Copa Rushmori XLIII (IC Everything Thread)

by **Gnejs** » Sun Apr 23, 2023 12:20 am

In da club

«…want me to explain gnejsian to you? Why? Oh, you’re actually interested? Like you’re seriously a linguistic student and genuinely interested? Ok, sure. You’re like slurring and you’ve got the eyes of a horny bear, but ok I’ll humor you. Yeah, it’s all defined like one language but honestly it’s so rich it could easily be like at least three, maybe even four, different languages. Yeah the pronunciations are a big thing, we do like a more hard and clear consonant in the northeast and we’re consistent in our vowels, and the southrons are like all soft consonants and put like more strong emphasis on their vowels, if they use them because more often than not they just drop them all together when they speak; you ever met a southron? Yeah it’d be like me speaking gnejsian, just dead-drunk with a hot potato in my mouth consciously trying to not be intelligible, it’s like a running joke that their dialects down there have all just descended into raw guttural grunting and they can’t even understand each other and I think that’s just fucking spot-on, like the vowels are there so use them right. The west? Don’t get me started, all melody and stuff, sound like they’re singing even if they’re stiff as fuck the bunch of them, what? Yeah it’s closer to Viljamark. If it’s like what they speak in Port Viljan? I don’t know, I’ve never been, but if Port Viljan is anything like Fort Viljan so yeah sure, but they’re more old sounding, like someone from down there in Viljamark kind of comes off like a posh great-grandmother type, but still mostly the same, some words are different but not by that much. It’s actually often a bigger difference between western and northeastern and southron vocabularies than the west and Viljamark. Like the word I use for being “calm” is totally a word westwards as well, but over there it means “funny”, and even when we’re using the same words we’ll end them differently, like it’s supposed to end with an “e”, but out west they’ll end it on an “a”; don’t ask me why or how or when, I don’t know, I just know they’re arrogant and make it all out like they’re the “original” while the rest of us are just deviations, which is bullshit I’m pretty sure because if you like go deep enough into The Interior you’ll meet some old people that haven’t like had much outside influence in forever and they don’t sound much like no westerner if you know way I mean. Someone I met once said græntfjaller is like the proto-language of all the northern languages, and I don’t know maybe, it does sound like the sagas when they speak and I can’t understand any of it, and the closest I’ve seen is perhaps one of those old Interior folks but not quite. Grammar? Oh come on, I hate grammar and you should be fucking ashamed of yourself for not hating it as well; imagine making a career of that and walking around all Mr. Linguinista. Definite forms? Like what to you mean? Ah, ok, yeah, so yeah there’s totally some stuff there like, down south it’s all definite in the singular and indefinite in the plural, whereas we’re definite throughout, which is obviously the right way to do it, but you have to remember that there are many variations within each of the dialects and within the same parts of the Union, depending on which area you are in, both words and idioms and stuff, but like the way you speak as well, like it’ll sound differently when I speak from when a northerner speak, not that they open their mouths that often, but still, different even though we’re both under the northeastern umbrella, you know what I mean? Like, I’ll stress the first syllables a lot and have sort of a mellow flow, whereas up north they’ll be a bit more up and down. Intonations? Ok, whatever, I don’t know the fancy words you use, but it sounds like what I’m talking about. And they’ll pronounce consonants differently as well, like how "t" can become, or like at least sound like, an "s" or "sj" and they got that guttural "r" that they’re so famous for. This is all more fluid now in a way though because people have been moving around the last 35 years, I mean you’ll find a northern place like Segeltorp just packed with southrons and probably speaking some weird and ugly hybrid talk, and the south will be a mixture as well, with a westerner there and some northerners there. It’s life I mean but I think it’s sort of sad when people “lose” their own specific mode of speaking completely, like this melting pot is great and all, but fucking hold on to those quirks and stuff, you know what I mean? What? A party, with you? With all your linguine friends? No, no, I’ll go, you had me at “drugs”, just know I don’t do continentals and…»

by **Polar Islandstates** » Sun Apr 23, 2023 3:37 am

For the first time in what felt like decades, because it was, he was watching international football on his television set, live and unfiltered. No more heavily edited footage of the Mytanar top flight, or highlights of the last Cup of Harmony. No. This time, it was live. The famous navy blue jerseys of the Terns were back in action, and despite himself, he felt excited to be tuning in. The eyes of the multiverse would once more be cast upon the islands in the far north of Rushmore, and that, as far as he was concerned, could only be a good thing.

It didn't necessarily matter that the squad in question was looking weak. That much was to be expected. Twenty-seven years without participating against the best of the world, had left the Valhallan game out of touch. He thought back to the version of the game that the Acquans played after their own enforced absence from international football. To call it the same sport even was a challenge at times, but mercifully, things weren't quite as bad in Valhalla.

They weren't playing badly, as such, it was just... off. Players were looking for passes that you simply couldn't get with making in the modern game. Not against players like this. Sure, the developments abroad had been followed closely by those with a vested interest in the game, but the ever watchful eye of the Party meant looking too enthusiastic about foreign anything was likely to get you scrutinised even closer. And that was best avoided if at all possible. So, some inter-Valhallan friendlies had been worked on, but even they dried up over fifteen years ago. There was simply no desire from the Party to continue opening themselves up to the wider multiverse, however sparingly, and with their power not able to fully exert the structurally independent nations of Fallenmark, Sint Karbijn, and Cairnskillen to do 100% of their bidding, they were simply deemed too risky. Bleak Rock and East Kulmsaar were a little easier to control thanks to the geographical adjacency, but Lesser Valhalla still liked to stretch its legs. The first and only Valhallan Unity Cup tournament had been an algae bloom of independent thought and counter-opinion. A 'success' for the Terns on the pitch, with a disaster for the Party off it.

He didn't even blame the manager. Miroshnichenko was incompetent, but it wasn't his fault. The Terns were simply being played around. Well, no. Was that fair? He glanced at his notebook of tactical scratchings. No, perhaps incompetent wasn't the word. Naive, perhaps. Conservative at best. No doubt that was the reason the Party thought he'd be a good shout for the position. Although there was no particular reason why goals wouldn't have been a great advert for Knudsen and his cronies, a drubbing was anathema. Keep it tight, and keep it respectable. They'd even picked the squad for him, so it was no real surprise to see Miroshnichenko Jr. coming on with half an hour left to shore things up. Two goals was enough, thank you, and the withdrawal of an attacking midfielder would leave Eisenhauer even more isolated up top.

A handy metaphor for the Federation, then.

But that's what was most frustrating about it. Because there were gaps in this Gnejs side. He'd spotted them almost immediately, despite not having seen anything from them before turning on the television today. There were gaps to exploit here, here, and there - lit up in bright neon green, smelling like lavender, and tasting like potential. Sour cherry, in case you wondered. There was another way. This wasn't, no, shouldn't, be the way the Polar Islandstates played football. He remembered another way, the nostalgia for which was making this all the more painful...

...a handy metaphor for the Federation, then.

But there was nothing he could do about it. Not from here. He'd made too many ripples. His exploits in another lifetime had afforded him this house, with all the fineries and luxuries he could buy at the time. And that was lucky. Because of all the time he was spending at home these days. He knew others in his position wouldn't be able to enjoy anything like the level of comfort he had. And that made him feel like a fraud. But again, there wasn't much he could do about that. Reaching out was beyond the question.

Instead, looking up from his television as the full time whistle went and the Terns' re-emergence on the international scene ended apologetically, he surveyed the view of his hometown that he'd been able to buy a slice of. From high up on the hill, the city of Jan Mayen stretched out below him, delicately nestled on the coast as the falling dusk meant pin pricks of white light were beginning to shine like stars. It was a view that was perfectly framed by the extensively landscaped front yard and driveway that he'd had commissioned, and a view that was spoilt by only one thing: the unmarked patrolcar parked at the bottom of the driveway, occupied by Protection Officers who would be watching his house keenly. It was just as important to see as to be seen for the Party.

It wasn't quite house arrest, but it wasn't far off.

But he was an old man, now, and the fight was beginning to leave him. Turning off the broadcast, he leaned back in his chair. Anticipating a nap, he lit the sidelamp next to him. Partially so he wouldn't awaken to a completely dark house in an hours time, and partially so the Protection Officers would be able to see him clearly, without getting any closer to his house. He couldn't stop them doing that, of course, but if he didn't make it necessary to do so, all the better.

As the lights and sounds caused by his wandering thoughts darted around his brain, he began to resign himself to the tendrils of exhaustion that so often struck him these days. He was doing a lot of resignation and acceptance these days, it came easy to him, but the thoughts and memories stirred up by watching the Terns had excited him, and his neurons were firing with activity. Alexsandr van Sorensen closed his eyes, and dreamed of how it used to be...

by **Graintfjall** » Sun Apr 23, 2023 5:01 am

Rea San Vegas – 0 (0)

Græntfjall – 7 (4)
Hanif; Ayaan, Eyvar (84’) (89’ Anarr ), Asbjørn, Jan (80’ Jasmijn ); Erin (62’), Kæja (21’ pen., 68’), Danny (24’); Vanessa (67’ Rebekka (90+3’)), Röskvi (10’) (80’ Joel ), Sara K (c) (32’) (67’ Varða )

Selection of articles from Græntfjaller news media.

Snow Wolves’ biggest CR win overshadowed by Sara K injury

Security tight as no bye day adventurism for Snow Wolves

Finnvarðsdóttir denies non-football interests are a distraction

StarKæja

Lineup for MD4:

by **Nyowani Kitara** » Sun Apr 23, 2023 5:55 am

2-1 victory for Nyowani Kitara takes hosts to the top of the table after 2 games

Nyowani Kitara players celebrate with fans after the match against Southwest Eastnorth

DEWAYO, NYOWANI KITARA- An early top of the table clash between the two talented teams within Dewayo- Nyowani Kitara v. Southwest North. Both teams won on Matchday 1- NYK in dramatic fashion, with a 16 year old coming off the bench to score the dramatic late winner. And SW Eastnorth doing so in emphatic fashion- a crushing 4-0 win over Marianne that was a statement of their intentions for this tournament, and this region in general. A fun match. With the goal differential advantage already conferred in a big way to Southwest Eastnorth, however, the importance of trying to get three points from this match, for the hosts, rather than just a singular one, was paramount- it would give them a huge advantage going forward, especially with the Pot 4 and Pot 5 sides next to face for this side.

Fortunately for Nyowani Kitara, it was a game where they were strongest in the first half, and then became men of steel in the second half. The opening 45 minutes was excellent from them- they controlled the game, created a number of opportunities, and most importantly, finished the opporutnities that they had created for themselves. The first goal for the Kitarans was exquisite. A brilliant passing move, one you rarely see at the NT level- a string of an almost ridiculous 19 consecutive passes, where all 11 players touched the ball- yes, it started with the goalkeeper. Passing the ball up the pitch and moving well, it ended with a first time Handsdotter through ball to Odede Angonga, who smashed one into the back of the net in the 17th minute. The home fans were delighted- the team was 1-0 up early in the contest, and they felt as if they could go on to win this game.

The second goal, also from open play, was also an impressive thing. Not necessarily the buildup- but the goal itself. A cross cleared out to Handsdotter, who was about 30 yards from goal. The NYK superstar decides that he might as well have a hit at this point- and does, a moving, cracking, bending shot, that had an extremely late bend away from the SW Eastnorth goalkeeper. His late dive saw him get some sort of touch on it, but not nearly strong enough of a hand to actually keep it out of the back of the net. It was a wonderstrike from Handsdotter- one of those that will be in his highlight reel for many years to come. He was leaping into the crowd in the 33rd minute, as they led, 2-0.

From that point on, Nyowani Kitara could not necessarily get another clear opportunity in front of net. And in the second half, when Ulysses Barnett III headed home in the 61st minute, the NYK defense really tightened up. We're an attacking team, of course- but you cannot go far in tournament football if you have no idea how to defend. We figured out the onslaughts, and 30 minutes later(plus 4 minutes of stoppage time), the Tumbran referee was blowing her whistle, as we had earned three more points. Liang Wei had told reporters that the win was a job well done. "This was another extremely tough game early on here at the CRs- and our guys did a fantastic job in responding to the challenge. We took control early and made them chase- and when they scored once, we doubled down on what was working, rather than panicking. Great win, mentally. I look forward to our next match."

