World Cup 94 [roleplays]

by **Brusseldorf** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 8:09 am

Match Reports

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Brusseldorf 3-1 United Hawkland
July 7th

After a slow start, it was the home side that made the first move, a 20th minute header from Giroud Sidi giving Brusseldorf a 1-0 lead. Despite a spirited effort from United Hawkland, Brusseldorf continued to dictate the flow of the game. The Hawkland defense seemed to struggle to contain the Brusseldorf's front three, and their resistance was eventually broken in the 78th minute when Sidi once again showcased his aerial prowess, rising above the Hawkland defenders to head the ball into the net, extending Brusseldorf's lead to 2-0. Brusseldorf's control of the game was confirmed in the 85th minute when Santa Dominguez calmly slotted home a clinical finish, making the score 3-0. Despite a late consolation goal from Vincent Telerman, Brusseldorf emerged victorious with a final score of 3-1. Brusseldorf now looks ahead to their next challenge against Kharakia.

Elsewhere in the group, Mertagne has bounced back from their 3–4 loss to Brusseldorf with two wins on the trot, taking the underperforming side up to seventh place in the group. Ázëwyn Fëanáro will be looking to keep up the momentum for a late climb into the playoff spots. At the top they will find Acastanha, who have the lead for the moment, but may find it hard to stave off the more experienced Pasargan side, led by Mytanar newcomer Zachary Orengo.

by **Pemecutan** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 8:38 am

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4

KARANGANYAR

Karanganyar Kingdom
Puri Agung Karanganyar
ca. 1351 - 1766 AD

Royal banner

Capital       Karanganyar
              (present day Karanganyar, Puradhipa)
Languages     Girinese
Religion      Dharma Tirtha
Government    Mandala state ruled by Maharaja
King
1351 - 1379   Ki Karang Arum
1426 - 1433   Ki Mala Surat
1567 - 1596   Ki Muncuk Dawa
1648 - 1678   Ki Praja Murthi
1720 - 1766   Ki Alit Nabe
Preceded by   Tegeh Kori Kingdom
Suceded by    Pemecutan Kingdom

Part of a series on the
History of Pemecutan

Timeline
Stone Age
Bronze Age
Apit Yeh Culture
To Langkir
Balingkang
Kawi (Gunung Kawi)
Payangan
Apuan
East Jambuvan Kingdom (467-550)
Campuan (532-976)
Pejanggik (808-1227)
Tegeh Kori (976-1351)
Karanganyar (1351-1766)
Pemecutan (1766-1909)

Karanganyar or officially Karanganyar Kingdom (Girinese: Puri Agung Karanganyar) was a Girinese thalassocratic kingdom that was based on Giri Island (modern-day Pemecutan). It is existed from 1351 to circa 1766 and reached its peak glory during the reign of Ki Mala Surat. According to Babad Giri Karang, Karanganyar Kingdom controlled more area than its predecessor. They were adding present-day Khurtubh in Southern Palm Islands, all of Yuhansa Islands and almost all of Cendana Islands except southern Sambojo Island. They were also engaged in trade with further kingdoms such as Gapo and Duko in present-day Kieraha and Ziwana Empire. Karanganyar was the last major Sanatana Dharma kingdom in central Mandalanusa and considered the greatest kingdom of classical Pemecutan.

Etymology

The name Karanganyar derives from Girinese, meaning "New Land", karang means land and anyar means new. The naming was believe as a marked of a new era in the area. And also because the location of the capital change once again. Puri Karanganyar, the royal palace, was located southeast of Tegeh Kori Palace, on the right bank of the River Pacung, While Tegeh Kori Palace was on the left bank of the river. The palace location is more closer to Pacung Lake, around 3 km south.

Formation

Karanganyar Kingdom was formed after an agreement made the 3 princes involved in Succession War 1348-1351. The agreement which was signed in Kubayan Village (present-day Peguyangan) agreed the split of Tegeh Kori Kingdom into 3 area. The oldest prince, Ki Karang Arum was given the center of the kingdom which he then named Karanganyar.

First King, Ki Karang Arum

As stated on the agreement, despite splitting, all 3 kingdoms were united under the realm of Karanganyar as the leader of all 3. During his reigned, he tried to resolved the situation created by the 3 years war. He wanted all parties to reconcile and all the noblemen to unite to develop the kingdoms further. To achieved it, Ki Karang Arum had to give more power to the noblemen to govern their land and possession as a bargain for them. Historian believes that this move is the initial process of Karanganyar change into a mandala state. Many petty kingdoms, princely states and small rajas emerge after the decision.

Expansion Period

With the stability of the home ground, the King of Karanganyar begin to think for conquest. Third king, Ki Jaya Manggala was the one who initiate such move. With the rest of Majegau Islands already submit to Karanganyar suzerainty, he looks further abroad. Cendana Islands was his first target. The area was still ruled by a lot of small petty kingdoms which scattered around its islands after the fall of Pejanggik and Tegeh Kori. He wanted to insert Karanganyar influence there. With the help of his trusted general, Ki Balang Tebu, they succees to controlled most of Cendana Islands except Sambojo Island. Manggala die in 1426 before his vision to unite Cendana Islands under Karanganyar rule can be fulfilled.

Manggala's vision was continued by his son, Ki Mala Surat. After taking the throne, Mala Surat commanded General Ki Balang Tebu to take away Sambojo Island. He success to do so in 759 Pawukon (1431 AD). Mala Surat made a greater vision of a glorious Karanganyar. He commands his general to conquered nearby islands. One by one petty kingdoms were fall under his great army and powerful general. Karanganyar possess Yuhansa Islands, Mitra and Soma Islands and western part of present-day Southern Palm Islands in his last years of reigned. His accomplishment creates the largest kingdom in Pemecutan classical history. After his death, the next king was reluctant to continue the conquest as the noblemen revolt over a huge tax paid by them for the former king's great vision.

Karanganyar during its peak extent.

Historian however are divided in interpreting the manuscript of Babad Giri Karang in the part of this conquest. Some argue that Karanganyar was not officially took the entity that they conquered but only made them as their vassal or puppet state. While other believe that they were really took control over the entities that they conquered. Despite the different view, historian still agree that Karanganyar was the greatest kingdom in Pemecutan history.

Foreign Powers

Around mid-16th century, Karanganyar made contact with foreign nations from other regions. The first foreign country to have contact with Karanganyar was Lusitan Empire in 993 Pawukon (1566 AD) where they already established a trading post in Porto Espinhosa. They made a trade deal where Karanganyar merchants were given permission to trade in Porto Espinhosa while Lusitan merchants were welcome in Karanganyar's port, Loloan Agung (present-day Jematang).

In 1063 Pawukon (1606 AD), Karanganyar Royal Court welcomed an envoy from Holanda Empire. And later in 1187 Pawukon (1678 AD), the Anglia explorer reached Karanganyar. All of them have a friendly relationship at first.

