Schmedding walk out of his automobile in the morning. Does anyone wonder what happened with him in that respect, if he's taking a sick day, needs to cool off, has paternity leave?

Germain Sophie: Dude, you know that's something I care SOOOO much about. I mean, I want you to start, I've given you fitness advice, I was the bridge between you not being able to barbell squat forty five pound plates and then doing so, but I just don't understand the blind faith you have in the man. For one, it's not even like you question what he says, or how often he talks to anyone. Now, is Livengood not coming to this? Actually, I know I can't take back what I said, and I really want to because of how much it put a dent in your confidence as far as talking to people goes, and so him being here would be the perfect thing that would cheer you up, right? You've been peas in a pod for a million years!

Higginbottom: I appreciate the thoughts, but we only share a few common interests and the both of us conveniently can drag out one-on-one conversations for more than an hour, so it's complete diamond-in-the-rough circumstances for both parties, ehm, I mean myself and Livengood. More forward to your query, I'm fairly sure that he's late with reason and must have been bogged down by his police work again. A real example of irresponsibility on his part, but I'm not going to complain because he has a tough job to do. I don't think he'd be here if he didn't want to play football, as he'd be a hypocrite if he showed up and was all "Hey, I'm here to help you out. Also, let's change out our 3-4-3 for a 4-6-0 with four wings and two central midfielders on the six."

Ponti: That's a bummer, but it's also understandable. We all have our own lives outside of this team, and we have to make sure we prioritize those things over our jobs, no matter how much we love them. I know it's easy for me to say that because I'm the one who gets to choose whether I can partly live off of my dad's offshore accounts that he set up for me or work another job that requires prior experience in a field I don't have any prior experience in.

Sistek: Wow, we're just now meeting and that's the impression you make with me. I've heard that you were born and raised in a border city, which still makes you Geektopian, correct? I don't think I ever asked you what country your parents came from originally.

Ponti: Yeah, I'm a citizen of Geektopia, but my parents are from Engelstown. You should see the supple amounts of food and alcohol 'towners bring on a cart to the capital city in February. By the beginning of the month, the streets are so crowded that they have to close them off to prevent cars from getting stuck in the snow and the vehicles from blocking the street for pedestrians. There are many stores in town that sell handmade goods and a lot of them are open year-round, but they're even more popular during the winter time, and the general interest is dominated by consumers who act like their lives are dependent on log carriers, axes, things like that. It's kind of the opposite of how things go in Geektopia, as in the winter, people get very fervent and violent over a lot of the purchases not being rendered by them, as opposed to the summer.

by **Drawkland** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 12:09 am

E T E R N I T Y . . .

Cam Cross and Jaxon Madison had decided to go to Metropolon for the weekend. It was a sort of spontaneous decision by the both of them. It had been five years since the maze, after all. They'd spent plenty of casual weekends together, but at this point they'd exhausted most of the fun things to do in the greater Sadeg area. Sadeg wasn't that far from Metropolon, plus the Elite Eleven did have that private jet to play with. Not to mention the fact that the Elite were well-known Sadeg residents, and there were many prying eyes. Metropolon was much denser and busier, too many business people, political lackeys, and wide-eyed foreign tourists to take notice of a couple of pro athletes. The chances of running into somebody that would recognize them in the nation's capital was basically zero.

Why did they not want to be seen together? It's not like they were dating or anything. Neither of them would call it that, because what they were doing together was simply casual. They were friends, after all, having formed a sort of platonic brotherhood by going through a harrowing, literally life-altering experience together. No sir, there is absolutely nothing romantic happening here. None whatsoever. Of course, if fans or worse, paparazzi saw them together, it would raise a lot of questions, and rumor spreads quicker than wildfire.

Thus, for this weekend, Cam and Jaxon had reserved a room in a swanky highrise hotel near the epicenter of the capital. It had been awhile since either of them had been there, though Jaxon and likely Cam would be heading there in a few week's time for the qualifying match against Squidroidia. It's fun to zone out and be a little bit of a tourist sometime, checking out the Capitol, the Pinnapex, and the hundreds of hyper-futurist malls, restaurants, and bars.

Now when we said the chances of them getting recognized in such a busy and chaotic environment was basically zero ... let's just say the "basically" did a lot of heavy lifting.

Cam saw them first. Her and Jaxon were walking through a crowded food court in one of Metropolon's many high-rise shopping malls. It was pretty hard to tell with the many bodies weaving in and out and the many queue lines in front of the various restaurants, but the broad shoulders and curly hair of Leo Cross was unmistakable. A quick look to his side confirmed that Jack Hoy was in tow as well.

"Jax!" Cam pulled Jaxon's sleeve to get his attention. "I think that's Jack and Leo over there."

"Oh, where?" Jaxon turned, craning his neck, and saw them both. "Damn, that is definitely them. Wanna split?"

"Hmmm ..." Cam wasn't super close to her cousin, though they'd spent a little more time together now that they'd gone on the immortality quest. Jack, however, was a loudmouth and also a very recognizable face. If they stopped to talk they were sure to be recognized. "Yeah, let's go quick. I think they're waiting in line over there, so we can walk out the other end and try to eat somewhere else.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go." Jaxon and Cam turned to walk out, and ran directly into a wall of people waiting in line at the chicken restaurant. "Okay, let's go around."

The pair turned around to try another path, and nearly jumped when they did. Right behind them were Jack and Leo.

"Woah! Fancy meeting you here!" Jack exclaimed, and it took all of Cam's willpower to not groan on the spot. "What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"I could ask you the same question," Jaxon responded in time, as if nothing was amiss.

"We were just getting food after shopping." Leo lifted the bags he was carrying, which seemed pretty heavy. "Housewarming things."

"Housewarming? In Metropolon?" Cam finally spoke up, curious to see why but getting more anxious by the second.

"Yes. Jack just bought a condo here in downtown." Leo looked like he was going to continue, but Jack interjected.

"Yeah, I was tired of having to rent all the time whenever the World Bowl came around. I figured, I have the money, and now that I'm immor-uh, y'know," Jack hastily looked around and lowered his voice. "I figured that it would be worth having a little more property spread out around the country. That's what the Drawkionels do, right?"

"For sure," Jaxon replied automatically. He took a superficial look around the food court, hoping that the Grid Corps guys would get the hint. "Well, we ought to be off now. We had just decided we didn't want to eat anywhere here."

"Why don't you come on over to my new place then?" Jack shot finger guns at both Cam and Jaxon. "We just got groceries before this. I could make us all dinner!"

"You know how to cook?" Cam was legitimately surprised. Jack seemed like the kind of guy to eat like a college bachelor at all times.

"Hell yeah!" Jack grinned, then struck a pose to show off his figure. "You think this was built on Outbox and fried drawk? I know my way around the kitchen. Seriously though, come on over. This place is really cool and I want to show it off."

Cam and Jaxon glanced at one another. Cam gave a look of skepticism, but Jaxon responded with a shrug and a hopeful grimace.

"Fine, we can come," Cam said after a moment, hoping the reluctance didn't creep into her voice.

"Sweet!" Jack pumped a fist. "Now let's get out of here before somebody recognizes us and asks for a photo."

Finally he's thinking straight, Cam thought to herself as they headed to the exit.

"What do you think?" Jack asked, sweeping open the front door with a flourish. The elevator had gone up to the top floor after Jack put a special code into the elevator button panel (the combination was written on his hand), and revealed a small hallway with a couple doors. When he opened the door at the end of the hall, it revealed a huge and beautiful penthouse condominium.

The sight was slightly less impressive due to the tons of moving boxes and half-assembled furniture, but the view outside the wraparound windows was immaculate. Although this wasn't one of the huge towers in the central cluster of Metropolon, it was still a tall building and would be exceptional in a more standard city's downtown skyline. From the living room one could see a panoramic view that included the aforementioned downtown cluster, as well as the gradual curve of Metropolon's skyline from the center of town to the outskirts, and the lake beyond.

"Wow ..." Cam breathed. She had never really been a city person. In Jaffro she actually owned a reasonable house in the suburbs to save some money, so luxury of this kind was well out of her typical fare. She could probably afford something like this, but it had never been a priority. Something like this could change her mind, though.

"That's what I'm saying!" Jack hopped a bit in excitement. "This was like a right place, right time sort of thing. Best part is that there's a subway stop right outside the building."

"You have a private pool on your penthouse terrace and the subway is what you're excited about?" Jaxon pointed to the outdoor balcony and chuckled.

"You're not around this town often enough," Jack shrugged. "The horde of underrunners in rush hour is bad enough, having to add another 5 blocks of walking just to get to the station is hellish."

"Yeah, that's why I'm not in this town that often." Jaxon shot back, and the group laughed a bit. The entire city of Metropolon had been predesigned before it was constructed, built to be a perfect futuristic tech settlement. Even with all the high-level engineering and efficient layout, it's hard to move tens of millions of people on a daily basis. The term "underrunners" was coined referring to the thousands of tourists and residents who ran around in the underground subway system to make their appointments on time. The name stuck around, and was even used as the name for the GLD team in town.

"So ... are you planning to stick around here more often?" Cam asked. She still wasn't sure why he'd gone through the trouble of buying a whole luxury condo despite the fact that he didn't even play in Metropolon, except for Grid Corps home games during some World Bowl seasons.

"I'm thinking about it." Jack plunked down in a reclining chair that seemed to have a massage function. "My contract with the Pilots is up after next season, and I'm fully expecting some teams to be willing to drop an assload of money on my doorstep. Since me and Leo announced our immortality, I'm sure there's teams who would love to have their running game solidified for a year or ten. Oh, sorry, you guys can sit down too, if you want."

"Is there anywhere else to sit?" Cam looked around, but most of the furniture was wrapped in packing material or only partly constructed.

"Here," Leo said simply, picking some boxes off a sectional to give everyone else a place to sit.

"You're thinking of signing for Metropolon, then?" Jaxon picked the conversation up again. "Once the time comes, of course."

"I'm definitely considering it. They haven't had a good running back in two decades, and Benson is a checkdown machine at QB. Plus they seem to be building their O-line a little bit. That's tailor made for ol' Jack!"

"I've told you to stop saying that six times. Dude." Leo cringed a bit and shook his head.

"Make it seven, then." Jack flipped the bird at Leo, then brought his arms to rest behind his head. "I don't have to care about what anybody thinks now."

"You didn't care what anybody thought of you before you became immortal, either," Leo pointed out.

"True! But now I can really do whatever I want, whenever I want. As long as I don't break the law, I have almost zero consequences to my actions." Jack looked over at Cam and Jaxon to see their looks of disdain. "Okay, I know, I can't act like this forever. For the first few decades though, I'm going balls out. I already had more money than I knew what to do with, and now I don't have to worry about saving for retirement. It's gonna be good vibes, top shelf luxury, vacations, and parties for me for the foreseeable future. OH! That reminds me, how about this Immortals Accords thingy that's going down this summer? Y'all are gonna be there, right? Me and Leo are going for sure."

"Of course we're going," Cam replied, happy to steer the conversation away from Jack's plans of debauchery.

"Absolutely," Jaxon echoed. "The Elite always show up in force to the Accords gala. This year will be no exception."

"Are you sure about that?" Cam elbowed Jaxon a little jokingly.

"If certain people don't want to show up, that's not my problem. The rest of the Elite will have a good time, just like we always do."

"Wait, who's not coming?" Jack reclined forward in his chair, and Leo leaned forward on the chair he moved from the kitchen island bar.

"Ugh, you know the whole thing with Nicole and Mike, right?" Cam rolled her eyes.

"I mean, I heard that she was mad at him after the maze and was going to talk with him or something. I dunno, that was like five years ago. What happened?"

"That talking-to ... that was Nicole breaking up with him," Cam explained. "They haven't really talked since, and things are still kind of raw there."

"Didn't Nicole embark on this quest specifically to be with Mike without worrying about mortality?" Leo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The fact that any of us are here right now is because of that."

"It's ironic, isn't it." Jaxon answered flatly. "It's unfortunate, but that's just one of the many downsides to this gift. Some people can handle trauma and guilt in mature ways, and others can't. I'm sure in a couple decades they'll get over themselves and be able to be in the same room without being dramatic, but the timing isn't working out for this gala in particular."

"It doesn't have anything to do with guilt," Cam countered suddenly. "Nicole just wanted an apology, or literally any sort of sympathy from Mike, and he wouldn't give it. Not doing the maze with her was bad enough, but he showed zero remorse after the fact. Was Nicole just supposed to take that and act like it didn't happen?"

Jack and Leo's eyes widened at the sudden dissent, interested to see how this would play out.

"I'm not saying that Mike isn't at fault for this situation, but Nicole hasn't been perfect either." Jaxon was subtly trying to avoid making eye contact with Cam. "Appearing in the Complex unannounced with the goddamn Elf in tow to bully Mike was not a mature way of handling it. It's also a big security risk," he added quietly.

"Bully him? Firstly, he deserved what he got, and secondly, Nicole just wanted him to apologize for being a dick. Not to mention he did the exact same thing like a week later by showing up to her apartment."

"Hold on, you've lost me." Jack really didn't want to interrupt the conversation. He was afraid that a pause would cause Cam and Jaxon to stop the story short, but at this point they'd referenced too many events he'd never heard about for him to follow along.