Nyowani Kitara will take on Captina Island, in their final group match at the Revolutionary Grounds, on Matchday 3. It will be another clash of the unbeatens- Captina Islands have won their only match so far, defeating Marianne 1-0, while Nyowani Kitara sit at 2-0-0 in the group. Should be an important in the race for the top 2 slots in Group A.

by **Eura** » Sun Apr 23, 2023 6:04 am

COPA RUSHMORI 43 – GROUP ROBIN HJIK - MATCHDAY TWO
Eura 2-1 Yuezhou
Scorers:
Sharp 42, Holden 73
Lineup:
1. T Hammond
2. A Mason
4. J Menard (sub Phillips 74)
5. M Hart
3. L Almwood (sub Taylor 83)
6. J Gates
8. O Vincent (sub Stewart 65)
11. O James
7. A Woodman
10. S Singh (sub Holden 60)
9. A Sharp (sub Sherwood 87)

emplor.eur/main/sport/football
STOP, HOLDEN TIME!
Sorry, we couldn’t think of anything else

Substitute striker Owen Holden secured three points for Eura in their opening game of Copa Rushmori 43 against Yuezhou, as the two countries pressed pause on their warming off pitch relations for 90 minutes of footballing rivalry.

The Foreign Secretary, Eloise Chadwick, was in attendance to see the Falcons take on the Dragons at the Stomping Grounds in Dewayo, in a game helpfully devoid of any apparent bias in the local fans, who are perhaps glad to see the impact of international politics fading from their daily lives. There was a brief unofficial gathering to exchange a wreath and wearing of black armbands in memory of the late President Wu, who had developed a close relationship with the current Euran administration. The national anthems were respected, and no bad blood signalled – a stark contrast to the Cassadaigua game at the Cup of Harmony, for example.

But for the next hour and a half or so of football, the love-in would have to take a backseat. Yuezhou were still recovering from a Poais-esque humbling on matchday one against the unranked Ketiou. The latter’s stunning of the former put pressure on Nepharan manager Elaine Ashdown coming into this game to get a result against the top seed in the group. Ashdown’s sides typically carry the kind of midfield discipline and work rate that makes life difficult for Eura, whose tradition of retaining the ball for long periods of time – but occasionally offering a slip or a lapse in concentration – is timeless.

That certainly proved to be the case in this game. Eura controlled the first twenty minutes only to be taken by surprise on the break after Oscar Vincent lost possession to Kara Mingsdottir, who set off on a brilliant run, eventually sliding the ball into Liang Wei in a great shooting position to finish from 15 yards. Yuezhou had the upper hand and from here should have pressed on more. There were some cautious forays forward, but otherwise they sought to lock the game up until half time and continue to focus on looking for opportunities to counter.

Instead, they allowed Eura to regain the initiative and tighten up and were punished for their hesitancy just before half-time when Alex Sharp latched on to a loose ball outside the box, turned towards goal, and seemingly from nowhere pinged it into the top right hand corner with a ferocious strike. Sharp has had a habit of only scoring screamers recently and he almost did it again shortly after, clipping the bar this time. Yuezhou struggled to recover momentum throughout the second half and in the end it was Eura who would find the decisive goal; Holden, off the bench for Sophie Singh after a frustrating afternoon for her, tucked home from short range from an incisive Trent Roberts assist on debut.

by **Nyowani Kitara** » Sun Apr 23, 2023 6:06 am

Third Cutoff of the Copa Rushmori

It's Matchday 3! Are we all going to be blown away by your nation's stunnngly great performance on this Matchday?

MD3 RP Prompt: Tell me about Pets in your nation. Are people big pet owners in your nation? What kind of pets do they have- dogs, cats, etc... Very familiar to the international community? Are there breeds of internationally common pets(dogs, cats, hamsters, etc...) that are unique to your nation? Or are there entire species of pets that are unique to your nation?

And to build upon that... Are certain pets a showcase of wealth or power? Would wealthy people be more likely to have any exotic pets? Or maybe your country does not have any sort of pet-owning culture: in that case, do they think it's weird that others do?

As a disclaimer, there is no rule that you must follow RP prompts. You can diverge from or completely ignore the prompt. There is no bonus for responding to the RP prompt, nor is there a penalty for ignoring the RP prompt.

Matchday 3 Scores

Color Code
Cannot advance to knockout stages
Clinched berth in the Round of 16
Have already won their group

Group Dei Ormache
Nyowani Kitara 2–1 Captina Island
Darmen 3–4 Southwest Eastnorth

  Group Dei Ormache                           Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Nyowani Kitara                                3   3  0  0    7   4  +3    9
2 Southwest Eastnorth                           3   2  0  1    9   5  +4    6
3 Captina Island                                2   1  0  1    2   2   0    3
4 Darmen                                        2   0  0  2    5   7  −2    0
5 Marianne                                      2   0  0  2    0   5  −5    0

Group Lee Sharp
The Askari Union 2–3 Mytanija
Tikariot 0–1 Oberour Ar Moro

  Group Lee Sharp                             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Oberour Ar Moro                               3   3  0  0    6   1  +5    9
2 Mytanija                                      2   2  0  0    9   2  +7    6
3 Tikariot                                      2   0  1  1    3   4  −1    1
4 The Askari Union                              3   0  1  2    5   8  −3    1
5 Klakahollin                                   2   0  0  2    1   9  −8    0

Group Robin Hjik
Gatchingerrak Union 0–3 Eura
República Guanacasteca 2–0 Ketiou

  Group Robin Hjik                            Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Eura                                          2   2  0  0    5   1  +4    6
2 República Guanacasteca                        2   1  1  0    2   0  +2    4
3 Gatchingerrak Union                           3   1  1  1    4   3  +1    4
4 Ketiou                                        3   1  0  2    2   7  −5    3
5 Yuezhou                                       2   0  0  2    2   4  −2    0

Group Ausilio Calabrese
Brookstation 4–4 Aerágny
Cassadaigua 2–2 San Isidro Labrador

  Group Ausilio Calabrese                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 San Isidro Labrador                           3   2  1  0    7   5  +2    7
2 Cassadaigua                                   2   1  1  0    6   3  +3    4
3 Ceni                                          2   1  0  1    5   2  +3    3
4 Brookstation                                  3   0  1  2    7  11  −4    1
5 Aerágny                                       2   0  1  1    4   8  −4    1

Group Michael Brandon
Pasarga 2–3 Nephara
Eastfield Lodge 0–0 South Jeolerina

  Group Michael Brandon                       Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 South Jeolerina                               3   1  2  0    4   3  +1    5
2 Nephara                                       2   1  1  0    4   3  +1    4
3 Pasarga                                       3   1  0  2    9  10  −1    3
4 Elmyia                                        2   0  2  0    2   2   0    2
5 Eastfield Lodge                               2   0  1  1    4   5  −1    1

Group Stacie Kerrigan
Gnejs 1–0 Norrhem
Polar Islandstates 2–0 Kirungabi

  Group Stacie Kerrigan                       Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Gnejs                                         3   3  0  0    5   1  +4    9
2 Norrhem                                       2   1  0  1    1   1   0    3
3 Polar Islandstates                            2   1  0  1    2   2   0    3
4 Sargossa                                      2   1  0  1    1   1   0    3
5 Kirungabi                                     3   0  0  3    1   5  −4    0

Group Ralf Álfarsson
New Gelderland 3–2 Rea San Vegas
Naixi 4–3 Pridnestrovia

  Group Ralf Álfarsson                        Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Græntfjall                                    2   2  0  0   10   2  +8    6
2 Naixi                                         2   2  0  0    9   7  +2    6
3 Pridnestrovia                                 3   1  0  2    7   7   0    3
4 New Gelderland                                3   1  0  2    7   9  −2    3
5 Rea San Vegas                                 2   0  0  2    2  10  −8    0

Group Armoni Okombo
Thibaea 2–3 Astograth
Valladares 3–2 Cabo Azure

  Group Armoni Okombo                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Valladares                                    2   2  0  0    7   4  +3    6
2 Cabo Azure                                    3   2  0  1    8   3  +5    6
3 Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland      2   1  0  1    1   1   0    3
4 Astograth                                     2   1  0  1    3   3   0    3
5 Thibaea                                       3   0  0  3    4  12  −8    0

by **Cabo Azure** » Sun Apr 23, 2023 7:01 am

O Casamento, pt 4
Tommy tracked the progress of his wedding planning through the cycle of stock phrases he used when people asked him “how the wedding planning was going.” First it was “early days, you know, still deciding what we want”; next came “we’ve got it figured out, just have to pay for it”, which was succeeded by “you know, just a few last minute details” and, lately, “it’s all coming together.”

That it was all coming together was undeniable, but the simplicity of that phrase belied the positively Herculean effort that had gone to make it so. The last-minute decision of his mothers’ siblings that they couldn’t possibly miss little Tommy’s nuptials threw a wrench in the guest count, and Anna’s mother, usually a stalwart supporter of whatever her only daughter wanted to do, randomly threw a fit over the possibility of her dinner being contaminated with shellfish, to which she was allergic. Tommy was grateful his Azurean relatives weren’t in the room to hear her stealth-racist diatribes about Azurean food safety standards.

Nevertheless, it came together, and Tommy could scarcely believe it as he sat down to dinner at the Ship’s Cat, an up-and-coming dinner joint in Villa Silva, the trendy waterfront district of Sao Simone, two nights before the wedding. Situated around the big table were two of Anna’s bridesmaids, girls from her sorority who knew her better than Tommy ever would; Tommy’s cousin Tatianna, to whom Anna had become unaccountably close since the start of this process; his best man Ricky Chu, his college roommate who hadn’t evolved much since those days; and Anna’s parents at the far end of the table, taking it all in and not saying much. The menu billed itself as “elevated Azurean cuisine”, though Tommy wondered how much it was possible to elevate grilled fish, legumes, and peppers.

“Senhoras e senhores,” said the waiter, stealthily arriving behind Anna’s father, “May I introduce our owner, Doma Janice Silva? She has a gift for the happy couple.”

Eyes bright from wine, Anna looked up and leaned closer to Tommy, beaming. Doma Silva was a short woman with broad hips and black hair that could have been carved out of onyx for how much it moved. She wore a simple black pantsuit, but the jewelry on her wrists and around her neck marked her as more than a humble restaurateur, and Tommy recognized her last name immediately; she was one of those Silvas, the namesakes of this entire neighborhood. In her manicured hands she cradled a bottle of wine.

“Welcome to Cabo Azure,” Janice said, beaming widely. Her accent took Tommy off guard; he’d had too much wine to place it immediately, but it was distinctly not Azurean, and if pressed he would have said Esportivan rather than Rushmori. “As a fellow member of the diaspora, I know how special it is to come home,” she went on, looking directly at Tommy. “This is the finest wine made in Cabo; the vineyard is on the island of Sao Tomas, and it’s been made the same way since the time of Sebastien di Portelo and my ancestor Diego Silva. Will you do me the honor of joining me in a toast?”

“Of course,” said Tommy quickly, his mind racing back to his youth, when he would sit with his father around a high-top table in the union hall. Back then his father insisted on pouring him a glass of juice or cider, so that he could join in the inevitable toasts; to do otherwise would be a faux pas.

“To Tommy and Anna,” said Doma Janice, “Ventos bons e mares calmos.”

by **Oberour Ar Moro** » Sun Apr 23, 2023 8:51 pm

"I don't know which side is more shocked". A Jean-Pierre Asce header gives Oberour Ar Moro's Dragoons a 1-0 victory over the defending Copa Rushmori champions Tikariot.

A History of License Plates in the Dominion: Part Three

Despite their many visual differences, from the very beginning in the Dominion license plates were made of the same materials: Porcelain that was baked over ceramic. This made sense for the time as manufacturing with porcelain had existed for nearly a century and had been nearly perfected. The downside to these plates were how fragile they were. As effective metal stamping had been recently perfected, and the production costs had dropped below ceramics, the Ministry for Transport made a change. From 1641 license plates would now be made of steel, with words and numbers stamped into them.