The Rise of Islam and Cendana revolution

Islam actually have entered central Mandalanusa around 15th century. This can be seen by the presence of Baghdarian traders and merchants in the area. It spreading in classical Pemecutan thanks to Gapo and Duko merchants that were trading in Majegau and Cendana Islands. A local religion name, Wektu Telu is also spreading around this time. Wektu Telu is establish with the assimilation of Dharma Tirtha teaching and Islam. The usual 5 times praying in Islam is reduce to only 3 times just like how the Dharma Tirtha believers do. This is done so Islam teaching can be easily adopted by the locals. This teaching was spread vastly in Cendana Islands especially in the western part (present-day Cakranegara and Gili Anakan).

However in 16th century, a movement to spread the real Islam was initiate in Sambojo Island which influence by the rise of Bojo Sultanate there. This movement and teaching is called Wektu Limo, refer to the 5-times praying in Islam. Bojo Sultanate sultans were also gave resistance to the ruling Karanganyar. They were the first entity in Cendana Islands to breakaway from Karanganyar vassalization. With their Wektu Limo teaching, they spread their influence outside Sambojo Island. In 1071 Pawukon (1611 AD), they success to take away some of the nearby island and establish a puppet kingdom, Selaparang Kingdom. Both of them were joined together to fight Karanganyar presence in Cendana Islands. In 1118 Pawukon (1638 AD), they made a pact with Holanda Empire to help them in a war against Karanganyar. Karanganyar failed to defend their presence in Cendana Islands. A large exodus happened. Most of them were Dharma Tirtha and Bodha believers who were afraid to stay longer in Cendana Islands. Karanganyar King at the time placed them in Balumbang Island where they established their own kingdom named Rarungan (from Girinese word 'rarud' which means to move or to migrate).

Karanganyar made an attempt to retook Cendana Islands with the help of Anglia. They marched to Cendana Islands in 1245 Pawukon (1711 AD) and made a landfall in northern Saka Island. The war success to controlled some of western part of Cendana Islands. Holanda, who lead the Bojo-Selaparang combine army were afraid that they would lose their influence in Cendana Islands and agree to talks. Cendana Islands was then split between Holanda and Anglia sphere of influence. The islands of Saka, Praya Islands and Anakan Islands were given to Anglia under Karanganyar watched while Selaparang and Sambojo Island were under Holanda sphere of influence.

Karanganyar and its core realm in Giri Island

Sudden Collapsed

After the Cendana Takeover, situation in Karanganyar was very calm. Nothing much was happened aside from the death of the king and the coronation of the new king, Ki Alit Nabe in 1260 Pawukon (1720 AD). He was the 15th king of Karanganyar and in his early reigned was marked by a prosperous time. As he already has a son, he betroths his daughters to other princes within the sphere of influence of the kingdom. One of his daughters, Nyi Pancaswari was betrothed to Prince Ki Sabda from Puri Pemecutan which was the king's second cousin. Ki Alit Nabe agree with the plan and the betroth continued. Suddenly, an envoy from Mangu Kingdom, one of his vassals, came to the court and ask the king to marrying Nyi Pancasari with prince of Mangu and the current heir. Realized with the more important of strengthening the relationship with Mangu Kingdom (because Mangu frequently opposes to Karanganyar's decisions in almost everything), the King decided to accept the marriage proposal. Nyi Pancaswari also didn't give any objection. But as the betroth between Nyi Pancaswari and Ki Sabda Bayu was cut off, Puri Pemecutan gives a cold shoulder to the king.

A month before the marriage of Nyi Pancaswari and Prince of Mangu, Pemecutan army together with army from Tamba clan attacked Karanganyar Palace. The sudden attacks overwhelmed the palace guards while the backup army was delayed outside the city. All of the royal family were captured. The King was arrested by Ki Sangga Geni of Pemecutan. Realized his wrongdoing, Ki Alit Nabe surrendered and let Ki Sangga Geni to kill him. Ki Sangga Geni usurped the throne and banished Karanganyar Royal Family from the kingdom. Ki Semara Bayu, the son of Ki Alit Nabe and real heir to the throne was sent in exiled to Sadha Island before he was moved to Batubulan Island. The sudden change made the noblemen and vassals oppose with such change. The most vocal was Petty King of Satria. By the time Ki Sangga Geni announced his coronation and the establishment of Pemecutan Kingdom, Petty King of Satria announced his independence from the newly created Pemecutan Kingdom.

View of Kori Agung, inner gate of Karang Tamu Palace

Legacy

Despite becoming the greatest kingdom in classical Pemecutan, Karanganyar left almost no trace. The Palace of Karanganyar was burned to the ground following the attacks of Pemecutan and Tamba armies. The only left is the Family's Temple and still preserved until this day.

Karanganyar Royal Family was revoked their nobility during their exile in Batubulan. In 1359 Pawukon (1777 AD), the family nobility was restored to a rank of a prince and Ki Semara Bayu was officially given the title Prince of Karang Tamu with the domain in Batubulan Island.

There is a rumor that during his escaped (before being exiled to Sadha Island), Ki Semara Bayu was hiding in Satria and had a relationship with Nyi Anggersari, Princess of Satria. The relationship produces a son. The King of Satria then give a land to the child which then become Principality of JroKuta.

Karanganyar coins, known as kepeng, are found almost everywhere in the region noticing the vast reached of Karanganyar merchant traders. The coin was made out of copper.

The fall of Karanganyar make ways to the rise of small states within Pemecutan. The numbers varies and at one time reached almost 100 entities. These states reduced greatly during the colonial period although most of them are still survived until this day and become the states of Pemecutan.

View of part of Pura Dadia Agung Karanganyar, Karanganyar family temple

by **PotatoFarmers** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 9:37 am

Poafmersia 1–1 Commonwealth of Baker Park
Goalscorers: Jordan Huerta 67' (assisted by Tessa Bjarnesen)
Lineup (4-3-3): Nicole Potts; Kilikina Lee, Nacro Astro, Cindy Oriol, Xenophon Robson; Erle Sartini, Min Berg, Aapeli Shea (c); Tessa Bjarnesen, Jordan Huerta, Jackson Handris
Substitutes: Nikkita Alfaro (Oriol 79'), Taliah Alcock (Bjarnesen 84')

Aust Scor 1–0 Poafmersia
Goalscorers: None
Lineup (4-3-3): Nicole Potts; Kilikina Lee, Diamond Byan, Cindy Oriol, Xenophon Robson; Erle Sartini, Min Berg, Aapeli Shea (c); Tessa Bjarnesen, Dagur Lawrence, Jackson Handris
Substitutes: Jordan Huerta (Lawrence 60'), Leontiy Seet (Handris 64')

Poafmersia 0–0 South Americanastan
Goalscorers: None
Lineup (4-3-3): Nicole Potts; Kilikina Lee, Kelefe Hans, Cindy Oriol, Xenophon Robson; Magreta Rym, Sylvia Fusco, Aapeli Shea (c); Tessa Bjarnesen, Dagur Lawrence, Jackson Handris
Substitutes: Lesia Astrauskas (Rym 67'), Agapito Murphy (Lawrence 79'), Leontiy Seet (Handris 79')

95X 0–1 Poafmersia
Goalscorers: Aapeli Shea 18'
Lineup (4-3-3): Nicole Potts; Kilikina Lee, Kelefe Hans, Cindy Oriol, Xenophon Robson; Lesia Astrauskas, Sylvia Fusco, Aapeli Shea (c); Tessa Bjarnesen, Agapito Murphy, Jackson Handris
Substitutes: Erle Sartini (Shea 70'), Taliah Alcock (Bjarnesen 82')

Change: Two Decades of International Football in Poafmersia
Part 2

"If you ask us, we believe that Poafmersia's performances thus far are not as alarming as the results show."