"It was this whole thing that happened right after everybody got back." Jaxon sighed, and Cam looked across at him with a cocked eyebrow, almost daring him to tell the story wrong. "We were at the Elite Eleven Complex, actually planning a congratulatory party for all of you guys for returning. Nicole came, asking to speak with Mike, and about a half hour later she left in tears. Mike had broken up with her, though if I remember right he didn't seem terribly torn up from it. That sorta nixed the party plans by the way, so that's why you guys never heard about this. Tensions were too high in the Complex after that, so we just tried to forget about the whole thing. Most of us, anyway," he gave a meaningful look to Cam.

"Yeah," Cam cut in, "and like a week after that Nicole was spending some time with Ellzidan, and they decided to go to the Complex real quick so Nicole could speak with Mike and have some closure. He didn't budge though. I mean he basically told her that he didn't love her any more. After all she did for him! No shit they haven't at least made up since then."

"You forgot the part where Mike got socked in the face," Jaxon added, sounding almost irritated. "Again, this situation was not handled with maturity from either side."

"Nicole didn't do that!" Cam exclaimed.

"I didn't say she did," Jaxon replied simply. "She let it happen though."

"Whatever," Cam flicked her hand dismissively. "So what does Mike do after this? He flies out to Kayo, to Nicole's apartment, and tries talking to her again. Not to apologize, no, he asked her to leave him alone. He flew across the country to her actual apartment to tell her to not talk to him anymore. What kind of psycho move is that?"

"To be fair, he had been given some terrible advice by Septimus. Again, probably still Mike's fault for thinking that Septimus would be a good source of wisdom in a situation like this, but that's Mike for you. I would definitely say he's a moron, but he's not malicious."

"Whatever," Cam repeated. "Anyway, the point is that Nicole has to come to the gala, because it's our first time and I'm sure as hell not letting her sit out. Mike knows this, and so he's going to end up skipping to avoid seeing her."

"This is the craziest shit I've ever heard," Jack muttered after a moment. "See, this is why I don't do long-term relationships. I just can't handle when a gir-"

"Hey," Leo stopped Jack before he got off on an unfortunate tangent. "That is a messy situation indeed. Do you think they'll ever make up?"

"Yeah, true," Jack nodded along, still trying to figure out why Leo cut him off. "It feels like a cheesy storybook ending that just got entirely pissed on. Such a waste!"

"No way," Cam shook her head with conviction. "Mike already burned that bridge as quickly as he could. Nicole was lovesick for years and now she doesn't even talk about him. I just don't think there's anything left for them." A silence held in the air for a moment.

"The story is not over," Jaxon disagreed after letting the moment linger. "Being immortal lasts so much longer than you can comprehend. Without that impending sense of mortality hanging over you as you age, you gain the freedom to be incredibly stubborn. You will see what I mean firsthand at the Accords gala. You can hang on to the same stupid thoughts or feelings for centuries. That being said ... you also have just as much time to realize your mistakes and change your mind. A hundred years ago, I thought that feeling and thinking the way I do now would never happen. There is always tomorrow." He instinctively glanced at Cam for a split second, but flicked his eyes away before anybody noticed.

"That's great news," Leo tried to lighten the mood. "I would hate to be Jack's accountant after he's spent one lifetime being a party animal. I can't imagine what his bills would look like if he never grew out of this phase."

"Take it from me, those kinds of ledgers are not pretty," Jaxon grinned, and the rest laughed. "I have experience trying to balance those budgets."

"Wow, thanks guys. I really feel the love here." Jack tried his best to put on a serious face. "Get the fuck out of my house then, if it's so deplorable to you!" He could only hold the serious face for another second before everyone burst into another round of laughter.

Deep inside, Cam was still a little worried at how quick Jaxon was to challenge her telling of events. Despite that nagging feeling, when Jaxon spoke, she could feel that he was trying to be as authentic as possible. She didn't consciously realize this fact, but instead felt it in the back of her mind. That would be something to think about later, Cam thought.

by **Bears Armed** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 12:40 am

(OOC: This account of events continues directly on from my most recent previous post here... even though, OOC, there have been two Matchdays played since then.There's a reason for this, IC, that will be explained...)

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

The mysterious [but Ursine-looking] being currently known across Bears Armed -- and in some other countries, too -- as 'Sermharn the Wanderer' sat in the study of his current townhouse in Council Groves and thought about the problem that he hd just solved for the director of the National Observatory.

His musings were interrupted not long after they had started, by a ring on the house's doorbell. He waited for one or another of his household staff to answer it, promptly, and then either to bring one or more vistors into his presence (if those were on the fairly short list of people for whom he had told his servants to do this) or to report to him about the situation and how they had handled it so far... but a couple more moments or so passed (OOC: In standard Ursine time-keeping one "moment" is one-sixty-fourth of a 'watch', i.e. -- in our [OOC] reckoning, just a fraction under 84.5 seconds; it is divided in turn into sixty-four 'Instants', which therefore measure slightly under 1.5 seconds each in duration) with neither of those potential responses occurring and then the doorbell rang again. Sermharn frowned slightly: The staff's next day off, which had been arranged (with his willing consent) so that they could all go out together to catch the annual Brass Band Contest, wasn't until the following day, and after all he'd seen & spoken with several of them inside the house earlier this afternoon... So why weren't any of them answering the door? Had some covert attack rendered them all incapable of action, without alerting him, despite the mystical 'wards' that he had placed around and within the building? Was the bell ringing only to lure he himself into an attacker's reach? Rising to his feet, he braced himself mentally and then headed down to open the door in person... picking up along the way both a stout walking-stick in case the visit was a hostile one and -- having noticed through a window that heavy rain had begun outside in the short time since he sent the Raven on its errand -- a large, fluffy towel in case the visit was a friendly one and the visitor or visitors needed this. Reaching the front hallway, he looked out through the periscope that was set to provide an indirect view of the porch's occupants... and then, seeing that currently the only person in or near that porch was his "very good friend" Krystall Bruin (who is also the Bear-Belles' chief physiotherapist), quickly opened the door so that she could come inside.

Certain greetings and other sweet words passed between the couple, but those were private to themselves and so I shall not provide you with any details of their conversation. There were embraces, too, but those also are none of your business except that by the time they paused the couple were seated together on a sofa in one of the ground-floor parlours and Krystall was wrapped snugly in the large towel that Sermhan had brought down in lieu of her rain-soaked coat and skirt (both of which had been hung up to dry above a pair of radiators in the pasage leading from the main front hallway to this room).

"So, dear-heart," Sermharn enquired sotftly as they cuddled comfortably there, "Hwhat is so urgent that it brrings you over here in such strong weather? Dare I hope that you were too desperate for my company to wait" (at this point Krystall uttered a surprisingly girlish [for her age] giggle...) "for our date tomorrw -- the Festival, dinner at the 'Gilded Thaler' (OOC: That's one of the city's finest restaurants: Most people would need to book their meals there weeks or even months in advance, and that's if they weren't considered "unsuitable" for some reason, but the owner owes Sermharn a favour -- for reasons that aren't relevant to present events -- and so he can use their private table at much shorter notice...) "Shakes-Bears' version of 'The Tale of Bearren and Lursienne' at the Beehive Theatre, and then back here?"

"But that was supposed to be today!" responded Krystall, in a tone more worried than annoyed. "I waited for a while after the time we had agreed that you would collect me from home at, presuming that something important had delayed you, and then I phoned you here but got no reply, so I did a bit of reading -- Steff's got me back into trying the 'Furrnation Trilogy' again -- and phoned again, just before lunchtime... and just after my lunch, as well... and then I decided that apparently you were too busy after all so I left a note showing in a front window and went to the remainder of the Festival by myself. Then I went over to the 'Gilded Thaler', as I'd said in that note I would, but hwhen the Maitre d' there said that you hadn't contacted them neither I was worried enought about hwhat might have happened to you to get a taxi from just outside the place straight over here."

"I'm grateful for your concern," Sermharn said sincerely. "Did the taxi-driver have much trouble finding my house, hwithout me along to guide you? This part of the city, the old 'Greenford Village', can seem a bit of a maze if you haven't lived in it for maybeso a year-ish."

"No, not too much trouble at all, I couldn't remember the door-number or even the road's name -- hwhich was a bit worrying, for true! -- and I remembered that you didn't want the fact that this is your home made public, but I gave the taxi's driver a quick description of some of the building's external features -- it is quite distinctive, after all -- and she recognised it by those. We did take a couple of wrong turnings once we were inside the 'village', but that was the only prroblem."

Sermharn hugged her a little bit more closely, in reassurance.
"I'm verry glad that you were able to find the place," he replied, "but that driver hrreally shouldn't have been able to rrecognize the house even with the no-doubt excellent description that you gave herr... The level of attachment that now exists between urrs two means that you could notice those architectural features, but the 'Don't-notice-this' ward that I keep over the whole house nd its garden means that strrangers such as a rrandom taxi-driver shouldn't have been able to do so...
"But anyhows, how could I miss an entire day... and one that prromised so many joys in such pleasant company at that?!" he exclaimed, now sounding even more worried. "I'm not questioning yourr mind, but you are sure -- hrreally sure -- for true?"

Krystall reached into her satchel, which she'd set down by that end of the sofa just before sitting down, and pulled out a [slightly soggy] newspaper. She pointed, without speaking, to the date at the top of its front page...

"Urrgah!" Sermharn groaned in a low tone. "But how could that have happened?" He looked at a tall clock that was standing in one corner of the room, whose face bore several smaller dials -- each with their own hands -- as well as the main one at its centre, as if for reassurance. Then he looked at it again, more intently.
"Krystall dear-heart, I don't want to worry you -- for tue I don't -- but can you rremember who the Belles' latest qualifying match was against? I can't rrecall now hwether that was 'Savigliane' or 'Valentine Z'... If today's date is hwhat I thought it should be -- taking that "misssing" day into account, of course -- then it should have been the former, but I can rremember a game that must have been the latter as well, now, and the clock says that this is not just one day but two weeks and one day after I'd thought earlier this should be!"

"Blessed Spirits and Blessed Souls!" she exclaimed. "I can rremember both of those games now as well, although I can also rremember thinking yesterday that 'Valenttine Z' would prrobably be a toght team to beat!
"So, hwhatever has happened, it's hapened to both of urrs... at least: Maybeso it's happened to the entire nation? Could something do that?"(By the time that Krystall had finished asking this question she sounded considerably worried.)

"There are a few beings, and even 'forces;' that could have caused had so powerful an effect," replied Sermharn, now sounding rather concerned himself," "but fewer that could have done thus without my noticing the fact before they had completed their working.
"Wait a moment, please..." He walked across to the clock, and examined two of its smaller dials closely.
"Aha!" Sermharn continued in a more positive tone. "So that was it!" He returned to Krystall's side, and explained what he had just realised.
"Evidently this was another effect of the Multiverse's attempt to 're-synchronise' the passage of time here with the passage of time outside. One of the dials that I have just checked shows not 'Ortho-time', the everyday passage of time that we ourrselves rrecognise, but a concept called 'Meta-time' hwhich applies to the Multiverse as a whole rrather than to any one version of 'Hrreality' within it" (OOC: which is the same time by which we the game's players, OOC, live...) , and the positions of that dial's hand tell me we are now those two weeks further ahead by that scale as well as by our own... but evidently the two fortnights have been somehow superimposed over each other in ourr memories.
"I doubt hwhether most people, even among those who travelled between Realities during that period as the Belles -- for example --did, would have confysed memories like ourrs, instead of just rremebering ome single straight sequence of events that covered the hwhole time, though. I am who and hwhat I am, after all, and evidently ourr connection shielded you from the full efects as well."

Krystall fell deep into thought for a few moments, as she took these facts in, and then an idea struck her.

"These 'forces', the ones that so that have just -- if I can use that last word and not seem too inaccurate -- "superimposed" two versions of ourr latest fortnight over each other, they'd bSermharn e the same ones that you had to stop from trying to age all of urrs in and around the Belles by fourEights of years so that we'd be as old as if time here since the last Cup in hwhich we competed had passed at the same rrate as it did 'Outside', ayyuh?"

"Ayyuh," Sermharn responded, wondering where she was going with this.

"Hrright. So, could those same forces also have "re-synchronised" the Belles' footballing ability with Outside's expectations, so that although ourr girls think that they're doing their best -- and we think that, too -- they're hrreally playing only as well as people Outside think they would be if they'd hrreally been absent from international competition for all of those fourEights years?"

"Urrgah!"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

(OOC: So there you have it, not just the solution to the "timey-wimey" matter mentioned [OOC] at the start of this post but also an explanation for the difference between the Belles' IC potential and their OOC results into the bargain...

by **PotatoFarmers** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 1:08 am

Southern Palm Islands 0–1 Poafmersia
Goalscorer: Jordan Huerta 54' (assisted by Jackson)
Lineup: Nicole Potts (c); Kilikina Lee, Nacro Astro, Diamond Byan, Jacqi Equine; Michael Jackson, Min Berg, Erle Sartini; Tessa Bjarnesen, Liina Williamson, Leontiy Seet
Substitutes: Jordan Huerta (Williamson 45'); Jackson Handris (Seet 63'); Magreta Rym (Sartini 63'); Kelefe Hans (Astro 82')

Poafmersia 1–1 Omerica
Goalscorer: Jordan Huerta 34' (assisted by Seet)
Lineup: Nicole Potts (c); Lovise Zimmerman, Nacro Astro, Diamond Byan, Jacqi Equine; Michael Jackson, Min Berg, Aapeli Shea; Tessa Bjarnesen, Jordan Huerta, Leontiy Seet
Substitutes: Taliah Alcock (Bjarnesen 60'); Dagur Lawrence (Jackson 60'); Zak Kaloyanov (Equine 76'); Zenophon Robson (Berg 76'); Kelefe Hans (Astro 87')

Sporting Daily

Hot Takes: Forget the home fortress, time to create an away fortress

Since the start of football, we have always talked about the notion of a "home fortress" - where teams do inexplicably well at home, and uses that result to carry them into a high rank in the tournament. That is how many teams do qualifiers - try to secure a really solid home record, by asking their supporters to create the "12th man" effect at home, and then, with such a solid record, clinch the top of the group and make it into the World Cup proper.