The overall increase in vehicles nationwide led to additional changes within the Ministry. Among its roles, the new Ministry for Transport Motor Vehicle Committee (MVC) within the Ministry would oversee the registration of vehicles within the Dominion. In order to facilitate this, offices in 22 strategic cities across the Dominion were constructed. A vehicle owner would now travel to a MVC office, fill out paperwork to register his automobile, and would walk out with new license plates.

These new license plates were dubbed "Albatross Plates" for their signature flair of an illustrated albatross at the bottom. This bit of art was joined by another new feature: Letters in the identification numbers. The plates first two letters would signify the office that issued the plate. RG for Regium, CY for Cyrene, OD for Odessos, and so on. A third letter from A-Z would be joined by four digits, creating 260,000 options per office.

Once again, Oberour Ar Moro had created a plate that was longer than any previous plate, inspiring a fresh round of complaints from vehicle owners unhappy to drill another set of holes into their bodywork.

by **Nephara** » Mon Apr 24, 2023 7:05 am

Nephara 1 - 1 Elmyia
(4-3-3) 1 - Strand; 17 - Kama (2 - Rake 61'), 5 - Roback, 6 - Scales, 25 - Xu; 24 - Sebold (8 - March 78'), 15 - Constantine, 23 - Swainsona (26 - Kvasina 78'); 13 - Brewer, 21 - Vetiver, 11 - Loeher (16 - Drnaso 78')
Goal: Drnaso 89'

Pasarga 2 - 3 Nephara
(4-3-3) 1 - Strand; 17 - Kama, 5 - Roback, 6 - Scales, 25 - Xu (3 - Lind 67'); 24 - Sebold (4 - Southsea 80'), 15 - Constantine (19 - Rosziter 67'), 26 - Kvasina (23 - Swainsona 86'); 13 - Brewer (7 - Anharbour 80'), 21 - Vetiver, 11 - Loeher
Goals: Vetiver 39' pen, Sebold 65', Vetiver 76'

There had been rumblings of rebellion in the air.
Not from the squad, but the stands, sometimes the press. Nephara was a nation in a constant state of expectation, and they were really out here, after a mixed three years, on the brink of losing to an unranked side? It scarcely mattered that Elmyia were unranked in rank alone, a side of undoubted skill. Defeat would be disastrous... especially in such a tight group.
In the end, Cantor turned to a triple substitution, switching up the midfield and throwing on Tryna Drnaso for her international debut. No pressure. But she didn't let it get to her, and when Felixe Vetiver finally slipped her mark after a quiet game, contemplated the shot but instead rolled back a pass unselfishly for Drnaso, the finish was decisive, whipped into the bottom corner. Honour was preserved, and a point gained, not just two lost.

Still.
The Cormorants needed points on the board, and next up were a Pasarga side wounded by a chastening defeat to South Jeolerina. And they came out eager to right wrongs.
It would only take seven minutes - seven tense minutes, full of blood-and-thunder 50-50s - before they took the lead, Zachary Orengo's high press working a treat. Vetta Roback was one of the best defenders in the world at the moment, riding the high of her Champions League triumph with Sabrefell Athletic, but she was not the best at playing out the ball under pressure. With Salai running her her, her pass to Kama was weak, snapped up by Lopez, put on a platter for Ilona Karpaty, bursting in down the middle, to smash low past Strand from just inside the box.
Nephara looked rattled, and it got worse on the half-hour mark, Karpaty clipping in an immaculately-weighted free kick, Szolosi overpowering all the white shirts around to power a header low and past Strand. 2-0 by the half-hour mark. Cormorants crumbling?
But when the players looked to Cantor on the sidelines, they saw she had not lost hope,. One costly defensive error had been ruthlessly punished, yes, and they'd fallen victim to a perfectly executed free kick. But in the flow of the game, the Cormorants were holding their own. They just needed something to go their way...
... and there it was, Loeher bursting down the left, checking her run, playing in Tanith Xu on the overlap, the fullback darting inside, Szocs obligingly putting out a foot for Xu to fall over like a derailed train. Stonewall penalty, and Felixe Vetiver stepping up to the plate. She took a grim satisfaction in this, used to being marked down at international level, finally able to just pick her spot. She thrashed it into the top corner; Pribyl went the right way, but never stood a chance.
Still, Pasarga lead into the break, Nephara needed more inspiration, but Cantor told them to hold their nerve; the goals would come if they kept fighting for them. And after the interval, the tides began to turn. Nephara began to edge a previously even game, standing up to the press, then playing through it. Through it, Bellona Sebold stood up magnificently to her biggest early test as a Cormorant, finding time and space where there just didn't seem to be any, gelling effortlessly with club teammate Constantine. And, when she finally saw an opening, a channel just for her if she could get past Ba running at her, a break in the press... she took it, darting away from the challenge and snapping into the space, Sebeok was out of sight, Svatos was here but that left space behind him to exploit. She rolled a delicate forward ball past him, for Madita Brewer to sprint onto, and when Svatos turned back, Brewer returned the favour, handing Sebold possession on the edge of the box. It was a tight angle to make, but she drilled a strike past Pribyl regardless, smacking off the inside of the far post to level the scores.
But they needed another; Nephara really could not afford to go without a win, could they? But Pasarga needed it too, and surged forward to claim it. A thumping shot from substitute Novakovic forced an excellent stretching save from Strand, and a blocking slide from Roback denied Madrigal Lopez shortly after, atoning in some way for the earlier slip. But after the early ferocity waned, Nephara weathered the storm, and now there were gaps in the suddenly ragged Pasargan press.
For Lindse Kvasina, who had clung grimly to relevance over most of the past decade through her ability to find the right pass at the right moment, the brief was simple: find Vetiver, and the rest would take care of itself.
The moment came after a Pasargan attack fizzled out, Svatos' cross claimed confidently by Strand, the goalkeeper looking out, seeing the green ranks hustling back to cover their lines, but the ball was rounder and more aerodynamic than any of them, and also, critically, could be kicked very, very hard without the referee complaining. She hooked a kick into midfield, not especially far but quick, and Constantine flicked it on with a header, and now Kvasina had time, and space, and saw Vetiver hanging by Szolosi - not quite off his shoulder. One of Vetiver's best aspects was that she was almost never offside; her instincts were just too sharp, and she always backed herself to make up any lost advantage. So it proved. Kvasina's pass hooked in over the top, and Vetiver rolled Szolosi at the decisive moment, racing clear; there was some contact and instinct almost flung her to the floor, but she kept going, realising only in hindsight it was incidental, wouldn't have drawn the red anyway, no matter, the ball was in sight, too far for Pribyl to contest, Svatos was still running back, Szolosi was in her dust.
One-on-one with Pribyl, now, and bearing down on goal. Once again, she could simply pick her spot.
She picked right.

by **Cassadaigua** » Mon Apr 24, 2023 7:09 am

Tough but hard earned draw,
by Caitlyn Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

There is no position in sports that can dominate a game like a goaltender. Goalies in hockey can probably take the most credit for their ability to single-handedly win a game for their team, as after all you can outshoot someone, say 50-22, but if their goalie stops everything that you throw at them, then you can find yourself on the wrong end of a 1-0 loss. Shots, in themselves, are not the best way to analyze who controlled that game, because the quality of the shot opportunity goes a long way. If you're shooting the puck right into the goalie's chest protector each time, then they were not as dominant as it might seem. But hockey goalies are not the only people at the position that can stake this claim. Goalkeepers in soccer can do the same, and last night in the Copa Rushmori, Andrés Palacios did exactly that.

Not much is really known about Palacios, other than the fact that he is a 31-year old from San Isidro Labrador. They're not really a nation that we know a ton about, though they have been active in the last few Copa Rushmori's to allow themselves to have a respectable #21 ranking. That might go into this, partially, too, because while it is nation that Cassadagans know is within the region, we don't really associate them with sports. They do have a pretty good baseball program as well, as they have competed in a handful of International Baseball Slams. However, they have yet to attempt the larger sporting competitions, like the World Cup or the World Baseball Classic. Perhaps it is because of funding, or some type of political reason, but because of the lack of a larger presence, this draw seems like more of an upset than it really might be. People were watching, and Five Star Mobile's VP of Marketing, Julia Kinsley, posted on her personal Twii'tur account, that, "Palacios was really impressive last night. If they need help in World Cup expenses for the next tournament, they can feel free to give me a ring. I would love to see what he could do on the bigger stage." Though many who know more about San Isidro Labrador will tell you that there is another reason at play as to why they don't sign up for the bigger tournaments.

If you just looked at the score, and saw nothing about the game, you were probably grumbling about how the Fillies came out flat and uninspired after their bye day. If you did watch the game, you know this was not the case. Cassadaigua actually came out flying in this one and had several great opportunities in the first quarter hour. One of them did go in, with Krystal Sherwin sneaking in behind the play like she often will do and being in the right place at the right time when defender Mateo Piñón misplayed a clear. Because of that, Palacios was not in the right position to make the save, as not even superman in goal can do everything, and it was 1-0, Cassadaigua after eight. The Fillies continued to get great chances, with each of the three forwards: Lexi McGregor, Shannon Cunningham, and Lacey Sherwood having a great opportunity. It would not be until the 23rd minute until the Jornaleros got their first official shot on target. Unfortunately, it also went in. Stacie Thornton probably should have made controlled the ball, but it would only bounce off her hands, and then was redirected off the back of the leg of Rachel Becker, to make it 1-1. It will officially go in the books as an own goal, but you can't fault Becker at all. Cassadaigua reasserted themselves in the match, but continued to be unable to get anything by Palacios.

In the second half, it was more of the same, and the reactions of the Cassadagan fans were becoming that of concern. They have seen this script before where you control the game, get the shot chances, but run into a dominant goalie, and then at the other end, a fluke bounce works against you. For a stretch in the second half, the Jornaleros began to see the opportunity that was in front of them, and had better chances. Stacie Thornton made a couple of nice stops, but could not keep the shot of Bernat Carmona out of the net in the 68th minute. Now, it was 2-1 in favor of San Isidro Labrador and it was looking like the Fillies were going to be shut out of this one. However, give the pink and black credit, they kept on pushing and were not demoralized with the way that Palacios was stealing the show on this evening. In the 85th minute, they would snatch a draw from the grasp of defeat on Lexi McGregor's goal which Palacios probably should have got. After all of the great saves that he made, it was a more innocent shot chance that deflected off the fingers of the keeper and into the net. Palacios went down onto his knees after the play and lowered his head to ground. He played such a perfect game, and he would let his nation's victory be tempered by one he knows that he should have gotten. The defenders around him tried to console him but also let him have his space.

Then, we saw something very unusual. Stunning, as a matter of fact. Lexi McGregor, known for her backflips and extravagant goal scoring celebrations and taunting of defenders, had plenty of justification to do similar after this massive goal. But she would not. After a few fist pumps and high-fiving teammates, she went over to Palacios, gave him a pat on the back, and offered to shake his hand, which he would do. It was a nice gesture for anyone to do, but to come from Lexi McGregor was simply astonishing and left many Cassadagans wondering if this was the same Lexi that they have known for the longest time. Even the Jornaleros defense was a little ambivalent about letting Lexi get that close to their keeper, but they soon realized her intentions were sincere. There would be no more goals in this game, and afterwards, more Cassadagan players took the time to shake the hand of Palacios and congratulate him on the splendid effort he had in this game, and he would even receive applause from Cassadagan fans in attendance.

After the match, McGregor was interview after the goal, and she remained about as modest as we have ever seen her, "That man was incredible. I never really knew much about him before, but he's really a great goalkeeper. He gave up two, so his stat line isn't going to tell the whole story, but he made some really good saves today. On the game winner, it wasn't my best shot. I didn't strike it well, but somehow he misplayed it a little bit. I am thrilled for the goal, but I understand the agony that he had on his part. It touched me a little bit." That's a nice quote from anyone, but from Lexi McGregor, it may just tell the story of her maturing a little bit as a player now. It is probably because Lexi did not get everything on the shot that Palacios missed it. He was likely expecting a more firm strike on the ball, and with it not getting to him as quickly, it bounced off his fingers and into the net. McGregor knows that, and she likely knew exactly what she was doing when she took something off of her shot, but took the high road and did not want to call him out on that. Many have said for three to four years now that Lexi McGregor needs to grow up and become more respectful of the game, but sometimes, that cannot be forced on a player. Something has to happen for the bells to click in their head. And just maybe, the first dose of that happened with her last night.