"You need to convince us a bit there. There is no way you are serious - we are currently 4th in the group, 1 point behind 3rd place Aust Scor, who, by the way, is the 9th seed, and 8 points of the top placed Baker Park. Sure, we have a game in hand, but just look at the series of results we had - winless at home, losing away at Aust Scor, what do you want us to expect?"

To say that you want to bring in "staistical analysis" into the discussion of sports is not exactly something everyone can accept. Even if OptaPoaf is the "magician" for most of the people in the multiverse, it might not have the same impact for everyone. Neither Lu Jialan nor Jabik Henderson could understand what the team statisticans were trying to get at by explaining that the team's position was not a "terrible position".

"Okay, so first of all, against your direct competitors, you have made an away win against Farfadillis and a home draw against Baker Park, is that right?"

"Um, yes, but the remainder of the schedule?"

"We will get to it. Next, you noticed that Poafmersia's 2 losses were against lower level opponents, namely the 4th seeds Xanneria, and the 9th seeds Aust Scor, yes?"

"Sure?"

"But those teams aren't your direct competitiors. Xanneria, for example, has been failing to win much at home either, drawing 2 games and loosing 2 games. Aust Score is slightly punching above their weight now, but many teams proved that they can be won. Bottom side Pluvia and the Saxean Isles have drawn them, Rincurd and 95X have beat them. For Farfadillis and Baker Park, we did our job by denying them maximum points. They have to play each other, and Farfadillis has to play Aust Scor."

"Sounds like using math to deny the fact that we are dropping points where we aren't supposed to be dropping," added in Jabik Henderson, trying to speak for Lu who was probably speechless at the spate of statistics spam he was facing for the first time in his career.

"No, I am not denying it. Its true that these games should have been winnable, but that is the purpose of the player report we are showing you every match. Some players are not working with each other - for example, the coordination between Diamond Byan and Nacro Astro is not there, and both senior players cannot synergise with each other in CB because both are more of a stopper rather than take charge of ball-handling and playing the ball forward and sideward. You need someone like Cindy Oriol or Kelefe Hans to be pairing with one of them. As for the front, some players synergise better which each other, and the report also made suggestions about when some players should be subbed out, which you have been trying to do in recent games. Apart from the shock late winner by the Aust Scor team, the rest of the games have generally been decent. Maybe you have to go slightly more offensive against some opponents where we shouldn't, but this has been picked up by our report and this is part of the backend analysis we do as well."

"I am still missing the point as to why our position isn't 'as bad' as we are saying it is."

"Because we believe a lot of these results can be overcomed in the next few weeks. When we play the reverse fixtures, we can catch a lot of points if some of the proposed changes are made. We can probably tie down which players have chemistry with each other, and which players should start alongside each other."

The conversation rounds off slightly from there, but it is clear that Lu and Henderson are trying to adapt to this new way of managing the team. A lot of the human "gut feeling" continues to be in play, but some are getting supported by statistical analysis. Not only that, the analysis is trying to bring up other points which the "gut feeling" have not felt. While neither coaches have been accepting these statistical analysis as "correct", they are starting to see how these pieces of advice can be adapted in their team decisions. And conversations like the ones above have become more and more commonplace. Not just for Lu and Henderson to understand the stats, but also for the OptaPoaf statisticans to understand the more human side of sports. How coaches have their own feeling about a player's performance and how the "feeling" can be incorporated in the system to assist the team to improve their system.

Poafmersia looks at the next two games against the 9th and the 11th in the group. The target set is all 6 points so as to overtake Aust Scor - the team understands that Aust Scor has difficult games away at Lozho and Farfadillis and they are unlikely to keep their table position. Thus far, Henderson has been trying to do a lot of the mathematical understanding of the fixtures and the other teams' performances. He even asked for a direct access to the lookup sheet that his previous coach, Adnan Suliaha, liked to use. Previously, he knew Adnan has been a huge fan of the Team Lookup Spreadsheet as it helped the team to decide permutations on the go. While OptaPoaf has been trying to improve the system to make the calculations more "input-free", he has preferred for the original version available to public - just so as to make fixture analysis decisions on his own. When asked about it casually by the OptaPoaf statisticans, he always mentions how the cleaner UI interface is something useful for everyone to look at fixtures, their table position, and predicted rankings. "Cleaner and easier than the beta version you gave us," he said. To OptaPoaf, this was a massive headache they have been trying to solve for the past 2 months. With no product to showcase, they secretly decided to release the clean lookup sheet for public use.

Is too much statistics bad for everyone? You be the judge.

by **Kimi-Suomi** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 9:48 am

Last time out...wasn't as fun for the Huuhkajat of Kimi-Suomi as they slumped to 1 point from 2 games and 4th in the Group 9 table. We started so well but had now hit a snag and we're now in desperate need of some sort of mini-revival to get our season back on track. Esko Laaksonen absolutely hated this, hated seeing his Huuhkajat slump after what they started with, and he was reasonably angry to see his ambitions rot away into the ground...but could he turn it around? Was it actually possible?

Up first was one of the more highly-anticipated clashes of the campaign as Pesä would host the 1st Pöllöjen Taistelu between the Huuhkajat of Kimi-Suomi and the Snowy-Owls of Tikariot. Brian McAllister's team entered The Nest as the undisputed leaders of this group and we knew we were in for a tough ask...but what we ended up with was a chaotic game that told a lot about both teams. Things started off quietly but then it turned into madness with a 21st-minute goal for Daniel Sankalin was responded to by Kimi Airo in the 27th, which was then responded to by a hattrick by Hamish Stainthorpe within 14 minutes. 4-1 at HT was absolutely crazy and things got more chaotic as Mika Noronen scored 2 in 7 minutes to make it 4-3 but there wasn't an inch of nervousness from the visitors and a goal from substitute Graydon Muir in the 78th would finish this wacky contest at 3-5. What a game...but it was still a loss.

Then we travelled to face a returning Devontan Yhdysvallat [United States of Devonta] side - a team that hasn't been here since WC89.. We expected to try and bounce back here and it started so well with an early brace from Valtteri Nordström put us 2-0 up after 20 minutes, but one player from USD responded with a brilliant hattrick to give his side an unexpected lead entering halftime. Then we began trading a bit as goals from Maria Tuominen and Teemu Räikkönen would counter the goal from the hosts to make it 4-4 with 20 minutes to go. We scored our 5th of the game in the 85th minute, a towering header from Heli Rautavaara that many thought was the winner - but USD had something to say about that and they would seal an ultimate equaliser in the 90+4th minute...crushing us once more. 5-5. Even in a game like this, we cannot win.

From 9 from a possible 12 to 2 from the next 12, our hopes are now in freefall...and we don't know why this has happened? Did we burn out? Did the opposition simply outplay us before our bye? They are questions we will have to take into the final fortnight of the first half as we host Uusi Dascos [New Dascos] before heading out Chromatika to face the Pot 1 team in this group. Things aren't looking good right now...but we have to keep fighting. NOSTA KUIN HUUHKAJAT!

by **Eshialand** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 11:06 am

A Decision by the People

"Well, Kevin, today's the big day..."