We are here to challenge that notion.

If home records are key to success, then by judging at World Cup 91 qualifiers, a number of teams would have qualified, and we are indeed going to list them all out today.

The first list has to go to Quakmybush, an anonymous team who just appears at every entry list and don't submit a single roster, or even let the world know the players' names, numbers, or formation. Starting out in Group 12 as the 7th seeds, they had quite a decent home record, scoring 20 points at home with 6 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. We should also talk about 4th seeds Sargossa, in the same group, who took home 21 points. Their records are only bettered by 3 teams - Banija, Squornshelan Remnant States, Brookstation, the first 3 ending up in the top 3 of the group. The end result? Sargossa only took 6 points from 10 games. Quakmybush took a singular point. Sargossa ended 5th, while Quakmybush ended with a miserable 10th spot. Horrendous.

StrayaRoos deserves huge recognition in this regard as well. Their home record has been rather solid, losing only to Audioslavia, Drawkland and Zeta Reka & Hugeltaldom, 3 really difficult opponents. They defeated Squidroidia 3-2 after getting smashed 2-9 away, trashed Bendicion 7-2 at home. For an 8th seed, that was a decent record to have - 7 home wins, ending with 21 points. They ended joint-3rd in terms of a home record. Their away record? Just 2 wins and a draw. Losing to their Barrier Islands away, losing Bendicion, unable to score past Zeta Reka, getting 3-1 by Togonistan. Basically, a bunch of terrible results, they ended 6th in the group with that record.

Perhaps the one that takes the cake would be 8th seeds Saterun, who did an amazing job at home, securing an 8-1-1 record with a +16 goal difference in Group 11. That record, by the way, is second in the group, losing only to top seeds Pemecutan, which has a 8-2-0 record at home. Their end result? 5th in the group, with a worse-than-expected away record of 3 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses.

Notable mentions include Cassadaigua, whose 9-0-1 home record is only beaten by 5 teams in the entire qualifiers, and yet only ended 4th because they had a 5-1-4 away record; as well as Cardenao, who took home a 6-3-1 record but ended 5th because they had 4 away losses.

With all that in mind, we now look at away results. Away results tend to be overlooked because few teams tend to do well away. But when we sort teams by their away records, we realise that the top 3 teams based on away records typically end up in the top 4 of the table. Geektopia is the only exception, with 19 points being 3rd in away record in Group 13, but they ended up 5th. But 19 points is probably on the low side. If anything, good away records tend to lead to good overall results.

OOC: While the Election 2112 storyline is still getting catch-up articles, you may have a look at the background by looking at Nitrishi-pai's results in 2106

Poafmer Times

Elections 2112: What happens if the results are hung?
Report by Shefield Johnson

Holhot - On the streets of Holhot, barely 8 hours after polls closed nationwide, there seems to be talk that the state is going to return an even more ridiculous set of results. After all, the Nitrishi-pai State Council took an entire month to decide on the composition of the government.

While political parties are mainly focusing on the national-level gains, citizens in Holhot are probably left wondering if they had just created yet another crazy set of results in the state with the rumours afoot. In particular, there seems to be word that both the Farmers League and the Bijara Party seems to have gained votes while Kibi Party, Makara Party and Congress Party head in the opposite direction. And given the support the Bijara Party candidates have been getting during their rallies and walkarounds, such a theory does seem extremely probably and not against the trend of how results in the state have truned out since the start of the century.

While a badly hung parliament has never happened in the history of Poafmersia, there are procedures for a state election, although such a procedure is complicated in nature and has never been invoked. This is caused in part by the current voting system, where citizens are only required to cast one vote to determine results at a state level & the national level. As such, the Poafmer Times will attempt to break down the process for such a vote, and the circumstances surrounding such a vote.

First of all, it is worth noting that the current constitution requires the state councils dissolve their parliaments when the Ridimag is dissolved. This is resolved by the Elections Act of 2006, which states that "Any notice of dissolution for the Ridimag will also be a notice of dissolution for the respective state councils as defined by this Act." This also means that the Ridimag has some form of control over the state of the repsective state councils, in particular, looking at the length of the term of the respective councils. As such, a later ammendment, the Fixed-term Elections Bill of 2018, gave every state council a veto should a snap election occur. Such motions of snap elections need to originate in the Ridimag, pass a two-third majority, and be accepted by a simple majority in every state council. Again, becaue snap elections haven't occurred since the bill's passing, it remains to be seen how the execution of such a bill would look like.

Secondly, because the Ridimag is determined by the summation of the votes casted for every state council, any state-level election would cause a change in the composition of the Ridimag. This makes a state-level snap election extremely awkward, especially for the political parties, who have to treat such elections with equal importance as compared to national level ones.

Thirdly, because of the Fixed-term Elections Bill, election dates and start-of-term dates are fixed by law. This means that, regardless of whether a snap election was held previously, the next election is guarenteed to be held on the third Friday of December. In particular, the wording of the law is that "the Ridimag, together with the state councils, will be dissolved on the last Friday of the last November at the end of a 6-year term, with elections held on the third Friday of December in the same year." This means that a snap election that doesn't happen at the end of the year will cause a government to serve for less months as compared to a regularly-held election.

Should an election be held, the State Council must convene and pass a motion, by simple majority, to dissolve the Council. This will trigger an election, and by election law, must be held within a month after dissolution. By convention, it is expected that the Council will try to hold the votes on a Friday, since election days must be declared bank holidays in that state, and an out-of-sync bank holiday would be disruptive at a national level. Secondly, the various parties would likely try to negotiate ways to form the government, rather than expecting it to be declared hung and go for a snap election, merely because of the costs it would present to the state. State-level elections will be funded by the state budget; this is separate from the once-every-6-year elections held at a national level.

Not to forget that because of the way the votes are linked, any election in Nitrishi-pai will affect the Ridimag operations. Thankfully, Nitrishi-pai is a relatively small state, returning just merely 44 million votes, or 5% of the total parliament size of 480 seats. Translated to the national level, about 27 seats will be affected by a state election. This is unlikely to affect government operations, especially since the Kibi Party is likely to achieve a majority of the votes elsewhere.

by **The Jovannic** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 1:30 am

The Election Rundown: The Parties (Quick Rundown Part 1)

Are you eligible to vote this year, but don't have a clue what the people you vote in stand for? If you said yes to that statement you probably shouldn't be voting, but who cares, am I right? Anyway, here is a quick rundown of all the parties running this election, so you can be better informed about what our precious slip of paper can bring into power.

Union of Free Jovannicans (UFJ)
Secretary General - Dermot Bulreney

Let's start with some the moderates, shall we? Initially formed from a splinter group of a wing of the Grand United Party (How Ironic), the political predecessor of the Jovannic National Party, known as the Hunkites. Going by the name of The Party of Free Jovannicans, Hunkite leaders preached a form of Liberal Conservatism, which would have worked well if it weren't for the fact that there was another party with more experience and greater support among the moderate Conservatives (The Feller Party). After a dismal first performance, the Free Jovannicans looked to be on the verge of a merge with the Fellers. Fortunately for the PFJ, Miri Feller's death and subsequent struggle over party leadership led to the Feller's Fracture and many like-minded Fellerites joined the PFJ, boosting popularity. Unfortunately for the Hunkites, the Fellerites now dominated the party scene, and the Hunkites were largely subdued. Under the leadership of Mandel Feller, the now Union of Free Jovannicans held a firm grip on Urban Electorates like Golda and New Hope City. In an attempt to coerce the slowly growing left leaning population to support them, a more centrist position was put forth by Basil Larista, a Hunkite. This would partially succeed, as the Union became a strong party in many electorates around The Jovannic. Today, the Union remains a consistent position as the central party, with what can be considered as modern Hunkites with major third way stances resonating with voters throughout the Jovannic. The Fellerites, currently without a Feller as a leader, maintain a roughly National Liberal Stance.

Governocrat Alliance (GA)
Secretary General - Patse Morongini

One of the older parties still alive today, the Governocrat Alliance was formed through a merge between the Triple Orchid Party, the Grand Society Party and various regional parties, most notably the Voice of Narton. The merge was overseen by Triple Orchid Leader and later the first Governocrat Alliance Secretary General Houtin Charlesburg, who held rather left-leaning views. The main opponent to the Grand United Party at the time, the Governocrat Alliance were in effective control of most of the northeast Coast for a substantial period of time. Nowadays, the Governocrat Alliance does not have the numbers to challenge for a simple electorate majority, largely due to the loss of support from progressive and social liberal voters to the further left wing parties of The Jovannic such as Forward Jovannicans and COPS, but like the UFJ, the Governocrat Alliance and its supporter base of Third Way to Conservative Liberal voters often have the power to sway swing districts and in turn Electorates to right or left wing Gouvernorats.

People's Solidarity Party (PSP)
Secretary General - Johnson Lette

Initially a rather socialist party (except the whole no Emperor thing for obvious reasons) formed off the efforts of Tan Le Chou, an author and editor of the Rose Independent, he had at first few supporters. There were at the time so many small left wing parties and groups that were at odds with each other that their individual vote counts couldn't do much of anything that the big centralised parties of that ideologically opposed them, like the Jovannic National Party. Le Chou, not being the most loyal to his ideological stances, adjusted his stance to be rather Liberal Conservative, capitalising on moderate Conservative voters that may have not felt comfortable with options on the right and on the left. A few effective and scathingly hot speeches later, and the People's Solidarity Party now had a good form of support in the south east provinces. Dominating proceedings among the moderate right, the Solidarities as they are called have witnessed some high and low points, but the newly appointed Johnson Lette seems extremely enthusiastic and may be able to set the party up to greater heights.

...

Losses to Farfadillis and New Gelderland extend losing streak to 4, Yustat under fire for especially poor performances

It was agony in the Grand Jovannic Stadium as loyal fans watched as New Gelderland tore the Jovannic Defence into shreds thrice to give the home side their fourth loss in a row. Gothal Mathee has had his critics, and they now seem to be an ever growing voice. However, rumours of an early sacking have been dispelled, both by official spokespersons and Mathee himself.

"We're just having a rough patch. That's all." Mathee stated to the press on Friday. "It's hard getting back into form after such a long break, but I'm sure the lads and I will pull through."

Kallin Yustat is one player who has gotten very large amounts of scrutiny for his questionable performances. Being the last man in many situations, some people are calling for the temporary replacement of Yustat. Mathee seemed to be against this.

"I believe Kallin can recover, just like the rest of our team."

The Jovannic will face Darmen and the Cheetahs and reptiles Coalison next. At a point where dropping points may make our already slim chances of challenging the playoffs even more unlikely, let's cheer on for The Emperors as they battle to recover their lost form.

All Hail The Jovannic!

by **Turori** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 1:58 am

Eels String together First Winning Streak of Campaign

Kionao Minor Field, Kionao, Turori :: After struggling through their opening stretch of matches in Group 1 of World Cup 92 Qualifying which saw the Turori National Team drop points against Ceni and Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom, Tarek Edgeli finally righted the ship and got Turori on a positive stretch which saw their first multi-game winning streak of the competition. Despite conceding their first two goals of the competition to Aleirave, the Eels put four past Falena Rukpiato to claim victory before heading home to Kionao Minor Field to take on relatively unknown entity Harmonia. The Eels put in one of their best performances of the campaign thus far against the Harmonians, controlling nearly 60% of the possession. Despite this, fans were still fearful of seeing the Turori National Team suffer its third goaless draw of the campaign up until Naraiza Ruaplal finally broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute. The match seemed to flow a bit from there and it wasn't long before Kala'a Yuliizala added a second goal to seal the three points and the Turori national Team's first back-to-back wins of the campaign.

The brief trip to the home of the Kionao Turori Locals was certainly a successful one for the Eels but with a grueling 20 game qualifying haul only one-quarter over it was immediately back on the road for Edgeli's Eels who headed off to Esportiva to take on Natanians and Nosts. It was a team that Turori had not faced since World Cup 85 Qualifying - a cycle that saw the Eels victorious in Esportiva but - in the most recent meeting between the two sides in Turori it was Natanians and Nosts that got the better of the Eels winning 2-0. Once again it would be Derizi Amatopa in goal for the Eels and they would certainly rely on the Eura-based shot stopper in Esportiva as Amatopa helped to keep the Eels in the game as Natanians and Nosts put on the pressure in the first half of play. Edgeli made a rare first half substitution taking out their own namesake Karek for the energetic H'munao Cagomia less than ten miutes from the break. It was a different substitution in the second half that seemed to have the big impact on the match, however, as the introduction of Kinabo Telioa really shifted the momentum in favor of the Eels. Telioa was impactful from the moment they came on and was the one who stole the ball in the middle of the pitch then quickly darted it through to a streaking Nua'oma Aikiki who fired past Getúlio Epitácio Soares to score what would ultimately be the games only goal, securing the win and all three points for the Turori National Team.