When the dust settles on the group table, Cassadaigua is 1-1-0 and in second place, with a game in hand on San Isidro Labrador, who holds the top spot. Aerágny is the next opponent, and it is a match that they will need to get three points in, so they don't have to panic in their finale against Ceni.

by **Trans-Dniesters** » Mon Apr 24, 2023 9:55 am

Pets had never really been popular in the Pridnestrovian Republic. This probably mostly stems from the fact that while the country was under the iron-fisted rule of the Communist Party, having pets was considered bourgeois, a sign that someone was living a life of opulence or decadence. Citizens were expected to provide only for themselves and their family, and adding a pet to that was described as “adding an additional burden to the current resources of the state.” Even the leaders of Pridnestrovia during this time didn’t keep pets despite the corruption that occurred at even the highest levels of government at the time. It could even be said that everyone in Pridnestrovia simply had no time to take care of a pet, no matter if it was something like a dog or a cat or even just a bird or a fish. Most people during this time lived in small communal buildings and apartments, meaning living space was already at a premium for the people. Adding a pet to that situation simply wasn’t an option, and for those brave few who tried, it usually ended in disaster for everyone involved.

Things didn’t change during the transition to democracy and the return to an iron-fisted dictatorship either. Neither the father of the modern Pridnestrovian state, Galdar Rodionovich Umayev, nor Umayev’s friend and self-declared successor Field Marshal Stepan Stepanovich Stepanenko, had liked pets during their time in office, and Stepanenko was especially militant about not having any animals at all in the Tiraspol Kremlin apart from the native wildlife. It wasn’t until the democratization reforms were finally enacted in 2010 and the Pridnestrovian economy was opened up that taking care of a pet became an easier thing for the average Pridnestrovian citizen. However, the rise of the oligarchs, opportunistic businessmen who carved up the country’s previously state-owned assets amongst themselves added another dent into the reputation of pets because these oligarchs went completely in the other direction and lavishly spent their newfound billions of rubles on the most exotic pets money could buy. These oligarchs had tigers, lions, alligators and crocodiles as pets, and there were even reports of an elephant and a polar bear brought into Pridnestrovia. These were animals that the average Pridnestrovian citizen simply had no hope of getting their hands on, thus pets remained unwanted for the early years of “truly democratic” Pridnestrovia.

Nevertheless, more conventional pets such as dogs and cats are finally making their way into the country. Nine out of ten individuals and/or families still don’t have a pet in their household, but at least that was still an improvement over the virtually zero percent pet ownership in the country under the Communist regime. It might take them a long time to become as popular in Pridnestrovia as they were in other places, but for the moment, it looks like pets had finally established their foothold in the Democratic People’s Republic of the United Socialist States of Pridnestrovia.

                 NAIXI 4 - 3 PRIDNESTROVIA               
  YUE HSIEH (10', 89')       GURKIN (35')
     SA KOTA YUE (33')       ZHOLDASOV (49')
   KIAN ZHI YUAN (67')       NEDELYAYEV (71')

by **Naixi** » Mon Apr 24, 2023 10:39 am

"Mold, Pests, and Asbestos Abatement," Kosi muttered, reading the large white print words on the side of a passing truck. The truck was a loud and bombastic shade of lime green. "Mold, Pests, and Asbestos Abatement."

"Kosi!" Detective Ohimi was at wits end. All afternoon, as the hot sun baked her dark skin, making sweat run down her back, she had been ferrying this old woman around the Downtown District, growing more and more frustrated with each passing hour. Kosirothi looked better than she had 10 months ago, wearing clean clothes and her white, wispy hair freshly washed, but her mental state was hardly improved. The coma had taken its toll, and barely a sentence or two could be strung together before the poor old Roki peddler drifted off into a deep stupor.

"Mold, Pests, and Asbestos Aba-" The sound of another passing truck drowned out Kosi's droning muttering. They were on a main east-west thoroughfare, with significant traffic going each way. Half the cars, it seemed, were blaring the live radio commentary of the Naixi national team game at the Copa Rushmori. They were up four three deep in stoppage time after Yue Hsieh had benefitted from Tak Hing Jin's clever footwork and volleyed away Jin's lobbed through ball, but now the Blues had to hang on for dear life. So many cars were playing the audio that Ohimi could follow the action live without interruption. To the east, down the avenue, Ohimi could see the dark green foliage of the park just outside of the Sha Dadao, where the national team sometimes played.

"Mold, Pe-"

"Kosi," Ohimi shouted over the noise, firmly cutting her old family friend off, "Kosi, look around. Do you recognize any of this? Did you ever meet anyone in this part of town?"

As per Sergeant Wen's suggestion, they'd been wandering around downtown, with Ohimi frantically trying to help Kosirothi remember any locations that she had picked up merchandise. It was going poorly, and the detective's nerves were beginning to fray. It had been a brutal week. In addition to her typical caseload, she and all the other detectives were getting reamed out by the national police people for supposed "structural failures" that had led to the assassination of that Celestial Councilor a week before. Add to that her recent trip to the funeral for Hark, the impound warehouse manager, who had passed away after a several-months-long battle with some kind of neurotoxin he'd been exposed to, and yeah... today was a struggle.

"Mol-"

"Kosi, let's go."

"Mol-"

"Yes, I know, you saw the words on a truck. It's okay. It's okay, we're all done. Let's go. Let's go home. You've done good work today."

"They have a warehouse in Hai's Ferry. Across the river."

"What? Who does?"

"They do, the 'mold, pests, abatement.' They do. In Hai's Ferry."

"Oh," Ohimi responded politely. At this point it was just about keeping Kosi in an adequate mental state and getting her back to the memory unit where she had been staying since waking up from the coma. "The green truck people have a warehouse over in Hai's Ferry. Very interesting."

"Yes," Kosi said dreamily, her mind wandering into a distant metaverse. "It's a warehouse. They have all sorts of things in the warehouse. Pesticides. Plastic sheets. Safety goggles. Bottles of bleach. CDs. Gloves. Plastic buckets."

Ohimi cocked her head like a dog. What was that? "Kosi, wait one second. CDs? A pest control and asbestos abatement service has CDs at their warehouse?"

"They don't do those things. They have the words on the truck. But they're lies. They just have all sorts of things in the warehouse. Up front, pesticides and safety goggles. In the back, CDs and guns."

CDs and guns?! This had to be it. "Kosi, if I drive us across the bridge to Hai's Ferry, do you think you can find it? The warehouse. Would you recognize it if you saw it?"

"Yes, yes, oh yes." the old Roki lady muttered, seemingly entering a fugue state and displaying uncharacteristic awareness and clarity. "It's northeast of the electrical substation on the river. Two blocks northeast."

Ohimi knew exactly where that was: the only part of Hai's Ferry that was even slightly dodgy (the rest of the neighborhood was affluent commercial housing, opulent shopping areas, and the huge park carved into the urban landscape by the National Rail Museum, where the western terminus of the Trans-Naixi railway once resided). It was right on the river, on the edge of town, and the few city blocks that surrounded the substation were filled with questionable small businesses offering massages and sketchy computer repair shops. There had been a flood there a decade or so before the independence conflict began, and the mayor (a Golden Person, of course) in charge of cleanup had more or less skipped that part of the city.

"Let's get back in the car, Kosi."

Thirty minutes later Ohimi was driving the two of them slowly down a seedy street lined on one side by the rusty fence protecting the electrical substation. It was going to be a tough job, casing this warehouse out in broad daylight, but she needed Kosi present and focused in order to locate it, at bare minimum. She could always come back tonight with uniform, but only if she knew where to go.

"Why did you used to come over here, Kosirothi? Didn't Xi Wang always come to you with the merch to sell? He would visit you, at your spot, on the street, right?"

"No," muttered Kosi softly, as though she were speaking into a phone line she believed to be dead, "no, no, no. Xi Wang is different. Xi Wang isn't the CD bringer. These guys, they sometimes visit, but they don't always. Sometimes they send a note with one kid on a motorbike. The kid said, 'hello, you need to go to the warehouse, goodbye.' This is why I have the motorbike. Gotta go to the warehouse. Sometimes."

"Xi Wang isn't the CD vendor... huh," Ohimi muttered to herself as she pulled up in front of a squalid little laundromat. The shop's brick windowsills, about a foot deep, were covered in piles of cigarette butts and empty pizza boxes. The owner of the shop (which was called Tangmu Xi Yi Dian, according to the plywood sign out front) clearly wasn't bothering to clean anything up - why bother in this part of town? But this spot, in front of the laundromat, had a nice view of a large lime green building up ahead... a warehouse.

"The warehouse," said Kosi confidently. She made noticeably sure, however, to immediately ask Ohimi: "Do you have a gun?"

"Yes. I have a service pistol. And we're not going any closer than this, I promise." Ohimi leaned forward over the steering wheel, trying to get a better view of the garish three story building. A tweaking homeless man shambled down the sidewalk between the car and the laundromat. "I really just need to see who is coming in and out of there."

"They call themselves the Sanhehui. The Red Lodge."

"The who?"

"The Sanhehui. They puts up pamphlets. Saying that we must overthrow the Qing. Restore the Ming. The Red Lodge."

"They're the people who just killed the Councilor!"

Kosi looked back at her with a blank stare. She knew nothing of current events, even if her knowledge of the conditions of her own destitution were becoming clearer. A frightened looking woman in a black winter coat walked quickly down the sidewalk, passed their car, looked in the window of the laundromat, and then turned around and walked back where she had come from, looking even more concerned than before.

"Triads."

"Yes, yes, they're called Triad. Yes, yes."

"Hi Yuan was fucking right. He was fucking right," she said, taking the car out of park and preparing to drive away. She'd seen enough; if Kosi was right she'd need half the precinct to take these guys on. "I can't believe that spaz was right." She turned the wheel of the car, getting ready to pull back out into the street. "He said we should look for organized crime, and I laughed at him, and they killed him."

"Detective?" Kosi, who was peering out the side window at the laundromat, said quietly as the car began to creep forward.

"What?"

A hail of bullets was her only answer. Sparks flew off the hood and frame of the car as a thug in a suit dashed out of the door of the laundromat and sprinted in front of them to prevent their exit. He had a pistol pointed right at Ohimi's face, through the now-cracked windshield. A crowd of lackeys followed him out the front of the laundromat as he shouted at them: "GET OUT OF THE CAR, NOW!"

Matchday 3 ⇨ Bujukamba Public Stadium, Bujukamba

Naixi 4 ⇨ Huang, Pao, Geng, Dong (Fu), Tian, Xun, Hark, Yuan ⚽x1, Yue ⚽x1, Cao (T.H. Jin), Hsieh ⚽x2
Pridnestrovia 3 ⇨ Falin, Kozakov (Assonov), Kovalenko, Adelhardt, Ungerer, Ogorodnikov, Zholdasov ⚽x1, Pekkor, Kuznetsov, Fokin (Nedelyayev ⚽x1), Gurkin ⚽x1 (Astankov)

3' Yellow Card ⇨ Cao (NIX)
4' Yellow Card ⇨ Tian (NIX)
10' Goal ⇨ Hsieh (NIX)
33' Goal ⇨ Yue (NIX)
35' Goal ⇨ Gurkin (PRI)
40' Yellow Card ⇨ Yue (NIX)
49' Goal ⇨ Zholdasov (PRI)
59' Substitution ⇨ Kozakov OFF Assonov ON (PRI)
64' Substitution ⇨ Fokin OFF Nedelyayev ON (PRI)
67' Goal ⇨ Yuan (NIX)
71' Goal ⇨ Nedelyayev (PRI)
74' Substitution ⇨ Gurkin OFF Astankov ON (PRI)
78' Substitution ⇨ Cao OFF T.H. Jin ON (NIX)
89' Goal ⇨ Hsieh (NIX)
92' Substitution ⇨ Dong OFF Fu ON (NIX)

by **Sargossa** » Mon Apr 24, 2023 2:49 pm

If it had been a relationship, it would have been one that your friends would have been warning you about. Where the joy and the hurt came flying as if fired by an emotional machine guard. There was a point during the World Cup 93 qualifiers when the Sargossan national team were actually winning back the love and support of the fanbase they had so often betrayed. Nine wins in the opening twelve fixtures for Slavko Jelic’s side had put the Corsairs’ well in qualification contention, for the first time in years. They’d remained in contention into the final four games, three of them comfortably winnable and one of them anything but. In Soluca the crowd at the Estadio Generalissimo Joaquín Delgado witnessed a battling draw against one of the top sides in the whole gosh darn sportiverse. A point against Farfadillis would have been a wonderful tonic, were it not for the results in those three oh-so winnable games. A home draw with obscure Bubiyan and Warbah was followed by a shock defeat away at unfancied Sudilia. And the campaign would end with a tame reversal against a Carpathia and Ruthenia side that were a mere shadow of their former selves. Instead of flirting with a trip to the World Cup, Sargossa ended the campaign in fifth place mediocrity. Again. And the Sargossan public turned their collective backs on their national side. Again.