All across Eshialand, polling stations opened up for the second time in the past year... although this time, it was not to decide who would lead the country, but where it would be led. Specifically, should the nation "rift" to another region, or remain in the same home its people had always known?

For many, this would not be an easy decision. The prospect of a whole new world to discover and explore was an extremely enticing one, but one that opened up a massive can of political worms that some just couldn't ignore. Combine that with the risks of using very experimental science that may or may not kill a fair few Eshians, and well... that's a lot to take for a nation that wasn't exactly known for having normal, stable politics.

"I'm sure everything will work out, William. Our ad campaigns seem to have convinced a lot of people, all that's left to do is see what they decide, and hope that your scientists have rifting completely figured out before the time comes to actually go through with it..."

"Relax, Dr. Johnstone's made a ton of progress. Things will surely be fine..."

"I do trust him, but what I'm worried about is the things you can't predict... what could go wrong..."

"Heh, and I'm worried about what could go wrong on the political side, Kevin. I know what's going on with the science, I know all of this is under control. And you know what's going on on the political end, you have that under control. Together, this is all gonna be just fine... wait, crap!"

"What is it?"

"The polls close in five minutes, and I forgot to cast my vote!"

"You dunce..."

When they arrived at the nearest polling site, the king barely slipped through the doors as they were about to close. He looked at the ballot in front of him, with two checkboxes, one labelled "Stay in our region" and the other "Rift to another"... he checked off the second and put the ballot into the box. His vote was cast, and as those doors shut behind him, so were everyone else's. Now, it was just time to see how everything would shake out...

by **Valanora** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 11:07 am

You're visiting the Hatire Memorial on the tropical island of Capri, you've already visited the toiletries to deal with the according business there, but you are feeling a bit peckish before the match is about to start. You decide to head to one of the stadiums concession stands to partake in some cuisine before the match or to take with you to your seat, but you are not sure what they will be serving up! Well, this is a common occurrence for many visiting the Eternal Empire from abroad for football matches, as they are welcomed to Vanorian shores but have not a clue about the cuisine that they might find and be consuming upon their arrival in our fair nation. This even sometimes happens within our own nation depending upon what region the traveling fans are coming from and where the match will be taking place, also the season does play a contributing factor on what meals will be on hand to partake in. A hearty stew in the middle of the summer period is not going to go over all that well after all and will be sure to be a sunk cost and result in much food going to waste, which would be quite the sin for Vanorian culture.

The Vanorian diet typically involves a heavy consumption of soups as well as fish, which do not always mix when moving to a stadium setting, particularly in the more warm environments like the island of Capri or Sabine and Caddonia. In the city of Capri, the largest city on the island of the same name for those unaware, there is an unique delicacy that can be found year round, though not in great quantities. That of course is the (in)famous shark fin stew, a stew that is made after drawing a broth from boiling a fin from one of the local sharks that populate the warm waters between the island and the mainland of Arrosia. In addition to the broth, there a chunks of potatoes, peas, green beans, celery pieces, as well as whole kernal corn. In a similar vein, there is fish head soup, which like the shark stew derives its name from how the broth of the soup is created, with various vegetables and noodles added into the mixture depending upon the season.

While these two local delights can be found around Capri, what of the Eternal Empire as a whole, is there any staple food that you might be able to find across the entirety of the realm regardless of the season? Well the answer is yes, there is at least one meal that you can find nearly everywhere in the Empire without cause for concern of climate or time of year. That of course is the staple of fish and chips, also sometimes known as fish and fries depending upon your dialect. With the primary choice of meat for the average Vanorian diet and the plethora of prime fishing locations with major rivers and surrounded by oceans, fish are quite the common cuisine. The large farms in the southwest corner of the mainland, consisting of the "breadbasket" region that starts at Raynor City and includes Mar Sara (the main selling and buying market as well as distribution of the local produce), which have a plethora of potatoes, corn, wheat, and other assorted fruits and vegetables ensures that the staple meal of stadiums is sure to be found regardless of where you visit. If you are one who has more of a sweet tooth however, candied apples and sweet apple fruit sticks are also quite a common sight to be found and enjoyed across the entirety of the Empire. So go forth and enjoy food and football, mayhaps even catch the Marauders at the national stadium and root them on as they battle for qualification to the Finals once more.

by **Aleirave** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 11:36 am

A Long-Awaited Reunion

"WHAT did you just say Li'ana?"
"How much louder do I have to yell Pikate? They beat Zwangzug!"

The older gentleman may have been a bit hard of hearing, but that wasn't the reason why he asked his wife to repeat herself for the third time. That may've been the reason for the first two repeats, but definitely not this one! Her news was simply that unbelievable.

The big question on everyone's minds was, what was going on for the Seagulls to power this win? Not everybody had access to hearing about the private lives of the players, unlike their mainlander counterparts who seemed to have journalists prying into their lives constantly. There were a lot of things about this team that the people simply did not know about, and one of them was who was still there all along cheering them on. Haulafo Paka'ula.

The Aleiravan squad were really starting to get worried about whether or not he did care about them when they didn't see him at Port Nivoloa, so thank Margaret for Nakelia... if it weren't for her spotting Haulafo on her way home, the team probably would've lost all hope. But her chance encounter with the team's former manager restored those hopes, and reaffirmed that yes, he did love the team. Leaving them? It was a mistake... but a mistake that Haulafo wasn't really sure he could undo.

Ivan Shakarov did appear to be the better manager, judging by their results. After Sharktail's 5-2 loss to Delte, the Seagulls were left as the only undefeated team in group 3, and while how much of that performance was down to Shakarov's managing versus the team's drive and determination to impress Haulafo, that really didn't stop Mr. Shakarov from getting the biggest head on the island about it. He turned this ailing Seagulls side into global powerhouses with a real shot at World Cup Qualification, which nobody else on the island could do. Yes, Haulafo, as the head of the AFA, did have the legal ability to fire Shakarov... would he actually give up the team? What kind of stink would he try to kick up?

And it's definitely not like firing Shakarov would be popular among the island's residents. They didn't see what the team thought about him, and how much they still loved Haulafo. All they saw were results, and those results were damn good. You'd have to be a fool to fire a manager who was doing that well, right???

He and the team needed a way to get Shakarov out of here.... but how in the multiverse were they going to be able to do that?

Well, anyway, none of that mattered at this point. Haulafo was back with his family and even travelling with them to away matches, even if just as a spectator. A sense of normalcy returned, and the love that this team once had was back.

by **Huayramarca** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 11:50 am

News Compact – 26/03/1989

Written by: José Farfán
26/03/1989 – Last Updated: 10:46 A.M.

Football – World Cup 94 Qualifiers: The Huayramarcan National Team has managed to continue in a decent performance shape as of late, during the fourth fortnight of the World Cup Qualifiers, Huayramarca had to receive the always dangerous team of Jeruselem and then visit Naixi, a national team that features, so far, the best defence in the whole competition (Even leading over Ko-oren!).