The win would narrowly allow the Eels to maintain the top spot in Group 1 though many of the teams behind them in the standings had a game in hand. Turori would take their three game winning streak home to Sokattack Field in Mliona where they would host Savigliane - a team which the Eels recently played during the World Cup 91 Finals.

 Turori 2 - 0 Harmonia	
	Turori Goals:	:: 72' Naraiza Ruaplal:: 79' Kala'a Yuliizala             
	Stats :: Turori	:: Possession: 59%:: Shots: 8:: Corners: 5 :: Harmonia :: Possession: 41%:: Shots: 1:: Corners: 4
	Turori Lineup ::	Derizi Amatopa, Karek Edgeli, Planio’o Nrujsa (Amakli Inuro'o 70'), Moumouni Verre'elali, Biliki Rona'atu'i, Cuoabaza Orani’aoa (Kiidallen Aeroluzzi 63'), Tulaki Rauogba (Loala Inkabu 45'), Naraiza Ruaplal, Kinabo Telioa, Kala'a Yuliizala, Lutara Makakio

 Turori 1 - 0 Natanians and Nosts	
	Turori Goals:	:: 63' Nua'oma Aikiki              
	Stats :: Turori	:: Possession: 51%:: Shots: 5:: Corners: 3 :: Natanians and Nosts :: Possession: 49%:: Shots: 5:: Corners: 7
	Turori Lineup ::	Derizi Amatopa, Karek Edgeli (H’munao Cagomia 36'), Planio’o Nrujsa (Amakli Inuro'o 73'), Biliki Rona'atu'i, Moumouni Verre'elali, Cuoabaza Orani’aoa (Kinabo Telioa 61'), Lati'ala Giaoka, Tulaki Rauogba, Kiidallen Aeroluzzi, Kala'a Yuliizala, Nua'oma Aikiki

TURORI NATIONAL ✓

@TuroriNat
@twiitur are preparing for a massive giveaway at #SokattackStadium when the Turori National Team hosts Savigliane in a #WC91 Group Stage rematch

#WC92Q - #TURvSVG - #Group1

Mliona, Turori

Fixture :: World Cup 92 Qualifying Matchday 7 v. Savigliane

Location :: Mliona is the largest city on Turori's secondary island. It is known as a modern tech hub with companies such as twii.tur based within.

Capacity :: 46,500

Stadium & Tenant History :: Sokattack Stadium started as a 3,000 Capacity single-stand stadium when Sokattack Mliona entered the Turorian Lower League system as an alternative local club to the much larger Mliona-Lpaka. When Sokattack Mliona were first promoted to the Declasse Division during the 35th Vilitan League Cycle, the club were required to make capacity improvements to the stadium to ensure a permanent seated amount of 14,000. They accomplished this by adding a large stand at the Eastern end of the ground with 11,000 seats with a future expansion plan to replace the original 3,000 seat grandstands along the sideline. Sokattack's immediate relegation from the Declasse shelved those plans, however, and another one-off season in the Declasse during Vilitan League cycle 39 did nothing to re-establish those plans.

It wasn't until Sokattack Mliona's promotion from the Tropicorp Lower League as runners-up to Tropicorp FC in the 12th Tropicorp Cup that expansion plans returned. The club added 5,000 temporary seats on the Western touchline to meet the league minimum seating then completed a 22,000 capacity primary grandstand in place of the old 3,000 seater, complete with a state-of-the-art concourse for vending, refreshments and souvenirs.

During Vilitan League Cycle 61 Sokattack picked up sponsorship from twii.tur who invested in further improvements to the ground. In addition to raising the stadium capacity to the current 46,500, twii.tur invested in the clubs Youth Academy and training facilities, purchasing land across from the stadium to be used as a training ground for both the senior and youth teams at the club. This investment paid off as Sokattack Mliona won the 18th Tropicorp Cup returning to the Vilitan Declasse once more where they remain to this day. While the Sokattack Academy does not participate directly in the Tropicorp Youth League, the team participate in regional competitions and have a partnership agreement with Mliona-Lpaka to provide Sokattack Players to the Mliona-Lpaka team for the Tropicorp Youth Competition. Four Sokattack Academy players were apart of Mliona-Lpaka's 17th Turorian Youth Group Championship.

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

As capabilities of interconnected and handheld communication devices improved, the Turorian Weather & Information Interchange (Twii) was adapted into a public facing service where users could sign up to create their own twii nodes where users would sign up to a twii group to receive all the twii messages delivered by members of that group.

twii.tur are the presenting sponsor of the Sokattack Stadium, officially known as the "twii.tur Field at Sokattack Stadium". twii.tur invested heavily in improving not only the stadium but the surrounding infrastructure on the complex as part of a naming and kit sponsorship agreement with the club from Vilitan League Season 61. twii.tur made significant improvements in the technology at the stadium making it a hidden gem amongst small-to-mid size stadiums within Atlantian Oceania.

The Sokattack Stadium was a host venue for two group stage matches played during the AOCAF LIVe regional championships in Tropicorp. The first was the group 2 opener between Osarius and Iskandervale and the second was the Final Match of Group 1 that saw a 2-2 draw between Demot and Komarov-Thomiya. The venue would make its first ever appearance in the World Cup hosting the opening match of Group C during World Cup 90 between Zwangzug and Jeruselem. The Popular Stadium was also the venue for the recently contested Relics Trophy Competition Final contested between Northwest Kalactin and Eraman during Eagle's Cup XIII, reprising a role it held during Eagle's Cup XI as the host of the Newcomers Cup Final.

by **Electrum** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 2:31 am

FOOTSPORT ASSOCIATIONS OF VILITA & ELECTRUM - WC92 ✓

@TheTurnip
As a mark of respect on Electrum failing to qualify for the Cup of Harmony, we ask you to not do any 'spinning leek' memes. Thank you. #WC92 #WoahThere

#CUTOFF :: #GRP_1-7

by **Cabo Azure** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:15 am

Cabo Azure 1–0 Cap Nord
Scorers: Corte-Real

TJUN-ia 2–2 Cabo Azure
Scorers: Corte-Real, Maciel

“Rex Ex Machina”, pt 4
It turned out that nobody fancied a trip to Graintfjall, so the job fell to Liam McRae as the newest member of the committee. McRae had been in Cabo Azure only a few months, having stepped out of the void onto a cargo ship bound for Sao Simone. His last, vague memory prior to the boat was in Santa Rafa. Now he was boarding an airplane at the new airport in Natal, bound for Háttmark.

McRae's first impression of Graintfjall was that it was cool, but not in the sense of “trendy or desirable”, though he supposed it was probably more in vogue than Cabo Azure. Instead the weather was temperate, a welcome respite from the sweltering heat of southern Terranea. Walking along the jet bridge, he felt a wave of deja vu, as he often did when he was near planes, remembering a dark-haired girl who'd been his best friend back in Santa Rafa. He kept moving.

There were no public records for a Solveig Davidsdottir in Graintfjall, which could have meant any of a number of things, including that no such person existed, said person was a juvenile or otherwise invisible to the record, or said person lived outside Graintfjall. Graintfjaller names were notoriously difficult to trace, and as there were hundreds of thousands of Davids throughout the country, any one of could have a daughter named Solveig.

Of course, McRae had more pressing concerns at the moment. His passport flagged going through customs, and he found himself removed to a small, windowless room where a Graintfjaller agent who looked to be the size of the average “BFG” on the football team sat down across from him.

“Your profile raises several red flags,” said the BFG confidently. “So you’ll have to help me out. Which is it; are you a terrorist, a criminal, or a foreign agent?”

“I’m not any of those things,” McRae answered levelly. “Just a tourist looking to see the Winter Queendom.”

“Then why does the system peg you as a threat?”

“I don’t know.” This much was true; McRae had several theories, but no solid idea of what specifically caused him to flag. His Azurean identity was sort of hacked together from bits and pieces; he’d been granted asylee status after he’d got off the boat, and managed to stay out of trouble long enough to apply for permanent residency. For all of its isolationist ethnocentrism, Cabo Azure had a surprisingly relaxed posture on immigration and naturalization.

The man left, and when the door opened again an indeterminate amount of time later, it was a woman who walked through, petite and blonde but wearing the same uniform as the man. She smiled at him, but it didn't reach her eyes.

“Sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. McRae,” she said in an accent that was less noticeable than the man's. “We hope you enjoy your stay in Graintfjall.”

Sure you do, thought McRae.

When he left the airport it was dark, and the cool, refreshing air he’d felt getting off the plane was replaced with an uncomfortable chill as he loaded his luggage into the car. With its limited resources, the Council had still managed to set him up with a short-term lease in a quiet suburb outside Háttmark. He’d initially been excited to experience a new place, but now all he could think about was getting inside and to bed.

In retrospect, McRae would find his reaction to a pistol in his face ironic. So many years of drifting between timelines, between places that existed and places that didn’t, had left him sort of ambivalent toward his own mortality. He’d never been suicidal, but his version of survival had been so tied up with the Narrative that it had never occurred to him he could die to disease or accident or foul play. Now, with a 9mm barrel aimed point-blank between his eyes, all he could think was, is this really how it ends?.

“Inside,” the owner of the pistol ordered, his tone conversational, as if directing a delivery man where to place his pizza. McRae obeyed quickly, hands raised overhead, palms out in defeat. He accepted he was now at the mercy of this strange man and what he wanted. For a moment he wondered whether there could have been a mistake; perhaps he was after the owner of the apartment, or a previous guest, but then the man said his name: “Liam McRae.”

“Aye, that’s me,” Liam agreed, his voice shaking.

“Take a seat.”

Liam sat down in the kitchen, unconsciously placing his palms face-down on the little table. Behind him, he could hear the gunman drag his luggage inside and carefully set it out of the way. Courteous, maybe, or just not wanting any undue attention. The weapon didn’t have a silencer, Liam noted, not that one would have done much good in such an enclosed space. Whoever he was, if he intended to use the weapon, he didn’t care who knew about it.

The man turned on the kitchen light and took a seat across from Liam, setting the pistol down between them, his hand flat on top of it. His face was uncovered, which made Liam nervous, but also relieved him somehow; he’d rather die at the hands of a human being than a faceless shape in a balaclava. The man appeared to be in his late forties, close-shorn hair and graying stubble, in a short-sleeve athletic shirt that screamed “cop” as loudly as if he’d worn a blue uniform and carried a nightstick.

“Tell me, Liam,” the man said. “Where are you from?”

“Cabo Azure,” Liam answered automatically.

“No, Liam.” The man shook his head like a disappointed teacher. “Where are you from?”

“Santa Rafa,” Liam told him confidently. He had never made a secret of his homeland; his name was, after all, on the roster of its soccer team, permanently etched into the collective memory.

“And what brings you to Graintfjall?”

“P-pleasure,” Liam stammered. Now he was lying, and he felt as transparent as if his nose were growing. “Just want to s-see the Winter Q-queendom.”

“Someone from a nonexistent country travels to Graintfjall on a whim,” the man mused, “That’ll be the day.”

Suddenly Liam was calm. It occurred to him that there wasn’t a lie that was plausible enough to sway this man. The truth may have been just as ridiculous as anything Liam could come up with, but it was also his best bet. “Do you really want to know why I’m here?” he asked, his voice brimming with mirth.

The man leaned across the table, his face inches from Liam’s. “I’d like nothing more,” he said lowly, his steel blue eyes boring into the back of Liam’s skull.

“Cabo Azure needs a princess,” Liam told him, “Or a prince. Manuel likely won’t ever marry, and neither of his sisters will likely have kids.”

“Why are you helping them?” asked the man, settling back into his chair, hand still on the pistol. “You’re not Azurean.”

“Because otherwise they may cease to exist,” said Liam.

The man’s reaction surprised him; he relaxed, tilted his chin up, and seemed to study the ceiling for a second. Liam remained tense, scared he could raise the gun at any moment, but the man stayed transfixed. At intervals he seemed like he might tilt his head back down and say something to give Liam some clue of what was on his mind, but presently he remained mute. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet and full of an emotion that was part wonder, part terror.

“Cabo Azure could cease to exist?” he asked, incredulous.

“Absolutely,” said Liam. “Without an engaging Narrative, every country runs the risk of ceasing to exist. It happened to Santa Rafa; it happened to Pravenna; it’s happened to dozens of other places, and that’s just the ones I know about.”

“I thought they had it all,” the man said, removing his hand from his gun to cradle his head. “It was so…fully realized. All we ever had, in retrospect, was a basic concept, a ‘what if’, if you will. Cabo Azure seems so fleshed-out, it’s hard to imagine it could disappear.”

With that, the man began to tell the long story of who he was and how he came to be aiming a pistol at a stranger just before midnight in a leased flat in Háttmark. His name was Peter Janssen, he explained, and he’d previously been a detective in the Kolonial Marechaussee in the small country of Nouvelle-Angouleme. He’d been there on the fateful New Year’s Eve when the country had woken to find itself transported to Rushmore, its three islands having settled off the coast of Terranea.

The people had been shocked, of course, but they’d made do, established trade routes, and took up a strange new sport they called “community football”, in which they managed to not only field a professional team, but take third place in a tournament that spanned the new multiverse of which they found themselves a part. At the zenith of its efforts to integrate, the capital city of Nouvelle-Angouleme, Nieuw-Amsterdam, was named Rushmori Capital of Culture and played host to delegations from all over Rushmore.

