World Cup 93 - RP Thread

by **Milchama** » Wed Feb 15, 2023 9:18 pm

"Oy"

"Yeah we spoke too soon"

"Well, in fairness, did you really expect us to go undefeated the whole campaign?"

"No, I mean I had say we hadn't played anybody yet"

"Exactly and now we've played one team"

"And?"

"We're 0-1"

"Exactly"

"But we are in first place so that's nice"

"That is nice"

"It's pretty good all things considered"

"So I guess we got that going for us"

"Yep"

"But can we beat somebody?"

"Can we feel the heat with somebody?"

"With somebody who loves us?"

"Can anybody love us?"

"I think words are very unnecessary, they can only do harm"

"But all I ever wanted and all I ever needed was here in your arms"

"I just want to Enjoy the Silence"

"Well I want Somebody to Love"

"Only 80s music huh?"

"Yep"

"Why?"

"Because that's the theme tonight"

"Ok fair enough"

"Should we have made that so blatant?"

"We just did"

"Also fair enough"

"I think we've wandered far enough afield"

"That's not an 80s song reference"

"It is not, I don't think it references any song"

"Well you choked, you choked"

"That's a 2010s song reference"

"But nobody knows that song"

"That's not true, I know it"

"Yes but only because you listen to weird music"

"And you referenced it"

"But only because you played it incessantly for a year"

"Well I had to"

"Fair enough"

"Let's hope Milchama don't choke"

"Yep let's hope they're more like the Nite Ratz Club"

"Exactly"

"That sounds good"

"It definitely does"

by **Guanacasteca** » Wed Feb 15, 2023 10:02 pm

David Alpízar was reading the latest news coming from other nations in Rushmore: Graintfjall, Eura, and Nyowani Kitara have expressed acknowledgement of the situation, some urging for a peaceful resolution for the conflict and some others hoping to not suffer collateral damage from it, but Alpízar knew that he needed to do something different, maybe urge the attention of the whole region and make them look to the República Guanacasteca in a PR stunt and gather some attraction from outside. Different options were flying off from his head, people on the room also were doing a brainstorming session on how to collect support from abroad.

“President, what about issuing cards for all Rushmori nations, asking them for help or to condemn the army?” “What about simply ignoring them and fight this alone?” “Should we storm a conference, such as CORNCOB and talk?” “Why not a simple speech and broadcast it internationally?” Alpízar had a lot of options to choose from, but he did know that the decision should be made immediately and using mass media is a must due to the dynamic reality of the conflict, information should be flowing as fast as possible, so, people outside might be aware of the latest developments and they could take some decisions on sending weapons or simply humanitarian support to the nation.

“Ok, let’s stop it!” said Alpízar, he had enough and said “We need mass media to put this on TV as fast as possible, so we could use a speech and make sure this disseminates through the entirety of Rushmore as if it is hot bread.” Catalina Grande, one of the people standing in the bunker, took a camera and prepared to film Alpízar for the speech… He dressed quickly and tried to clear his throat in vain, as he was having a throat infection during the past week. “President, get ready, time to talk.”

He adjusted his tie and then spoke “Dear Rushmori Community. I’m David Alpízar, the president of the República Guanacasteca. The legitimate one, elected and supported by the democratic will of the people. I’m here speaking with you not in the best terms possible, having this situation caused by the greed of the military forces, who doesn’t want to demobilise nor give up in their power aspirations, is causing a bloodbath in a nation that was already suffering from poverty and inhumane conditions for many. I want to ask you, what do you prioritise more? Life of innocent people or the greed for money, power and status from a morally wicked elite? The República Guanacasteca’s future is at stake, it’s our time to stand against this situation and clean up our house…

I’m aware that this won’t be fulfilled by our own resources and means, that’s why I’m in the desperate need of asking support from some nation willing to do so, be it in equipment or training for our people defending our homeland against that military wicked elite.” Pauses to zip water and then continues “We are suffering, we are dying slowly and being killed by people that is being forced to do so, by people that have been alienated and trained for years to kill innocent Guanacastecans who only want to live free, innocent people who doesn’t want to be crushed by the boots of a trigger-happy institution filled of gorillas.” “Our future depends of you, help us in order to combat those parasites, as we try to provide a better future for the nation.”

As Alpízar finished the message, he received a notification from the pilot in Quipu, a phone messaging app, with a photo of guns smuggled from a random outpost with abandoned guns at Nyowani Kitara, being handed to Guanacastecan people in a random border crossing. “We are ready to go, president, tell us what to do.” Said the following message. Alpízar was decided to have the upper hand of the situation, so he typed “Go and kill any soldier on the streets, unless they give up and decide to help our revolutionary process.” The pilot said “It’ll be done in that way.”

A new onslaught of attacks commenced at the north of Guanacasteca, cities like Granada, León, Somoto, etc, were being attacked by people provided with some good weaponry, the military officers in said places were killed and, in other cases, killed several hundreds of people fighting for the revolution. Meanwhile, the Somoto branch of the army decided to give-up and fight alongside with the revolutionaries, using tanks and the arsenal provided by the Central Core of the Army. Alpízar received the news from that happening, then said “Let’s rock them now!”

by **Al-Tamazgha** » Wed Feb 15, 2023 10:17 pm

L'ECHO TAMAZGHIEN

FRTF Technical Director, Rochdiya Sabila, 51, is rescued from the Western Soharr Landslides, currently recovering in Avanaroch

Azzedine Othmani

WENFORD, TIKARIOT - The Federation Royale Tamazghienne de Football (FRTF) have said that the Federation's Senior Technical Director Rochdiya Sabila has been recovered from the wreckage site of the landslide that hit western Soharr region of Tikariot, the Federation official has said.

After the torrential rainpour that had caused the landslide to bury the Tikariotian town of Wenford four days ago, there were initial reports that Sabila, who was travelling alone at the time of the crash, was missing inside the wreckage of the bus that she was travelling on, as a part of the voyage between Fort Vijian and Avanaroch.

The unnamed federation official has confirmed this morning, stating that the Sabila has been found about four kilometres away from the site of the bus's wreckae, and that she was currently being transported to the nearest major hospital in Avanaroch. The official has also confirmed the status of Sabila's injuries to be 'serious but non-life-threatening'.

The FRTF provided an update on Sabila shortly after the news, announcing the progresses made on the 51-year-old's situation: 'Today we have received some good news about our senior technical director, Mme. Rochdiya Sabila, as she has been sucessfully rescued from the still-submerged town of 7,000 people.

As the search enters into its fifth day, Evacuation and rescue efforts continue to take place with Graintfjaller, Gnejsian and other international rescue teams among those to help out those of the TEMA (Tikariot Emergency Management Agency) and Commonwealth-wide Silver Star (OOC: not-Red Cross). Currently the Affiliates Press estimate the death toll at 325, with about around 100 more people still missing in the rubbles.

The mud sludge, formed alongside the building wreckage due to the flooding of the area in the weeks prior, appears to play a particular role in the difficulties of rescue efforts. Local and international rescuers are also being affected by localised flooding, which have required personnels from abroad to make it to the site via helicopters and other emergency vehicles where necessary.

The Tamazghan embassy at Tikariot City has made their announcement, saying: 'We are relieved to hear positive news regarding the rescue and the recovery of Mme. Rochdiya Sabila from the horrific landslide event in the western Soharr region of Tikariot. Mme. Sohar is currently known to be the only Tamazghan present at the time of the crash.

'Mme. Sohar, who was under a week-long scouting and assessment mission under the FRTF, was in the area due to a bus detour that was necessiated by the local road condition in the days leading up to the landslide. After four days of being stuck under the rubble and struggling to break out of the area, Mille. Sabila was found by rescuers from the local TEMA brigade and were transported to Avanaroch shortly after.

May we pray for her, and that the God be present with her in her path to recovery.'

by **Farfadillis** » Wed Feb 15, 2023 10:45 pm

Indehires timidly opened the gaffer's office. "Gaffer?" He barely spoke up, nervously knocking on the door almost as an afterthought.

"Come on in," Manguele's voice replied, monotonously. As Indehires slowly made his way towards him, Manguele pointed towards the plastic chair in front of him. "Feel free to have a seat, Indehires." Indehires gulped at being called by his full first name. No 'Inde'. No 'Indujan scum' said mostly in jest. Just flat-out Indehires.

"Gylfi told me you wanted to see me. 'Very, very urgently,' he added." The worry in the Indujans voice could not be more evident, even if he hadn't been wearing a t-shirt reading "VERY WORRIED" in full caps.

"I called you over here over a pressing matter," Manguele replied nonchalantly. "You see-" He continued, before being cut off.

"Pressing? That's the one thing I've been doing well, gaffer! I can understand complaints about my finishing. It's only fair. And my build-up play could improve for sure, but pressing is my thing, gaffer. I'm sorry but-"

"Please sit down and shut up, Indehires. This is not about football." Manguele's tone was as serious as ever. He was not trying to sell anything this time around. Not a product, not an idea. Not a Ponzi scheme either. Poor Koles Marajis. He'd fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

Indehires tilted his head, confused. "What is it about then? What's so pressing, besides pressing, which obviously isn't?"

"Indehires, you know I'm trying to run as tight a ship I can these qualifiers, right?" Manguele pointfully asked and Indehires immediately nodded. "Even with this whole... war of aggression-defense-genocide-whatever going on. Which I'm sure you've heard about." Indehires nodded again. "Well, I was recently going through the motions, looking at and skimming through various FFFF documents, since the prez is, you know, too busy waging an imperialist and/or revanchist war and he can't take care of everything. Anyway, it has come to my attention that you might've slightly overused the benefits the FFFF affords you as a national team player."

"How so, gaffer?" Indehires asked, feigning a state of confusion that was every bit as indignant as it was fake.

"Well, you see, Inde," Manguele took a deep breath. "Usually, when players make use of the FFFF's services to transport 'valuable possessions' out of Farfadillis, they—again, usually—don't use it to ship off tons upon tons of bat shit to a country they have zero relation to. Yuezhou, in this case. Can you tell me what is going on?"

"Uhhh..."

Manguele stared at the young striker.

"... I, uh, collect bat shit. Indujan bat shit. And ship it to Yuezhou shores because, uh, I chose them at random. Also, because I'm not racist. Do you have anything against the Yue?"

Manguele shook his head. "That would be believable under most circumstances, I'll grant you that," Manguele took a moment to stare right into Indehires' eyes and flash a small smile. "Unfortunately, Indehires, it has also come to my attention that a famous Yue billionaire has started a successful Lithium-extracting venture in Induja. And he claims he extracts it from bat shit. And you're shipping tons upon tons upon tons of suspiciously-looking bat shit to Yuezhou specifically. I have, let's say, theories."

Indehires threw up his hands. "I take it confessing to having been the one to clutter the bathroom during the last home game won't get me out of this one."

"I appreciate the honesty and respect the stink, but no," Manguele paused. "Inde, what is going on?"

Indehires sighed. Some guy from near the battlefront made me an offer he said I 'couldn't refuse'.

Manguele raised an eyebrow. "Is your life at risk here?"

Indeires reacted with shock. "What?! No! It's just hard to turn down literal shit tons of money. I couldn't refuse."

Manguele nodded. "Do continue."

"To make a long story short, an Indujan ambassador for the aforementioned Yue billionaire said Ferokaril could be partially acquired by a Yue company and my salary could be quintupled if I just did this. Which is within my rights. Sürréo collects fucking stamps and uses the service to store them elsewhere, surely that's a worse offense."

Manguele nodded again. "Usually it would be, but the president of the FFFF is currently at war with the people who've made you this offer, so this takes precedence."

Indehires timidly nodded back. "Point taken, gaffer. Do you want me to tell them to fuck off?"

"Yes," Manguele answered, just as his phone began ringing. 'Stupid Boss,' the phone read. "Hold on a second," Manguele said before answering the call. "Hello, yes, hello sir. Yes, everything's going according to plan, sort of. No, I have not managed to tide over the ethnic tensions provoked by your war of aggression. No, I have not been able to keep the peace inside a dressing room that is undergoing literal war. Yes, I will do my best to correct course. Yes, I know my best hasn't been good enough so far. Yes, I know I will get fired over this if things don't get better. You have my word that I will defend Farolera's interests to the very end, sir. Yes, that is all. Goodbye." The call ended.

Indehires stared at his manager. "... I take it I'm in big shit."

"How much?"

"How much what?"

"How much are you willing to pay me to turn a blind eye to this. I can even smoothen operations for a premium."

"Oh, well, I don't know. I could put you in contact with the people in charge. They seem like they know what they're doing. I just kick a ball around and help traffic bat shit to foreign states."

"Please do. Ma Ailun, is it? I've looked into him. Very whacky guy, I think we'll get along well."

"Actu—" Indehires stopped upon noticing Manguele's menacing stare, then continued "—ally, I've only ever had contact with his right-hand man. Tuskoles Yagaras. He's helped set up a de facto nation-state by the Indujan-Szoirsian border and the Farolerans can't get through it. Or so I've heard. So, uh, don't underestimate him, I guess?"

Manguele grumbled. "A fucking Indujan. What can an Indujan like you even know about running shady businesses," he rolled his eyes. "Fine, give me his number. We'll work out a deal. I'm tired of all this shit I'm dealing with, I'm overdue a raise."

"In the form of unlikely trafficking of Lithium synthesized from batshit into a Rushmori nation," Indehires added.

Manguele sighed. "Yes, Indehires, in the form of... unlikely trafficking of Lithium synthesized from batshit into a Rushmori nation." He sighed a second time. "Anyway, just send me the contact number and get the fuck out. And work on your dribbling, while we're at it. Zero successful take-ons is pitiful."

Indehires nodded. "Absolutely, sir. I'll make sure to manage a successful take-on by the end of qualifiers."

"Wait, that's not good enou—" Manguele tried to point out before being interrupted by the sound of a slamming door.

by **Patriotlandia** » Wed Feb 15, 2023 10:45 pm

Page 20

Our next foray brought us to the Ash Cliffs we had passed on our way in. The thirty four league walk from our port to the cliffs was a steady climb and took three days despite fairly favorable conditions. The light coat of snow slowed the party down but the first day ended with a good part of the trek done. The next two days, however, would be more tedious as the climb got harder. Sharper rock formations would block our path. On the first night, strong winds swept one of the tents away and down the cliffs. Huddling in the remaining tents, we spent the night with one eye open in case another wind surge would fall upon us. The second day graced us with fair weather which helped make our hike faster. During the third day, we spotted a group of peculiar birds at the bottom of the cliff, dark blue birds with white underbellies lined the cliffside. They seem to be flightless and prefer to hunt fish by swimming underwater. About two feet high, they waddle precariously on land but seem incredibly agile in the sea. We stopped our sightseeing and continued with the hike until we reached the culminating point. As we finally crested, we were greeted by an orange sunset over the sea. As we gave a break to our tired legs, we gave off into the waters that brought us here and wondered what the plan for this place should be.

Results
----------------------------
Patriotlandia 2–3 Pasarga
Petro-Pat Navy Memorial Stadium (62,012), Port-la-Ville, Province of Abelanne
The Patriotlandian team took on another tough opponent at home as they were hosting twentieth ranked Pasarga. The match had very important ramifications in the standings for both sides as they sat two points apart before kickoff. The team fielded the usual starting eleven. The players have proven they can be a challenge even for stronger nations especially on home soil. Pasarga wasted no time however, by claiming the lion share of possession and keeping thanks to excellent play from their midfield. Eustacio Corral Magana opened the scoring after culminating pressure led to a clearing mistake from the back line. Despite being pushed on their heels, Jean-Alexandre Carignan switched to a counter-attacking system that saw Langlais and Rodin the target of long balls into open grass. This set up a few chances of which a long curling strike from Rodin that beat the keeper but rattled the woodwork. Lucien Graham would score at the midway point of the half, but Pasarga would regain their before the teams made their way down the tunnels. Both teams would trade goals in the second half leaving Pasarga to take home the three points.