Guayaquil was the selected venue for the match against Jeruselem, a venue that has a lot of meaning for Huayramarcans when it comes to matches against the naked team. World Cup 85 and 86 Qualifiers, both times had Huayramarca receiving today’s rival in need to win to aspire for any kind of WC chances, both times the Condors defeated and eliminated them from contention. The Estadio Metropolitano, although this wasn’t a life-or-death affair as before, has that enchantment for Huayramarca and haunted meanings for the Jeruselemites; said stadium looked in the best conditions after a lot of concerts, the pitch has been finally repaired and proper football can be played there without fearing injuries.

Blâás Âgínsôgnó had stated prior the match “It is nice to see that the venue has a history behind for the rivals, but we must work in prolonging those conditions, we need to assert our capabilities at home, hence we must perform in the best way possible.” Bryan Tello went in the same line “Beautiful moments here against them, for sure, but this is a different reality, we must go out there and demonstrate our capability to win this.” Players and manager alike were in the same spot basically, trying to avoid underestimations of the rival, treating them with the utmost respect possible in the pitch.

There’s an interesting fact and that one is that Huayramarca is starting to pick-up some velocity when it comes to performances, some positive results such as the 6-2 victory vs Sannyamathland and drawing against The Cherven Isles away wasn’t a bad deal, although there was a need for a statement victory for the Condors, as they were a bit behind of the leading pack at the leaderboard. Huayramarca went to the pitch, with confidence and resolution to get a win, and they did find it, but they also managed to get the so wished “statement-like victory”.

Bryan Tello is always a vital part for the team, as he opened the scoresheet in the 7^th minute with a nice shot from outside the box, something that it isn’t that common from him, but Blâás Âgínsôgnó has told him “If you have the chance to shoot, then do it and don’t hesitate.” There’s a possibility that we might see Tello doing it more often, in case he finds the way to do so. Huayramarca always tried to have the upper hand in the game, as they have tried basically in every single game of the qualifiers, through possession and suffocation of the rival team while they were running behind the ball for prolonged periods of time. As it has been proved, the wingers were also being more involved into creative duties, helping to take some of the burden out of Ian Mamani and Nicolás Allauca when needed; making the formers to transition to attacking areas more swiftly.

Jeruselem did paid a lot by not offering a lot when it comes to attacking, as Huayramarca had two chances in quick succession to turn the 1-0 into a 3-0 (Mendoza 33’, Tello 37’) and send the team to the showers with a decent advantage over their rival. “One has to be honest” said Blâás Âgínsôgnó when asked at the press conference on what happened during the first two minutes of the second-half. “Sometimes, you can get hit if you get back in the pitch with overconfidence, we need to fix that ASAP.” He is right, in fact, Jeruselem managed to score two goals at 46’ and 47’, in a drastic slicing of the advantage gathered by the Condors through the first half. Huayramarcans had to react, the manager sent Uscamayta and Alszeghy to the pitch, accompanying Tello at the front in order to have more chances up front.

Ten minutes later, Âgínsôgnó was proved right in his analysis of “overflowing the rival defence with three great finishers”, as Uscamayta was knocked into the penalty box, being able to widen-up the difference at a critical movement for Huayramarca. It wouldn’t be possible for Huayramarca to exert more domination in the match, if it wasn’t by the bright idea of letting the manager go with three forwards instead of one as it happens always. Coming the end of the match, Alszeghy received a backheel pass from Uscamayta just outside the smaller box in the area, the young promise kicked with strength and scored his second goal of the World Cup Qualifiers as the books have written, precision over style.

Huayramarca then visited Naixi, the strongest defence of the World Cup Qualifiers, and the Condors really had to struggle during the match, not because Naixi attacked consistently, they had some counterattacks but it was more of a sporadic affair, but because they were trying every method possible to break the deadlock from the home side, trying with long-range shots, filtered passing, corners, every asset that the Huayramarcan fulbo offers and it was in vain. The locals really stood like a great wall and got a valuable 0-0 draw for both sides, as Huayramarca took the point in the road and Naixi survived the storming caused by the Huayramarcan offence.

For the next fortnight of matches, Âgínsôgnó has said “we need to leave aside the excessive respect we have to rivals out there, we need to attack heavily and be consistent. It isn’t that I’m complaining for tying three away matches in the row, instead, I want the team to give that last step needed to secure a couple more victories.” When asked about Naixi, he said “I’m honestly surprised we weren’t able to score a goal, this is a team that rarely is shutdown offensively, but we have to work more to be incisive, to avoid being in a situation like this. We must understand that there are always teams that play defensively, and we need to find a way to break the wall.”

Another journalist asked Âgínsôgnó about the next couple of rivals, being those Manmeath and Pyazhnaya, he said “I don’t know Manmeath, but I take that as a warning because we need to show up our conditions and avoid relaxation, they could know about us, so we need to be unpredictable and show a different version of our skillset, a positive version of course.” Then, he added about Pyazhnaya “The Pyazhnayans are a tough team to face, another offensive side that will always try to take the ball in their control, and neutralise us, we need to keep control and avoid any kind of situation that could lead them to some sort of advantage.”

Paolo Manco, when asked about the next fortnight, he said “We need to keep up with the leader [Ko-oren], we can’t remove our foot from the gas, we must go pedal to the metal, so our chances will be in the best conditions possible.” He also added “When it comes to away matches, getting any point is always welcome, but we have had chances to win some of those matches and that’s when we’ve come to analyse that we, as a team, need to be more precise to capitalise our chances, as the rivals won’t do that with us.”

Being that said, Huayramarca will have to face Manmeath first at home, then will finish the first leg in the road against Pyazhnaya at Krasnograd for what it seems to be a splendid game against one of our neighbours at the north. As always, let’s continue to support our National Team in this World Cup Qualifier, they need our support and energies to keep in the good path, let’s echo the voices of 36 million people and push Huayramarca to the top!

Politics: The motion of no confidence against Marta Mamani has evolved into a pretty dangerous situation during the last couple of days, as the nation is about to be in a power void if the process isn’t finished as soon as the next week. Through several hours of debate, the parties at the National Assembly haven’t been able to find a way to cover up the power void, as it is a procedure that the Civic Charter didn’t consider to happen, because the current procedures mention that the Vice-President and President of the National Assembly must be in charge for that kind of situations, something that can’t happen as their terms are about to finish.

Analysts are considering that there’s need of a third way, one that will probably involve the Supreme Court of Justice as an alternative during the election time, as they are the only people whose terms aren’t about to finish in this elections, nor they are tied with political compromises, according to Tania Goycochea “the Supreme Court is the only way possible to secure power and avoid a void that could put in serious risk the institutions and society of Huayramarca from anybody having thirst of it.” Although there are some people wondering if the Supreme Court is actually capable to do such a movement, specially if it doesn’t go against their own internal rules.

Marcos Gutiérrez has said, during a TV program, that the Supreme Court “can’t take power in such a fashion because their role is to provide justice, not taking an executive role in it.” Which could “create bias for the future, as they could want more power in the future.” After having some of the versions, we decided to visit the Supreme Court and ask some of its members about the possibility of taking an executive role to prevent a power void. René Dañín, leader of the Supreme Court spoke “There’s a sacred rule for those of us who work in legal aspects, that one is to ensure the stability of the nation through the defence of the Civil Charter. If we have to take power, despite it isn’t the best way to solve a situation like this, we will do so. We were sworn to defend Huayramarca and it’s Civil Charter, that’s what we will do if given the opportunity to do it.”