During this time, Janssen was a detective assigned to the homicide unit in Nieuw-Amsterdam, investigating a murder that had occurred prior to Nouvelle-Angouleme’s appearance in Rushmore. The murder seemed to be somehow linked to the disappearance and sudden arrival, but he hadn’t had time to fully investigate before catastrophe overtook the islands for a second time. Inexplicably, he hadn’t disappeared with them; instead, he’d found himself in Sao Simone, still working as a detective, speaking fluent Portuguese and navigating the streets like a native, but with distinct memories of his old life.

As he’d dug deeper into his old life, Janssen had been appalled to find that Cabo Azure had supplanted Nouvelle-Angouleme. Just as suddenly as the old islands had gone, the new ones had appeared on the map of Rushmore. Grieving for his old life and his homeland, he’d put all his detective skills to work trying to determine the mechanism by which Cabo Azure had come into existence. The task proved impossible by its very nature, similar in character to attempting to draw a self-portrait without the aid of a mirror, but he’d run across evidence of the Narrative Council, and that led him to his confrontation with Liam McRae.

“But you’re telling me, Cabo Azure is now in danger of ceasing to exist,” Janssen said to McRae when he’d finished recounting his story. McRae could see in his eyes that he hadn’t told the story to anyone and was grateful that Liam took it at face value.

“Absolutely,” McRae agreed, “Which is why I’m in Graintfjall, on the sliver of a chance that this Solveig Davidsdottir person is one, real, and two, has a legitimate claim to the Azurean throne.”

“Get some rest,” Janssen ordered, at last holstering the pistol in his waistband. “Let me get to work.”

by **Chartistan** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:44 am

THE BILLBOARD GAZETTE

IT'S STILL BILLBOARD BABY

After 4-4 thriller of a draw with Arjunnagar, Chartistan wreak havock on Elmyia

It had become an age old adage in the halls of Old Town Park. You couldn't really talk about the home of the Chartistan national team without having a look at the crazy scorelines that graced the stadium for 5 whole cycles now. 1-0 and 2-2 were considered foreign on Billboard turf, but still regularly happened. It was the wilder scorelines - 4-0, 3-2, 5-1 - that were perhaps seen as more common. There was something about the stadium that attracted these wild scorelines and made them happen more often than not.

It was Billboard, baby.

Even recently the aura of Old Town Park was beginning to take shape on the Chartistan team - Matchday 7 saw Chartistan shipped off to Arjunnagar, a relatively easy, yet aggressive, opponent. Naturally someone somewhere brought a piece of Old Town Park turf with them - Maybe a blade of grass or some of the soil - and used it as a good luck charm, as Chartistan came from 4-1 down to tie the game 4-4, earning a valuable point that saw them inch slightly closer in contention to Mercedini and Valanora, with the Grim Reapers hot on their heels and hoping to leapfrog the Chartistanis for the 3rd place spot and the playoff that comes with it. Arjunnagar's Sanmoy Molason and Chartistan's Kylie Poe both scored braces.

While not all 3 points, it was enough for Chartistan to turn around and cause a show of force against Emyria, who were in a midtable position in their first ever World Cup qualification campaign. Once again, it was proven to be another showcase of just how chaotic Billboard can be. Emyrian Genesio Chapman would open the scoring just 6 minutes into the match after catching a pass from 18 year old youngster Vesper Benedetti and striking the ball towards the right of the net Tyler Jaylocks was guarding. However, Chartistan did not back down on such hollowed home turf, scoring thrice in 11 minutes (With veteran workhorse Plasticium Amphibia scoring twice in 3 minutes) to vault the team up to a 3-1 lead, the same lead Arjunnagar had against Chartistan in the previous game.

As Cash Smith went back to his side of the Billboard pitch after routing one past Ernest Butler, he could notice that the Chartistanis weren't positioned correctly to defend the kickoff from Emyria. The first real error of the Kylie Poe captaincy, Benedetti kicked the ball over to Carlo Beluigi, who dove head first and ran past the Chartistan midfield and backline, a hint of all out counter attacking catching everyone off guard. Beluigi scored just 20 seconds after that kickoff, with Emyria cutting the lead down to 3-2.

Once again though, Chartistan did not back down and refused to conform to the pressure. At the tail end of the first half, Holly Smier was playing a series of passes between him, Cash Smith and captain Kylie Poe, just hoping for Chartistan to find an opening. With a pass back to Saul Souza, Chartistan found an opening, and a through ball to Smier was met by his right foot, the Official City tallisman sliding the ball into the back of the net to make it 4-2 heading into half time.

One more goal was, however, in the bag. Musicville's Clara Peterson had replaced struggling centerback Thames Reland midway through the second half before getting her chance to score for the very first time. With a corner whipped in by Smith, Peterson found herself in the back of a large pile of bodies, but somehow ended up with the ball touching her head as she slammed it past Butler to make the scoreline 5-2, a score that Elmyia couldn't come back from. All 3 points were earned handedly.

With 3 games left to go in the first half, attention now focuses on Baggieland and Oberour Ar Moro, both of which, while not exactly in striking distance of 3rd place, are still deep in the qualification hunt. The trip to Dartmouth Hill to face the Throstles is sure to be a difficult one, as they have already beaten the afformentioned Oberour Ar Moro at home and smacked Arjunnagar 4-0 in their qualification home opener. That, however, has been paired with some away losses to forget - 7-2 against IA Quebec, 1-0 against Elmyia, 2-0 against Valanora and 3-1 against Mercedini shows that they are way better at home than away from their prized Baggieland.

Should the pattern repeat itself, the trip away from Old Town Park will be a rude awakening for Chartistan.

Arjunnagar 4-4 CHARTISTAN
N/A, N/A, Arjunnagar

-

Sanmoy Molason '4 '38 (ARJ)
Nixheng Tamang '16 (ARJ)
Zane Bwaite '36 (CHA)
Saralin Tsering '43 (ARJ)
Kylie Poe '56 '81 (CHA)
John Harry '88 (CHA)

CHARTISTAN 5-2 Elmyia
Old Town Park, Billboard, Chartistan

-

Genesio Chapman '6 (ELY)
Plasticium Amphibia '9 '12 (CHA)
Cash Smith '20 (CHA)
Carlo Beluigi '20 (ELY)
Holly Smier '39 (CHA)
Clara Peterson '79 (CHA)

by **Starblaydia** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 10:10 am

From the creative minds at Ozuwara Corporation comes the latest craze amongst Starblaydi kids (of all ages, let's face it) of collectable World Cup-inspired Monsters: Cupémon.

MatchDay One saw the release of the first of the brand new set of the Trading Card Game that's taken the Protectorate by storm, with a new card debuting on every Matchday.
Inspired by Qualifying Group 9 of the 92nd World Cup in Vilita and Electrum, it's time for everyone to play along at home and guess:

For MatchDay Three it's... Rouyoute!

The Rouyoute ~~Pokémon~~ Cupémon was generated by text-to-pokemon on Replicate with the prompt "a royal purple flower with a crown".

by **Gnejs** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 11:13 am

Gnejsian folk tales

The girl who stole a rock

There once was a girl in her late teens, who travelled west with her mother and father. Her mother had been tasked to chronicle the history of Buska - a small settlement on the coast - for the Annals, and the girl and father accompanied her there. As guests of the local Amtmann, they were lodged in the large stone house on the hill, that stood overlooking the slopes of the village and the western sea as it stretched out towards Øygruppen.

Her mother labored with great intensity, going from door to door and to every outskirt along the bay, collecting the memories, stories and sayings of a people. She registered all of it meticulously, and soon captured history lined the walls of the study in the great stone house.

While the father worked in the garden, the girl kept to herself. She had more than enough with exploring the nooks and crannies of the old house. It was an uncharacteristically large structure, given its location and the history of the area. Its origins was shrouded in mystery. “The old house?” a man from down the eastern slope could say to the mother, “Always did be standing there.”

The house was often brought up in many of the mother’s increasingly vast collections of local accounts, and the common theme was usually stories of it being haunted. No one she spoke to had experienced anything themselves, but they had all heard stories from someone else. Alas, despite her best efforts, the mother was never able to track down any firsthand account. From what information the mother’s employers had provided, previous occupants mostly seemed to be visiting local representatives of the Amtmann, who spent a night or two on their travels, but ownership of the house was unclear.

The girl continued to wander the halls and visit every room again and again. Everything was sparsely decorated and left no clues revealing its history, but there was a welcoming warmth to the house and its bare stone walls. Even on dark days of rain, where fog and coldness enveloped every inch of the slope lands, you would always be comfortable inside, and when the girl pressed her palms against the stone walls, she could swear she felt them emanating heat.

She became increasingly fond of the house, and it was with great sadness she learned of the family’s imminent departure the next year. The mother had finished her work in the field, and the remaining efforts could just as easily be done back in town. The girl set out to roam the house one last time, visiting all the rooms she now knew so well. When she entered the third bedroom to the left on the third floor, she could instantly tell something was different. Down by the side of the large wooden table, was a rock; a jagged piece of gneiss. On the wall under the window, she could see a piece of the wall was missing. She picked it up, and the rock pulsated with warmth. She stroked the stone wall and smiled.

On the day of their departure, the girl picked up her piece of the house and squeezed it tightly. It still gave off a tender vibration and heated the palm of her hand ever so slightly, although the strength was clearly diminishing. Before joining her parents, she ran up to the third bedroom to the left of the third floor and approached the wall’s small dent of missing stone. She raised a small pick axe and started hacking away at the wall. Soon enough, a rugged piece fell off. She picked it up, and it quivered with great intensity. She pocketed it with her other rock, and ran out to her parents.

On their journey that night, the girl fell violently ill, quickly and for no apparent reason. And then she died, screaming it felt like her heart was was being torn into a thousand pieces.

by **Adab** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 11:18 am

KickTheBall.com
Bringing you the latest news and rumors in football, in Adab and abroad

Monday, November 26, 2040 | 21 Dhu al-Qadah 1462 | 21 Kislev 5801
Adab 4-0 Captina Island
Yargab (27’), Akaptaha (40’, 78’), Emmita (58’)

NEWS | World Cup Qualifiers
By: Saddam Abbas

WCQ: Adab brush away Captina Island

Adab’s comfortable four-goal victory over Captina Island, combined with Savojarna’s 1-1 draw at HUElavia, propelled the team to the top of Group 12 of the World Cup qualifiers, tied with Savojarna at 19 points after seven matches.

Adab manager Saad Kaykali returned to the pitch for the first time since he publicly announced his prostate cancer diagnosis, amid reports that his treatment has been “going well”. His return was greeted with joyous scenes which reverberated across Adab City Stadium.

The Captinian visitors put on a valiant performance from start to finish, and while in the end Adab’s superior finishing made the difference, their opponents did their very best to stay in the match.

Indeed, at the start their 4-3-3 tactics caused difficulties for the hosts, who found the back four a sturdy, almost impenetrable wall. In fact it was the visitors who had the first chance to score, when Enlilbani Yargab – drifting between the midfield and the front – botched his pass in the 10th minute, enabling the Caps’ Gianluca Vecchi to get to the ball and opening the Adabians up to a potentially deadly counterattack. It was only Satchit Chandrasekar’s acrobatic save which prevented Alesandro Mercardi from becoming the first scorer of the night.

That privilege would eventually fall on Yargab in the 27th minute, making up for his earlier error with a perfect display of anticipation. Akaptaha moved from the wing to the center to lead the attack but the quick reaction of Captina keeper Pierluigi Neri shut down the available space, forcing Akaptaha to send the ball at the crossbar. But Yargab was there as the ball bounced back and fired it in with a curved left-foot shot which prompted large sections of the crowd to rise in cheers and applause.

The strain of the match showed on the 41-year-old Yargab and he was replaced by Nadje Barzani in the 38th minute. Two minutes later, Akaptaha solidified Adab’s lead, converting Rebekah Yissakar’s corner into a close-range header which just barely slipped past Neri.

Entering the second half, the hosts were clearly growing in confidence as they controlled the tempo of the match. Ephraim Orlev was substituted in favor of Amara Emmita in the 54th minute, adding firepower to an already dominant midfield led by Emma Arthur and Alulim Sinmuballit. It did not take long for Emmita to make an impact; four minutes later, finding a gap in the Captina defense, she fired off a powerful shot from well outside the box. The Caps could only watch as the ball seemingly glided so seamlessly, and yet with such force, into the net.

Akaptaha punctuated Adab’s dominance with his second goal of the night in the 78th minute, finishing off a great run by Sinmuballit from the halfway line as he positioned himself in the box just time to receive Sinmuballit’s ball and deliver the final blow. At the end of the match, the largely Adabian crowd stood up to applaud their brave opponents and Kaykali hugged his Captina counterpart Timoteo Greco, assuring him that “your team did you proud”.

Adab lineup for WCQ MD9 (December 3, 2040, vs. Savojarna away) and MD10 (December 10, 2040, vs. Brenecia at home)

Starting lineup: Chandrasekar, Altun, Enmerkar (C), Akshak, Arthur (VC), Sinmuballit, Emmita, Khoury, Akaptaha, Yissakar, Barzani

Substitutes: Shulgi, al-Tikriti, Hadad, Thomas, al-Maliki, Anwar, Samanu, Orlev, al-Amin, Abbas, Yargab, Sarsur

by **Alasdair I Frosticus** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 1:21 pm

Fragments From the Secret Diary of Chairman Mouse

Nyowani Kitara, After Matchday 8

I have returned as quickly as I could from the victories over Sevendia and Abanhfleft (finally two matches won in a row!) - fortunately the advantage of sitting on the substitute's bench is that few notice if I leave early.