Oberour Ar Moro 0–0 Patriotlandia
The team made their way to the Parade Grounds in Regium. Despite Oberour Ar Moro aggressive style of play, both teams played well defensively, the Patriotlandian manager had opted to give some playing time to up and coming players Glenn Wils and Samuelle Savoie-Smith. The two displayed fine tactical positioning but the lack of offensive output from either made it difficult to draw much conclusion.

Upcoming matches
----------------------------
Patriotlandia vs Al-Tamazgha (239)
Parc du Nord (24,000), Alexandrie, Province of Foubrac

Patriotlandia @ Abanhfleft (96)

by **Tikariot** » Wed Feb 15, 2023 10:53 pm

Alistair McIntosh: Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to TBC Sports' coverage of the World Cup 93 qualifiers. Going into this double-header, Tikariot was in second position with five wins, one draw and no losses, with only group favourite Turori ahead of them. Now during the last international break, Tikariot travelled to Atheara before hosting the Commonwealth of Baker Park, so two quite important matches in the first half of the group stage. I don't want to bore you any more than I have to, so here is Duncan Haldane with all the information you need from Astena!

Matchday 7 saw Tikariot travel to Atheara for the first time in their history, taking on the hosts in a sold-out Astena Stadium. The hosts had been one of the dark horses with a distinct chance of being in contention for a playoff spot, coming into the game fourth in the group, four points behind the Snowy Owls. Very much unlike the last few games, Tikariot did not manage to fall behind early in the game, instead, the first half was more a war of attrition than furious offensive fireworks with Atheara playing surprisingly defensively, originally focusing more on stopping Tikariotian buildup play than attempting to go for Vincent Litman's goal. Birnin Select striker Zack Dawnbridge had the only two dangerous shots by Atheara in the first half, the first after 29 minutes following a freekick by Tutrov Van Desseilts, forcing Litman to go to full stretch to redirect the ball around the post. The second one came in the dying seconds of the first half when he only hit the outside of the net. Tikariotian chances were scarce as well with Victoria Thesselborg narrowly missing a sharp cross into the box by Anders Skogensberg being the biggest one shortly before halftime.

It took all the way to the 52nd minute for things to heat up. Kathleen Chamberlain took the initiative far in the Tikariot half, picking up a loose ball and setting off on a determined run, using Athearan midfielders as slalom poles before slotting the ball through Hamish Stainthorpe. The Dhun Lagarr striker was pushed toward the corner by Alfadi Gretznotsh, but after a quick turn looped the ball back into the box where Oriannor centre-back Eric Ongaro powered the ball past Mugel Krygorf with a diving header. This shifted the momentum in favour of Tikariot, who kept up the pressure and only four minutes later Tumbra-based Victoria Thesselborg went for broke with a beautiful volley shot following a corner of Chamberlain, which originally went off target, but hit her teammate Stainthorpe off whose buttocks the ball deflected into the goal to double their lead.

After this, the Snowy Owl took the foot off the pedal a bit and the game returned to the midfield-heavy slog of the first half until Atheara beautifully executed a counterattack that started with a quick punt forward by Krugorf that found subbed-on Kirov Solmatzka who rose up to meet the ball and glanced a header just past Spencer Jepson, leaving Walter Ridgefork in acres of space, and he just had to slot the ball past Litman. The hosts, seeing an opportunity to salvage one point from the match opened up and pushed forward. Now, however, it was Tikariot who would benefit from the more aggressive pressing and once again it was Kathleen Chamberlain who would play a pivotal part. A long diagonal pass of Skogensberg from the Tikariot box was picked up by the fleet-footed redhead, who then dummied two Athearan defenders and delivered a laser-precise right into the legs of Jardel Connolly, who cheekily looped the ball over Krugorf into the goal for the fourth and final goal of the game.

Atheara 1-3 Tikariot
52' 0-1 Eric Ongaro (A: Hamish Stainthorpe)
56' 0-2 Hamish Stainthorpe (A: Victoria Thesselborg)
84' 1-2 Walter Ridgefork (A: Kirov Solmatzka)
89' 1-3 Jardel Connolly (A: Kathleen Chamberlain)

| Krygorf - Gretznotsh ( 42' Archengate), Coelho, Van De Lukschen ( 87' Oquilost), Trey-Galos - Ridgefork - Red 85', Val Ilmetrov, Van Desseilts 71' ( 48' Callister-Lundwichs), Nieroth-Albrin 7' ( 67' Lindenhalfesch) - Dawnbridge ( 80' Solmatzka)

| Litman 43' - Skogensberg, Ongaro ( 81' Jepson), Szomogyi ( 82' Farnsrud), Arncross 29' ( 58' Jillson) - Blacklock, Chamberlain, Baines ( 90' Lambert) - Thesselborg, Conway 14' ( 59' Connolly), Stainthorpe

Alistair McIntosh: With another win under their belt, the Snowy Owls would next face their biggest challenge in the campaign to date, the Commonwealth of Baker Park, number 25 in the world. And what better place to stage this event than at the iconic Mountain Fortress of Oriannor? Veronica Bradford with the details.

There are few stadiums more iconic than Oriannor's Mountain Fortress, built right into one of the towering mountains around the capital of Khazagh and a fitting ambience for Tikariot's first meeting with the Commonwealth of Baker Park. It was a cold evening and there was a chance of snow, but thankfully it remained dry, so the conditions remained excellent.

Coach Brian McAllister said before the match that the number two seed would be one of the biggest challenges in the World Cup qualifiers, but that he was positive that his team would bring the fight to them. And from the beginning, the game lived up to any hype that was slung at it. After only two minutes Kiarra Yates risked everything in a do-or-die challenge against Chandra Mack, who otherwise would have been alone in front of Brian Merson. While Mack went for a wild tumble, Yates was deemed to have played just enough ball to foil the attack attempt instead of getting sent off with a clear red card. Only three minutes later it was Adrian Grimaud who would carve through the guests' defence, only to be stopped by Zach Johnston. Both teams continued to battle with an open visor and it was only a matter of time before one of them would score. And the fans would not be disappointed, because just after the half-hour mark the already high-octane game hiked it up another notch when Theodor Armitage powered his way through Magda Kucera and Victor Onikambe before laying the ball off for Morris Nighthorse who just had to calmly slot it into the goal. But that was just the beginning. Right after the ensuing kick-off, Baker Park pushed forward and Serena McDavid was pushed toward the sides. She sent a sharp pass back and a Magda Kucera in full steam blasted a shot right past Merson to equalize immediately. Just two minutes after this, it was again Kucera, who passed on a corner from Paige Eichorn to Chandra Mack, who nodded the ball into the net to take the lead for the first time. Despite immediate pressing attacks by the Snowy Owls, Baker Park was able to protect the lead until the halftime whistle.

The second half started out a bit less frenetic, but it only took nine minutes for that to change. Oriannor midfielder Easton Aird took the Baker Park defence, and to be honest most of his teammates, by surprise when he unleashed a vicious ball forward that looked like it was going into nowhere-land. But Arfon Davies went on a dead run to chase the ball and while falling manoeuvred it into the box, right to where Kiarra Yates was just arriving to send a blistering shot right under the crossbar. Baker Park once again did not content itself with a draw and went back on the attack. This time it took ten minutes for a Christa Vuckovic corner to find Selena McDavid and BP was ahead yet again. The game was like the tide, going back and forth and this time it was Tikariot's turn to sweep toward Johnston's goal. One of the key substitutions was Sakari Vainionpää, who came on for Arfon Davies and really brought another level of intensity. While he is playing a more offensive role in Alcassar, he went into a more defensive role, challenging anybody with a ball and trying to initiate attacks. In the 79th minute, he muscled Eichorn off the ball and sent it right forward to Armitage, who let loose a shot that clanged off the post and right into the path of Annika Nurmsalu, who had no problem equalizing for the second time.

Now, for most games, this would already have been more than enough excitement for the fans, but these two teams were not done yet! Just like in the first half, Baker Park kicked things into motion right off the kickoff after the equalizer and Paige Eichorn took advantage of the Tikariotian defence not being fully sorted yet, sending a pass forward to Quinton Harris, who had come on for Chandra Mack, who slotted it right next to the post, giving Baker Park their third lead of the game. McAllister used up his last two subs, with Leah Robbins replacing Kiarra Yates and Gary Conway coming on for Theodor Armitage. In the dying moments of the match, it was again Vainionpää who recovered the ball and hauled the ball to Michael Gaffigan, who sent a hail Mary pass forward and it fell to Gary Conway, who took it on a bounce and it was one of those balls where if you hit it wrong it'll hit the corner flag, but he really hit the sweet spot and it sailed past Johnston to close the game with the 4-4 equalizer. This set the final point in a truly spectacular game that most people in the stadium will likely not forget any time soon.

Tikariot 4-4 Commonwealth of Baker Park
31' 1-0 Morris Nighthorse (A: Theodor Armitage)
32' 1-1 Magda Kucera (A: Serena McDavid)
34' 1-2 Chandra Mack (A: Magda Kucera)
54' 2-2 Kiarra Yates (A: Arfon Davies)
64' 2-3 Serena McDavid (A: Christa Vuckovic)
79' 3-3 Annika Nurmsalu (A: Theodor Armitage)
80' 3-4 Quinton Harris (A: Paige Eichorn)
90' 4-4 Gary Conway (A: Michael Gaffigan)

| Merson - Wallace, Thomas ( 54' Steingrímsson), Eovaldi 33', Yates ( 88' Robbins) - Aird, Gaffigan 81', Davies ( 72' Vainionpää) - Nighthorse ( 54' Nurmsalu), Armitage 60' ( 87' Conway), Grimaud

| Johnston 85' - Freeman ( 72' Brooks), Onikambe, Kucera 16' ( 76' Edmonds) - Vuckovic ( 70' Wiley), Eichorn, D'Amico, Shanahan ( 79' Altman) - Gibson, Mack ( 65' Harris), McDavid

Alistair McIntosh: Tikariot are still in second position, now two points ahead of Krytenia and four points behind Turori who remain without any lost points. Next up, the Snowy Owls are going to travel to Strayan Rus before hosting Inkwellistan in Port Rhovanyon's Oceanview Stadium, the two teams at the very bottom of the table, so these are must-wins because after this looms Turori.

Make sure to keep tuned in to TBC Sports as we will be covering all the games live!.

OOC Disclaimer: Stadium graphics and portraits have been made with Midjourney. The TBC logo is my creation.

by **New Gelderland** » Wed Feb 15, 2023 11:05 pm

New Gelderland sits at second in the group... but can it stay there?

GelderSport is certainly a very negative publication, that's for sure. We definitely specialize in pessimistic predictions for our football team, given that football is certainly a secondary sport here in New Gelderland. But, as with last World Cup qualifying, New Gelderland is having a run of good fortune, even as our Afanc Strait compatriots have struggled to punch above their weight.

Why is New Gelderland's football team performing so well?

We have a few theories. First, especially in contrast to our neighbors in the Afanc Strait, the lack of pressure on the New Gelderlish team to qualify is allowing for manager Nicoletta Arnaudo to experiment with new tactics, new forms, new strategies. Second, and we're not ashamed to admit this at all, we think that fielding an all-female team has made all-male teams be a little bit less aggressive against us. And third, the strong domestic football scene in New Gelderland (and the fact that New Gelderland has absolutely 0 players outside the Afanc Strait Superleague) has meant that our players have developed more of a rapport with each other than members of other national teams, scattered across the four corners of the NS Earth in chase of prestige and of course the mighty Universal Standard Dollar.

With six wins against two losses, New Gelderland is in second place in Qualifying Group 8, only one point behind group leaders Jeruselem (which the team beat in the second week of qualifying).

But that is unlikely to last for much longer as New Gelderland has its two toughest opponents ahead of it: Eura and Kandorith, the second and first seeds in the group, respectively.

Although Baptism of Fire entrants Gran Saguaro await this week, the next two matchdays will be absolute hell for us. We will first play away in Eura. Of course, there is some familiarity with Eura, given that we're just that close to them geographically. And of course, don't forget that New Gelderland won its Baptism of Fire hosted in Eura, so that's another point of familiarity for us.

There might be reason to be a little less pessimistic than we might otherwise be against the 28th ranked team in the group: Eura are out of form, far from the pinnacle of their ranking. Even in this qualifying campaign, they've only mustered a measly fourth place... although that fourth place is still within only two points of the group pinnacle in Jeruselem (and don't forget that we really don't want Jeruselem to be at the top of the group). But Eura is still a f***ing good football team on paper and in practice; we don't want to be looking at that very real, flesh and blood tiger in the mouth.

And then there's Kandorith, who we will host on the very last week of the first half of qualifying. They are currently the worst performing first seeds in the whole competition. Right now, they're sitting on fourteen points, four points behind third place right now. And to add insult to injury, unranked Sylestone are currently sitting in that position, right ahead of them! So, then, we foresee two outcomes for the match with Kandorith: either we take advantage of being at home and Kandorith's own sluggishness, or Kandorith finally gets its act together on the last matchday to start its inevitable and stirring comeback right into the World Cup.

Frankly, we're tired of being Negative Nellies, so let's say that, generously, New Gelderland gets at least two points out of the two endeavours. Will that be enough to keep us in second, or even overtake Jeruselem to be in pole position at the end of the first half? We certainly hope so.

But with the chaos that is Group 8 and the schadenfreude that our goddess Margaret loves to see, there's no guarantee of anything. After all, as one great baseball player said, it's not over until it's over.

by **Cardenao** » Wed Feb 15, 2023 11:11 pm

Mihaly’s Machinations (Part VI)
(Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV),
Part V)

Mihaly was resigned to fate. The rescue crews were still searching the Blood Sea around the clock for the crashed Banijan plane, and he had deployed almost all of Cardenao’s Coast Guard to aid the situation. Mihaly’s mind became increasingly cluttered as it became harder and harder to ignore the fact that his dear friend Omugabe Ssekamanya was almost certainly dead.

It was rare that Mihaly met someone he liked enough to be a friend, and even rarer that that friendship grew into something as deep and meaningful as their relationship became. Not only had the pair brought their two great nations close, but they had also stood strongly for each other. Mihaly had even helped Ssekamanya choose his engagement location and stood in his wedding party as a groomsmen, the pair were more brothers than friends. And now he was dead.

Mihaly sighed to himself and closed his eyes, forcing images of his friend into a little box within his mind, shoving them far, far down and closing the door as he did so. This was no time to be thinking of the Banijan. There was much business to be done as dinosaurs were coming to Cardenao.

The moment the possibility of Cardenao procuring some dinos for itself appeared on Mihaly’s radar, he had thrown his full force into preparing for it. He knew Banija, he knew the Lukiiko, of course they were going to approve a special exemption for their export controls to give one of their closest allies some dinosaurs. Why? Why go through all this effort for something that would never thrive in Cardenao? Mihaly chuckled to himself as he remembered a feisty young journalist asking.

“Because the science says they can thrive in Cardenao and because they’re fucking dinosaurs.” He had shot back. Dinosaurs are the shit, c’mon man! Plus the science did support that the triceratops would thrive in Cardenao as apex herbivores in the forests and grasslands of Eastern Cardenao. Maybe they would work in the jungles and on the beaches of Western Cardenao too, Mihaly wasn’t exactly sure, they were dinosaurs after all, but he had the nation’s best minds thinking it all through and they were confident that these triceratops would acclimate very well to the particular conditions out East at least. The goal was to create a reservation style home for them similar to how the Banijans had done it. The beasts were beastly, set them up in a safe area and let them do their thing. No safaris, at least not yet. Mihaly wanted these great animals to acclimate to the area, to live and breathe and become one with their new home before introducing the hecticness of the safari environment. Mihaly paused his thoughts as he looked out the window of the Palace of Tears.