In what is expected to be solved today, it is most likely that Marta Mamani and Augusto Buendía are ruled as no-confident people and, henceforth, impeached from power and banned to participate in elections for a long time. As the situation is solved, Huayramarca’s top authority could be the Supreme Court of Justice, they will organise a calendar with the Supreme Electoral Committee to proceed with the voting process as it was expected to be since the beginning, normal.

This couple of weeks will be vital for Huayramarca, as its future will be changed up and there’s a probability for a better consensus between the society on how we should limit power and its alternation, in order to avoid episodes like the current one to happen in the future. A though experience, but it will be one where, definitely, Huayramarca will emerge victorious and stronger than ever. That’s why, dear reader, we ask for your support to us in our democratic duty to provide you with the best information possible, so you help this nation to consolidate its democracy, as you get context to provide opinions in the best way possible, to build a strong society based in the respect of others. Please, consider donating to Trome in order to continue with our informative duty for Huayramarca and the Multiverse.

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by **Guanacasteca** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 12:10 pm

The República Guanacasteca was, for sure, having some of its best days after 200 years of holding a gigantic burden of power-hungry gorillas dressed as military officers and its whole entourage, a big morass of people enjoying a life of luxury while people were found in starvation in the streets of Estelí in the North, while robbing the richness found in the South of Tibás and San José and making it theirs… People being unable to express themselves freely or do anything without the presence or assent of military officers playing to the role of bureaucrats, something that the people doesn’t wants to live on it anymore.

Tikariotian peacekeepers walking in the streets, Amenrian hovers being used to help finding people lost, to rebuild the infrastructure and providing zero interest loans for people in exchange for rebuilding duties; Yue manufacturers settling in the nation creating some employment sources that were closed for two centuries, South Newlandian planning officers and construction crews rebuilding the ravaged cities, transforming those streets that once were witnesses of pain, suffering, assassinations and ransacking brutality of the military officers that put this nation in a backward situation compared to some of its other neighbours.

David Alpízar was satisfied after receiving some Yakk citizens supporting the nation by settling some more business, the Yakk were some other people who experience the traumas of Guanacasteca in their own flesh, empathy was flowing significantly from them as they were supporting every Guanacastecan in the way. “All of this has restored my faith in humanity and the whole of species existing in the Multiverse… Empathy is still alive!” he said as he continued to help in some efforts of rebuilding the nation. But there was a point that needed to be emphasised again, that one was the Guanacastecan National Team, as they were performing badly during the World Cup Qualifiers, they were needing some support, and that was what Alpízar wanted to do before it was too late.

Alpízar called the players and then armed an improvised reception hall meeting to provide him what he considered as, a bonus, to stimulate them to perform better. “You guys know that we were in a bad time, but I want to renew the hopes of this nation in the best way possible, and I know you can have a big role into this process. You’re some of the most talented players this nation has, that’s why I want to provide you some help with bonus right now, and then a conditional one in case we manage to qualify to another tournament, be it the Cup of Harmony or, who knows, the World Cup. No matter which one, you’ll have a bonus. Let aside that I’ll invest in you for the next cycle, we will invest more in sports and create the best conditions for the practice of sport in the nation.”

The players were satisfied, Dylan Monterrosa talked and said “Well, we do appreciate what you’ve been giving us during this time, and this is way better, we needed some support, some stimuli to perform better. Now that we are in peace, we don’t have to worry about our families a lot as we did before, I’m sure that we will perform definitely better than ever before.” Manager Han Ruoyang also nodded and said “A team whose family can live in peace, is a team that will definitely perform better than before, I hope we can take Guanacasteca to the next level in this or the next cycle, as we have been somewhat close to playoffs before, we can do the push to achieve it and provide more happiness to this nation, as you’ve suffered a lot and you deserve happiness to forget those sad, horrible episodes from the past. Let’s shine and do history, pupils!”

by **Pasarga** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 12:16 pm

"That was a bit dodgy wasn't it, team decided to no longer pay attention to its defensive responsibilities for two games and our goals conceded for the entire campaign doubles because of it, with more dropped points. This is not the sort of performance that tends to inspire confidence, especially after everything looking so well before the last international break Five goals conceded in two games after we had only conceded five in the previous six games, such a shame really."

"There is no use crying over spilled milk, what has happened has happened and we and the team just have to pick themselves up and start again. They still have only lost that first game against Tumbra and are fully in control of their own destiny, it is a bit early to start getting all doom and gloomy even if those performances were not quite up to what we had hoped to be seeing from the squad. However if everything played out how we imagined they would on paper, then what point would there even be to playing the games themselves? Part of enjoying sport is knowing that there is going to be heartache along the way because of things not going your way or the way that you had hoped along the way. Wouldn't you say though the feelings of jubilation and euphoria are worth the pain that you have to go through to get there, yes?"

"Well, the feelings of joy when the team does well does warm the heart and feels amazing, the struggle to get there does take a huge toll and with as much suffering as the fanbase has had over the last few decades, it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel anymore. We used to be among the best in the world at this game, and even when we were not at that level, we were among the very best in the region and constantly in contention for the Copa Rushmori title. Now we are the easily defeated once prominent power in both the region and the wider world of the sport at large, we have fallen from a first seed to barely even a second seed and that was after qualifying for the previous World Cup. We are on decline and have been for quite some time and that realization hurts the soul and seeps away what little enjoyment you could still get from the minor successes the team does accomplish."

"I feel that is a bit on the overly harsh side of critiquing the national team, especially as we have made gains in that we have maintained a qualifying record over the last few cycles after having many cycles where we were out of the World Cup and even failed to attain an invite into the Cup of Harmony. Struggle is a natural part of sport and if you are feeling like not even the minor success can bring you joy right now, perhaps it would be best for you to take a step away and reassess what it is that you are looking to get out of supporting the national team. We may not be where we once were in terms of stature within the sport, yet to deny the level of competition and the ride of parity would be a disservice to our competition as well as our own team. Each success has come as a result of hard work and a bit of luck, luck is usually that magic missing ingredient when things go wrong (or go right for our opponents) and as we all know you can not count on luck to be consistent. Enjoy what you can, care little about things outside your control, and if you find you cannot, perhaps put your burdens at ease and step away for your own benefit."

by **Squornshelan Remnant States** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 12:22 pm

Captina Island - 2
Squornshelan Remnant States - 1

Goals:
CPT: Overstreet 25'; DiCanio 50'
SRS: Fridtfjos 10' 

SRS Lineup: Krusan; Nyberg, Jagdish, Tirel, Halfariani (Musta 60'); Zazagan (Sevet-Ibilx 74'), Nacar (Byqvist 80'); Stern (Ksudach 74'), Volam, Maksimov; Fridtjofs (Ness 80')

Squornshelan Remnant States - 1
Gnejs - 0

Goals:
SRS: Ness 22'

SRS Lineup: Shimski; Van, Titov, Yarlut, Musta; Hashemi, Sevet-Ibilx (Zazagan 73'); Bondarov, Volam (Nacar 84'), Yonte (Ditou 84'); Ness (Hedberg 90+1')