It is cold here in the Svante hamster farm; cold in temperature and morally cold, here among my lobotomised brothers and sisters.

I am still shattered by my discovery of the crime against hamsterkind that has been perpetrated here by the Svante monster. I knew something was wrong when he tried to pet us when we were out of our hamstermechs after the first match. How dare he try to touch us without our consent?

In these hours of darkness, I have been reading the philosophy of the great thinking hamster Hermann Gerbils; he continues to inspire me decades on from when he laid down his imperishable precepts. Here are some of his words of wisdom that have driven me forward in this difficult time:

"If you want to know the taste of hamster kibble, you must change the hamster kibble by eating it yourself. If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution, you must take part in revolution. All genuine knowledge originates in direct experience."

"In general, any form of exercise, if pursued continuously, will help train us in perseverance. Running around and around a hamster wheel is particularly good training in perseverance."

"I have witnessed the tremendous energy of the hamster masses. On this foundation it is possible to accomplish any task whatsoever."

"The revolutionary hamster must move amongst hamsterkind as a fish swims in the sea."

Yes, through pondering the maxims of Hermann Gerbils thought, and the bold leadership of Holy Empire captain Gerald, the most far-sighted of hamsters, I think the path forward is no clear. I must not hesitate; I must be bold.

I seek only a means to harness six hamsters and a pair of wire cutters. With these tools, I believe I can lead the enslaved masses of the Svante out of bondage, and towards the best life that they can possibly lead despite the horrible crimes that have been perpetrated against them.

I do not believe that Gerald and my other comrades can help me. I must act alone, swiftly, without calling on outside resources. Did not Hermann Gerbils write that "Once struggle is grasped, miracles are possible"?

I must compose a revolutionary song for the occasion. Here is my effort - no doubt inadequate, but it is the best I can do while this heavy burden lies upon me.

Arise, you hamsters who refuse to be bond slaves,
Let us stand up and fight for liberty and true democracy,
All our world is facing the change of the Svante tyrant!
Everyone who works for freedom is now crying:
Arise, Arise, Arise!

All of us with one heart,
With the torch of hamster freedom, march on,
With the torch of hamster freedom,
March on, March on! March on and on!

I have made a hamster harness; I have jury-rigged some serviceable wire cutters. Tomorrow then; tomorrow my plan goes into action.

FOR HAMSTERKIND!

<to be continued>

by **The Cordian Isles** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 2:18 pm

The Cordasfjord Daily

Window Review: Cordia Still Leads Group 10

CORDASFJORD, Cordia- It was another solid window for the Cordian national team as we continue to well outpace last cycle’s points total, but it might have been better. Quakmybush put up a better fight than expected and it was a close match up until the end, and a draw with Wreckeria, though not exactly surprising, does drop much-needed points. Despite that, the Cordians are still in very good position eight matches into qualifying and outplaying their seed of fourth, despite Nyowani Kitara closing in with three fewer points and one less match played.

Quakmybush was certainly a fun match, but as we’ve said, it was closer than it needed to be. Gunnvor Nieminen, who seems to now be getting the best of the timeshare with Hannah Andersen, scored early in the first half, sending the large host contingent to their feet. It was Sebastian Voll a few minutes later, scoring on a penalty after drawing a foul in the box, doubling the lead to two less than fifteen minutes into the match. But Quakmybush fought back and it was an absolute battle until the end of the first half in one of the most physical matches we’ve seen in a while, and that’s saying something considering the North Stars’ reputation for being a chippy side. Redvin Chase picked up another yellow card in that half and missed the match against Wreckeria, an absence that may have contributed to the draw, though reserve replacement Merel van Pelt played well in her second cap with the team. The second half was just as tight, though Redvin Chase did leave off and managed to avoid picking up another foul, but there were plenty of other fouls on both sides so his presence wasn’t missed. Quakmybush scored in the 75th minute when one of their strikers got the ball in space right in front of the net for one of the easiest goals of his life in an unusual defensive breakdown for the Cordians. Though Quakmybush pushed hard for the rest of the match, the North Stars kept it clean and took the three points they needed.

Next for the North Stars was an away match at Wreckeria, a fellow AO nation. With Chase out, the big news of the day was Merel van Pelt starting. Pelt was reliable in the back line for Carathyr Emerals in their TPL title run last season and earned a spot on the reserve XI for qualifiers this year. Both teams struggled to get anything going early and the match quickly became a defensive battle, neither side really gaining the upper hand. It would be Wreckeria striking first in the 40th, David Marlin firing a shot from the left side around Frederick Johnson and in to put the underdogs up 1-0. Two minutes later, Sebastian Voll went on a run and managed to get behind the Wreckeria back line. The shot was easy enough, and it was a tied match again. The first half ended without any more drama, but it returned soon after the second half kickoff. The Wreckerians got a rhythm going and put a lot of shots on net. On a corner, the Cordians had a hard time clearing the ball but ultimately did manage to, much to the relief of the traveling Cordian fans. A little while later, the Cordians went back on the attack. Sebastian Voll went down hard on a tackle by Clive Carson in the box and, admittedly, milked it a little bit, but the damage was done and Voll took the penalty. He shot high left, John Marlowe guessed high right, and just like that a 2-1 lead for the Cordians. The North Stars looked really good for most of the rest of the second half, but Sig Justice fired an incredible shot in the 86th, bar-down from outside the box, and Kristin Bergstrin never had a chance. That tied the match up at two, and the Cordians never had a real chance to get back up on the scoreboard, so they took the draw.

Next up for the North Stars is a must-win against New South Yukon. We call it a must-win because dropping points would give Nyowani Kitara the space they need to take first in the group. That’s an odd window in which we have a day off on the first matchday, too. A couple weeks after that, the Cordians will return to play Sevendia at Sevendia, then host Atheara to open the second half of qualifiers. If they can take nine points from those three matches, this stretch will be considered a success. Anything else will be disappointing and could even knock the Cordians down a spot or two in the table when they need the points more than ever. Finally, just enjoy the North Stars being good. Because they’re really good right now. This is exciting football, and not long ago they were terrible. They might qualify, they might not, but it will be an exciting ride to the finish.

by **Audioslavia** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:35 pm

A knee-bar is a very tricky climbing technique that Jeremy could only ever do properly if he was kind of distracted, but not too distracted. If he concentrated too hard, he'd flinch or freeze up from the sheer ridiculous fear of it all. Too distracted and he'd relax too much. There was a sweet spot in the middle where he was aware at the peril he was in but wasn't overawed by it.

It works like this: You find a section of wall between two sturdy rocks. The section should be about a foot and a half long or, to be more precise - and believe me you will want to be as precise as possible - a little shorter than the distance from your knee to your toes. From there, you zip your pockets up if you haven't already, and you jam your knee against one side and the ball of your foot, close to your toes, against the other. You apply pressure to your knee by pressing into the rock with your foot, making sure neither slips away from the rock. A good way to do this is to maximise the surface area of your knee on the rock, and a good way to do that is, well, hang upside-down.

It turns out that hanging upside-down by your shin five hundred metres up a cliff face is a good way of scaring anyone watching, and an excellent way of getting the blood back into your hands after a long climb. Not only because gravity (wave hands below heart equals blood go hands) but also because of the potential energy of gravity. View ground from high up while upside-down equals blood go fast. Though not as fast as if you let go and certainly not as fast as it goes when you hit the ground.

It's also an excellent way of checking your phone to see not only why your football team are losing, but why so many teams had supposedly changed the crest of their national football association recently.

Jeremy scrolled through the various wikis on Miraheze, the latest in a long line of internet encyclopaedias that have a strange habit of vining themselves into non-existence after five years of steadily diminishing returns, and found no change in the crests of the likes of Farfadillis, Brenecia, Ko-oren or, indeed, any team outside of Rushmore.

I mean look at that. Cassadaigua. Their traditional stylised 'CD' replaced by... a stylised CD? Eastfield Lodge no longer looking like an adapted element from a science fiction TV show but instead like the title card for one? And what on earth were Electrum playing at?

Balls to it. While he had his phone out, may as well call Rubio Sanchfuck.

Jeremy dropped the phone and instinctively reached for the wall, grabbing hold of one of the hooks he'd recently put in. He grimaced as the hook twisted in his hand as he fell awkwardly, just about avoiding ripping his right shoulder clean out of its socket through shifting his weight and his grip just at the right time. Dangling by one hand, he found purchase on a rock with his right foot and carefully, painfully maneuvered himself flat against the wall with just that foot and the hand on the climbing hook, finally finding a place for his left foot to take and his left hand to grab onto. He took the opportunity to uncoil the rope from around his arm and get his breath back.

Yeah. Distracted, but not too distracted. Having caught his breath, Jeremy climbed back to his knee-bar position, hammered another hook into the wall and resumed his holding position. Once upside down, he fished his phone out of his pocket, found Rubio Sanchez's number and hit the picture of the green button with the symbol for a phone that didn't look like a phone any more. Rubio Sanchez was an old friend. Rubio would know what was up. You always got the truth from Rubio. It was his main weakness.

"Jeremy"
"Rubio mate, I'm..."
"You're in a coma Jeremy. A cold take coma. Someone said something to you and the sheer brazen fuckery of it sent you into a coma. You were lying at the bottom of a staircase for a day or two, now they've got you in this weird tent thing a few feet away and you're sleeping soundly but there's this cap thing with wires they've got on your head. You just had a big old spasm - like that thing people do when their brain tells them they're falling just as they're trying to sleep - but you seem fine. Gave that nurse a bit of a scare though and she's just now having to attend to a tourist that you startled. Anyway wake up, Jeremy. Wake up, Jeremy, wake up. Find a door or something. A hatch. Some bullshit like that. I don't know how it works in real life, actually, but it always works like that in fiction. Find a door Jeremy, we'll have a drink, just wake up."
Jeremy peered down at his knee, which was technically peering up. A cloud with a passing resemblance to a bald doctor passed overhead.
"Nah mate I'm halfway up a mountain actually mate"
"No you're not, Jeremy, you're..."
"Yeah I'm doing the knee bivouac thing now. Ropes are tight, nae danger"
"No Jeremy look. Why are you climbing a mountain?"
"The thing" said Jeremy, scratching his head. "The thing I agreed to"
"What thing. Think Jeremy. Think. Why are you climbing a mountain?"
Jeremy pondered this.
"How do you know all this" he said, finally.
"I don't" said Rubio. "You're not actually speaking to me. I'm just telling you what you imagine Rubio would tell you. Because he always tells you the truth. Er. I. I always tell you the truth."
"Prove it"
"Aight what were you doing before you started climbing the mountain"
"Sitting on a bench" said Jeremy. "In my climbing gear"
"How did you get to the bench" said Rubio.
"I didn't, I've just always been on this bench, there's no past of that"
"Okay so you see how that sounds?"
"Look I'm concerned"
"I mean... yes being 'concerned' is about right for this situation"
"Mytanija's crest. It's all simplistic and shit now"
"...what?"

"Here I've just sent you the image it should be floating awkwardly on the right hand side of your screen"
There was a pause. Jeremy could practically hear the sound of Rubio pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.
"Where did you get your phone?" asked Rubio, finally. Jeremy shrugged. Rubio eyed him tiredly. "You know I can't see you shrug, Jeremy" he said.
"I can't see you eye me tiredly but here we are" said Jeremy. "I got my phone from my pocket"
"Which one"
"The right one"
"The one you keep your orange cast-iron kinetic sculpture of a three-legged ninja strudel fucking a wasp?"
"Wh.." said Jeremy. "No what"
"Look in your fucking pocket" said Rubio. Making sure not to accidentally fall to his doom, Jeremy put his right hand in his right pocket and found something heavy and metallic and, somehow, familiar, despite the fact that nothing of that description should ever be called 'familiar'.
"The fuck is this bullshit doing in my fucking pock.."
"It's not. You've just been using your right pocket for everything. Every time you've needed something. I bet you've dropped that phone four hundred foot own onto the cold ground about four times, and each time you forget and you bring your phone out of your pocket again"
"I'm not having a coma" said Jeremy, after a pause.
"A coma is something you be in, not have" said Rubio. "I wrote that down for you and put it in your pocket"
Jeremy fished out a piece of paper and threw it over his shoulder without reading it.
"Stop pocket-sniping me you gaslighting fudgecake, I am not in a coma"
"Fine!" said Rubio, slamming the phone down. "Fine!" he shouted again. "I'll just fucking shout at you through the aether while you climb that stupid rock"
"Fine" said Jeremy, throwing his phone over his shoulder and watching it smash into fourteen pieces on the ground below.

To take his mind off the conversation, Jeremy positioned himself back against the wall and made it a few metres further up. As he reached what he reckoned to be a point just fifty metres from the base of the four heads, his pocket dinged with another notification.

by **HUElavia** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:52 pm

Captina Island 1–2 HUElavia
(Overstreet 72' | Chanca 10', Chambi 50')
IMA Stadium, Port Genoa, Captina Island

HUElavia 1-1 Savojarna
(Aveiro 17' | Alvesen 66' (P))
Estadio Nacional, Curumba, HUElavia

Football at the Fingertips!

HUElavian programmers have collaborated with officials from the NS World Cup to produce a new app, NSFooty+.