The Palace of Tears. A horribly depressing name for a beautiful palace with a horribly depressing history. It was here that the Royal Family of Cardenao had once lived for generations, ruling over a country that was a far cry from the shithole it was these days. No, Cardenao of old was a very proud kingdom with abundant, fertile lands, a relatively comfortable living standard for peasants, and mostly purified water. Of course, at that point the land bridge between what was now Eastern and Western Cardenao had not yet been destroyed by those of Eshan and that strip of land produced enough from its farms that a vast system of silos had to be constructed to store the surplus. The good old days. And then came Eshan.

Death, destruction, the demise of a Kingdom. On the same day the Red Hand destroyed the dyke system that kept the sea away from the isthmus between Eastern and Western Cardenao, their agents of evil also stormed through the doors of the Palace of Tears. It had a different name back then, 106 years ago peasants spoke in reverent tones about Ardenacao, the palace of the King sitting in a location where it observed the full rotation of the rising and setting of the sun and moon over the Ocean of Ayes and the Itsasoan Sea. It was a beautiful place, the pride of a nation, until the conquerors rounded up every member of the royal family, beasts, babies, brothers and all and let their combined blood flow off the cliff into the ocean below, turning it blood red for a hundred days if legend was to be believed. Now it was the aptly named Palace of Tears and it had sat empty, unlived in though maintained in appearance for 106 years through the dissipation of the Kingdom, the reformation of the lands into individual city states, the years of wars and truces and machination, there were the Trials of the 13, but then one day everyone in the country collectively breathed out, hit the breach, broke out the pot, and grande chilled. Chilled too much, descended into a state of national apathy and Apathy is Death. These days though there was a fire burning in the heart of Cardenaoans everywhere, Cardenao the nation itself needed to change and thus Mihaly arrived to bring them forward.

It had been a good six years of progress with much being done behind the scenes but now the first gears were starting to turn in Mihaly’s machination. Which led him here, now, to the halls of the Palace of Tears. It was as beautiful and as painful as always, a reminder of what had been stolen from a nation. The countless deaths and the destruction that still scarred the countryside. Mihaly was between two minds on the building, he didn’t know if he wanted to raze it to the ground and build something newer and grander to keep that painful part of Cardenao’s history to the past, or if it was perhaps time for something old to become new once more. President Mihaly Otamendi. President.

Mihaly exhaled through his nose slighter harder than usual as he pondered the term. He was no President. There was no democracy in Cardenao, there were no elections. No, President was just a title he had given himself when he found himself in power. The title President implies that he was beholden to the people, which was true, and served at their beck and call, which was…less true. Nobody could vote Mihaly out, there was no complaint process to go through with the Big Man. He ruled with the best interests of the nation and her people, the blood of his blood, in his heart, but he did what he believed to be right. He ruled like a King. Reclamation.

Reclaiming that which Eshan had ruined. Reclaim Ardenacao, reclaim the greatness of Cardenao, reclaim the royal lineage. Name himself King and rule with Kaitlyna his Queen, start a family and create a dynasty. He was still young, ageless even until the Gods decided it to be crucial to the plot, there was no reason why he shouldn’t rule Cardenao to the maximum and teach his sons and daughters how to maintain the society he envisioned. He could have it, he could have anything. He was Mihaly and Cardenao was his. King Mihaly Otamendi, First of His Name.

‘Hmmm,’ he thought to himself, ‘gonna have to get some focus groups on that.’

He sighed to himself. Time to think of better things. The World Cup was going on and his beloved Cardenao had a pair of matches coming up. Hoping to think good things, Mihaly tried to remember who they were playing next. Then he remembered.

The Holy Empire.

“Fuck me,” he said out loud. That was not ideal. The oldest team in the World Cup. Michigan Smith captaining the team, the legendary Juan Tzimisces managing the team, and an assman that Mihaly held in very high regard, Simeone Di Bradini.

Mihaly sighed, this wasn’t as relaxing as he had hoped.

by **Darmen** » Wed Feb 15, 2023 11:18 pm

Saint Eleanor 1–2 Darmen
Toro; O'Hara (sub Perrin 72'), Snyder, Böhm (sub Melsbach 72'), Ó Madaidhín; Park (sub Trudeau 63'), Wolfe, van der Vennen, Aleshire (sub Spencer 80'); January (sub Travers 80'), Hale
GOALS Hale 52', Hale 68'

Darmen 5–0 Darkmania
Toro; O'Hara, Snyder (sub Lucas 69'), Böhm, Ó Madaidhín; Park (sub Hernandez 75'), Wolfe (sub Allsopp HT), van der Vennen, Aleshire (sub Spencer 75'); January (sub Kinnaird 83'), Hale
GOALS Wolfe 5', Wolfe 8', January 29', Hale 57', O'Hara 80'

Aureumterra III 0–1 Darmen
Poirier; Candelaria, Lucas (sub Duke 61'), Kruse, Tittensor; Tobias (sub Hernandez 68'), Svendsen (sub Fairburn 79'), Weaver, Falkner (sub Ó Maoil Eoin 68'); Kinnaird, Lee (sub Ó Caiside 79')
GOALS Kinnaird 31'

Darmen 3–6 Mertagne
Toro; O'Hara, Snyder, Böhm (sub Eriksen HT), Ó Madaidhín (sub Kneib 81'); Park, Wolfe (sub Lloyd 55'), van der Vennen (sub Loritz 66'), Aleshire; January, Hale (sub Boon 66')
GOALS January 17', Boon 73', January 80'

Secretary Assaulted By Angry Geese At CORNCOB
ALTENDALUR, GRÆNTFJALL - Secretary of State for the Environment, Jerred Crewe (LIB), was assaulted by a gaggle of Rushmore's multiversally famous uncommonly confrontational waterfowl after he suggested that any agreement regarding the protection of migratory animals should exclude Rushmore's massive and at times destructive Geese population.

"The most keen of observers will have noted that geese attacks have been quite rare in recent times," stated Crewe before the assembled delegates. "But make no mistake, they are only trying to lull us into a false sense of security before they once again wreak their havoc on all of Rushmore. They are always plotting. Let us not forget the Great Darmeni Famine of 2018, which was caused when the Geese attacked and destroyed much of our nation's crops. Such an event can not be allowed to repeat itself."

"Rushmori nations must be allowed to take the necessary action's to control the populations of Geese in their nations, regardless of the bird's migratory patterns," continued Crewe. "If protections for migratory animals established by this convention are extended to the Geese, it will only establish safe havens for the destructive bastards to multiply incessantly and achieve what must be their true aim... supplanting Euran hegemony in Rushmore."

Upon hearing of Crewe's comments a large flock of Geese arrived in Altendalur and declared itself the Plump Camp (PC). The PC has been flying in close formation over the city in protest at the Secretary's statements. They even attacked the Secretary later in the day as he was leaving the Florus Convention Center to head to the Grand Hotel Megapol. Dive-bombing the Secretary, with both their beaks and their droppings, the Secretary's security detail and aides struggled to keep the Geese at bay. Despite the ferociousness of the assault, no injuries have been reported, although hotel staff have reportedly billed the Darmeni delegation for the replacement of the hotel's carpeting, which was destroyed by large volumes of Geese excrement dripping off of the Secretary and his accompanying staff.

Commenting later from the safety of his hotel room, Secretary Crewe stated that the assault by the PC only validated his claims that the "Geese are a major problem and affording protections to them would be a catastrophic mistake." Crewe did not comment on the plea allegedly made to Græntfjaller gun-rights activists by his head of security to come to Altendalur with their firearms in order to provide anti-air defenses to the secretary.

Meanwhile, the leader of the PC, who refused to give his name to the press, had this to say (Editor's Note: or at least we think he did as the quality of the translation is questionable), "He had it HONKING coming! Who does that HONKING HONKER think he is‽ Unless he apologizes for his slander and HONKS OFF back to Darmen, we'll HONK him up real good."

by **Drawkland** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 1:17 am

E T E R N I T Y . . .

It was earlier than usual, but it was necessary. The red and violet scales across her back seemed washed out, and her gold underbelly didn't glisten, for the land was dark. The sun had yet to rise; Trallena's rays had yet to grace the endless green of the Elzidanian landscape. The air was brisk, and it helped wake the dragon who'd risen from slumber mere minutes earlier. Even without the welcome warmth of the sun to bask in while flying, it was still the greatest feeling to stretch one's wings and fly.

From her vantage point, thousands of feet above the forest floor, she could just see the first faint reaches of light pass the horizon. That meant it was time to go. Today there would be no more chances to fly, being chained by obligation to the ground. It wasn't really a burden, but there were still many problems to deal with once she was there. Though these problems waited for her back at the base of the Great Tree, the freedom of flight made them seem so much further away.

Really, there was just one problem the great dragon was worried about. To the average person it seems inconceivable that such a powerful and majestic creature could have such pedestrian concerns, and the dragon would be the first to tell you that this particular issue was very minor. Practically irrelevant, even. When you consider all the conflict this creature had survived and thrived in, this tiny little trouble seems like nothing.

So why did she hesitate to fly back home?

The groaning was immense. Jaxon Madison had roused the boys from their sleeping arrangements in the stadium tree, well before dawn. It was a pain, after an afternoon qualifying match and an evening of unwinding, nobody seemed willing to get up. After a little persuading, Jaxon coaxed the Elite Eleven out of bed, into shape, and into various stages of getting ready for the Immortals Accords gala. The early start was necessary, as the merriment began a bit before sunrise and lasted well into the night. Those who could hang would keep the festivities up for nearly a week, but all the official exhibition was done on that scheduled day. What the immortals did with the rest of their time was their business, of course.

Thus, the Elite were getting into their outfits and packing their bags as the sky began to lighten. It was necessary to bring a couple changes of clothes to the Accords meeting, even if one didn't expect to get dirty. Some fashion-minded immortals change their outfits practically once an hour. Most didn't bother with such an arrangement, but it was polite to at least have a different look for dinner.

The Elite gathered at the crook of the huge branch where they'd spent the night, waiting for everybody to show up so they could roll out as a group. There were a few stragglers, as expected, but there was still plenty of time before they absolutely had to set off for Elstrund proper. This time was a little different, as well. For the first time, the Elite were traveling to the gala with a small entourage.

"Hey guys!" Cam Cross skipped up to the group, which numbered over a half dozen at this point. Jaxon's face lit up when he saw her, and he walked over to give her a quick hug.

"I hope that's not all you're bringing?" Jaxon asked with a cocked eyebrow. Cam was wearing a short dress with leggings and a small hand purse. A cute look for certain, but not overly fancy. "You're going to want a more majestic look for your introduction ceremony."

"Wow, not even a hello?" Cam smiled warmly. "It's already taken care of. We were at Elstrund earlier this week to get our arrangements sorted. Trust me, I know what's coming. I even have a special getup for if I get drawn into a tournament."

"Sorry, a tournament?" Jaxon asked. He didn't know what Cam was talking about, but they were interrupted before she could respond.

"Heyo boys!" Elias Keys and Ross Hunter sauntered up to the group, bags in hand.

"Sorry we're late," Ross apologized. "We got a phone call that delayed us a bit."

"Ah, man, we're fine." Elias finished doing a headcount. "There's still a couple guys missing."

"The expected suspects, I assume?" Richard Hanson piped up, and there were a couple subdued chuckles.

"Are Mike and Septimus really not coming?" Cam asked Jaxon, gaping a little.

"Come on, give me some credit!" Mike Rodney was already there, though he looked a little fidgety. "I may be an idiot but I'm not a coward."

"We're just waiting on Septimus." Dominic strode into the loose huddle. "I had to hit the restroom, but I dunno where Sep is."

"Dude, I told you he would puss out last minute. Absolutely called it," said someone elsewhere in the group.

"If that dumb piece of lizard meat doesn't get his ass over here ..." Ross mimed rolling up his sleeves and unleashed a couple shadow punches.

"Guys-" Jaxon started, but he was cut off again.

"No need, asswipes." None other than Septimus Xander stepped up to the rest of the Elite plus Cam. "I'm here. Now let's get this over with."

The Accords Gala was held at the Lodge, a large home built at the base of Elstrund many years before that tree was much taller than its surroundings. Over the centuries it had been added to, subtracted from, refitted, rebuilt, and reworked, but the spirit of the building remained the same. It was an iconic location, one which even those less informed in Drawkian history could recognize by looking at the back of a five Lolad bill. The main entrance protruded from the façade, resembling the maw of a great dragon if you looked at it from the correct angle. For all intents and purposes, it was simply a grand-looking entryway.

By the time the Elite arrived, there was already a decent crowd present. This is exactly how they liked it. There were already a few gala-goers in the plaza outside the Lodge, either having arrived earlier or chatting before they entered for the first time. The Elite and company walked together in a clump, with Cam alongside Jaxon in the front and Nicole jawing with Ross and Elias towards the back. Jaxon made sure to wave or say hello to everybody they passed, even recognizing a few of the fellow immortals by name. Whether by intentionally laid boundaries or dumb luck, it seemed no mortals were anywhere to be seen around the Lodge.

It appeared they had arrived a few minutes later than they should've, although this was probably for the best. Usually the host of the gala would stand at the entrance to greet all that arrived, which in this case would be Ellzidan herself. Instead, the post was unmanned, meaning that the Elf was elsewhere, likely about to give the opening address. Septimus let out a sigh of relief when they walked through the door of the Lodge with little fanfare.

There was already a gaggle of beings perhaps a hundred strong inside the Lodge. For the most part it seemed like a rather normal party, with people milling about and the dull roar of assorted conversation filling the foyer. Relatively normal, that is, if you could ignore the frankly ridiculous outfits some of the guests were wearing. Most immortals preferred to dress in the formal attire of their original time and culture, some of which has been lost to history (most of that for good reason). The Elite were dressed in matching three-piece suits for their entrance, but like many in attendance, they were likely to change their outfits a couple times. Later in the night the group was sure to feature more eccentric attire, the type of thing you'd see a quirky professional athlete don for their arrival at the stadium hours before the game.

The decorations were immaculate of course, with great banners of deep red and bright silver trim gracing the wooden walls. The host of the Accords Gala rarely spared expense, but it was clear that Ellzidan wanted her return to the fold to be especially grand. It truly was a venue deserving of the occasion. At present, the Elf herself appeared at the edge of the second-floor balcony, overlooking the atrium. The other four Drawkionels could be seen as well, their heads barely poking over the railing from the perspective of the ground floor. This was noticed by the immortals, and the din of talk tapered out until it was nearly silent.

Several of those milling around outside took notice of the quiet inside and quickly shuffled in. Ellzidan wasn't wearing a fancy dress, but a pair of traditional fighting pants and a strapless top giving the impression of dragon scales, a fiery shade of deep red and orange with some faint blue trim. Completing the look was a regal white cloak draped on her shoulders. With her bright red hair held in a braid draped down over the cloak, it gave the impression of fire and ash. It was, in a word, dramatic. And as much as she wouldn't admit it, she relished that feeling. Satisfied with the general attention of the audience, Ellzidan began the opening address.

"Immortals of Sonnel, I am pleased to welcome you to Elstrund, for this meeting of the Accords. I, as you hopefully know, am Ellzidan, the ruler of this territory and your host for this event. New immortals, let me be the first to welcome you to the party," here there were some hoots and hollers from the crowd, "and encourage you to meet everyone you can. After all, an eternity is a long time to live without friends, and you'll never get a better history lesson than here.

"In the spirit of sharing our collective gifts with each other, and in light of the fact that we do not truly die, I have made the decision to bring back the tournaments of the accords. For you immortals made in the past couple centuries, the tournaments are a series of competitions in different skill areas which allow the competing immortals to show their skills in a given area in direct competition with others. These skills range from wizardry, to sporting events, to melee combat, and entering comes at your discretion."