MD01: SRS 11- 1 BRS @ Killough Grove (cap. 31,400), Han Wavel, Han Dold, SRS
MD02: ROS 0 - 1 SRS @ TBA
MD03: SRS 0 - 0 BAR @ New Rudlit Arena (cap. 31,200), Rudlit, West Flania, SRS
MD04: KRY 0 - 4 SRS @ TBA
MD05: SRS 1 - 0 INS @ Synesoft Arena (cap. 46,950), Syneca, Sivolvia, SRS
MD06: DOR 1 - 1 SRS @ TBA
MD07: SRS 2 - 0 TGI @ Overburg Arena (cap. 46,222), Damogran, Algolia, SRS
MD08: CPT 2 v 1 SRS @ Captina Company Sports Ground (cap. ), Geneva City, CPT
MD09: SRS 1 v 0 PUG @ Viltvodle Civic Arena (cap. 58,300), Viltvodle, Megabrantis, SRS
MD10: CBA   v   SRS @ TBA
MD11:      BYE
MD12: BRS   v   SRS @ TBA
MD13: SRS   v   ROS @ Smolak Systemy Stadion (cap. 31,200), Sjerezo, Molvania, SRS
MD14: BAR   v   SRS @ TBA
MD15: SRS   v   KRY @ Striterax Cybernetics Arena (cap. 64,325), Striterax, Isle of Squornshelous, SRS
MD16: INS   v   SRS @ Aditya Varma Kulashekara International Stadium (cap. 131,561), New Hind City, INS
MD17: SRS   v   DOR @ Emerald Coast Colliseum (cap. 38,500), Vassilian, Algolia, SRS
MD18: TGI   v   SRS @ TBA
MD19: SRS   v   CPT @ Black Raven Field (cap. 35,400), Yassaca, Sivolvia, SRS
MD20: PUG   v   SRS @ Kejm Park (cap. 28,000), Port Kejm, PUG
MD21: SRS   v   CBA @ Radlov Arena (cap. 76,800), Brantisvogan, Megabrantis, SRS
MD22:      BYE

Wild Squornshelous
Part 4: The Emerald Coast

Separated from the rainforests by the mountainous interior of the peninsula, western Sivolvia forms the easternmost portion of the so-called Emerald Coast, the dry, sunny, southern coast of Squornshelous. With water often in short supply, the predominant landscape is a vast grassland, dotted with occasional trees and shrubs. In drier areas, only hardy, drought resistant shrubs can live, while in the wetter regions, open pine woodlands can be found.

Despite the difficulties of finding water, this landscape supports many grazing deer and antelope species, as well as a variety of other herbivores. One of the most striking is Synthetoceras, known locally as Fork Deer. Properly speaking Fork Deer are not true members of the deer or antelope families, but a close cousin. They are immediately recognizable for the horn that emerges from the top of their nose, rising smoothly to the forked points that give them their name. The nose horn is used for display and sparring during breeding season, as well as to let Fork Deer distinguish members of their own species. They have quite a bit more to worry about than simply impressing a prospective mate, though.

Hidden in the tall grass, a suntiger is stalking the Fork Deer. Just as Synthetoceras is not a true deer or antelope, the Suntiger, despite its name, is not a true cat, but rather a member of the closely related family, Barbourofelidae. The resemblance to its cousins is strong though. Strong enough for it to acquire its name, despite a lack of stripes.

The suntiger is powerfully muscled, easily able to take down a Fork Deer, if he can catch it. While capable of explosive bursts of speed, the short legs and stocky frame of the Suntiger make it a poor distance runner. The deer will easily escape, in a fair race.

Today’s contest is anything but fair, however. This Suntiger is not alone.

He is part of a close family group. Young suntigers lack full sabers until they reach two years old, and thus cannot yet hunt large game for themselves. The group shares the effort of caring for the cubs, and thus increases their chances of successfully raising the next generation.

While three individuals fan out to drive the herd, a fourth waits, hidden in the brush. As the deer rush by, it’s hard to pick out one individual. There are so many to choose from. When one springs by just a handful of meters away, the ambusher strikes. Flexing powerful limbs, she leaps onto the back of the deer, and sinks her sabers into the neck.

Growing up to six inches long in the largest individuals, the sabers inflict deep tissue damage, and cause massive bleeding. It is these sabers, so essential to the hunt, that nearly spelled the end of the Suntiger. Valued as trophies and for use in traditional medicine, demand for these saber teeth and lack of government protection under the Imperium meant the suntiger was hunted almost to extinction. Since being protected as the state symbol of Algolia following Confederate independence, they have made a remarkable recovery.

While the suntiger has made her strike, the extreme length of her sabers makes them vulnerable to breaking when twisted, so a long struggle is out of the question. The ambusher springs off, and the Fork Deer appears to escape. The wound is mortal, however. Weakened, the prey cannot get far, and the hunters now pursue it at their leisure. Exhaustion and blood loss spell the end, and a meal for the Suntigers.

Nightfall sends the suntigers seeking the shelter and respite of one of many dens across their territory where their cubs can sleep in safety. This does not spell an end to the dangers for the grazers though. With the rising moon, another, smaller predator emerges for the hunt.

Troodon are a group of several species of small, social, omnivorous saurians which have patrolled the Emerald Coast for millions of years. They form large groups with complex social dynamics, and are opportunistic predators, eating everything from insects to small vertebrates, to prey animals many times larger than themselves. Making swarming attacks, they slash with clawed feet and hands, and long mouths filled with serrated teeth. Like the suntiger, they rely on exhaustion and blood loss to bring down their prey. It’s dangerous work, particularly against more aggressive prey species like wild ass or boar. But weight of numbers coupled with speed and agility are difficult to overcome for any animal the pack catches alone.

Such large groups of predators as patrol the Emerald Coast require prey in vast numbers to support their appetites. The prey in turn need large ranges of graze land, and the freedom to roam, lest any one area be stripped bare of vegetation. Those prime territories are all too often taken up by human habitation or agriculture now. Where they do remain, they have become fragmented by roads and railways and other barriers to the vital migration that the ecosystem depends on for its health. Government protection has set aside some areas, but there are still great challenges ahead for predator and prey alike. They will depend on humans to restore access to the territories they need to thrive.

by **Saint Eleanor** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 12:29 pm

OOC: I was a mathematician in my Cambridge days, not a doctor. Inferred Brenecian starting lineup based on this and that is Meade; Culpepper, Staplewood, Wheater, Hadley; Conway, Briggs; Byrne, Kearney, Wake; Lofthouse.