Which is why, among the 47,000 seats at the Inhalo City Arena, the Sargossan contingent of travelling support was on the light side. Unsurprisingly, coach Jelic made some changes to his side for the Copa. The experienced Ciudad Soluca club captain Miguel Alonso returned to the back three, having helped his club side return to the Cima Liga pinnacle. Club teammate Adrian Soriano has been given the right wing back berth, having been a bit part player during the qualifiers. While on the left, Iván Alegre comes into the side after an excellent domestic season on loan at Alianza Jucaro from Dínamo Maturín.

Those few fans who made the journey would also have noticed a tweak to the Mytanar’s previously preferred formation. Instead of playing with an attacking midfielder ‘in the hole’ behind the front two, Jelic deployed the workmanlike El Nacional midfield battler Marco Águila in a deeper role that gave Ciudad playmaker Enrique González and Jelic favourite Juan Esteban Collazo a little more freedom to roam. With González, Águila and Alonso all the wrong side of thirty, there may be pressure on those players to prove their continued worth. Alonso has both Santiago Álvarez and Brian Jiménez breathing down his neck, while the first team inclusion of the talented Mytanija based Fernando Moruga adds massive competition for Águila’s place. González may have a little more breathing space, for now. But Sargossan scouts have spent a lot of time in Thessia recently, checking out Atletik’s Elías Pozo. It was something of a surprise that the midfielder didn’t make the Copa squad, particularly as a lack of flair stymied the side in the final four games of the World Cup qualifiers. Here in the Copa, a solid if uninspired opening group win over Kirungabi in Inhalo, thanks to a goal from Pozo’s Thessia teammate Gustavo Alcocer, suggests Pozo may come into the international thinking sooner rather than later.

by **Eura** » Mon Apr 24, 2023 6:47 pm

COPA RUSHMORI 43 – GROUP ROBIN HJIK - MATCHDAY THREE
Gatchingerrak Union 0–3 Eura
Scorers:
Barnes 17, Miller 30, Stewart 54
Lineup:
1. T Hammond
2. A Mason (sub Mills 79)
15. K Sherwood
19. Q Phillips
23. M Taylor (sub Bedford 85)
6. J Gates
16. G Stewart (sub Brown 90+2)
12. D Barnes
7. A Woodman (sub Roberts 57)
14. K Archer
17. T Miller (sub Holden 79)

emplor.eur/main/sport/football
TAYLOR TAKES THE LIMELIGHT
Highly rated fullback shines in victory against Gatchingerrak Union

Left back Molly Taylor’s reputation continues to rise after she put in a player of the match performance during a 3-0 victory over Gatchin opposition at the Copa Rushmori.

A valuable victory over Yuezhou in Eura’s opener gave Glen Merson an opportunity to mix things up a little in their second match, making several changes. Among those was the return of Molly Taylor, capped only six times before this game, picked over the veteran vice-captain Lucy Almwood. Taylor had a low key role at AFC Mayville not so long ago, but her career was given a rocket boost by a surprising offer from Kelssek giants CF Outineau, who paid Athletic £2m for her services four years ago.

She was only 21 years old then, but Taylor has come on leaps and bounds since. She made her debut for Eura in a Cup of Harmony group stage victory over Kimi-suomi; it was a day to forget for the defender as Eura shipped four goals, yet she still broke into the team as the tournament went on and came home with a winner’s medal. Taylor is now pushing to seize Almwood’s place in the squad permanently – and the 32 year old Brinemouth stalwart has reason to be worried if this performance was anything to go by.

Taylor was phenomenal in the first half of this game, shutting Gatchin right midfielder Kiril Nam out of the game while also providing a constant threat going forward herself. Eura would score twice in this period and on both occasions it would be Taylor providing the supporting creative touch. Dean Barnes was the first to benefit and would score the more direct of the two goals; Taylor crossed from deep diagonally to the back post to find Barnes from seemingly nothing, and the Directus winger overcame his height disadvantage to time a jump perfectly, nodding home at the far post.

If the assist for the first goal was bluntly effective, the second was more a mix of persistence and brilliant skill. As the clock ticked past half an hour, Taylor was on the ball, retreating along the touchline after a ball that had been hooked clear by Stepan Romanchouk. She was followed hurriedly by an increasingly exhausted Nam, who committed to tackle her from the side and force the ball out of play. Taylor anticipated the move and stopped the ball on the touchline, let Nam slide in, then cheekily flicked it over his diving body, knocking the ball up in the air twice before controlling it down to the ground and driving forward.

The Seven Stars centre backs, sensing how exposed they were with their midfield having pushed forward too quickly, sat in place, and allowed Romanchouk to close down Taylor. Her pace took him by surprise, her graceful feet gliding into the box so quickly that Romanchouk realised too late that his intercepting run would take him behind the Euran. The Gatchin stuck out a boot and clipped her heels. At this point, no-one would have begrudged Taylor for going down and almost certainly winning a penalty, but instead she regained her footing, managed to stop the ball running out of play, and cut a pass back across for Tess Miller to smash in a second.

Eura enjoyed a fine evening as a whole and would score a third to seal the deal not long after half time. George Stewart reminded everyone of his valuable role in this set up, delightful curling home from 20 yards after being left with few options to pass outside of the area, leaving Gatchin captain Julien Furman helplessly stuck to the spot. It was Taylor, though, who captured the imagination, and she received a huge ovation from the travelling Euran support when substituted for Jack Bedford late in the second half. It was a well deserved piece of recognition for a player who has come from nowhere to become one of Eura’s most treasured prospects.

THE HEADLINES ELSEWHERE
There’s a new Margrave, but who is it Jeff?! – Comeback kid Medina Klose finally takes the, err, cormorant feather throne?
Common Community, Common Future – New Austroslovakian government eyes CRC membership
Kieran Kane dies at 72 – Former Euran international mourned by fans and former clubs
Ready, steady, Cooper! – Euran celebrity chef Edna Peaking insists seven figure donation to River Republic is “just for stationery”
Social skills – Rumours of a general election continue as Barnham’s Social Party restore double digit poll lead

by **Gnejs** » Tue Apr 25, 2023 1:00 am

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9

Part 10: The Dandelion Years 1

He only had a year or so to get a team together, so he went to work and started to get reacquainted with the domestic football scene. He travelled all over the Union for six months and tried to catch as many home and away games as possible, and the ones he couldn’t watch live he studied via recordings. The goal was a 20+ player squad and he was looking for players he felt would fit into the layered-wall-system he intended to implement. This meant he didn’t call up a few of those usually thought of as “top players”, but all in all his selection was surprisingly conventional and in accordance with what most experts had predicted, with heavy representation from top teams like Kejm BK and Briskeby BK and an assorted mix of players from other Allgnejsan teams. The players he picked would form the core of the Union national team for years to come.

He gathered them all for a few intense training and strategy sessions and slowly started building the kind of machinery he had accomplished before. A national team was different than a club team though, because the players were never truly “his” at all times, but rather he just had them on loan from time to time, and he struggled to build the kind of cohesive coach-player relationships he had banked on earlier in his career. Many of the players had trouble adapting to his preferred ultra defensive style, and he felt like time was a luxury not afforded to him.

It was undoubtedly «a team» that travelled to Pasarga, but not the kind of synchronized collective effort that he strived to achieve. He did his best to temper expectations, both amongst the players and the population at large, stressing that not only was the team a new construct, but it would also be up against a different sort of opposition than the Union was used to. It did end up being the sort of baptism of fire many often speak of, when the team was drawn against such giants as Cassadaigua and the host nation Pasarga, and despite an honest effort they only came away with the one point (a draw against Kalosia). Thankfully, the Union fans were in agreement with him that the Dandelion foray into international football had to be a long-term investment, and despite the underwhelming results, the team were greeted with warmth upon their return.

PUFF were also onboard and convinced by his strategic plans, and the team got the green light to compete in the qualifications for the upcoming 91st World Cup. They were drawn alongside high-ranked and well-respected teams like Ko-oren, Poafmersia, Nyowani Kitara and Delaclava, and it was obvious from the start that they’d be in for a rough ride. And rough it was. His and the teams first encounter with the intense and grueling process of WCQs came as something of a shock, where the players had to endure a drawn-out 20 games of qualifications on top of their standard Allgnejsa season. But they did surprisingly well, going 8-4-8 and ended on 7th place in a group made up of 11 competitors. Perhaps not very impressive when looked at in isolation, but taking into account they were a completely unranked, and more or less unknown, team, ending at 7 was truly punching above their weight. They started off slow, but their momentum built, and for the first time the Dandelions truly managed to play something similar to the kind of football he had planned and had them train for. Among their feats were wins against Delaclava and Sharktail, and holding Nyowani Kitara to a draw.

They were subsequently invited to the 83rd Cup of Harmony later that year, a sort of «lucky loser» type tournament, hosted by the nations of Tumbra and Mertagne, where select teams who failed to qualify - but still distinguished themselves in some manner - are allowed a second chance at glory, so to speak. Together with Juvencus, Starblaydia, Poafmersia, Cabo Azure, Fort McKinley and Kimi-Suomi, the Dandelions competed in Group H and after the team’s reasonably strong showing in the qualifiers, expectations were now starting to mount amongst the fans. They would be sorely disappointed, because the Dandelions played a sluggish and spiritless game across the six match days and ended last with only four points to their name.

It seemed obvious that the gauntlet of the qualifications had taken its toll on the team, the players just not used to or able to withstand the pressures of the taxing international circuit schedule. He often pointed to this, among other things, during the many interviews he performed upon their return to the Union. He had a hard time getting through with his message that their first cycle had actually been mostly successful, the results about what one could’ve hoped for and the team showing great promise. He had had greater ambitions for the Cup of Harmony, that was true, but he stuck to his story.

The off-period did him good, because he was mentally exhausted after wrapping up their last CoH-game. Ane and the family were glad to have him back home. The steady and dependable father and husband they had grown accustomed to suddenly vanished for long stretches of time and it turned their life upside down. He was glad to be back home and spent a considerable amount of time completely disconnected from Dandelion business. When he eventually started up again, he demanded the clubs give him greater access to his Dandelion players, arguing he needed them to spend more time together. Many of the clubs protested and it quickly developed into a protracted conflict, where some clubs took it as far as not allowing their players to attend any Dandelion training sessions.

PUFF eventually intervened, but when the new cycle kicked off a year later the team had nowhere near the training time he had imagined. It all started off as an instant repeater, with the Dandelions up against overwhelming opposition in their Copa group down in Ceni. Oberour Ar Moro and Tikariot proved too strong, unsurprisingly, and while the team’s unexpected win against (an already qualified) Cassadaigua did make their campaign end on a high note, the Dandelions had once again been eliminated. After this he demanded that PUFF helped him by forcing the clubs to give him more of the players time, and they did.

Their prolonged preparations for the qualifications to the 92d World Cup were geared towards one strategic goal through many different means, namely forging a group of particulars into a universal. He had picked up three principal lessons from last cycle and their second Copa. The team would only excel in their playing style if every man was completely committed to his role in the collective effort, achieving that was utterly contingent on the players knowing and trusting each other completely, and they needed to train smart to be able to endure an entire cycle. The training regimes he implemented were slightly modified versions of what he had used in Finntorp, whereas he promoted the desired social cohesion through different type of exercises, including forcing the entire team to hone their survival skills alone in The Interior for long weekends. It was also around this time that he started his habit of telling old Gnejsian folk tales and parables as «pep-talks».