At this, the Elite Eleven quickly began muttering amongst themselves. Tournaments? This had never been done during their tenure attending the Gala. Cam, Nicole, and Sarah were less fazed. They'd spoken with Ellzidan earlier that week and she had already given them the rundown. They'd even brought clothes for such an event. Among the eleven boys, mischief was already about to break out.

"Those who wish to participate," Ellzidan continued, "or who would like to sign up their friends in payback for century-old revenge, may find the paper sheets to the left of this hall as you exit. These tournaments will be held throughout the coming days, so please be sure not to show up too inebriated, I don't think anyone will take pity on you. And, a word of caution, if your name finds itself on that sheet at the time of the match, you will play.

"As for the rest of the event, the grounds of the valley are yours to explore and inhabit, but be cautious to respect the nature before you. It tends to bite back, so I would discourage you from doing anything harmful. Other than that, remember that you may not purposefully harm another immortal without their consent. Try it, and you will be seeing me and my associates," she motioned to the rest of the Drawkionels standing behind her.

"Again, let me welcome you to the valley, it is truly wonderful to see so many wonderful immortals once more. Enjoy your time here, and I will see you in the tournaments." With this, Ellzidan gave a graceful exit, and the other Drawkian leaders followed. Immediately the remaining company on the floor broke into speculative conversation. This would certainly be an interesting few days.

With the opening address complete, the doors to the rest of the Lodge were opened. The immortals in attendance milled about in the aforementioned atrium, the banquet hall where dinner would be served that night, the auditorium where the various ceremonies would be held, and throughout all the little corridors and byways that crisscrossed through the millennia-old building. Nicole, Sarah, Ross, and Elias were wandering through the mostly-vacant banquet hall to inspect the seating arrangements.

"So was that pretty typical for the beginning?" Nicole asked, wandering between the tables, searching for her assigned seat.

"What, the opening address?" Ross Hunter shrugged. "Yeah, that's pretty normal. Although I'm sure you noticed we were all blindsided by the tournament thing."

"Yeah, that hasn't been a thing in many years. At least since we started going to these." Elias Keys had his arms folded and his brow furrowed. "Y'know, I almost wonder if Ellzidan was the one who came up with that idea in the first place. Perhaps her absence as a planner for these galas resulted in the tournaments being taken out of the fold."

"I heard some people talking about being here all week." Sarah Arrowsword added to the conversation. "Do the festivities really last that long? I thought it was just for a couple days."

"Technically the event lasts the full week, yes." Ross replied. "We usually dipped out after a couple days, because all the important stuff happens on day one, then all the fun afterparties happen on day two, then you spend day three recovering and enjoying the venue. After that is when we grew bored enough to head out. There's technically a closing ceremony on the final day but only the real stuffy immortals are still there."

"The last few days are generally when all the meetings and conferences between the really important immortals happen," Elias added. "Truthfully we've never needed to be apart of that. I think we tried a few times but - how do I put this - I don't believe our presence was warranted. However, I think the inclusion of these tournaments will extend the real excitement over the full course of the week. Thankfully this weekend was the tail end of the qualifying tie because I would not be looking forward to having to jet out of here right after the closing ceremonies."

"So about these tournaments ..." Nicole started slowly. "I seem to recall Ellzidan saying something about 'centuries-old revenge.' Do you think she was just joking there?"

"Absolutely not," Ross and Elias said simultaneously. They chuckled for a second, and Elias continued. "Some of these immortal folk have beef going back thousands of years. This is the best time to take it out on each other. After all, there's no consequences! At least as much as bodily harm is concerned."

"I think Nicole is worried about beef that's just a year or two old," Sarah grinned wickedly. "She better hope nobody signs her up for a tournament that Mike enters."

"Of that, I am almost certain." Ross laughed. "You're just going to have to hope that the luck of the draw keeps you two from going head-to-head."

"I'm not worried about any of that," Nicole huffed. "Besides, I can't fight for shit. It'd be dumb for me to enter anything."

"We'll have to see what events are available." Elias shrugged. His eyes suddenly lit up, and he pointed at the next table. "Oh, there's your name cards! Of course, you'll be sitting towards the front. You're essentially the guests of honor, as new immortals."

"Great," Sarah said sarcastically. "I'm sure that means everyone is going to come and introduce themselves."

"That's a guarantee." Ross pointed at both Sarah and Nicole. "In fact, it's better to get started early, or else you'll be stuck in your banquet chair all night talking to people. Let's go mill around where some of the others are and start introducing yourselves. Get it over with, and maybe you'll find some people you actually think are interesting."

Meanwhile, Jaxon Madison and Cam Cross were strolling along the Lodge hallways, mostly alone. They'd already encountered a few ancient wizards and warriors and gone through the pleasantries, but none of them were particularly interesting. If anything, this was more of an excuse for Cam to spend a little more time with Jaxon. Not in an entirely romantic way, but he was technically her date. Though Cam was excited by the prospect, it was starting to add an additional source of pressure she wasn't used to. Previously, the ideal of platonic friendship was easy, because it cut out that entire piece of the equation. There was no need to second guess or try and discern hidden meaning from offhand comments. Now, the dynamic was shifted ever so slightly for her. Jaxon, of course, was trying to ignore that as much as possible. Cam's uncertainty wasn't helping that cause. Still, they had navigated the potential awkwardness without issue so far.

"So ... do you want to check out the tournament listings?" Cam offered after a short lull in conversation. "That's somewhere close, right?"

"Oh, that sounds fun." Jaxon scratched his head and looked around. "Yeah, I think it's right off from the lobby. Let's see if we can cut through there without attracting too much attention."

The duo came into the main atrium where the opening address had been given. There was still a fair crowd there, but most of the immortals had dispersed throughout the Lodge. Jaxon located the hall where the signup sheets were, and they quickly moved across the floor. They almost made it there without incident ... almost.

"Well look who it is!" Loudly exclaimed a voice, causing both Cam and Jaxon to turn their heads (as well as some other immortals). It was none other than Jack Hoy. He was dressed like the most eccentric of pro athletes, with a powder blue sportscoat and pants over a black undershirt featuring white pinstripes. His sunglasses, clearly designer crap, were hanging from his collar. "I was trying to find you guys earlier. Hey Leo, check it out!"

"Oh hey, Jack," Cam said with as much enthusiasm as she could manage. It wasn't much, but it was enough to not bother Jack whatsoever, if he could be bothered at all. "I'm surprised to see you here, actually."

"You kidding?" Jack strode up, flaunting his frankly ridiculous outfit. "I couldn't miss a dig like this. Plus, mortal alcohol barely does it for me anymore. I hear they got the good stuff here."

"I'm glad you're here, truly." Jaxon gave a cheeky smile and shook Jack's hand. "The Elite have gotten a reputation for being party animals. With you here, we'll look like choir boys in comparison. I can't thank you enough!"

"I'm gonna take that as a compliment." Jack shrugged, then shook his head a bit. His face was suddenly overcome with what looked like shock. "Dammit Leo, I forgot my hat in my room! I told you the fit didn't feel complete when we were walking in!"

"That's devastating, really." Leo seemed unfazed by Jack's antics, and he gave a genuine smile when he shook Cam's hand. "Good to see you."

"And you." Cam still hadn't talked much to her second cousin since coming out of the maze, but it wasn't like they were short on time. They'd catch up eventually. "Did you guys make it in time for the opening address?"

"Oh yeah. We were here pretty early, actually." Jack elbowed Leo in the ribs. "Mostly thanks to this guy. I told him it's better to be fashionably late. You know he doesn't go to parties often. But he insisted that we had to be here for all the festivities. Because this is 'important' or whatever."

"He's right, you know." Jaxon dipped his head towards Leo, who returned the nod. "Your first gala is a big deal. You gotta take it seriously. After that, it's up to you if you want to bother showing up."

"Well if this tournament thing ends up fun, I could see myself coming back in fifty years." Jack grinned, then turned to Leo. "Yo, do you think they'd let us suggest an event? I think an Oklahoma drill would be awesome."

"It's probably set in stone already." Leo shook his head.

"And good luck trying to get a moment with any of the Drawkionels," Jaxon chuckled. "They're sure to be either be running around to get things in order or stuck in conversation with some clump of people."

"That sounds like a challenge!" Jack nudged Leo again. "Come on, let's see if we can find Ellzidan or something and ask. Worst she can do is say no, right?"

"You'd be surprised," Jaxon replied flatly, but the Grid Corps running back paid no mind.

Jack and Leo gave cursory see-you-laters and wandered off, freeing up Cam and Jaxon to finally go to the signup sheets and inspect the events. The hallway had several long tables with pitched surfaces, almost like drafting tables. On each table there were several sheets of parchment alongside inkwells and quill pens. To neither Cam nor Jaxon's surprise, a couple of the Elite boys were already there perusing the documents.

"Okay, this one ought to be fun." Trevor Garnet eyed one particular sheet. "'Melee, head-to-head, magic assisted.' That one is gonna have all the fighting wizards and such. Way cooler than a standard magic duel, right?"

"Definitely." Craig Bakker folded his arms thoughtfully. "Not sure any of us would be good for that, though. None of us have any particular arcane skills. Oh, hello Jaxon."

"Hey there fellas," Jaxon replied as he and Cam approached the trio of Elites in front of them. "Looking for things to enter, I see?"

"Merely perusing our opportunities here," Richard Hanson said with a mockingly fancy tone. "And I disagree with you, sir Craig. I believe we have a perfectly acceptable arcane candidate within our very ranks."

"You don't mean ..?" Trevor trailed off. "Hmmm. You might have something there."

"It feels unethical to sign up one of our guys without at least asking him first," Craig replied flatly.

"Well if you won't write his name down, I will!" Richard shouldered past to grab the pen. "You know he'd never say yes. This is the only way to get him in on some of this action."

Jaxon raised an eyebrow and gave a glance towards Cam, but said nothing. Cam frowned, not sure on who they were talking about. It took Richard a few awkward seconds of trying to figure out how to write with the quill pen, but he got there. After he finished (sloppily) writing the name, he replaced the pen, rubbed his hands with satisfaction, and giggled. Cam took a closer look at the parchment and saw the entry. "Septimus Xander."

"I have to agree with Craig on this one. I'm not gonna stop this, but don't expect me to get in the way if Sep finds out which one of you put his name in." Jaxon raised his hands akin to a defender trying to mask the fact that they obviously just committed a foul.

"Well, didn't Ellzidan say it was okay to enter other people into tournaments?" Cam tilted her head. "I remember something like that in the opening address."

"Sure, but we've never done this tournament thing before," Jaxon grimaced. "I can't say I know the etiquette involved. Maybe only the asshole immortals sign up their rivals and frenemies. I don't know if it's a bad look or not."

A moment later, somebody tried nudging past the group to access the table.

"Excuse me, boys. Have some business to attend to." The man sidestepped across to the same piece of paper Richard had just mangled with his scrawl of Septimus's name. He grabbed the quill, inked it, and wrote a name in one effortlessly fluid motion. After replacing the pen, he turned and cracked a smile to the Elite and Cam before him. It was Iarocav.

"Good to see you all here again. Hopefully this edition is a little more exciting than the last few snoozefests, eh?" Iarocav winked and left as quickly as he'd arrived.

After a moment to chuckle over the encounter, a couple of the guys took a look at what the Drawkionel had written on the parchment.

"About that etiquette, Jax ..." Trevor pointed to the sheet.

Clear as day, in eloquent lettering, was the name "Ellzidan."

"Little more exciting, indeed." Jaxon said simply, and the rest nodded in agreement.

by **Ceni** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 2:01 am

To Triumph, To Hope
Chapter Seven(!): Send Me On My Way (Part One)

"I would like to reach out my hand / I may see you, I may tell you to run..."

Andrew always thought that the second line to the song read "un beseo," perhaps a testament to the Valladar influence in Ceni. He had to learn the language in school, but... it didn't really stick. No matter.

In any case, he had really sent himself on his way. (Was that really a turn of phrase? Did that make any sense -- did the universe send him on his way? Did Margaret send him on his way?)

Notwithstanding whether the grammar made sense, Andrew always played that song first thing on a flight, regardless of a given trip's import. But this trip would most certainly blow away any other trip out of the water in terms of import. It couldn't even be simply called a trip... and he felt that the word quest carried too much headspace at the moment. But this expedition, quest, trip, trek, voyage, perilous perambulation, whatever the semantics -- the quest would quite literally determine his future, in a way that all other "future-defining" trips could not. He would literally hold his own life in his hands on this quest... and if Liam got hurt or (Margaret forbid) even died on this quest, the survivor's guilt would most likely kill him, too.

But Liam and Andrew had pulled the trigger, and there they sat in Air Terranea business class on the way to Raikonnex, where the previously disparate group of questers would unify and finally become a fellowship. At least in the lofty language of Nicole Warren.

Andrew privately dreaded meeting up with the Drawkians, though. If they ribbed him and Liam about their height at even one seventh the rate that Sarah did... he shuddered.

And then there was something that Nicole had said that made Andrew a little uneasy, too. She had made some noises about the large group that had coalesced around her... and wondered how the heck they would all get along, especially given the species difference and the lack of connection between them all before the quest.

So with everything on his mind, it was no surprise that the portal transit from Stratosphere City to Iarokannet Bay seemingly took much, much longer than usual.

Andrew had a lot to think about.

***

Liam sat next to Andrew on the Air Terranea plane, playing with his fidget spinner. His boyfriend looked deep in thought, buried in the vicissitudes of his own brain.

The tennis pro wondered what Andrew was thinking about... Then again, it probably wasn't the wonders of Cardenian and Banijan dinosaurs, fluffy bunnies in the Bastion Zoo, or a beach vacation in Costa de Ouro.

He didn't begrudge his boyfriend, though. After all, Liam was thinking about the exact same thing as Andrew: the impending Immortality Quest. Now that he said the words to himself in his head, they had a strange ring to them. Of course, Drawkland had its own weird customs, its own weird traditions. That's what being in Sonnel got you. All of it seemed more like a plotline to a sci-fi novel than something that Liam would actually live out in his own life.

So trepidation reared its ugly head throughout the pairing's journey to Raikennax, in the portal transit itself and then the subsequent plane ride to Raikennax city. Fat chance that trepidation would let up as Liam and Andrew got closer and closer to reckoning with their choice.

Nor would it let up as the meeting time with the other nine members of the quest loomed.

***

Andrew and Liam pulled up to what passed for a small motel outside Raikonnex where they would meet Nicole, Sarah, and the other questers. But to Andrew and Liam, it seemed like a motel on steroids. Certainly, the inside didn't seem like the Orion in Cenial or the Shangri-La, but it was f***ing gigantic. All the better to cater to the Drawkians who passed by the locale for whatever purpose, benign or perhaps... a little less benign.

"Ready for this?" Andrew looked at Liam as they sat in the smallest car they could find at Raikennax.

"Absolutely not," said Liam. "But let's go ahead and play Alice in Wonderland."

"More like Gulliver in Brobdingnag," said Andrew, clearly recalling his earlier trip around Drawkland with Sarah and his father. "Is there anything I can do to make you a little less uneasy about this?"

"I doubt it," said Liam. "If anything, I bet anything you say will only make me more uneasy. Speaking of which... I have the biggest knot in my stomach about this orientation."

"So do I," said Andrew. "But let's hope that Nicole and the others have something useful or clarifying to say. I don't really know what else to do at this point."