With the World Cup growing more and more popular with each edition, especially with classical matches that have appeared throughout the tournaments and even the qualifiers. With records being published by the NS World Cup committee, as well as other footballing associations throughout the multiverse, the HUElavian Football Association and HUElavian programmers collaborated with the NSWC committee to produce a new app called NSFooty+. The idea behind NSFooty+ is to have a safe and legal app and streaming site for fans throughout the multiverse to use for past football matches throughout the previous 91 World Cup editions.

All matches from the previous 91 editions are on the app, including some of these memorable moments: Graentfjall defeating Turori in WC91 Final (most recent edition), Aguazul's "hat-trick" of World Cup titles from WC 57 to 59, HopNation defeats Super Llamaland in a 9-goal thriller, WC 84's thrilling Group C with the spectacular MD 3 games, Vilita and Turori meeting each other in WC 82 Final, and of course, Crosshill defeating Europa Brittania via Penalty Shootout in the 1st World Cup.

All matches will be available in full and free to registered users to watch in its entirety, but with an ad-break appearing around certain points of the matches. On top of that, there will be news for the participating teams in the Qualifiers of WC92, as well as the eventual 32 teams that will form part of World Cup 92. The search feature also allows users to search for certain teams or players throughout the editions.

As of this moment, the programmers and NSWC are working to add all matches that have taken place throughout the World Cup Qualifiers, as well as all editions of the Baptism of Fire and Cup of Harmony. While it may seem like a daunting task, all the people involved in this app look to make it the most enjoyable experience for football fans far and wide. Currently, all matches are either in English broadcast or only with ambient sounds from the match, but they are working with broadcasters to gain access to the past commentary of said matches to include many other languages.

NSFooty+ is available in the app store for Smartphones, Holographic Phones, Computers, Televisions, and certain streaming devices. There are plans for this to expand to other platforms, as well as to eventually include full matches from the regional competitions. For now, they hope that the service can work well and give football fans a whole new way to enjoy memorable moments and all of what makes football the beautiful game.

(OOC: Too tired to come up with a traditional match report, but I felt inspired to come up with this thanks to FIFA+, as well as one of my favorite websites I enjoyed using during college, Footballia .net)

by **Cassadaigua** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:53 pm

The return to sports,
by Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

Two years ago, around the time that World Cup 91 qualifiers were taking place, then Princess Cassie III proclaimed that she would return the nation to international sports if she were to become Queen. It was in response to a claim of Princess Brianna’s when that one was trying to drum up public support for her position. Little did we know then how much things were going to develop, and the sports became secondary. Around that time, people were wondering why Queen Cassie II approved such a large military spending increase. It can seem like many more than two years have passed, as now we know exactly what Cassie II had in mind with the increased military budget, and the northern territory is now part of Cassadaigua. Foreign nations that we have never had an issue with before are now looking at us, and disapproving of the way that this land was annexed. Cassie II is no longer queen, and now struggling with her health. And the issue of succession? Well, right now both Cassie III and Brianna have leadership roles. Cassie III is Queen while Brianna rules North Cassadaigua, and agreement that was going to be in place for six years. Well, we are two years into it, and all kind of scenarios are being mentioned in the media of where things might be in four years, while for the time being Cassie III and Brianna are getting along very well and both making the right statements now to make people believe that there will not be any issues. But those who have analyzed palace relations have always said that those two princesses had that kind of relationship. They don’t hate each other, they just want the greatest position of power in Cassadaigua. Though neither is going to resort to physical harm towards the other. What has happened, though, is the return to sports. Here’s how things have gone!

Baseball- Cassadaigua never left the World Baseball Classic. Like the World Cup, it was the one major sport where the Fillies continued to participate, but the performances of the team in Classics 53 and 54 were downright abysmal. The team plummeted down the rankings, and were no longer seen as a championship contender. Then, in World Baseball Classic 55, the level of resurgence was incredible. Being ranked 32nd (in World Cup comparisons, it’s like being ranked 132nd), Cassadaigua got the job done and made it to the semifinals before settling on a third place finish. Back where the team belongs! Even though the team never left World Baseball Classic competition, many feel that the team played with more confidence because players were no longer worried about being the next sport on the chopping block. Personally, I saw a level of spark within the players that I had not seen for a handful of Classics, and I do think that this played a role in the level of success that they had. They should be able to build on this.

Football/Gridiron- Cassadaigua returned to World Bowl play in World Bowl 45, doing so for the first time since the 41st edition, a competition which was hosted by Chromatika, much like #45 was. Eight years went by, and in football terms, that is an eternity. Some players were able to return from the World Bowl 41 team, but for the most part, everything about the team was different. Going up against good competition in the group in the form of Ranoria and Ko-oren, Team Cassadaigua was able to find their way to the playoffs, earning a #10 seed for the round of sixteen. They would lose in the first round, by a competitive 17-13 score. It was difficult for the team to return to this competition as an unranked team, but they did well to show that they have success in their pedigree, and based on this result, they should be contending for championships pretty soon.

Hockey- The nation returned to the ice as well, and only actually missed one edition of the World Cup of Hockey. But almost like the World Baseball Classic, they were falling in the rankings before the departure. We didn’t see much to be excited about with this squad, showing that more work will need to be done. It seems as though the nation has a lot more work to do with developing younger talent, but based on other sports, I would not rule out us getting there.

Basketball- Cassadaigua signed up for International Basketball Championships 36. This will be the first edition of the tournament that takes place since Cassie III’s ascension to the throne. Not much is expected right away, but the nation’s continued success in the NSCAA tournament does give some hope that the team will be a pesky side when they return as an unranked.

NSSCRA- Team Cassadaigua had a formidable NSSCRA program, but will not be returning to the sport. Top Cassadagan drivers have been able to find success driving for other nations, such as Stacie Houston with Saint Kanye and Jenna Logan with Tropicorp that any funding that would have gone into trying to restart Team Cassadaigua will just go into helping these drivers. Automaker Blaze, the vehicle that Cassadagans would drive, is focusing on the domestic series at this time. Some suggest that Cassadagan tracks should propose having a NSSCRA race anyway, given that there are four of our drivers participating for other nations right now, but we have not seen that yet, and we do not expect to see it.

Now, for the sport that we never left: soccer. Two games ago, Cassadaigua earned a surprising 6-2 victory on the road against a very good side from Mertagne. It wasn’t that long ago that we played them either, having last met in the 3rd place game of the last Cup of Harmony, that we won. This one will take some time to figure out, because things just worked so brilliantly for the pink and black. It didn’t start that way, though, as it was actually the home side that got the first goal, coming in the 5th minute from Heather Gell. The early goal got the crowd fired up, and seemed to signal that we were going to be in trouble, but the remaining 85 minutes of the match were going to be all Fillies. The Gell goal provided a wake up call to our team, and soon, we began to dominate possession. Rhys le Besco, however, was phenomenal in goal as the onslaught began, making the one goal lead stand through thirty minutes. However, in the 34th minute, the CF Outineau starter would have no answer for a pretty passing play between Rachel Bolden and Chloe Anderson that saw the latter finish off to make it 1-1. Seven minutes later, it was 2-1 Fillies on Morgan Rosenblatt’s goal, and that’s where we were at halftime.

During the intermission, Cassadaigua must have figured something out about le Besco, because they quickly scored four more goals, making it 6-1 before we even hit 65 minutes. Rosenblatt made it 3-1 in the 49th, then Bolden scored in the 54th, then Kelsey Werth in the 58th, and finished off by Brianna Ward in the 64th. Just like that, suddenly, the Fillies were up by five. Mertagne got one back in the 70th, but never threatened to make a big comeback. Beating a team like this certainly shows what this team is capable of doing. For Mertagne, this loss provided another good tool for us in that it annoyed them enough to go to Nephara and upset the Cormorants in their next one.

While Mertagne was upsetting Nephara, Cassadaigua was almost in jeopardy of a similar fate against Saterun. As was anticipated, Brittany Byers started substitute keeper Cynthia Kerr for the game that was played in Victoriaville, since Kerr plays in Victoriaville. Of course, Cassgo Stadium is the home stadium of Victoriaville City, and not Victoriaville South End, and Kerr struggled to make this her home stadium for the match. Saterun scored two goals on her in the first half, but fortunately for our team, we also scored two. Kelsey Werth had the first goal of the game in the 11th minute, and then in the 27th, Rachel Bolden made it 2-1 Cassadaigua. The team was better in the second half, jumping out to a 4-2 lead with a pair from Bayley Stanton (55th and 68th minutes), but Kerr would allow a softie in the 77th to keep this game interesting. The team held on in the end to get the win, but it was far more of a challenge than it should have been.

Through eight, Cassadaigua is 8-2-0 and leads second place Pluvia by four, but they have a game in hand on us. Nephara is six points behind us after only managing one point out of their last two games, but they have both a game in hand on us and two head to head games against us remaining. Up next for the Fillies is an away contest against Pluvia, and then they will be on their bye.

by **Squidroidia** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 6:32 pm

www.squidkiknews.sqr/news/under-5-soccer-league-applies-for-squidroidian-cup-consideration

The Squidkik News
Squidroidia's finest foot ball news site*
*all news are satire

DOMESTIC GAME
Under 5s Soccer League Applies for Squidroidian Cup Consideration
By Abasuke Yumeno

The upstart Splatsville Under 5s Soccer League, headed up by a thousandaire nobody cares about other than the nickname he was called in school ("The Tardigrade"), has officially applied for its 8 teams to partake in the SFA's Squidroidian Cup.

The SU5SL, which only started play in line with the 2030 Squidroidian Premier League season, seemingly didn't know of any of the numerous requirements that a league must have in order to be even considered to send teams to the Squidroidian Cup. Section 1.8.a of the Squidroidian Cup Entrance Handbook outlines the 10 main rules a league must have in order to send teams, and the league, whos teams include Splatsville Kool Kids Academy and Le Team Exdede, has only seemed to have conformed to one of these rules - The league must play regularly.

The league has been operating on a weekly schedule, with players ranging anywhere from 3 to 5 years old kicking a ball around and having the best time of their lives. Other than that it doesn't really pay its players (The Tardigrade insists that they get handed vouchers for child sized ice cream after every game and awards more if a player scores a goal), conform to any laws of the game other than 11 players being on each team and, most crucially of all, doesn't do 90 minute games. Games in the Splatsville Under 5s Soccer League end in 30 minutes (20 if a team is ahead by 1 goal).

Strangely enough, the league has announced a partnership with the Splatsville Legends Football League, allowing its crop of toddlers to play alongside senior citizens on a full sized football pitch, complete with substitutions and 90 minute games. Whether the SFA allows the SLFL teams to partake in the Squidroidian Cup is another story, and it will likely be shot down.

An SFA spokesperson says that they are reviewing the situation, saying that "The Splatsville Under 5s Soccer League applied too late for us to consider them to send teams to the 2031 Squidroidian Cup. They, as a result, are under consideration to host the 2032 edition, but we know the SPL and SSL clubs would likely just demolish them 29-0 so if they really do end up competing it might be because someone paid us a lot of money. Good luck with that."

We await feedback from The Tardigrade, who is currently considering staging a "Splatsville Cup" containing only the teams from his league.

In other news, the Calamari County Community College Cooler Cougars announce a non-fungible token line that will absolutely not help out the football team in any way shape or form.

by **Jeruselem** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 8:13 pm

Princess Stella Anna Dallas with a young man looking nervous ...

Stella:
Hello, this is Princess Stella Anna Dallas once again on the road with the World Cup 92 qualification games. I'm with a special guest, Joseph James Dallas! He's the younger son of the Jeruselem manager, Katherine Annabelle Dallas. He'a a football player himself but still too young for the World Cupt but I'm sure he'll be playing for us at some time.

Joseph: Oh hello everyone ... um, I hope you had a good day.
Stella: Geez, you're worse than your Mum in front of a camera.
Joseph: I don't have a lot of self confidence
Stella: Well, we're not back home in Jeruselem because I'm actually dressed. Yes I'm wearing a Tel Aviv Sharks onesie because that's my favourite domestic team and we happen to own the team but anyway. We're in Delaclava for one huge game which is so important, because we know they are a good team. I mean that sign over there was a dead giveaway where we were.
Joseph: I don't actually get much time to travel
Stella: Now, let's just recap the last round. Qualification match day 7 was pretty interesting, in a good way I guess.

Joseph: We've had a rough time of recent ...
Stella: Well, last round had Delaclava taking their bye. So they spend two rounds at home, one sitting around waiting for us. Not quite, you know what I mean.
Joseph: Yeah ...
Stella: Flavovespia were at home and gave visiting Civia Welephilostopia a spanking 6-2. Civia Welephilostopia probably wanted to stay home for that day. Efnakia had a respectful draw with visiting Ochre Islands 0-0. Britland got zugged by visitors Zwangzug losing 2-0 to them at home. Togonistan lost at home to Hopal 2-1. Of course, this time Jeruselem were back home and we broke our losing streaking by beating República Guanacasteca 2-1.
Joseph: I guess 3 points anyway we get it is better than no points.
Stella: We're Jeruselem, what's a draw? Now, let's talk today ... round 8, and this one was pretty interesting with no draws.

Joseph: Lots of goals too ... I like that
Stella: He's a forward, you'd expect him to say that. Now, lets see ... Zwangzug were untroubled at home, beating Togonistan 4-0.
Joseph: I guess we should be happy we beat them at home
Stella: The Zug are always competitive, you can't write them off. Ochre Islands had a bit of trouble with Britland who gave them a nasty scare. They did win 4-3 but geez that's putting it close.
Joseph: I think that's the Britland best effort so far ...
Stella: Yes, it actually. Civia Welephilostopia or just Civia ... had a comfy 3-0 home win over Efnakia. I guess that makes up getting smashed 6-2 last game.