It is fair to say that a different version of the Dandelions started the 92d qualification race, and it showed in the results as well. They knew more what to expect, and they knew a qualification was a marathon. Several of their opponents were also known to them, like Ko-oren, Xanneria and Juvencus. They only lost 4 games out of 20, and went undefeated for 10 straight games in the latter part of the campaign, holding big names like Chromatika, Juvencus and Ko-oren to draws, and winning against teams like Brookstation and Xanneria. They finished the qualifications in 5th place out of 11 teams, and were almost in contention for making one of the playoff-spots. If their first qualification had made ripples and gained them nods of approval from the world, their second one looked more like a gentle wave and really opened up people’s eyes to the Union as a serious footballing nation.

The world would start to take them even more seriously at the conclusion of the 84th Cup of Harmony. The team had once more gained an invitation, and this time he felt certain that his team were prepared, and he would be proven right. They were drawn with competitors like The Cordian Isles and Pasarga, and this time their good WCQ form persisted and they convincingly won their three opening games, and despite falling to Pasarga in a hard-fought bout on the final match day, the Dandelions progressed from the group stage of an international competition for the first time in history. The Union erupted in somber celebration, and while he weren’t there to witness it himself, he got a live coverage of the festivities up-north courtesy of his kids. The team was ecstatic, and even he afforded to relax a bit and join in on their celebrations at the players hotel. They were to face Cabo Azure, a fellow Rushmori, and very much well-respected footballing nation. While preparing the team for the match, he told the story of the man who underestimated his foe for the first time, and this particular folk tale would subsequently develop into one of his standard pep talks. The two sides were 0-0 after 90 minutes, and extra time was needed to separate them. After a flurry of events - including much luck - that shocked the world of football, the score read 2-0 in Dandelion favor, and they were now to play Juvencus in the quarterfinal. He was no stranger to Juvencus, and alongside Ko-oren he often labeled them his «unicorn»; something unattainable and always just beyond reach. And while it was an even game, La Squadra once again proved superior and won in extra time.

No one would have guessed it was a beaten team that returned to the Union though. They were greeted by massive crowds in Port Kejm and celebrated as heroes and winners. The Union was now firmly placed on the map of the footballing world. He was pleased, but not yet content.

by **Captina Island** » Tue Apr 25, 2023 2:09 am

Brave Peacocks live to fight another day
The Captina Company Press Association

Dewayo, Nyowani Kitara--The Captina Company National Team dropped their second match at the Copa Rushmori to the host nation Nyowani Kitara 2-1 in front of a raucous crowd of over 65,000 at the Revolutionary Grounds.

A one goal defeat to the tenth ranked side on their home turf can be seen as an admirable result considering the history of Captina in this tournament, but the players and Manager Timoteo Greco were unhappy rather than embarrassed by the result, believing they'd played well enough to earn a point from the match.

The good news is that the side control their own destiny for advancing out of the group stage, with matches against an already eliminated Darmen and the finale against Southwest Eastnorth--the side that Captina defeated in CR 42 in Mytanjia for their first ever regional win—remaining with the squad appearing to finally build momentum, despite the loss.

Greco surprisingly took the handbrake off the Rosso e Oro attack, as they played some of the most fluid football seen since the end of the WCQ 92.

While allowing two goals might strike the casual observer as a breakdown at the back, the reality is that the hosts were neutralized for large parts of the contest with only a brilliant piece of athleticism and skill accounting for the first goal, and a dubious call by the referee that set up the free kick that won all the points the only shots that beat Pierluigi Neri in goal, out of the 9 on target attempts he faced.

The next match will see the squad move north for the Darmen match, to the North Rock Stadium in Karaora on the shore of Lake Viljan before returning to the capital to face a SWEN side that will be coming off their bye.
__________________________________________

As pointed out earlier, the hybridization that has resulted in the creole known as “Captinian” came about through much adaptation of the spoken Italini that was brought to the island; the native people took the lead in making changes to the lexicon, usually by dropping syllables or eliding over consonant sounds.

A few common words are good examples of how the Captini did this:

attenzione means 'attention' or 'warning'. This morphed into “Atteno” (ahten-oh), which means 'listen', while “Attenone”(ahten-ohna) is the more urgent variation, and “Atte” (ahta) is the equivalent of 'hey' or 'please listen'

la didattica means teaching & l'insegnante is teacher. The Captini developed “Diatti” (dee-aht-e) to mean 'lesson' or 'lecture' while “Innanta” (inn-nan-ta) [f]/”Innanto” [m] means teacher, specifically a grammar/secondary school teacher.

Captini were skilled fishermen and the words they used were assimilated with the corresponding Italini appellations for the same creatures:
il granchio (eel gran-kee-yo) was what Captini called "Papaka" (pay-paka), the crabs that were abundant along the northern coast of the island. "Pachio" is still an important shellfish staple food.
Shrimp and lobster were more prevalent along the south and southeast coasts, and the Italini were impressed by the size of i gamberetti and l'aragosta that were available; the native words for both were similar sounding--"Koeke" and "Koura" respectively--and eventually transformed into 'Gambeke' and 'Korago'.

by **Polar Islandstates** » Tue Apr 25, 2023 2:36 am

Considering how empty the stadium was, Iosef Miroshnichenko had nonetheless never felt so watched.

No, watched wasn't the right word. Judged, perhaps. He hadn't got the sense that the Party were exactly overjoyed with the opening defeat against Gnejs, although to be fair the Party were rarely actively happy about anything these days. But nor had a message of condemnation come through the corridors of influence towards him either. Not even so much as a telegram of dissatisfaction. A two-nil defeat was a two-nil defeat, of course, and the Terns hadn't managed to muster one shot on target in the whole ninety minutes. But, that was okay, wasn't it? Not being humiliated was the watchword for now. So long as the Terns could claim to be going toe-to-toe with foreign powers, that was key.

After all, with no wars to sabre rattle at, Lesser Valhalla more or less staying in line, and even the Sargossans taking no notice of what was happening in Franz Josef City these days, let alone Eura and beyond, the Party had to do something to give the people evidence of an 'enemy out there'.

At least, that was how Iosef interpreted it. Films about scary sharks wouldn't be that scary if you saw the shark all the time. But they wouldn't be scary at all if you never saw the shark.

See? Iosef Miroshnichenko told you he wasn't an idiot.

And yet, in this second group game against Kirungabi, he still couldn't help but feel like his every move was being scrutinised. He knew in his heart of hearts that he probably wasn't the best coach in Divisjon One, but he was still the one offered the job of national team manager. The word 'offered' was doing an awful lot of heavy lifting in that sentence of course, almost as much as when the papers referred to this as "Miroshnichenko's squad", but the fact remained and the fact puzzled him. Why him? Why not Saab, or Lefebvre? Or Ziegenhagen? Hell, it would've been some age to appear on the bench, but it wasn't unheard or without precedent. So, why not van Sorensen? The man was a legend not just in the Federation, but was also one of the few Valhallan footballers that these foreigners would have heard of. He might be too late to manage now, sure, but he appeared to have beaten a full retreat from football altogether. Iosef had suggested getting some tactical advice from the great man, and had even asked for a face-to-face, only for the VFA to tell him that that wouldn't be possible. It was odd. Surely he still had something to offer. But even if not van Sorensen, that still wasn't the answer to the question of "why Miroshnichenko"?

Indeed, as the Terns struggled against a sluggish looking Kirungabi, it was a question Iosef was starting to ask himself.

Nothing was flowing. There was no connection between the defensive lines and the attack. Nylund and Heimark were too high, and Holst and Pallasmaa too deep. Set pieces were looking like the most likely opening, but even those weren't proving fruitful right now, with both Boes and Olsen heading corners well over the bar. The Terns were yet to register a shot on target in the entire tournament, and it was over an hour into the second game.

Iosef himself had scored the last goal the Terns had scored, a header from a corner late on in the final of the Valhallan Unity Cup to make it five-one against Fallenmark. Obviously, Iosef had thought himself the bees knees at the time, but with hindsight, it was little more than a glorified friendly against an almost puppet-state. And now, with responsibility for the next goal the Terns would score at his feet, he was struggling. Far more used to setting up his sides to safely avoid relegation, he just wasn't sure what to do in this situation.

Leaning against the dugout wall, and despite knowing his every move was being surveyed from somewhere, he was grateful there weren't more Valhallans here watching. It was all rather uninspiring, and no amount of gold braid on his VFA blazer would make up for that.

Without warning, suddenly, Federico Aalto burst out of his seat and leapt forward onto the touchline, giving Iosef a start as he pushed past his boss. Issuing a couple of instructions, Aalto gestured wildly at Terns captain Oscar Pallasmaa to get his attention. Understanding, with a glimpse out of the corner of his eye at the space available, Pallasmaa bellowed at Aigner and received the ball to feet from the goal kick for once. Playing a quick one-two with Holst around Mutubazi and advanced into the space where Kirungabi's midfield should have been. Looking up, Pallasmaa saw opposition midfielders returning to the positions they should have been in after their lapse in concentration. No problem. waving his arm at the front line, Pallasmaa conducted Heimark into rolling off the shoulder of his defender, the eleventh outfield player (no wonder the Terns had struggled to find space). Clipping a crossfield pass delicately, Pallasmaa, Aalto, and Miroshnichenko watched hypnotised as the ball arced gracefully through the air and was trapped expertly by Heimark. Whilst the opposition defence pivoted and attempted to keep up with the direction of the ball, it had already gone. Pinged back across the back line into the run of the advancing Eisenhauer, the big man from Sibir didn't even need to break stride or take a touch. With the anger and frustration of decades behind his foot, Eisenhauer cannoned the ball into the top corner from the edge of the box.

The stadium fell silent. Almost. Aside from some polite applause from the neutrals and locals in the crowd, the only sound seemed to be coming from Miroshnichenko as he roared in confused, stunned, joy. The players shouted, yelled, and celebrated together. Aalto clenched his fists and returned to the bench in silence, but Iosef continued to bellow in dazed delirium.

What exactly had just happened? Had he done that? Had he done anything? Anything at all?

Iosef had to pretend he knew.

The Terns were back at last, sort of, and as the players trickled back into their own half to await the restart, Iosef had to fight the urge to instantly throw on his son and shut up shop to defend the one-nil lead. Instead, he tried to take ownership of this new attacking bent from Pallasmaa and the rest of the squad, lest it be considered to be nothing to do with him.

He now he had one more name to worry about in the list of people who might be better qualified than he was for this position.

Why not Aalto?

by **Elmyia** » Tue Apr 25, 2023 5:01 am

The Beaucester Gazette
Performances Positive, Despite Domestic Backdrop
Porras sick of answering questions about domestic politics

In joining the Elmyia setup, Pau Porras was tasked with two things. To get his side playing more exciting, attacking football and to try and break the seemingly endless string of ducks Elmyia have had in getting out of group stages. After two battling performances for draws then, he might expect to be fielding some more questions about how he's changed his tactics and setup. He likely wasn't expecting to be answering so many questions about Elmyia's domestic politics and constitutional wranglings.

The backdrop of the last general election, and the consequences of it, have overshadowed Elmyia's entry into their first Copa Rushmori. The collapse in confidence stemmed from football, and it seems only right that the rancour is spilling back towards its source. Elmyian fans can be seen bickering over the proposed reforms to the constitution, yet alone the more political questions of the nation's forward direction. So Porras, any thoughts on how Elmyia should restructure the electoral system? Should schooling be integrated between communities? Would having a new, common language help the players? What should be done to lower Elmyia's high rate of infant mortality? Don't know. Don't know. Possibly. Don't know. Were his quick answers, in a nation in which he has only just integrated himself.

If the issues surrounding the country as a whole, mired without a clear direction of government, are affecting the team it does not show. A slightly laboured performance against South Jeolerina was followed up with a much better display in forcing a draw out of Nephara. Elmyia held the lead for a solid 60 minutes, after another moment of Froggatt inspiration was enough to take the lead. The familiar sight of Whittigham dragging players with her to open the space, as a whipped cross from beresford was converted cooly. Nephara switched up their midfield, and after Galli, Depel and Simmons had done a decent job of controlling the centre of the park, fresh legs told with a late equaliser. Facing the second seeds, a team with history and experience on their side, it was once again a solid performance.