Liam replied by simply grasping Andrew's hand, squeezing it twice. The two walked into the motel, hand in hand.

by **Independent Athletes from Quebec** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 2:22 am

'My Northern Hero' (북방의 영웅) is a 1984 Quebecois song sung by Quebecois singer Ava Sherlock. While various forms of the song's tune and lyrics have existed over history, with earliest record dating back to the 1800s, the modern form of this song was written in 1984 by alto Ava Sherlock, who composed and recorded the song written by her husband, Equinox Hill singer-songwriter Wade Nam-McGuinness. Set during the late 1800s, the Koreano-Gaelic island was seeing massive emigrations to mainland Quebec, usually in Songak or Acadie province, and at various parts of then-Shingoryeoite Empire as shipmen, the lyrics feature a fictional woman who is waiting for his beloved, whose ship is presumed to be capsized and thus lost in the waters of Blood Sea. While the song was originally written in the English language, one of two common language of communication in the province, Sherlock and her colleagues have since sung the songs in various renditions, which are also made available in Korean (both Standardised and Inteachanian dialects), Gaelic, and French.

While it saw relatively little commercial success in the early days, the song would quickly find their fame in 1987 when the ultras of St. John's Arsenal, the 'Frente Tricolor' (삼색기 전선, 三色旗戰線), adopted the song for the Equinox Hill side's entrance chant into the pitch. practice that continues into this day and age. As the Equinox Hill side would experience a resurgence in the subsequent years, most notably highlighted with eight titles league titles and a Challengers Cup (in those days Globe Cup) semifinals run in the next half-century, the song became a particular fixture for those of the Arsenal fans who feel a sense of nostalgia with the club's heydays under hall-of-fame manager Kurt Hlasek continue. To this day, the song is sung at the entrance of the home side at their home stadium, Blue Point Stadium, and could be heard by Arsenal fans on select number of away matches.

The song would also see popularised use outside of domestic football, as in the decades since it would become a highly-beloved, popular anthem for the Inteachan and Quebecois sport supporters, who have since sung this song for Inteachanian clubs or the Quebecois national team. This movement has particularly taken off in the past decade, with the official retirement of Camelia (Haley's Song) from national team circulation under the wishes of the original singer's family, and the Quebecois national anthem generally considered to be too solemn in nature. In the May of 2056, one month ahead of the Independent Athletes from Quebec's participation in the World Cup 92, the Royal Quebecois Football Association (RQFA) have officially declared 'My Northern Hero' as the official entrance anthem of the Quebecois national football team.

MY NORTHERN HERO
AVA IRENE SHERLOCK
Produced by: Woo Chang-Heui
Composed and Written by: Wade Nam-McGuinness

Accompanying video includes a live performance from the Inteachan National University Philomena Chorus at the Shelbourne Castle, Equinox Hill, in June 2056. The INU version was used as a demo recording and part of the promotion video ahead of the World Cup 92.

Chorus:
My northern love is my hero,
He is the wind, the faithful soul,
Lights flicker only into the storm
since the Hyeol-hae swept him forever ago,

Verse 1:
I wait by pier, unhappy every day,
Sing wanderingly, feeling no more joy
without a word or letter far away,
my sorrow, no sleep into morrow,

Chorus:
My northern love is my hero,
He is the wind, the faithful soul,
Lights flicker only into the storm
since the Hyeol-hae swept 'im forever ago,

Verse 2:
A true northern young sailorman,
a seaside man bound by hearts he swore,
Red in his eyes, swift in sail
Dancing and singing in the red, black horde,

Chorus:
My northern love is my hero,
He is the wind, the faithful soul,
Lights flicker only into the storm
since the Hyeol-hae swept 'im forever ago,

Verse 3:
Let his story be told for years to come,
and the flowers fill the piers and docks,
with our heads golden and high on hope,
for when he shall return home

Chorus:
My northern love is my hero,
He is the wind, the faithful soul,
Lights flicker only into the storm
since the Hyeol-hae swept 'im forever ago,

-for he shall return home in light

by **Savigliane** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 2:27 am

OOC Note: Some background information might be useful to read this - the synopses of my previous line, found here, should help.

ESCAPE
2. se pensate di aver finito, tornate all'inizio

"...and of course, we're all very excited to have such a brilliant attacking talent return to SavigLega," says Minerva di Marzio, removing her trademark sunglasses to face the press. "So welcome home, Thea. AC Acqui Bollente are incredibly lucky to have you, and we know that we can do great things with you starting up top."

"Thank you, Minerva," says some anonymous PR coordinator. "We have time for one last question for Thea Squarciafichi. Yes, you in the front."

The reporter stands up to ask his question. "Grazie. Thea, I'm sure we don't need to tell you that 1830 Cathair is one of the best clubs in one of the best leagues in the world. Yet, you rejected a contract extension from them in the prime of your career to come home to Savigliane. My question is: why?"

Thea laughs at the upfront nature of the remark, but it's an answer she had been prepared to give even while she was still playing in the National League. "Thanks for that, uh, Marco. I feel like the next few years are going to be huge in Savigliane, and I want to be here when it happens. We've all heard about the portal that the previous administration built so that they could bring us all home. Of course," she adds after deftly dodging the PR coordinator's attempt to pry the microphone from her hand, "Bianca doesn't share the belief that we should go home. But whether or not Piano di Dios wants it to happen, it will happen. So I want to be here when that shit goes down - because I can not miss it." The press conference is briefly silent before the reporter finds his bearings again, asking a question about Thea's political leanings that is immediately shut down.

"Unfortunately, that's all the time we have today. Thank you to manager Minerva di Marzio and new signing Thea Squarciafichi for their time, as well as for all of you for attending." The PR coordinator briefly turned to Thea, annoyance on her expressions, then thought better of it, as they both left the room.

Someone's waiting for Thea as she steps out of AC Acqui Bollente's new training facility and into the parking lot.

"Adrian Toscani," she says, popping open the passenger door on his sports car. "How was the flight from Cathair?"

"Eh, could've been worse. Hopefully I can get upgraded on the return flight," he adds, somewhat pointedly.

Thea throws her hands up in mock surrender. "I didn't say you had to leave Caza this cycle. But this portal shit's not going to wait for you."

"It's good that at least one of us is here, I guess. But I'm flying out for the important meetings, aren't I?" He steps back into the car, closing the door and flicking the keys into the ignition. "Who we got today - Leandro again?" he asks thoughtfully. Despite his and Thea's efforts to reopen the portal, he hasn't met the former head scientist of the Interdimensional Travel Task Force, but he's eager to get a more scientific perspective on Savigliane's potential return home.

"Leandro said he was wrapped up in ITTF shit. He's sending his man - Lavigne, I think? The intelligence guy. To represent him. Then you've got the politicians, of course - I think Caccini said a pretty prominent MP was coming to this, but I dunno which one. Dig through my notes, I guess."

"I'm driving."

"Whatever. Some Populistas dude. And then the main man himself, who we're going to try to convince to fund a portal in Grande Cucina."

"Who is it this time? I thought we'd covered all the normal rich dudes. You'd think one of them would've left a mistress in the oldworld or something." There's some unresolved tension in his voice as he says this. For the past few weeks, the ITTF and its ragtag collection of allies have been searching for someone to fund the construction of a new portal. But whether it's fear of the technology, support for Bianca Fiore's government, sticker-shock at their asking price (Caccini had diverted nearly ten percent of the nation's GDP to fund the research), or simply the need to luxuriate in the immense comforts of the neworld, nobody has bitten.

Thea, though, doesn't feel the same tension as Adrian. Because even though she is also stressed about the flagging efforts, she can recognize a comedy setup when she hears one. "You're gonna be so annoyed," she says.

"Who?"

"Nah, I'll tell you at a red light or something. You'll crash this shit."

"We're on the highway! Just tell me who we're driving to meet!"

She tries her best to keep the smirk out of her voice. "You're headed to Ritorno to meet Joël Bonmaison."

"Oh, fuck off."

by **Banija** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 2:28 am

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

The Kabaka, at Mujaguzo Palace in Busukuma, pacing the floors

It had been a few days since the aircraft had disappeared. There was no official statement from Busukuma confirming the death of anybody, but the people back home were realistic. Xolile Lubabalo had eventually flown home from the Commonwealth Assembly early, due to the magnitude of the crisis facing the Kingdom. It was a tough place to be in- the heir to the throne, and that man's heir, presumed missing.

It had turned into quite the international operation, the mission to rescue his son and grandson. OF course, his first call had been to someone who was probably his oldest friend in international politics- Prime Minister Rebecca Schoenlein, of the Commonwealth. Well, via his Ambassador, of course- he could feel the personal crisis of what was happening here. But his trust for her knew no bounds. He remembered, all those years ago, when he worked with her to go around Matthias Mutebi's government to sneak aide into the Busoga Islands. It had been a high-risk move- if his involvement had been known, he would've risked serious punishment from Banija's dictator. But that did not happen.

Those personal relationships were the anchor of these political relationships. Baker Park, of course, had been more than willing. Belle Haven contributed people and resources, as well as the Republic of Cardenao, and Græntfjall, who were willing to offer themselves for the rescue operation. Even Banija was able to significantly improve their own relations with the Eurans- as the Euran Ministry of Defense gave a presentation to the Banijan Ambassador in Bastion, about the data they had regarding what they believed to be was the plane. And, of course, Quebec- offering up use of an airbase in Iqaluit to base this entire operation out of.

And with that, the search was ongoing. Hope was dying among many, tears were being shed- but the Kabaka was going to keep vigilant. "I will not rest until we have turned over every single stone, in search for my son and my grandson- two men destined to lead Banija." He had told his daughter, after a particularly stormy family session regarding the matter. Of course, the affairs of state still needed to be conducted. He had temporarily appointed Omugabe Ttembo, his youngest son(in his early 60s), as the acting Waziri of the nation- just to serve in the role while his efforts could be focused on a potential rescue.

As the minutes turned into hours, and hours into days, it had left the Kabaka with a sinking feeling. If the worst was indeed going to happen, and it seemed, as with every single passing moment it would, it certainly had the ability to plunge Banija into a political crisis. Instead of the heir being someone who had trained for 60 years for this job, backed up by a 30 year old Olympic gold medalist who had also trained a lifetime for this job, the heir would suddenly be Omugabe Ssekamanya's infant son- Omugabe Sekakama. The Kabaka was 90. He'd have to appoint a Regent for his infant great-grandson- and with very little established modern-era law on Regents, that was a question that would surely consume the country, and divide the Royal Family, as various members would vie each other to be appointed Regent.

He thought about how Princess Muirne must be feeling. His heart hurt for her- she, more than anyone, must feel so isolated. Moved to this land, her husband dead, but tied to Banija, essentially for a lifetime, due to her twin children- specifically, her son, being first in line to the throne. But that would have to be dealt with, at the time. He held out the smallest of hopes, that maybe one of the Princes, hopefully, had found some way to survive. It was just then, that his phone rang. He looked up at his wife. He saw the name flash across the front- Blood Sea: Search & Rescue. It was his lead commander who was heading this operation. The call was unexpected. Was he receiving the worst news?

Banijan sailors, on a ship in the Blood Sea

... "Dude, it's freaking TERRIFYING to be out here." Said one Banijan soldier on this boat. "In the Blood Sea? You've heard the stories?"

"Yeah, I know." Said a different sailor. "I mean, even the Blood Sea may as well have swallowed two both Princes. What kind of a chance are us commoners supposed to have out here?"

"Well, nature doesn't distinguish between royal and commoner, remember that." Said the first soldier. "C'mon, let's keep looking." It was an impressive operation. Ships were being shared with teams from Cardenao, Baker Park, and Græntfjall, as they were searching, via plane and sky, trying to find any pieces of this flight. All sorts of accents were heard on this ship, from the thick, gruff, Græntfjaller accents, as a full effort was made.

Suddenly, radar went off. "What the hell..." The sailor looked at the screen. There, he could see it, clear as day- that looked like the debris of a jetliner. Just fucking floating along in the Blood Sea. "Hey Boss! Come here- I think we got something." He checked the radar, and the captain turned the ship- quite certainly, they were headed straight for that piece of debris. As the ship approached, the captain got a call from another ship.

"Hey, captain! We found some plane debris." Pictures were sent through communication systems- it was a different piece of debris than the ones that their own ship was finding. A picture was starting to form. Headquarters was called- multiple pieces of plane debris, found right around the Eurans estimated flight crash spot? They intensified their search for humans, or at least remains, but a clear picture was starting to form of the fate of the two Princes...

MUJAGUZO PALACE
KABAKA OF BANIJA

Update from the Kabaka regarding the 'presumed death' of Isebantu Mutungi and Omugabe Ssekamanya

BUSUKUMA - His Majesty, Kabaka Mwanga of Banija, provided an update to the people of Banija, both home and abroad, and its allies, and other interested parties, on the status of Executive Two Flight 1649.

"Unfortunately, it pains me to say, but with evidence of this search, it pains me to say that the now former Isebantu Mutungi and Omugabe Ssekamanya, alongside all the other members on board Executive Two Flight 1649, have been declared dead, due to evidence found at sea. With the scope of the debris found in the Blood Sea, and the possibility that there would be more, it has been determined by the Banijan Government that there is 'no way' that they could have been able to survive such a crash."

"These two were a shining light in my life, as well as one for the Banijan people at-large. They had flourised into great men, who surely would have been great Kabakas- to rule with the wisdom of their ancestors. Unfortunately, they will not get that opportunity. But the pain that this nation shares, is particularly felt by newest members of this family- Omugaba Muirne, as well as her twin children, Sekakama and Zalika, will now grow up not only without a grandparent(Mutungi), but without their father- a man that they never got to know. And Princess Muirne has been radically deprived of an opportunity to have a long, beautiful marriage with Omugabe Ssekamanya."

Further Notes regarding the situation from the Banijan Foreign Ministry
- Per royal protocol, the official diplomatic style for the title of Mutungi should be 'The former Isebantu Mutungi', as he was an Isebantu that never took the throne.
- The late Omugabe Ssekamanya's oldest son, Sekakama, is now officially titled Isebantu Sekakama.
- The Kabaka has appointed Omugabe Ttembo as the Acting' Waziri, for the time being
- The funeral for both men will be a joint one- to be held in Busukuma
- Banijan flags will fly at half-mast, and Banijan anthems shall be replaced by a moment of silence, in international sporting competitions- for the duration of the mourning period.

by **Acastanha** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 2:47 am

Acastanha Yearly Kaleidoscope
Hot Issue of the Year - Part 2

We're back in Acastanha Yearly Kaleidoscope. And we're still talking about hot issue surrounding the country in the year 2023. On the part 1, we talk about the secession plan of Ocidental or Ketampi Province. But for this second part, we shift a little bit to economy.

Question of Petroleum Operator

We all know that Acastanha is currently developing the Ketam Oil Block for the country use. The oil block is part of a larger oil block that encompass the North Great Gulf. It is divided between 3 countries, Acastanha, Springmont and Havynwilde (~~OOC: both Springmont and Havynwilde have CTEd, unfortunately~~). The Acastanha part was begin to developed early this year with the help of Pemecutan largest oil company, MG Oil. This Pemecutanian company is agree to build the offshore oil rig and refinery center in Acastanha. While the distribution domestically is handled by Acastanhada own oil company, PetroArra. But until this day, the oil rig is not in operation yet.

After the rig was completed, exploration and drilling commence immediately. But nothing has yet to be found. CEO of PetroArra, Manuel Ilovida stated his fear that the drilling will comes out nothing. While MG Oil representative said that the drilling haven't reached the oil bedrock yet. The statement was announced based on their previous research which reveal that the oil position is far below the sea floor. The sea floor materials also become the reason why the drilling took so long. A little mistake can cause an underwater landslide.

While on the other hand, PetroArra accused MG Oil to deliberately delayed the drilling process so the country continue to relying on their petroleum. Pemecutan is one of Acastanha main trade partner for petroleum. Manuel Ilovida stated that MG Oil fear that their export will decrease if Acastanha able to produce their own petrol which makes the drilling process become longer than the schedule. MG Oil representative felt disappointed with the accusation. They threaten to abandoned the project if PetroArra can't be patient.