Joseph: Different calibre of opponent though
Stella: Civia did beat us 3-2 recently, maybe they had an off day. República Guanacasteca at home but still went down to Flavovespia 2-0.
Joseph: That name gives me headache
Stella: Tell me about it, I have to say in TV. Hopal had the bye today, so I hope they enjoy their day off. Well, that leaves ... Jeruselem in hostile territory in Delaclava. Delaclava were well rested, well they had the bye last round.
Joseph: I like Delaclava, and other teams with offensive mindset
Stella: Anyway, we aren't exactly defensive. We can get a lot of goals on the board as well, if the opponent is being a little compliant.

Joseph: I was expecting today to have a lot of goals ... but it kinda turned out differently
Stella: Well, we play more like Flavovespia. A very watchful game considering both teams can put a lot of goals down. But I guess they know we are one of those teams who are very dangerous even if we don't score a lot, because sometimes we just block out the opponent's attacks when we're on a good day.
Joseph: We were rather patient today, maybe because we expected the home team to try to beat us up with a offensive blitz
Stella: Yeah we were holding the fort for most of the game, we figured attacking wasn't the best avenue against Delaclava. But they had lapse we jumped on them.
Joseph: I guess we cannot complain about 1-0 over Delaclava

Stella: Yes, we'll take it. A good win against team we kinda expected to try to hammer us.
Joseph: I'm not a good defender if people ask
Stella: Group 6 table is crowded at the top! Flavovespia lead the group on 19 points with Jeruselem and Zwangzug on the tail with 18. Delaclava back in 4th on 14 points but we expect them to bounce back from the loss today. Ochre Islands still 5th on 12 points. Hopal doing well, being 6th with 9 points. República Guanacasteca on 8 points back in 7th and Civia on 7 points being 8th. Togonistan stuck in 9th on 6 points, but the bottom two are Efnakia and Britland. Efnakia have 4 points, no guessing who doesn't have any as yet.
Joseph: It's pretty crowded at the top there
Stella: Hope those two losses don't bite us. Oh yes, you had to share a room with someone after ... they kinda forgot to book your room. Not me, I book my own room because ... I got more money than I know what to do with.
Joseph: I didn't want to inconvience the staff or players so I was with Mum. I live with her so it's not weird.

Stella: I did offer to share my room.
Joseph: Mum said sharing a room with an attractive young nympomaniac isn't the best idea
Stella: Some of locals though I was your sister too
Joseph: That makes it sound worse too.
Stella: It would have been interesting considering, I'm not usually dressed in my room
Joseph: We're a little more conservative so that wasn't going to happen

Stella: So did you learn much from this trip
Joseph: Yeah, this overseas travel business is just complicated. So much to do.
Stella: And more expensive too, and everything time sensitive.
Joseph: So much work for one football game overseas
Stella: It's so different from a domestic game, where you have one team turn up in a bus.
Joseph: I'm just glad I'm not managing, I guess that's why it's such a hard job. You have manage everything, even with all those assistants

Stella: Part of it is done by Jeruselem FA, with respect to some International arrangements. They set the schedule but they don't run the team and manage the situation on the ground.
Joseph: I'll stick to just playing football for now.
Stella: So you want to manage a football team later?
Joseph: Err, I'll pass on that for now. I'm a disorganised person as it is.
Stella: Well, that's it from me and Joseph here. Hopefully we might see on the World Cup football fields later, well not this cup.
Joseph: I'm just a little awkward around pretty girls.

Stella: Good thing, we're not at home game eh?
Joseph: Err, yeah ... that is a good point. I'm not used to women underdressed.
Stella: Your brother doesn't complain ...
Joseph: He's different, he's got self-confidence.
Stella: You'll learn, don't worry. You're always awkward around cameras
Joseph: Yeah ...

by **Huayramarca** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 10:20 pm

Rating: A - Suitable for everybody.
Broadcaster: RTH - Radio y Televisión Huayramarquina.
Time: 1h - 20:00-21:00 every Sunday.

You might not know me, so let me present myself. I’m Santiago Campuzano, I’m a foodie and a lover of tourism, culture, and all things folk. This is my first time in National TV and now I’m a man on a mission! I want YOU to hop into this adventure traversing the entirety of this vast country called Huayramarca, land of the Pachamama, high af mountains, jungles, and exotic coasts to get lost! This trip will, for sure, be an interesting one. “¡Dame tu mano y ven conmigo! ¡Vámonos al viaje para buscar los sonidos mágicos de Huayramarca!

*Then, a 1-minute intro to the tune of Huayramarca by the band Illari popped up, showing footage of the cities of Guayaquil, the Huayramarcan Metropolitan District, Sechura, El Alto, Alto Hospicio, Puerto San Carlos among others*

Welcome back to Enchanting Huayramarca, folks! This time we’re leaving the south of Huayramarca and we are moving to the far north, specifically to the Province of Cayambe, which is one of the biggest ones in the nation, as it spreads from the border with the Royal Kingdom of Québec to only 100 kilometers away from the city of El Alto. This might give you an impression on how diverse the province of Cayambe may be when it comes to geography, fauna, and flora. From being close to the 4,700 meters above sea level plateau to zones which are shy over 1,000 meters near the Québécois border.

Diversity is one of the things that make this province stand out as “special” with their offerings, sightseeing, food, and culture; something that goes along with the lines of resilience is what identifies the locals. Come with me and discover what makes Cayambe quite unique when compared with the rest of Huayramarca.

We start with a 7-hour trip from the Metropolitan District to Cumbayá, a city located in a biome that Huayramarcans call the Yunga¹. As we reach the city, we start to notice the quite modern look of the city, although mixed with abundant vegetation and a dense fog around the place, one of the reasons why Cumbayá is known as the Ciudad de las Nieblas (City of Fog), as it has been estimated that the city has fog for around 140-160 days per year, that is half of the year. We meet our guide, Sandro Fonseca, in the Plaza de Armas, the main square of the city. Fonseca then tells us “Are you ready to discover the magic of coffee?” We nodded but I’ve got to admit that I wondered mentally “What kind of magic can coffee have?” Most of us are used to drink this beverage in a rush, no chance to taste it, so we opt for instantaneous options of the grain. But the culture coffee is an interesting world of itself that we want to have a taste of.

Before that, we are visiting an interesting landmark of the city, 15 minutes away from the Main Square in an uphill road that goes just under 2,800 meters above sea level, there we go to El Panecillo² to get a good sight of what the city of Cumbayá really is, or well, we intended to do as fog didn’t actually cooperated with us. Fonseca then told us “Well, there’s always a plan B and C, so let’s visit the Museum of Time.” This museum is mostly educational and tells us a bit of how Huayramarca established the time zones that we usually handle in this nation and how it was before that standard.

For a bit of explanation, we got help from María Guamán, one of the liaisons of the museum. María started the trip by focusing on how the time measurements were done in Huayramarca during the early years of the Republic. “Time measurements were chaotic, to say the least, as there wasn’t access to proper instrumentation to determine the time of the day, it was done merely by referencing to the position of the sun and then planning on how to do things during the day.” Then, we had to ask, “When did the first clock was created in Huayramarca?” The answer was quite interesting. “Contrary to popular belief, the clock wasn’t built in Guayaquil nor the Metropolitan District, in fact, it was a solar clock built by pirates in Puerto San Carlos, in the San Carlos Archipelago. They needed to have control of time for shipping and for navigation, hence they created everything for locals to read the time and plan their lives better.”

Replicating what they’ve done, the Burgermeister of the Metropolitan District, by then Huayramarca City, decided to import a similar model to Continental Huayramarca and settle a standard for the countryside, a “standard” where every village would have one of those clocks in the Main Square to provide people with the time of the day with some precision. This would provide a local solution, but also cause a nightmare for those persons who dedicated themselves to interprovincial trade, as many people noted differences of 10-15 minutes or even hours between cities that weren’t too far away from each other. Then, an anecdote came “There’s a log in the personal diary of David Quispe Herrera, one of the main tradespersons of Huayramarca in the 1860s, he said. ‘I have travelled 10 kilometres in, perhaps, an hour, but I have noted that I left at 11:00 of the morning and reached my destination at 10:30 of the morning… I have travelled back in the time!’ This kind of confusion was common in Huayramarca, hence, there was need to solve this situation.”

There were attempts to divide Huayramarca in 4 time zones, one for the jungle, another for the Sierra (which would be the coordinated time zone), the coast time and island time. The idea didn’t progress further as many considered unfair to define the highlands as the main time zone, especially the elites in the coast. As the consensus to unify time zones was reaching heights of desperation, due to the lack of coordination and difficulties to make businesses, then a decision came through the revision of the Anaian Regional Map with the help of the Plough Islands National University, then, a determination came and noted that using the Metropolitan District as a point of reference was scientifically valid. Then, the argument of those against the district fell and criteria was unanimous, let’s divide Huayramarca in three time zones. Archipelago, Coast/Yungas, Mountains/Jungle. Now, the Jungle is two hours ahead from the San Carlos Archipelago.

After some interesting explanations from María Guamán, it came the moment to leave and then visit one of the most important coffee domains to see how coffee is processed and some idea on what kind of varieties are the best for our taste. Just one hour away from Cumbayá we reach the Finca Entre Montañas, a place where coffee meets the mountains, an almost virgin landscape, and the traditions of people in this part of Huayramarca. As we reached the entrance, we were guided by Camilo and Sandra Ramírez, the landlords of the zone, and Triton, their dog.

Both showed us some of the artisanal equipment they utilise to process coffee from their estate, a property with approximately 184 hectares of coffee farms whose fruits are sell either locally or exported. Sandra asked us to take a photo of his coffee preparation “bar”, although she isn’t a professional barista or some sort of maker, she is a passionate of coffee and will put her best effort to provide you with a delightful experience. Camilo asked us to visit the farms of coffee, which are designed in a way that they can optimise the intake of rainy water for their sustainability purposes, through hills, gorges and plain terrain zones, coffee is quite resilient to any kind of geography (except for climate and altitude).

The farm extended so far that we couldn’t note the end of the estate, that means a lot when it comes to the amount of coffee that they prepare each day for exportation or the domestic market. The first step is, of course, removing the grains of coffee from the tree, a process that require hundreds of people during the harvest season to avoid losses of the grain, the grain is collected on water cubes and then transported to a grinding machine for the second step, the preparation and then the time to put the grains to repose on carpets placed on the entrance of the estate, so the coffee can be dry and the grains can take a better texture and flavour for drinkers.

After that, the coffee is packed and exported or sent to the local supermarkets. Then, Camilo explained us about the coffee and the different factors that have incidence in the final taste of it: “Coffee relies of two important factors: rain and altitude. Cayambe is a blessed region as it has the two factors to produce high-quality coffee. The raining season isn’t strong enough to destroy our crops and ruin the harvesting plan, also the design of the farm to use hills for harvest, will always help as the soil retains more humidity instead of the plant doing so. Then, the altitude is crucial to deliver a great café, most of the instantaneous and low-quality coffee is made below 1,400 meters, something that provides you quite offensive and low-quality coffee. If you harvest coffee in mid altitude zones, specifically the Yungas, then you’ll have some superb coffee as the conditions of humidity, weather and soil favour their growth, taste, and more important aspects that any coffee drinker might value as the touch and flavour of the coffee.”

Making coffee is said to be one of the modern culinary arts, and it is indeed if we analyse the different kind of grains that could be utilised. Be it some Montaña Verde variety, the Yunga de Oro which is the main star of the Huayramarcan coffee scene along with the 1700-Paltamarca which are highly regarded as gourmet variants of coffee for connoisseurs, one must take care of the conditions to raise the tree, to give proper care and maintenance to the soil and surroundings of the three, plague prevention, etc. The art of equilibrium and delight.

We were invited to see the process of boiling coffee from this Yunga de Oro bag of 1 kilogram, a process that it is indeed interesting. Boiling, taking some milk and mixing softly to create a good coffee for those who love it with milk is an interesting process, then another cup for those who don’t like milk on it. The ones with milk even had some small drawings made with milk, be it mountains, a heart, etc. part of the actual barista art. Then, Camilo and Sandra told us an important secret about coffee “If you really love coffee and want to taste its real flavour, I beg you, I implore you to not use sugar on it. If you really hate coffee, then do so. Sugar is the number one enemy for the tasting of proper coffee, so please skip it.” A suggestion we will take for sure, and we thanked them before leaving.

And that’s it, another face of Huayramarca was shown up, a face where time and coffee had stellar roles in the story. There’s always time to correct mistakes, literally, and enjoy the rewards of it with a coffee. Just don’t add sugar, as time will let you value how important is to enjoy the small things of life, such as a coffee and the mix of flavours, efforts, and creativity required to harvest it and put it on your table. Thank you for being with us in this episode of Enchanting Huayramarca. See you the next episode!

1. Yunga is the name that receives the zones that are located between the lowlands and the high sierra, usually located between 1,500 and 2,500 meters above sea level. Characterised by rains, fog, and humidity.
2. Literally “the small bread slice”, El Panecillo is a hill located in the outskirts of Cumbayá.

[Roleplays] :: World Cup 92

Eternity, Episode 3

WC92Q - Matchday 5/6

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