Much of what is now good about Elmyia has come from the work of Porras. Players seem to have a much clearer idea of where to be and when, and they seem a lot more assertive in these difficult games. His bringing in of Depel seems to have settled a midfield three, finally one where all three players have a designated role and fit together. When Doug Reid previously drifted aimlessly through games, Depel can drop back deeper and spray ambitious balls forward. Mixed with Galli's ability to cover ground, tackle and dribble, and Simmons game reading abilities, it finally works. But no one asks Porras about this, just about whether the Communist take power, would he stay? He said he's here as long as he's wanted, again he kept himself out of it.

Elmyia seems to have lost its consensus. After the election there was broad agreement that chasing a new Rushmori identity, and a united Elmyian identity, was of the upmost importance. Well, in a first Copa Rushmori, with a team playing decent football, surely this is the time to pull together and cheer them on?

by **Graintfjall** » Tue Apr 25, 2023 6:14 am

Selection of articles from Græntfjaller news media – all, mysteriously, about pets.

It’s the demography, stupid

In Græntfjall, “millennial” specifically refers to those born post-communism.

New “Chief Mouser” wins rave reviews

Bristle of discontent over Crown Princess’s breach of biosecurity laws hints at continued questions about royal privileges

by **Nyowani Kitara** » Tue Apr 25, 2023 6:30 am

OOC Note: A response to the MD1 prompt

Dewayo- A city with a history

Map depicting Dewayo, and other cities, within a regional context

Dewayo. By far, the largest city in Nyowani Kitara. The capitol. The epicenter. The hope of a peoples. Maybe not that far, but considering the complicated history of Nyowani Kitara, Dewayo has an interesting, complicated history as well- and as the capitol ever since the capitol of Nyowani Kitara, the history of the city closely mirrors the history of the whole country.

First, one must consider the geography of Dewayo. It is nearly a perfect capitol- near perfect geography for a city to serve as the country's deepwater port. Located relatively close to the center of the country. When the Kitaran people were first brought to this country from Banija, the country's native Osterland and Nordlander population was mostly concentrated in the north. Dewayo, or what we know now as Dewayo, was called "Port Sólskin", in honor of a historic Osterlander leader. But this wasn't even their capitol city, however. Their population was in the north, and so, Port Viljan was where the country's economic hustle & bustle was. Easier to defend from foreign invaders, of course, because of the geography.

When Kitarans can en masse and established Nyowani Kitara, they originally named the city New Istria. But after just 10 years, as they continued to turn radically anti-Banijan, they needed a new name. New Istria was always contested, anyways- plenty of people still called it Port Sólskin. So at that point, they decided to change the name against, picking a more local name- Dewayo. Of course, the question for many is where did the name Dewayo come from? It was where the chief of the Kitarans had been born, back in original Kitara(in Banija). No city in Banija carries that name, of course- we know that city now as 'Mamari'. And so, as the country began to expand and get close to what are its modern-day borders, Dewayo continued to develop. Buildings of governance built, it became NYK's pre-eminent port, and the center of political culture.

More development came to the city when the Tribal Chiefs were overthrown, and a socialist government was ushered in under the rule of the Kitara Progressive Worker's Coalition(KPWC), aka the ruling communist party(in a one-party state). Of course, if you can neatly separate NYK's communist time into pre and post-Akongo rule, you can do that for Dewayo as well. Of course, under the Akongos, Zelotes to Boaz to Nafuna, it was never much of a happening place. Jobs, yes- but strict military policing prevented it from being a hub. But pre-Akongo rule, it was alwasy a great time. Decent vacation spot, even some sort of a 'hipster' culture.

Now, post-Akongo, it is trying to regain that kind of stature within the country. With subsidies encouraging young people across the country to move in, and incentives for refugees moving back to Nyowani Kitara to move to the capitol, there is a concerted effort to re-energize the city. Give it some of the urban bustling vibe of national capitols elsewhere in Rushmore. Can they succeed? Who knows. But if they do, it will surely be reflective of Nyowani Kitara's rebuild from our tragic civil war.

CR XLIII News
- While the NT did not necessarily impress, a tight, 2-1 home win over Captina Island punched their tickets to the knockout stages. They took the opportunities as they came- Odede Angonga punishing a defensive breakdown early on in the game, and then Wang Jiahui drilling a free kick in the late stages to clinch the winner. It is only Nyowani Kitara's second ever appearance in the CR knockout stages. "While we've got a lot to work on after this, 3 points are 3 points- cannot complain." Liang Wei told reporters. "Now, it is time to build on this in the next round, try to make a home run for our fans."
- NYK will open as huge favorites against Marianne on Matchday 4, before what will be a bye on Matchday 5. What could've be a considerable disadvantage(bye on the final matchday) has been turned on its head into an advantage, as they will be able to re-energize before the Round of 16.

by **Nyowani Kitara** » Tue Apr 25, 2023 6:42 am

Fourth Cutoff of the Copa Rushmori

It's Matchday 4! Everything's gonna be alright, don't worry lads! Penultimate cutoff of the group stages!

MD4 RP Prompt: I've asked about your nation's capitol city- probably one of the largest cities in your country. Let me ask about your country's rural life. Do you have large rural populations? What are they like, on the aggregate? Right-wing, culturally conservative? Left-wing agrarian? Do they tend to be more or less religious? What do they do for a living? A lot of farmers? Loggers? Retirees? How much of your country lives in the rural areas? Maybe just a small chunk, or is it like half the country? And what do rural areas look like in your country? Lots of corn? Trees? Mountains? Lakes? Everything and anything there is to know about the rurals!

Or maybe your country lacks rural areas. In that case, why is that? Is that just a function of geography? Or is that the result of intentional practices by governments to urbanize the country? Or maybe another reason entirely- destroyed by natural disaster? Nuclear war? Environmental waste? Spill the beans!

As a disclaimer, there is no rule that you must follow RP prompts. You can diverge from or completely ignore the prompt. There is no bonus for responding to the RP prompt, nor is there a penalty for ignoring the RP prompt.

Matchday 4 Scores

Reminder that you must finish top two in your group to advance to the knockout stages.

Color Code
Cannot advance to knockout stages
Clinched berth in the Round of 16
Have already won their group

Group Dei Ormache
Captina Island 2–2 Darmen
Marianne 5–6 Nyowani Kitara

  Group Dei Ormache                           Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Nyowani Kitara                                4   4  0  0   13   9  +4   12
2 Southwest Eastnorth                           3   2  0  1    9   5  +4    6
3 Captina Island                                3   1  1  1    4   4   0    4
4 Darmen                                        3   0  1  2    7   9  −2    1
5 Marianne                                      3   0  0  3    5  11  −6    0

Group Lee Sharp
Mytanija 2–4 Tikariot
Klakahollin 1–3 The Askari Union

  Group Lee Sharp                             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Oberour Ar Moro                               3   3  0  0    6   1  +5    9
2 Mytanija                                      3   2  0  1   11   6  +5    6
3 Tikariot                                      3   1  1  1    7   6  +1    4
4 The Askari Union                              4   1  1  2    8   9  −1    4
5 Klakahollin                                   3   0  0  3    2  12 −10    0

Group Robin Hjik
Eura 4–3 República Guanacasteca
Yuezhou 1–0 Gatchingerrak Union

  Group Robin Hjik                            Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Eura                                          3   3  0  0    9   4  +5    9
2 República Guanacasteca                        3   1  1  1    5   4  +1    4
3 Gatchingerrak Union                           4   1  1  2    4   4   0    4
4 Ketiou                                        3   1  0  2    2   7  −5    3
5 Yuezhou                                       3   1  0  2    3   4  −1    3

Group Ausilio Calabrese
Aerágny 2–6 Cassadaigua
Ceni 2–1 Brookstation

  Group Ausilio Calabrese                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cassadaigua                                   3   2  1  0   12   5  +7    7
2 San Isidro Labrador                           3   2  1  0    7   5  +2    7
3 Ceni                                          3   2  0  1    7   3  +4    6
4 Brookstation                                  4   0  1  3    8  13  −5    1
5 Aerágny                                       3   0  1  2    6  14  −8    1

Group Michael Brandon
Nephara 3–0 Eastfield Lodge
Elmyia 3–2 Pasarga

  Group Michael Brandon                       Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Nephara                                       3   2  1  0    7   3  +4    7
2 Elmyia                                        3   1  2  0    5   4  +1    5
3 South Jeolerina                               3   1  2  0    4   3  +1    5
4 Pasarga                                       4   1  0  3   11  13  −2    3
5 Eastfield Lodge                               3   0  1  2    4   8  −4    1

Group Stacie Kerrigan
Norrhem 0–0 Polar Islandstates
Sargossa 1–0 Gnejs

  Group Stacie Kerrigan                       Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Gnejs                                         4   3  0  1    5   2  +3    9
2 Sargossa                                      3   2  0  1    2   1  +1    6
3 Polar Islandstates                            3   1  1  1    2   2   0    4
4 Norrhem                                       3   1  1  1    1   1   0    4
5 Kirungabi                                     3   0  0  3    1   5  −4    0

Group Ralf Álfarsson
Rea San Vegas 1–0 Naixi
Græntfjall 2–2 New Gelderland

  Group Ralf Álfarsson                        Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Græntfjall                                    3   2  1  0   12   4  +8    7
2 Naixi                                         3   2  0  1    9   8  +1    6
3 New Gelderland                                4   1  1  2    9  11  −2    4
4 Pridnestrovia                                 3   1  0  2    7   7   0    3
5 Rea San Vegas                                 3   1  0  2    3  10  −7    3

Group Armoni Okombo
Astograth 1–0 Valladares
Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland 2–0 Thibaea

  Group Armoni Okombo                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cabo Azure                                    3   2  0  1    8   3  +5    6
2 Valladares                                    3   2  0  1    7   5  +2    6
3 Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland      3   2  0  1    3   1  +2    6
4 Astograth                                     3   2  0  1    4   3  +1    6
5 Thibaea                                       4   0  0  4    4  14 −10    0

by **Cabo Azure** » Tue Apr 25, 2023 7:29 am

O Casamento, pt 5

When the day arrived, Tommy could scarcely believe it. Since arriving in Cabo Azure a few mornings previous, he and Anna had been talking dreamily about the time when they could stop talking about the wedding in the future tense and begin their married lives. They’d been cohabiting back in Coloratura Falls, but had agreed that once the wedding and its attendant financial burden were in the rearview, they would buy a proper house. Lately their evenings’ entertainment had been looking at places on Willow and debating whether a fenced-in backyard for the dog outweighed a two-car garage.

Still, each of these conversations was appended with a hasty, “but the wedding is going to be amazing”, and amazing it was. The day started much earlier than anticipated with a knock on the door of the Hotel Capitao’s executive suite, and almost the entire male component of the wedding party piling inside, whereupon they rolled Tommy in the bedsheets, carried him downstairs to the hotel pool, and threw him in. Anna, having been forewarned, stood in the doorway of the little bathroom and laughed at the antics, while downstairs the hotel staff were on hand to fish Tommy out and help him disengage from the sopping-wet sheets. It seemed Tommy was the only person in the whole place who was ignorant of this particular Azurean wedding tradition, and the concierge chuckling as he explained that it was supposed to be the ocean was no help.

Shenanigans complete, Tommy found himself shut out of his room by the bridesmaids, who had taken it over. Fortunately Ricky was up to the task and had already secured his tuxedo and trimmings in his room. The morning passed slowly, once Tommy had showered and gotten the chlorine out of his ears; at some point the photographer and videographer passed through and got some posed shots of him with his groomsmen, and at intervals they received updates about Anna’s progress from one of the groomsmen who was married to one of the bridesmaids.

The venue was perhaps Tommy’s favorite part of the whole day; a centuries-old villa, reappointed as a country bed-and-breakfast, located on a windswept beach in rural Aho, amid vineyards and stucco houses. Once it had belonged to a scion of the Silva dynasty, the same Silvas as Janice who’d come to their table two nights hence. Moreover, it owned its own piece of the coast, with a small boathouse and a speedboat just visible from the gazebo where they conducted the ceremony. Though Tommy and Anna had steered clear of a maritime wedding, despite their apparently rampant popularity in Cabo, they’d been unable to resist incorporating the sea into their ceremony somehow.