The contention between both companies heats up a few weeks ago after PetroArra again accusing MG Oil to playing them. They were also accused MG Oil unprofessional. The statement angers MG Oil representative that they command the workers to stop the drilling. The workers were even transported back to mainland. And the project is on halt until this article is published. The government try to interfere. A three-way meeting with the government as moderator is schedule to be held in the coming week. With this situation, maybe the dream for Acastanhada to have their own oil will be just a dream.

World Cup 81/82/83/84

Task Force 3 had been assigned to patrol the ocean in the north of the region, in roughly an area between St Kanye and 95X, and 400 to 600 nautical miles south of Cassadaigua, which was inclusive of the Blood Sea. One of the reasons this particular Naval Service of the Commonwealth group were given the task was because of the flagship, NSC Prince Frederick, a full size aircraft carrier that had an air wing compliment of 58 fixed wing craft and helicopters which included two long range search/rescue/observation turboprop planes.

Upon receiving word from Belle Haven that the group should immediately make for the area where the Banijan plane was last known to be, one of the crews was scrambled to get out in front of the task force with instructions to await further info as to who they would be working in coordination with.

Also sent ahead was the tactical assault ship NSC Defiance, which could make up to 30 kts on its own; generally this class of vessel was intended for amphibious operations and would carry 50-75 ground troops and equipment, but it was empty save for the crew hence the added top potential speed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hannah Delaney had spoken personally to Grace Katumbi, Banija's Ambassador to Baker Park first thing after she and Rebecca Shoenlein touched base about , explaining the situation that she was en route, Delaney assured her friend that the Foreign Desk people at the Ministry would be able to put the two in touch immediately if any new developments came through, and that she shouldn't hesitate call through.

Later, upon arriving in Belle Haven and being driven to the Ministry of Defense, she followed up her earlier call to assure that the Commonwealth was in the process of mobilizing everything in its power to assist in searching for the Isebantu and the Omugabe plus the crew and other passengers; she decided to not mention the reason it was personal to her as well a no-brainer decision in helping a close allied nation.

Delaney had worked alongside the Crown Prince on most of the issues the nations confronted as part of the AO alliance; they spoke via telephone or teleconference on average about once a week, though sometimes their communication was written.
They had a working relationship that went beyond the formality of the protocols of diplomacy; he often asked about welfare of her daughters and Neil, having mentioned once in the wake of the State Visit that anyone who was a friend to his sons was a friend to him for life. She appreciated that he would call her by her given name in these personal chats, but she knew that they were not 'friends' in a conventional sense; he was born to be a King from the moment of his first breath of life and that was something she understood was to be respected regardless of what one's personal feelings about hereditary monarchy were (and she was of a generation that was still fascinated by the pageantry and pomp).

Much as in the aftermath of the assassination of Kabaka Albert, there was also a consideration as to how to handle the Banijan ex-pat community's possible (probable?) reaction to the news; then, Rebecca Schoenlein had the ace up her sleeve of Leader of the Opposition Allan Arnold--who had met the Kabaka and held him in high regard—to be the face of a unified Baker Park political outpouring of grief and support.
She didn't doubt that a solid front would be on display again, she just was not exactly sure what she was dealing with in the “new boys” to the Security Cabinet.
There wasn't even a legal justification for the group that made up the SecCab—since the time of Michael Templeton's tenure as PM in the 80's it has always been the leaders of the six parties in the Assembly, along with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, Defense and Justice.

The three 'minor party' bosses were old hands at this, but the main rivals for the leadership of the Opposition—David Harrison of the Liberal & Trade Union Alliance and Keven Prendharkar of the Conservatives—were first timers and in the case of the latter, a fresher (first termer) to Parliament. (The last time a party leader was a newcomer to the House of Assembly was 1978, the first election the Green Party fielded candidates)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
BPNT head into lengthy period of home fixtures
by Oliver Stanley
The Post Chief Soccer Correspondent

The Commonwealth National Team have passed the one third mark of WCQ 93 and now head into a stretch that will see four of the next five—and five of the next seven—fixtures at home.

A dropped 2 points against Tikariot left Baker Park in a precarious place in the table with 3 matches remaining in the first half of qualifying, but with the schedule coming into the Bee's favor at the turnaround of fixtures there is a path that can find BP gaining a lot of ground before the trip to Turori for MD 16.

Krytenia will probably not take away very many good memories from their first visit to the Commonwealth, as the forward line continued to provided the bulk of the attack, Chandra Mack getting her second of the campaign, Ben Moorman making the lead 2 and Olivia Ryan off the bench late to highlight Rod Callaway's 11th NT clean sheet.

In Oriannnor, Beth Rossi got a turn in net but deserved better support in front of her, with the offense providing more than enough for a win, but the Snowy Owls wouldn't be beaten on home soil in an otherwise entertaining encounter if you weren't Jennifer Prescott;

Guanacasteca visit Collins Park on MD 9, which will mark the 15th appearance of National Team in the mixed gender era. There will be a commemoration pre-match to mark the 80th anniversary of the first match played on the site in the old State Stadium and the 55th anniversary of the first match played at the “old” Collins Park.
The following fixture will be away against Raspotochje at the Kotiga Arena, which has only a single win thus far in the tournament dating back to the opening round. Prescott will not hesitate to field a strong starting XI in order to assure maximum points.

Squad list MD 9-10

Lineup vs Republica Guanacasteca @ Collins Park, Oceana (47,000)
Johnston (C); S Knight, Finnegan, Freeman; Ryan, Olivera, Shanahan, Boyle; A Knight; Harris, Price
subs--McCormack, Obodime, O'Connor, Park, Garfield, D'Alessandro, S Logan. Phan, Coleman

Lineup vs Raspotochje @ Kotiga Arena
McCormack; Brooks (C), Kucera, Obodime; Park, Wiley, Vetter, McFairlaine; Baum; McDavid, Diaz
subs--Dickerson, Finnegan, O'Connor, Olivera, Garfield, D'Alessandro, Shanahan, Coleman, Khan

by **Stevencousin** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 3:48 am

NATIONAL ECHO

Thiothard: Khantari and Stevencousin are back in crisis

Lately, the Stevencousin military companies have been getting contracts to supply weapons, especially heavy weapons to the Thiothard country. Starting with 130 Infantry Fighting Vehicles of the IFV-255A1 Inquestor manufactured by Excalibur Ground System Ltd. with the supervision of Stevencousin's government agency, the Regional Arms Support Agency (RASA). Then, 20 Rearguard TM-4199 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) made by Greyford Tactical Ltd. of Stevencousin is also supplied, also under the supervision of RASA.

This issue has become a hot topic for neighboring countries, especially Khantari, whose Foreign Minister, Dr. Curtis Castonguay has made a statement at Zecrarth Conexxion openly condemning the transaction. Not only that but Ambassador Stevencousin in Fort Raleigh was also called to give an explanation. Stevencousin's Foreign Minister, Karst-Jan Lammerink also heated up the controversy at Zecrarth Conexxion by saying that as an independent country, Stevencousin has the right to do business with any country or regime they like and it is not Khantari business to dispute it. A Note of Objection was delivered to the Khantari Ambassador in Cassaholm, Dr. Irane von Rindergrad.

The National Echo also obtained information on several defense transactions signed between the Thiothard Military Regime and the Regional Arms Support Agency (RASA) Stevencousin, including a contract to supply 36 units of the GH-2 Jengking Attack Helicopter and 10 units of the GF-84 Gagak Multi-role fighter for use by the Royal Air Force of Thiothard. For the record, the Regional Arms Support Agency (RASA) is an agency under the Ministry of Defense and is led by the former Commander of the Navy, Admiral (ret.) Theophilus Templeton, Navy, and its CEO is the former Deputy Director General, National Intelligence Organisation, Moses McClemont.

Other News
- MD09: WC93Q - vs. Yuezhou at Federal Unity Stadium, Cassaholm will be sponsored by KeyCommerce
- Heavy metal band, Fictius will perform before the kick-off, said band manager, Tikk Cylss
- National Shipping & Logistic Corporation (NASLOC) sees a promising outlook for this year
- Vida Global in talks to buy $390mil Stevencousin education assets from ENX-Fairwools -sources

by **Trolleborg** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:24 am

Greetings, compatriots!
It's TTV, and we continue to remember the past season of international club tournaments.

Game of "Jesper Torbensen" with "Ivasiocastle" was last one in terms of real time, all other our teams play their games before. And at the end precisely this games assure good part of the football fans in Trolleborg that there are only victories ahead, brilliant succession of them. Although now, when viewing the game in hindsight, it is already clear that in fact the guests from Boring Paradise were let down by emotions in the first minutes in the bubbling cauldron, traditional for Trolleborg stadiums in the games of great stature, and then the situation turned out so unfavorably for them that everything fell out of hand. And in the second match, they are dropped hands again because of the terrible result in the first game. It can be said that as soon as the game started, in the very first attack the ball ended up in the goal of the guests, and quite by accident: Wolters, who was move ball from the flank right into the box, actually made a pass, and made it badly, but the ball flew into the goal, and the goalkeeper of the “castlemen” was wrong while calculate the trajectory. Another ten minutes after the this unfortunate happening he managed to parry the brilliant shot from far distance, but at the same time he fell, and the defenders did not prevent Soren Rode from calmly finishing the job, while jumping out and made precise shot by his head. Another goal was scored at the end of the half after a good corner kick: the ball was directed and twisted in such a way as to make life difficult for the goalkeeper, and although he tried to knock it out, according to all the rules of goalkeeping art for such situations, with his fist, he did not move ball very far away, and there Torbjern Dromen delivered a slight but accurate shot into the corner with only one touch, which no one succeed to prevent or deflect. And at the end of the game, the fourth ball also was moved into the guests' goal, after Finneas Lom shot from a free kick from approximately twenty five meters. 4:0, and then everyone who bet that at least one club from our country will go to the next round could breathe a sigh of relief. All the rest our team would be fine, they have a minimal advantage over their opponents, and anything can be expected, but it seemed very difficult to spend four balls of advantage in a fight with an opponent of comparable strength. But skepticism prevailed, although now not everyone remembers it well. If we take a results of first games at nominal value, all four teams that started with a zero rating won victories, including three away games - not a bad debute, after all. Few countries have had such an impressive debut, but looking ahead, with a benefit of hindsight, we see the same problems as the national team - bright moments, victories, and at the same time the inability to keep the head and pace over long distances.

And in the second leg matches everything that we feared had an effect. But more on that later.

by **Srednjaci** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:59 am

IGOR BOŽIĆ

LOST AWAY IN THE MATCH WITH 7 GOALS !!

Ziwana 4–3 Srednjaci
23' Zakariyya Saleh 1-0
40' Zakariyya Saleh 2-0
47' Davida Zimmer 2-1 
67' Li Peng 2-2
77' Petra Marinović 2-3
88' Klaus Klose 3-3
94' Andrew Gondwe 4-3

We played an incredible match away against Ziwana! Losing 2-0, we are got back into the match in the second half, turned the score to 2-3, and in the end we lost the match 4-3! If you were to direct a film, you would not be able to direct a drama like this.
Our team was not complete, Isidor Matković, Takanobu Tavano, Jure Iveša, Danijela Majić...all of them are still sick with the flu, so we had a team made up of some junior players and some returning players who were not yet fully fit such as Davida Zimmer, Li Peng and Heong Min Ho.
We really needed a win against Ziwana and 3 points would mean a lot to us. With three points we would be able to catch the connection with the top of the group. However, Ziwana managed to turn the score around and get 3 points and push us even lower in the standings.
After this match, we welcomed Varavel at home. Another game in which we should have won but we didn't. Varavel and Ziwana are still ahead of us in the standings and it's time to catch the plug on the leaders. Although we were the better team on the field, we were unable to break through the guests' defense, the score was 0-0.

Srednjaci 0–0 Varavel

After these two matches in which we won only 1 point, our situation in the group became very complicated. We fell to 7th place in the group and we will need a lot more luck and knowledge to return to the top, where we objectively belong.
The fact that Nephara did not manage to win in two matches is a little in our favor. Out of a possible 6 points, they won 2, which gives us hope that Nephara did not make an unattainable point difference.

.  Group 6                              Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Nephara                                8    6   2   0    13    6   +7    20
 2 TJUN-ia                                8    6   0   2    23   11  +12    18
 3 Ziwana                                 8    4   2   2    21   17   +4    14
 4 Baggieland                             8    4   2   2    13   11   +2    14
 5 Elmyia                                 8    4   1   3     9    4   +5    13
 6 Varavel                                8    4   1   3    10   15   −5    13
 7 Srednjaci                              8    3   3   2    12   12    0    12
 8 Savojarna                              8    3   2   3     8    7   +1    11
 9 Archalit                               8    2   2   4    22   28   −6     8
10 95X                                    8    1   2   5    12   15   −3     5
11 Caribbia                               8    1   2   5    10   14   −4     5
12 United Bongo States of America         8    0   1   7     7   20  −13     1

LUCIJAN MATKOVIĆ WILL BE THE FLAG CARRIER AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

On the official site of our Olympic cometee, it was decided that the bearer of our flag at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games will be the biathlete Lucijan Matković.
Lucijan is the winner of 4 Olympic medals on two winter games and at the last games in Liventia he won 3 gold medals!
Lucijan is one of the greatest athletes of all time and he certainly deserves this honor!
And we have a video call with Lucijan Matković.

IGOR: Lucian, good day. Can we hear and see each other?

LUCIJAN: Loud and clear, Igor, loud and clear...

IGOR : We have received news that you will have the honor of leading our Olympic team carrying our flag on openning ceremony. How do you feel about this news?

LUCIJAN : I feel proud and... look, the Olympic Games are the biggest sports competition for an athlete. There is not a single competition in the world that can be compared to the Olympic Games. The dream of every athlete is to become an Olympic champion. For many athletes, just coming to the Olympics is a sign that they are doing well and that their careers are successful. When we take into account all that I have listed, then you know that I am very proud and very happy that I was chosen to carry our flag at the opening of the games.

IGOR : Considering the results from the previous games in Liventia, it was not difficult to choose you...

LUCIJAN : Fortunately, we have a lot of great athletes. I think that the members of the Olympic Committee had some second thoughts. Ana Turkulja, for example, was also a candidate. She also has 4 medals from two Olympics. Trvtko Ljutić also won three medals in alpine skiing at the last games. The Mutavdžić sisters were certainly candidates in the bobsleigh...

IGOR : True, but none of them won 3 gold medals at one Games. Only you managed to do that. Speaking of athletes, what is the current situation in biathlon in our country?

LUCIJAN : Biathlon, looking at sports, is our most trophy-winning winter sport. When you take into account that at the winter games in Liventia we took 4 gold medals in the men's competition, including the relay gold, the fact that we are currently the world's largest nation in men's biathlon is revealed.
When we add medals in women's biathlon to that, I can freely say that we are the combined largest biathlon nation. Ivana Mandarić from the games in Liventia brought 2 medals, and when we add the gold in the women's relay from Clayquot and the individual gold of Nina Mandarić, we see that we are at the very top in the women's biathlon as well.
I must not fail to mention the large base of young biathletes who come between the ages of 16 and 18. There is also Hrvoje Ružička, a 19-year-old who is an integral member of our relay team. Marino Kocijančić is the second junior after Hrvoje Ružička who will represent us in the individual competition. Kocijančić is only 17 years old.
Goran Šimičić is only 22 years old and he is an Olympic winner from Liventia. Unfortunately, he does not do well in the relay, but one day he will fit in and replace me.

IGOR: you also won 4 golds at the DRESS competition, and almost every time the runner-up was Goran Šimičić, except in the relay, he took part in that men's relay and won the gold with you ahead of the Raspotochje relay.
Once again, we heartily congratulate you on your success, we look forward to seeing you at another games. How long do you think you will perform?

LUCIJAN: as long as I can and have the strength. I have a love for biathlon, we'll see how long the years allow.
Thank you for the conversation and congratulations.