The venue was perhaps Tommy’s favorite part of the whole day–until he saw the dress. Anna’s wedding dress had been something of a mystery to him throughout the process. She’d said she had it handled, but he’d never noticed her escaping with a large contingent of bridesmaids or any gaps in her schedule that would account for dress shopping, not that he was keeping tabs on her. He’d expected something extravagant, and was quite surprised when Anna stood in front of him in a simple, knee-length garment. She looked beautiful, this was never in doubt, but he hoped she hadn’t spared any expense, because they’d budgeted for–oh

It was his ava’s dress. He recognized it from the Polaroid, and here came the waterworks. In setting up this ceremony, they’d had to balance respecting Tommy’s Azurean heritage while not seeming to pander or reduce a whole country with centuries of history. Anna in particular had walked a fine line between wanting what she wanted as the bride and adhering to custom as a stranger in a strange land. The dress struck that balance perfectly and–damn, had his father been in on this? He must have been. The old man still had some tricks. Tatianna, too, since she was the only one who might have known where the dress was.

by **Cassadaigua** » Tue Apr 25, 2023 1:39 pm

Crucial win, though things not decided,
by Caitlyn Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

After playing San Isidro Labrador to a draw, Team Cassadaigua was in a situation where they could ill afford to drop any points to Aerágny as they made the trip to Dewayo, the first match for the team away from North Rock Stadium. The result put them three points behind that group rival with one less game played. Of likely more importance is the fact that Ceni, the nation in the group would would seem to be our toughest foe was only a point behind us. You must finish in the top two in order to make the knockouts, and it would not look good for Chen Huikang on his first competitive assignment with the team to take the lead of the #3-ranked team in the competition and not have them advance to knockouts. That is something that Huikang would survive, but it could be a lot different for the players. The final match for the Fillies is against Ceni, so there could be absolutely no let down against Aerágny. Fortunately, the team got the message.

Unlike last time, the pink and black did not run into a goalkeeper who simply stole the show. No one knows what the name of the Aerágny keeper is, or the names of any of their players. I talked to some beat writers of the nations that already played Aerágny up to this point, and they were unclear on what their names were as well. They did play in the last World Cup, and the Cup of Harmony, and their keeper then was a 33-year old named Odês Victorya éys, but no one felt comfortable enough to say that was the same person in goal, even if they tried to compare the faces of the two. Regardless, the Fillies needed to win, and they wanted to jump on their opponent early. This is something that we have seen in each of these Copa Rushmori games so far. There is no looking to get familiar with an opponent by Chen Huikang, he simply pushes forward right away. Now, eventually, you can't always do this because the opponents will prepare for it and be ready to catch you in a counter attack right away. And that might start with our very next opponent, because those people from Ceni are very smart people, indeed.

This time, the push forward was successful, with the team needing only three minutes before Shannon Cunningham opened up the scoring. It was a good overall set up of crisp passing, and it seemed to be drawn up for Cunningham to do exactly what she did, slip in between the two center-backs and for Lacey Sherwood to hit her in perfect stride. Once with the ball, Shannon put it right underneath the crossbar, to make it 1-0 in favor of Cassadaigua. While the team almost got caught flat footed soon after that, they were bailed out by a big save by Stacie Thornton to keep the game at 1-0. If that went in, the whole complexion of the game may have changed, but the team seemed to take heart to the false alarm of a potential equalizer in the ninth minute, and began to reassert their control of the ball. In the 17th minute, Shannon Cunningham was again the goal scorer, again working a nice passing play with Lacey Sherwood to make it 2-0. If you sit back and analyze how this goal was scored, it might look a lot like the first one. Maybe Aerágny was too focus on Lexi McGregor and didn't give Cunningham the type of respect that the Alino star deserves, but here it was clear that there are plenty of people on this team who can put the ball in the net. Before we would make it to the halfway point, the pink and black would put the ball in the net two more times, with Kaitlin Millikan scoring in the 33rd minute, and then Lexi McGregor getting her first of the game in the 43rd. All of the metrics to analyze a game favored the Dagans in a big way, and the score showed that.

One thing that team will need to work on, is coming out flat for the second half. Many who watched the first 45 minutes would have been surprised by the way our team played, and we joked in the press box that maybe that one side of the field had a magnet towards it, because it seemed to be where all the action was. Unfortunately, the team didn't get the message when Aerágny scored in the 54th minute, but when the found the back of the net again in the 59th, Chen Huikang showed a side of him that I imagine we will be seeing more of in the future, but as of yet, we had not seen it. Of course, by that, I mean the animated side of him, to get the team fired back up again because they certainly needed the wake up call. The message was delivered, but not before we saw both of the Engle twins make their first appearances of the Copa Rushmori. That is something that really got the Fillies fans in the crowd on their feet, and the entire team was energized. Lauren and Chrissy would replace Krystal Sherwin and Jenna Stokley in the midfield, and Huikang would also replace Alyssa Marlin with Brianna Ward. Up front, everything remained the same.

This would be the first game action where the Engles were on the pitch with Shannon Cunningham and Lexi McGregor, and that is something that we may be seeing for at least a decade going forward. These two made the most of their opportunity, and soon enough, the action was in our favor. That made fans a little less worried about whether or not we were going to blow the lead, and all concerns were erased when Shannon Cunningham completed her first international hat trick, on a 74th minute goal from a corner kick that was well delivered by Chrissy Engle. We will have to wait at least one more game to talk about one of the Engles scoring their first senior team goal, but in the 83rd the scoring was finished off by Lacey Sherwood, who had a very strong game overall, and she certainly deserved to get her name on the scoresheet. Overall, it is a nice 6-2 win for the team, and also nice to see that they don't need Lexi McGregor to get a ton of goals all the time.

After the game, I asked Lauren Engle what it was like to get into one of these games. She told me that. "This is where it all can start. I am honored to get out there and represent Cassadaigua. I figured that I would get a chance at some point based on my conversations with coach Chen, and to hear the roar of the crowd was great. Most importantly, we were able to get the momentum right back in this game, and pick up the three points." I also asked Shannon Cunningham to talk about her hat trick a little bit, "They're always fun to get, and in this game, I really feel like we took it to them, other than for that fifteen or so minute period in the second half. It's a game that I will certainly remember for a long time on an individual level, but for the team, getting wins are much more important."

Now, we can look at the table again, and see the Fillies now even with San Isidro Labrador, as they were on their bye day. They finish off against Aerágny, and I would expect they'll get at least a point out of that. We finish against Ceni, who is still a point behind us. Should we lose, we are probably done, unless Aerágny also wins. Based on how they looked tonight, I would not count on that happening. A win or even a draw sees us through to the round of sixteen.

Let's get it done!!!

by **Oberour Ar Moro** » Tue Apr 25, 2023 10:28 pm

The number one and number two teams in Group Lee Sharp are preparing for the last match of the group stage. Oberour Ar Moro wants four wins out of four, while Mytanija probably needs a result to qualify for the Group of Sixteen.

A History of License Plates in the Dominion: Part Four

The purpose of license plates ultimately is about public safety. They help the gendarmerie identify vehicles, they make it easier to locate stolen cars, they help witnesses distinguish vehicles that may have been involved in crimes or suspicious activities. How much influence the gendarmerie has on license plate design has waxed and waned throughout history. In 1667 the needs of the gendarmerie came foremost in a way they never had before.

The major obvious change was in design. White characters on black backgrounds provide a high level of contrast and are also easy to read in most lighting conditions. It may not create the most visually interesting design, but it served a utilitarian purpose. Also ended was dividing plates by office of issue. The gendarmerie had requested, and were granted, the right to issue registration numbers themselves.

To reduce costs, the Ministry for Transportation ended the tradition of producing a new license plate with a new design every year. Every vehicle would receive one set of plates. To keep their registrations legal vehicle owners would now purchase metal tabs showing the year of eligibility and affix them into slots on the plate. To distinguish that the tabs were current they would feature different combinations of colors each year. The 1667 tab was white text on bronze colored metal, while 1668 tab would be yellow text on green colored metal.

Despite making functionality the most important aspect of license plates at this time, the albatross design remained. It now divided the initial three letters and the last four digits.

by **Elmyia** » Wed Apr 26, 2023 2:12 am

The Beaucester Gazette
Watching Elmyia 3-2 Pasarga in Alond
Small village reveals the shifting tides

Alond is not the usual setting to which reporters are usually sent. Particularly not for a football story. One of the many small villages that populate the east Elmyian countryside, it is perhaps somewhere used to being overlooked. The local football team plies its trade down in the third tier. The people are predominantly Italian or English speaking, it is the Elmyian stereotype of a community where everything is organised around their own part of the community. They drink at seperate pubs, they worship at seperate churches, attend seperate schools and are buried in seperate graveyards. An impressive level of divide in a settlement of slightly over 1,000 people. But, in watching Elmyia bag their greatest result in a Group Stage ever, it was possible to feel that some of these things may no longer be true.

The new political consensus after the election has been dominated by parties preaching an Elmyian identity, of seeking integration between the three largely separate communities. Much focus has been on the big population centres, places in Mosfleet and Beaucester are definitely becoming more mixed, things seem to be moving forward in some of the larger towns too. But it is assumed places like Alond, over an hour from Estdalle, let alone the major centres, might be immune to this. Speaking to people around the village, the families have lived here for nearly hundreds of years, working the same farms and trades. One resident claimed his family had been here "since the Norman settlement, and we've never spoken a word to anyone Italian here." There was a general feeling that no one had particularly had the desire too, though they claimed there was little or no animus.

One thing you'll notice if you go to Alond is that it is quite hard to reach. Taking the train out to Estdalle from out Beaucester office is easy enough, an hour and a half away. Then things get tricky. Firstly, if you do drive it's over an hour away, including down some dirt tracks. If you don't drive, you have to wait for the bus, which comes twice a day and drives around what feels like every village in the east of the country. We were lucky enough to grab a lift from Jeremy Ayland, chairman of Alond FC. On a cool december evening it felt frosty going over the steep hills that dominate the landscape, but eventually we came down the valley to the village.

Jeremy was an effervescant host, keen not only to show off the rennovations to the ground (proper floodlights, 4G artifical turf and club bar) but the town in general. The houses round the edge are ramshackle, built of stone that appears chipped and worn by the weather. The churches are both beautiful, incidentally, and the central square is attractive, although the borders seem to spill red dust out onto the pavements in quantity. Whilst there's clearly a divide between Italian tabernas and English inns, Jeremy is quick to show off that the football scarfs in the windows are now mostly Alond ones. This isn't just him showing off his small clubs pulling power, but also that they are no longer flying the colours of Albion and Italia. The two Mosfleet clubs draw their fanbases from across the country, from both the English and Italian speaking groups.

We sit down at one of the bars, just inside so we can catch the game on the screen. People appear to be crowding in, and Jeremy starts talking to another patron in Sabir, a pigdin language coming back into vogue that allows people to communicate. The bar is a tapestry of local characters, mostly farmers and farm workers, there's a lot of overalls and mud on the floor.

The game itself certainly helped liven the atmosphere. It was a thrilling contest, Porras' mantra that defence is the best form of attack produced a performance that was by equal measure thrilling and terrifying. The old man on the bar next to us looked like he was about to have kittens "I'm not used to this" he admitted, "where's the bleeding sweeper?" The younger viewers seemed a lot more at ease with the risk and reward involved.

One notable thing was the lack of people between the ages of 18 and 30. Jeremy demurred, "yeah, we're used to people leaving for work," being so isolated and rural, most young people go. Sure the odd one might stay to help on the farm, but Alond lacks the infrastructure to hold onto the rest. When asked most people told us to shut up because they were watching the game. After the game they were more forthcoming, the nearest hospital is over an hour away, the schools are underfunded and the kids remain underprepared for the world of work. The roads are a joke, if you're out of work you rely on your neighbours not the state and there's nothing much to do around town.

At 2-2 you could cut tension with a knife, without Freschi Elmyia looked like they could be cut through at any time. So, when Galli out the game to bed in the 89th minute, clipping the ball through the keepers legs, the joy experienced was enormous. You couldn't tell anyone there that they weren't Elmyian first. We might kid ourselves otherwise, but life might not be standing still in places like this too much longer.

Copa Rushmori XLIII (IC Everything Thread)

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