IGOR: We wish you good health.

Dear viewers, it was a short conversation with our national, Olympic and DRESS champion, Lucijan Matković.

by **Eraman** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:03 am

I - II - III - IV - V - VI
II.I - II.II

II.II
THE FOURTEENTH GENERAL ELECTION
THE BENDAHARA OF ERAMAN

Trying to hold on to power is Tun Rendra Usin, the sixth Bendara of Eraman. Tun Rendra Usin is the president of the Eraman Nationalist Party (ENP) and chairman of the National Front, posts that he held since shortly before the 13th general election. After the poor performance by the National Front in the last general election, the pressure is on Tun Rendra Usin to better their performance and get the two-thirds majority back, something that the National Front had always taken for granted.

Tun Rendra Usin is no stranger to Eramanian politics. He was first elected to the People's House in the sixth general election to replace his father, Tun Ajak Usin, the second Bendahara of Eraman who passed away. That was 37 years ago. Being a member of the House of Usin meant that Tun Rendra Usin is very well connected and he fully utilized that to rise in the ENP ranks quickly, holding important party positions and cabinet posts before eventually becoming the party president and bendahara.

Tun Rendra Usin's bendaharaship though was not smooth sailing. With the opposition at its strongest point, Tun Rendra Usin had to focus more on politics rather than administrating. The poor performance in the last general election forced him to employ several populist tactics in his first term including giving cash handouts to the people to help improve his image as a leader who cared about the welfare of ordinary people.

Tun Rendra Usin knew that to win Eraman, you need to win the rural seats, simply because there are more rural than urban seats. Luckily for him, the rural seats had traditionally been the stronghold for the ENP. And after the last general election, Tun Rendra Usin's focus had been to retain these seats. So he used every government's machinery during his first term to ensure that they remain popular in the rural including the construction of new schools, clinics, and community facilities, as well as the upgrading of existing infrastructure.

However, with the rise of Nura Rabima and the People's Pact, Tun Rendra Usin's hold on power will be put to test.

by **Eura** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:38 am

OOC: Banija and I discussed this RP – chronologically, it comes before this RP he’s posted, but I wasn’t free to write mine before he had to post earlier. So bear that in mind if the timeline is confusing.

WORLD CUP 93 – QUALIFYING GROUP 8 MATCHDAY 7
Eura 1–1 Jeruselem
Scorers:
Barnes 60
Lineup:
30. M Key
21. P Read
15. Q Phillips
25. M Pearce (sub Brookfield 89)
3. L Almwood
6. J Gates (sub Stewart 45)
16. L Holland (sub Vincent 45)
22. D Barnes
10. S Singh
29. E Douglas (sub Woodman 53)
9. S Robson (sub Miller 73)

WORLD CUP 93 – QUALIFYING GROUP 8 MATCHDAY 8
Eura 2–1 Kandorith
Scorers:
Sharp 27, Woodman 56
Lineup:
1. T Hammond
2. A Mason
4. J Menard
5. K Sherwood
3. L Almwood (sub Reeve 70)
24. G Stewart (sub Gates 86)
8. O Vincent (sub Cole 90+2)
12. O James (sub Malone 63)
10. S Singh
7. A Woodman
14. A Sharp (sub Miller 86)

It was a gloomy day in Bastion, where the giant, looming walls of the mighty Blackhall government buildings were drenched with pouring rain. The mood had passed on to Eloise Chadwick, Eura’s foreign minister, for she had a grim duty to carry out alongside her colleagues concerned with defence.
She watched out of the tinted and bulletproof window on the seventh floor, watching from up high as a small column of vehicles pulled into the Foreign Office’s wide front area. An aging man stepped out – the Banijan ambassador – along with his entourage, little Banijan flags flapping back and forth on their cars, escorted by Euran officials and met by a senior military officer.

Chadwick had decided to handle this herself given the diplomatic sensitivities of the presumed death of senior Banijan royals. She had made sure to wear almost all-black, the only deviation being a white blouse under her jacket, which made her look like a butler, but at least it was appropriate for the occasion.
It wasn’t like the meeting would take long anyway. What was there to say?
She of course started by offering her sympathy for the Banijan Kabaka and his people at this trying time. On a level, she admired the optimism of the King given how little hope there was, but she knew this Euran contribution to the search might crush that hope definitively.

Needless to say, it was all very grim as a rather apologetic looking Admiral took over, and put up a business-like presentation on a screen for the Banijans to review. “You will have seen in the media that we had ships nearby – ENS Partington and two others were carrying out a standard patrol in heavy weather in the Blood Sea, and were about here at the moment of interest.”
He pointed to a position on a map. This position was a lie. It suggested the Euran ships had been only forty miles from the crash site. In fact, they had been ninety miles away and on a different heading and inn a different direction, but the Navy wanted to ensure the Banijans couldn’t ‘reverse engineer’ any understanding of Euran naval radars from this information. It was a low risk lie, as forty miles was still too far away for a quick rescue in the conditions at the time.

As the Admiral went on to show, a rescue would not have achieved much.
“I can’t give you first hand the exact breakdown of our data, but we tracked the object at an altitude of 37,000 feet, in heavy winds, and our radars showed a storm system that would have naturally created rapid and unpredictable pockets of air pressure change. The aircraft was almost certainly being buffeted in an extreme way. I am sure you will be investigating why the crew chose to fly through this system, but the outcome is, regardless, uh…” The Admiral chose, out of tact, not to go into too much detail, but just enough to make it obvious what the Euran conclusion was.

“Our track had the aircraft suddenly make a small descent over a few seconds of about 5,000 feet, before making a second, steeper descent at a maximum rate of 25,000 feet per minute. We lost contact here.” He pointed to the approximate crash site on the map. This was a location the Eurans most definitely gave accurately.
“By our estimates, the object, assuming it was your aircraft, hit the water at somewhere close to the speed of sound, far, far too fast to make any kind of safe water landing.”
The Banijans were silent throughout. They almost certainly knew what had probably happened already, but this made it very hard to see where any kind of miracle might come from. Their royals might have been allegedly smiled upon by God himself, but no human body was going to respond well to a 700mph impact with the ocean.

The ambassador did have one question. “Thank you for this information. We are…we are heartbroken, of course. The implications are clear. But I must ask something. I am sure your sailors did all they could, but what did they do? Have they found any sign of wreckage?”
“The captain of the lead vessel considered mounting an immediate rescue operation. Unfortunately the weather conditions were very severe and made it impossible for the ships to safely make haste for the crash site. They also considered deploying stowed helicopters, but in the storm system they were in it would have risked the loss of the aircraft and their crews. Our naval officers are not trained with a ‘leave no man behind mentality’. They are encouraged to use their own initiative to assess the relative risk, and in this case our person in the field decided they could not justify a further loss of life for a lost cause.”

It was a tough thing for the Admiral to say. Chadwick was grateful and rewarded the military figures present by thanking them visibly for their contribution and sending them on their way. She could take it from here.
The ambassador and his staff were already getting ready to leave. “I’m very sorry for your loss” Chadwick said, looking out of the window again “I assume you’ll need to call Busukuma?”
“Yes. The Palace will put me through to the Kabaka right away. I’m afraid he may not take this news as definitively as he should.”

The ambassador, realising he was out of earshot, let on more than he might have normally. “As you can imagine, he is absolutely distraught. He can’t believe it. Refuses to believe it, maybe.”
“I completely understand. Grief does strange things to people, even the best of us. Are you sure you don’t want to stay for a bit? The rain is getting worse. And we’ve ordered catering.”
“No, that’s fine, thank you.” As he went to leave, the ambassador turned around and made a point of giving Chadwick a firm handshake. “Thank you.” Relations had been difficult between their two countries for some time, but today at least, they had set their differences aside.

by **Turori** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:48 am

Turori Sport Report

World Cup 93 Qualifying Matchday 7 :: Veteran Inland Peaks FC goalkeeper Timaala Hualtia would get their first start of the World Cup 93 campaign for the Turori National Team as the Eels travelled to Inkwellistan in what many expected to be an easy victory for the Group 13 leaders against the 269th ranked nation in the multiverse.

While it would ultimately prove to be an easy 3 points for Turori, few could have predicted just how easy the result would be as Tarek Edgeli's Eels pushed late on in the game in search of matching or exceeding long standing Turorian World Cup Qualifying goal scoring records.

If the Eels had shown up in the first half of the game instead of waiting until the second half, they may just have achieved it. Turori actually trailed 0-1 at half time despite controlling the play for long stretches. It was the Inklings midfielder #24 Rüzgar who capitalized on the home sides lone first half goalscoring opportunity, a 33rd minute free kick from 25 yards out that was earned after Plani'o Nrujsa fouled #14 R. Ellington in the build up.

Despite trailing heading into the break, it never really felt like the Eels were under much threat. It seemed to be only a matter of time until Turori got on the scoreboard and in the end that time was just 5 minutes into the second half when Jungle Strike FC youngster and second generation Turori National Team forward Lutara Makakio levelled the scores for the Eels. Just over five minutes later, Makakio would score again to put the Turori National Team in the drivers seat, taking a 2-1 lead which they would not surrender for the rest of the game.

The Eels would not be done scoring yet, however. With fifteen minutes to play Cuoabaza Orani’aoa was the beneficiary of a fortunate bounce after Turakia Diijelhma had a shot blocked by M. Outterridge, the ball landing at the feet of the Marine Coast United midfielder who made no mistake with an empty net in front of them. Less than a minute after play resumed again, Turori would get another goal this time a long range effort from Tulaki Rauogba that just fell under the bar much to the agony of Inkwellistan netminder D. Galante. It seemed that would be where the goal scoring would stop for the day, until a late burst of energy from substitute Tsinuzpa Rana'aiao produced a pair of goals in the final five minutes of the match and pushed the scoreline into infrequently charted territory. Ultimately, however, the full time would come without another goal as the Eels would secure an impactful 6-1 victory to hold on to control of Group 13.

While Turori's victory over Inkwellistan was unexpectedly high scoring, it did not quite reach the level of Turori's highest scoring game, nor biggest victory in National Team history. Turori's all time top result remains the 6-0 scoreline achieved first against famed goal conceders Ravea during World Cup 17 Qualifying, and most recently over Darkmania during World Cup 83 Qualifying. That six goal differential was also matches on two other occasions with the Turori National Team scoring even more goals - a 7-1 victory over Squornshelous during World Cup 33 and a more recent 8-2 victory during World Cup 86 Qualifying in Garifunya. Turori's all time highest scoring games have all been on the road, putting 8 goals past Abanhfleft during World Cup 71 Qualifying and then repeating the feat during World Cup 78 Qualifying in Yttribia, both times conceding 3 goals for an 11 goal total in the matchup.

List of Largest Victories in Turori National Team history:

6-0 v. (Ravea, WC17Q) (The Island of Ishtar, WC30Q) (Kericia, WC33Q) (@Mekhule, WC34Q), (Hyundai-Kia, WC83Q) (@Darkmania, WC83Q)
7-1 v. (Squornshelous, WC33Q)
8-2 v. (@Garifunya, WC86Q)

 Turori 6 - 1 Inkwellistan	
	Turori Goals:	:: 50' Lutara Makakio:: 56' Lutara Makakio:: 75' Cuoabaza Orani’aoa:: 76' Tulaki Rauogba:: 85' Tsinuzpa Rana’aiao:: 88' Tsinuzpa Rana’aiao         
	Stats :: Turori 	:: Possession: 59%:: Shots: 12:: Corners: 27 :: Inkwellistan :: Possession: 41%:: Shots: 2:: Corners: 2
	Turori Lineup :: 	Timaala Hualtia, Karek Edgeli, Planio’o Nrujsa (Loala Inkabu 74'), Moumouni Verre'elali (Tsinuzpa Rana’aiao 67'), H’munao Cagomia, Cuoabaza Orani’aoa, Tulaki Rauogba, Kiidallen Aeroluzzi, Lumlao Noauryua (Biliki Rona'atu'i 45'), Nua'oma Aikiki (Turakia Diijelhma 45'), Lutara Makakio

World Cup 93 Qualifying Matchday 8 :: It would be back-to-back away days for the Turori National Team who after their lopsided victory over Inkwellistan would head to Esportiva for a matchup with the Cheetahs and Reptiles Coalison. This was a matchup that very few media and fans would have circled on their calendars - at least from a standpoint of expecting an entertaining and high scoring game of modern footsport. Instead, for those in attendance at the match they would be treated to a battle of defensive strategy with Turori's System Turori derived from the old System Karela but not even defensive enough to match the strategy of the Cheetahs and Reptiles Coalison.

#1 Goalkeeper Derizi Amatopa would get the call for the Eels who remained focus throughout the first half on protecting the goal and not falling into an early hole against the host nation like they had one matchday prior against Inkwellistan. This time Edgeli's Eels would manage to keep the home side off the scoresheet for the opening stanza then prepared to come out firing in the second half much in the same way. Edgeli leveraged the break to catch the opponents out of momentum and cashed in through Loala Inkabu who converted what would ultimately be the games only goal just 3 minutes into the second half. From there, the name of the game would be defense for Turori. When the full time whistle blew it would be the first clean sheet of the campaign for Derizi Amatopa as the Eels stretched their advantage atop the Group 13 table to 4 points.

 Turori 1 - 0 Cheetahs and Reptiles Coalison 	
	Turori Goals:	:: 48' Loala Inkabu              
	Stats :: Turori 	:: Possession: 53%:: Shots: 3:: Corners: 7 :: Cheetahs and Reptiles Coalison  :: Possession: 47%:: Shots: 2:: Corners: 4
	Turori Lineup :: 	Derizi Amatopa, Karek Edgeli (Turakia Diijelhma 75'), Amakli Inuro'o, Biliki Rona'atu'i (Naraiza Ruaplal 75'), Planio’o Nrujsa (Nua'oma Aikiki 45'), Cuoabaza Orani’aoa (Moumouni Verre'elali 45'), Kiidallen Aeroluzzi (H’munao Cagomia 45'), Kinabo Telioa, Tulaki Rauogba, Loala Inkabu, Kala'a Yuliizala

World Cup 93 Qualifying Group 13 :: The big game on Matchday 7 came in the Commonwealth of Baker Park where the Bees hosted former geographical rivals Krytenia in a game with massive playoff implications. Despite being the higher seeded team, Baker Park entered the game behind Krytenia in the Group 13 table after dropping unexpected points early in the qualification. The Bees would take care of business where they needed to, however, convincingly defeating their Cyan opposition by a 3-0 scoreline in a true six pointer result that brought them back to draw level on points with Krytenia for the last playoff spot.

In a difficult stretch, Baker Park would then have to hit the road and head to Tikariot in another match with heavy implications on World Cup 93 Qualifying. This time, a high scoring affair would result in no winner with both sides exploding for 4 goals. If it is ever possible this was likely a win-win result for both sides. Tikariot will come away happy to have taken a point against a higher seeded team while Baker Park, after struggling early in the qualification campaign, will have been happy to avoid defeat on the road to their toughest playoff challenger. The next set of matchdays will see another top 3 matchup as Turori and Krytenia will meet for the first time in the campaign and perhaps re-ignite the fire of a rivalry that began when both teams made their debut against each other in the Pre-World Cup 15 Baptism of Fire Cup.

by **Montana Verde** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:50 am

Rusia Australiana – 5 (3)
??? (10’), ??? (26’), ??? (38’), ??? (80’), ??? (90+3’)

Montaña Verde – 4 (1)
Moises; Alcalá, Mandito, Mercedes (45’ Cambeiro ), Adriana (45’ Juderías ); Schutzán (81’ Covarrubias (86’)), Cristo Díaz (29’); Aramis, Primitivo, Monaguillo (65’) (70’ Camilo ); Halcón (61’) (89’ Osito )

Montaña Verde – 4 (2)
Moises; Alcalá, Cambeiro (70’), Mandito, Juderías (25’) (67’ Adriana ); Schutzán, Coco; Aramis (82’ Cristo Díaz ), Primitivo (52’) (67’ Tatiano ); Tino (61’) (73’ Osito ), Halcón (39’) (67’ Camilo )

Tierra del Tintero – 3 (1)
??? (31’), ??? (56’), ??? (63’)

Perhaps, it was the greatest game of all time.

Perhaps the 5–4 scoreline reflected a thrilling, end-to-end nerve-jangler, filled with attractive, attacking fútbol. The Condors, fighting back from 2–0 down, from 3 –1 down, from 4–3 down, finally squaring it up 4 only to fall for the last time, not to recover, deep in injury time.

Perhaps the match saw the emergence of the prodigious young talent, Halcón. Small but strong as an ox, lacking breakaway speed but lightning quick with the ball at his feet, favouring his left foot but scoring his first international off his right, bringing down a difficult ball off his chest with his back to goal and turning it hit it in stride, a powerful thump that curled in with wicked spin as he cleverly cut across the shot. A talent for the future, seizing his moment in the present.

Perhaps the match signalled the true last gasp of Osito. Even as goooools battered in both ends, even as Tino – in his suit, not dressed for the match – watched with a frozen visage from the box seats, the big gangly striker remained sat on the bench, chin glumly cupped in his enormous palms. Even now, when it was raining goals, he wasn’t needed. Perhaps he would never be needed again.

Perhaps the game proved how much the team needed Coco. Perhaps he’s a more limited player than Schutzán, perhaps he lacks Cristo Díaz’s size and would never have reached the header that broke open the scoring dam for the Condors. But perhaps it’s his footballing intelligence, his positional awareness, his rugged determination, without which the defence was simply split asunder. Perhaps Cambeiro and Juderías, too, appearing at half-time, fortifying the ragged line, had made their case, and Mercedes and Adriana been found wanting.

Perhaps despite the scoreline, Moises had a decent game. He saved more than he let in, none of the goals were the results of goal scoring errors. “Goalkeepers aren’t pitchers.” It was a Nepharim line that Justin had picked up, playing in Brenecia. To Primitivo and Kristjana, who’d played in Chromatik, it seemed positively anathema. But it was true. And perhaps Moises, keeping a decent account of himself and yet letting in five, was proof of that.

Perhaps the goals were of sumptuous quality. Not just the execution, but the build up. Halcón’s fine finish resulted from a brilliant ball over the top by Aramis. Schutzán’s corner split the defence perfectly and picked out Cristo Díaz. Mandito’s excellent long pass set up Monaguillo. And Covarrubias’s mazy run showed his speed (even if he scuffed the finish, it still went in).

Perhaps it was a game of two halves. The first half, on the back foot, surprised by the ferocity of their opponents, not expecting the onslaught of goals. The second half, stepping bravely forward, taking the game to their hosts, determined to wring their way back into the contest.

Perhaps it was just an ordinary game of football. Nothing special or controversial or Xannerian, no anthropomorphic animals or eldritch abominations or magical time travelling Hijo de Guffins. A remarkable scoreline, made less remarkable by the slew of such scores in the modern World Cup, but otherwise, just two non-contenders, ranked outside the top 100, trading pointless blows that would have no real bearing on Grupo Trece in the final count.

Perhaps the Condors were disappointed to lose to such a low ranked opponent. Perhaps even had they won with bells on top it would have done little to advance their hopes of qualification.

Perhaps United Adaikes would have made a more interesting opponent.

Perhaps none of the above.

Perhaps we’ll never now. Early in the match, Gnomo decided he had seen enough. He slathered another huge dollop of Terra Combusta sauce on his empanada, and licked his fingers clean. Compared to the average Verdean chilli sauce, Terra Combusta was pleasingly cool and helped take the edge off the spice. It was basically mayonnaise. Then he reached for the remote and changed the channel, just in time for his program to begin.

“Previously, on Fuego y Hielo…”

“Doctor, what’s wrong with Alicia?”

“She’s taken a libido-enhancing drug, Sergio. She’s in a very dangerous state right now…”

by **Estorvipa and Estorpiva** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 6:20 am

Junior Lieutenant Serafim Potritskij wasn’t really sure if he should consider himself lucky or unlucky most of the time, although in his current situation he was ready to say that he was quite unlucky indeed. There would come a time in the future when Serafim would become well known throughout most of Estoria as the older brother of future national football team star Serafina Potritskij, but those days were still far ahead, and Serafim didn’t even know if he was going to survive that long. Maybe Serafina really was the luckier Potritskij between the two of them at the moment, Serafim thought to himself with a wry smile as the T-80 tank carrying him and the rest of his unit sprinted towards their destiny at the foot of the mountains near Durdenville. Serafina was back in Pridnestrovia getting a chance at living a decent and proper life while following her dream of becoming a football player while Serafim was in Estorpiva about to risk his life to restore order in a country that had been overwhelmed by chaos for far too long already.

The Potritskij family was from the old historical capital of Estorvipa, St. Paulsburg, before they left the country alongside many other Vipans and Pivans after the signing of the Treaty of Tarkovska, which basically divided the country into four and demanded the total and complete withdrawal of all Pridnestrovian forces in the country. None of the Potritskijs necessarily supported the Pridnestrovians invading their country and trying to force their own brand of peace and order on the Vipan people, but they understood that things were about to go from bad to worse when it was now the Imperium exerting their influence over Estorvipa. They had heard what was supposedly going on in the northern part of the country, where gangs and criminal syndicates supported by the Imperium had taken over, and the Potritskijs wisely decided that they didn’t want to live in a country that was about to fall into a similar situation and left St. Paulsburg (or what was left of it after it had been razed to the ground by the Pridnestrovians in a final act of petty revenge against the Treaty of Tarkovska) when they had the chance. Another thing that helped them make that decision was the fact that Serafim Potritskij had been conscripted into the Estorvipan People’s Army when he became of age and was still serving when his unit surrendered to the Pridnestrovians, and everyone whom the invaders had captured were offered the chance to flee to Pridnestrovia to avoid the reprisals from the north that were sure to be visited on the rest of Estorvipa.

Once the governments-in-exile of the Federation of Estorvipa and the Republic of Estorpiva had decided to come together to present a united front through which they were going to reclaim their country, many of those former EPA soldiers who had been captured by the Pridnestrovians were offered places in the new Federal Defense Forces. Surprisingly enough, many of these former POWs actually accepted the offer, though it was hard to say if it was due to their own inherent patriotism and nationalism or if it was only because it was a way for them to get a job quickly and immediately. That was certainly the case for Serafim Potritskij, since soldiering was so far the only thing that he had ever known his whole adult life. Nevertheless, it would appear that he was actually quite good at it since he had been selected for officer school soon after the formation of the Federal Defense Forces, and he received the rank of junior lieutenant just a few weeks before the FDF launched their operation to reclaim the whole of Estoria from the influence of the Inselberg Pact.

Serafim Potritskij had already experienced combat with the FDF before, during the first days of the Battle of Bentakeb when it wasn’t yet apparent that the defenders of that city wouldn’t give up the place as easily as the other towns and villages in the early days of the Estorian “reclamation.” That was the first time that Serafim had seen firsthand the fanaticism and ruthlessness of the Blue Skulls, as well as the mind tactics that they employed to strike fear into their enemies. The Skulls did not hesitate in using human shields against the FDF, and just before his unit was rotated out of the area, Serafim heard rumors that the Blue Skulls were already putting up the skulls of dead people to mark areas under their control and “decorate” their fortifications. It didn’t matter to the Skulls that they were just men and a bunch of trucks and cars going up against armored vehicles and tanks; sacrificing dozens of their own men was worth it even if they could only take out one tank. And they did take out a number of tanks and APCs during the Battle of Bentakeb, though Serafim could consider himself lucky that his tank wasn’t one of those that fell victim to the Skulls in the city. He still had the occasional nightmare about his first days in Bentakeb even three weeks after the fact.

And now he was back in action, this time against the army in which he had served many years before. Serafim Potritskij could say a lot of things about the Estorvipan People’s Army: corrupt, bloated, undisciplined. But the one thing he couldn’t say about it was that the People’s Army didn’t know how to fight. Sure, they got their asses handed to them both by the northern anarchists and then the Pridnestrovians thanks to the incompetence of their commanders and their occasional lack of working equipment, but individual soldiers, units, and even a handful of commissioned officers did stand up against incredible odds, and though only some of them survived to tell the tale, there were still enough stories for Serafim not to outright dismiss the EPA like what most of the other FDF soldiers and tankers were doing. To be fair to the others though, the EPA didn’t really cover itself in glory during the Estorian Civil War, and it didn’t help their cause at all when the likes of Petar Antonic and Trayko Nikitin split off and decided to form their own faction during the war in the hopes that they could carve out their own fiefdom in the chaos. Those hopes were immediately ended by the Pridnestrovian invaders, of course, but the invaders were also well on their way to demolishing the actual EPA when they were forced to the negotiating table by Imperial intervention in favor of the north.

Serafim was the gunner in the T-80U tank in which he was now serving. The tank itself was just one of many donated by Pridnestrovia from its reserves to the Federal Defense Forces to allow the latter to create the basis of its armored forces, an estimated 100 T-80Us in total. Other tank types such as T-72s and T-64s had also been supplied to the FDF for a grand total of 250 tanks for the FDF’s armored forces, and one of the first units to receive those T-80Us was the 64th Mechanized Brigade, of which Junior Lieutenant Serafim Potritskij was part of the brigade’s 3rd Battalion. The 64th Mechanized was one of two units assigned to lead the FDF’s charge towards Feuerstadt and Durdenville in a vain attempt to beat the Estorvipan People’s Army to those towns. Obviously, that didn’t work out as there were now columns of smoke rising over Durdenville by the time the 64th Mechanized was within visual range of the town, but the FDF units still managed to arrive at the scene before the EPA could properly establish their own defenses against an attack from the south. Now that was something that Serafim could believe about the EPA, that they would be so concerned with trying to capture Feuerstadt and Durdenville that they would forget or not even bother about defending their own positions. The 64th Mechanized Brigade, for their part, had tried their best to protect their flanks from potential attacks from either pro-Inselberg Pact members of the Pivan Protection Forces or the dreaded Blue Skulls themselves. That hadn’t happened, although Serafim couldn’t really be sure if that was because most of the enemy forces in the northern part of Estorpiva had decided to concentrate in Urodorasul instead or if this was all part of a large and elaborate trap.

“First and Second Platoons, you’ve just received new orders,” the commander of the Third Brigade informed the tankers of the aforementioned units over the radio. “Our objective is to reach the coal power plant on the north side of Novopionersky. Be careful out there, tankers. Intel reports that People’s Army tanks are also in the area. Good luck, men.”

“Load HEAT,” Serafim called out as he commanded the autoloader of the T-80U to select the appropriate round and load it into the main gun of the tank. He then settled his eye over the scope and began scanning the horizon for targets as his tank and the rest of First and Second Platoons raced for the power plant at the northern edge of the village of Novopionersky alongside a couple of BMP-3 reconnaissance vehicles. The tanks rolled through the single road running through the village without any opposition, but as soon as they cleared the village boundaries, the BMPs reported contacts ahead of them. “We see some T-72s next to the power plant!” the commander of the BMP unit shouted on the radio.

“Keep your eyes open for those tanks, Potritskij,” said the commander of the tank, Senior Lieutenant Kresimir Kondratov. Serafim, who already had his eyes glued to his scope, didn’t say anything other than, “Yes, sir,” before continuing his scan. Just a few minutes later, he finally saw one of the enemy T-72s, painted brown as part of People’s Army doctrine for fighting during autumn. Then two more tanks appeared from over the horizon, followed by an entire platoon of T-72s. “Platoons, cleared to engage!” the commander of the Third Brigade called out, and Serafim settled the reticle of his scope on one of the enemy tanks and pulled the trigger. “On the way!” he called out. He watched as his first round flew through the air and struck the People’s Army T-72 on the front of the turret, just to the right of the gun barrel. “Load HEAT,” he repeated, and the autoloader selected another high-explosive anti-tank round from the circular magazine in the middle of the turret and put it into the main gun. Once the round was loaded, Serafim went back to his scope and searched for his next target. He saw another brown T-72, although it might have been the same T-72 that he had attacked earlier. Not that he really cared which was which; he was going to shoot at that tank regardless. “On the way!” he shouted again as he pulled the trigger for a second time, and this time the round impacted the side armor of the tank. However, right as that happened, Serafim thought that he could hear something like fast-approaching aircraft. As if confirming this, the commander of Third Platoon with the BMPs called out, “Incoming Su-25s!”

“All platoons, fall back to the treeline to the south of the village!” the commander of the Third Brigade yelled, and the T-80s began reversing back down the direction that they had come from. Right on cue, a pair of Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack planes emerged from the cloudy sky and dropped bombs over the positions occupied by First and Second Platoons. Serafim winced as the bombs exploded around him and his tanks, but eventually the tanks emerged from the air attack unscathed. The same unfortunately couldn’t be said of the BMPs. “My BMP’s treads were damaged!” the commander of Third Platoon called out. “We’re dismounting!” Another BMP was also disabled in the attack, and the men from both vehicles were forced to come out and continue the rest of the way on foot. The remaining BMPs provided cover for the dismounted infantry while the tanks themselves drove back to the treeline to the south of Novopionersky.

  ESTORVIPA AND ESTORPIVA 3 - 1 VALANORA      
       PRASUTAGUSIC (19')       LUDWIG (33')
          KRASNENKO (69')
             LEMISH (86')

  LASHNAKIA 0 - 1 ESTORVIPA AND ESTORPIVA  
                  UDEANU (24')

by **Oscioru** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 6:22 am

✣CANZARIA QUOTIDIANO✣

NATIONWIDE DEMONSTRATIONS FOR LA NAZIONALE'S PERFORMANCES

Lack of performances have led to civil unrest in all corners of the nation, picture above is in Bresca

One of the weakest home records in the group, half goals scored in one matchday and then pretty much quitting. Oscioru's defence being a house of cards that has crumbled under every single imaginable matchup but one. Some of those are weaknesses listed that have still not been much worked with and the fans are done watching their national team being toyed around by bigger sides when there is an incredible amount of talent within its ranks. What is wrong exactly?

Currently sitting 9th, la nazionale has 3 wins and 5 losses under its belt currently, which for a returning side is not too bad a record, considering the circumstances the team has found itself with. However, considering the nature of the people in Oscioru, this has led to civil unrest. De Casio's head is requested, the whole OFA is being criticised and sometimes the hate goes all the way down to the players underperforming on the pitch.

Nationwide demonstrations across the country and especially at close proximity to some of the biggest stadiums in the nation has caused unrest, considering many Osci Campionato games have to be delayed or even outright cancelled because of the demonstrations, which have been going on weeks on end at the moment. With many expressing their disappointment for the team's recent performances and 5-match loss streak and despite the victory away at Raspotochje, it does not seem to be enough salvaging.

In other places, demonstrations have gone slightly more violent, such as in Bresca, a place known exactlyfor the more violent nature of its inhabitants. This has led to 150 injuries nationwide, most of which came at the stampede in Bresca. Said stampede also has led to the death of 4 people, 1 of which happens to be a minor, aged just 15. La Repubblica's government alongside Polizia Repubblicana have issued an ultimatum against all demonstrations that they should cease immediately, otherwise police action will have to be enforced.

Clashes of demonstrators against the police are not uncommon, especially in Bresca or Poma, however such incidents of violence give Oscioru a bad look on the international stage and are disincentivising, especially to neighbours Juvencus with which Oscioru only recently signed a treaty of freedom of movement between the two nations and with which there is a high reliance on trade and cooperation.

World Cup 93 - RP Thread

Eternity, Episode 8

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