Channel 4 presents THE RACE TO THE WORLD CUP - World Cup 94, eighth qualifier game
BRENECIA 1-2 SAINT ELEANOR (Maerhen Wake 9; Steve Pilchard 33, Jessica Martin 68)

Report by Candy Hewitt, Channel 4 football analyst: Saint Eleanor survived an early concession to secure what is already perhaps their most pivotal win in international football - knocking off Brenecia, at twelvth the highest-ranked opposition they have ever defeated, and strengthening what had been a precarious position in their group. The relatively untested Denise Livingston was shoehorned into the visitors' lineup and it came as little surprise at first that the hosts had her number: it was she that Jadwiga Lofthouse rounded before setting up an onrushing Maerhen Wake for an easy and entirely expected opening goal.
It took a while after that for Saint Eleanor to get back into it. When they did, it arrived with a literal bang, Rick Goldsmith's close-range drive clattering almost straight off the post - although Steve Pilchard, lucky to beat Cerys Staplewood there in the first place, was never getting his weak rebound past Cessair Meade. There were a couple of Brenecian threats - most notably Lofthouse heading a distant but promising chance mere inches over the crossbar - but neither enough nor good enough to threaten, and Pilchard got his back just after the half-hour mark with a dipping, evasive effort that just about crept into the bottom-right corner.
The game seemed as though it would remain a back-and-forth affair for much of the remainder - and there was a long, long way to go yet. All of this was in itself an achievement for a team that was 2-0 down at this very stadium, almost at the same juncture, in similarly crucial circumstances just over a year ago. Katua Byrne was first to pounce, launching a free kick into the Eleanorian area which Lofthouse barely shinned into John Bailey's arms. Exandra Davies, not at her attacking best this cycle so far, almost swung in a goal of her own from well out wide, teasing Meade into attempting a badly-timed clearance and forcing Caomhin Hadley into thudding the ball out once and for all.
Alyce Kearney (by this point a bona-fide attacking force on the day) twice came unstuck against Livingston (by now reformed, reoriented and a much better player than she was at the start); in a half of football you need to win, giving up two serious chances can be twice too often. This forced Brenecia out wide, but almost as soon as they changed tack, Jessica Martin gobbled up a sideways pass intended for Byrne, surged thirty yards up the pitch, followed through at almost the last realistic opportunity she had... and scored.
There was tension after Martin poked home, but it was the tension of uncertainty and lead preservation, rather than the tension of exhilaration and sporting purism - anathema as those words may be in both camps. Lowen Murdoch - almost as untested on these kinds of stages as Livingston - enjoyed one of the best opportunities of the de-facto final quarter, albeit an effort so dourly close-range that it had no hope of ever actually getting past the goalkeeper. Fellow substitute Idina Alderwood came heartwrenchingly close at the death, but to no avail as her attempt was first pushed out for a corner, and then flagged offside right after having the chance that resulted saved.
Relief was, for a while, the general feeling among the visitors. This gave way to celebration, triumphalism and unbridled hope the minute Bridget Coombe told reporters that "we are not going to stop for the pure reason it would be against any of our principles to do so." They are tied for second with West Barack and East Obama after this round of games - but with the Obamen enjoying a bye in the next round, the White Stars have the chance to lead the group outright if they win at home against Eura, unbeaten and top of the pack by two points. A tall order? Not as tall as some might have suggested this morning.

⨷ ⨷ ⨷ ⨶ ⨷ ⨷ ⨷

Thirty Years of Eleanorians - 1983: "I tried to work my way back to full lung capacity"
Published by Simon Howard on February 28th 2005

The Eleanorian winter can be cold at the best of times; at its worst, it can be a good excuse for most Eleanorians to stay home and purchase coffee in numbers rivalled only during the 1981, 1988, 1990 and 2002 strikes by Premium Coffee baristas. It can also be a passably decent vector for respiratory viruses, as Amelia Dennison found out to her dismay in 1997. "I was out for a few weeks at the start of the year because of what turned out to be a terrible, terrible lung infection. The doctors had a look just before I was let out and discovered that, somehow, a good portion of my right lung had been scarred badly enough to be useless, pretty much. They didn't remove anything; it was just gone, let's say."

Dennison jokes that she returned to Oaktree Community School "almost on wheels - although, in seriousness, I was struggling for breath a bit. Not a lot: they didn't have to put me on a ventilator or intubation or anything. Not even enough that I couldn't walk to school! But just enough that I was fairly easily exhausted." It was then she made one of the most outrageous decisions of her life: "outrageous is my word. I thought if I could push myself every now and then, I could maybe - just maybe - grow my lungs by enough that the infection wouldn't matter."

The lure was laid slowly but surely. "I could not have just run home, close as it might have been - so I upped the pace a bit over a small distance, then a bit more and a bit longer. Then I completed the gym induction - again - and visited there when I could and I felt like it wouldn't have impacted on my studies; I'd have already missed enough of those. Then I signed up for the cross-country C team; people do say we have a rivalry with Parkside and the other far-north-western districts in these regards but in reality there was barely enough room for three teams. I only appeared in a couple of official races despite the practice runs and I definitely wouldn't say we outclassed Parkside, but at least we tried. Cross-country isn't football; you're allowed to try rather than win at all costs."

Then the move was made to more organised sports, scant as her appearances were. "The key here isn't don't overexercise yourself, but make sure you're slid into the B team. I did not play in the Charles Trump Shield. I did not go for glory too much. I just played with my mates, ten minutes, then twenty, thirty, forty-five, every now and then and had fun doing so." There were even impromptu cricket matches organised "using the soft ball, for various reasons. I was a decent medium-pacer, mostly, but my personal best must have been three for forty or something. Baseball happened a couple of times too but it's far stronger in the eastern city and we all got bored and confused anyway."

In the end, Dennison says, "I barely noticed the difference, although it took three-plus years of continuous practice and me trying not to care too much. I didn't have enough time to tell you about everything but most of what I said, I just kept doing until my exams in Year 14." Now a Private in the Army stationed at Oaktree Delta base after "somehow" passing her fitness test, Dennison now plays in the Army League for Oaktree - "or, as some of my teammates put it, Army and Navy C. The B team's the team of the season at the end of the year."

To say she actually gets much playing time is an overstatement though: the right midfielder, who can also play at rightback, has turned out for just sixty-eight minutes in five games since the start of the 2002 season. "It's not that I'm not good: anybody in the Army is societally assumed to have at least reasonable fitness, if not in practice. It's just that I'm literally where it happens, I'm outnumbered by the actual people in charge of the Army, there are tons of people in competition for a starting slot and - assuming I somehow care about minutes - being reassigned to somewhere else might be the best way to get them. Sorry."

It's been said that she's pleaded with Army command to let the Oaktree team go on a pre-season tour to Huayramarca DM, one of the highest-altitude capital cities, "for what feels like every season. They always say no because we're actually needed on Army business. I'm like why? We aren't Sunset Gates or Queenston! We have this discussion every year and I give up every year, however. For the time being, I'll try and focus on keeping our country safe and remaining fit enough to serve, but there's absolutely no telling at all what next year is going to bring."

by **Saint Eleanor** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 12:44 pm

OOC: Good News! This will be my last roleplay for this cutoff.

Channel 4 presents THE RACE TO THE WORLD CUP - World Cup 94, ninth qualifier game
SAINT ELEANOR 1-1 EURA (Bridget Coombe 54; Sophie Singh 76)

Report by Candy Hewitt, Channel 4 football analyst: Sophie Singh's textbook late equaliser failed to dampen host spirits as Saint Eleanor remained second in Group 12, remaining two points behind their Euran opponents. It would have on almost any other day - but not on a day where they were returning from a long break, with renewed confidence after an astonishing comeback over Brenecia and almost certainly no longer worrying about the demons they have been struggling to exorcise against far weaker opposition.
For the most part, the two teams seemed inexplicably content to play out the draw. Surely they would not have sought after it, with the two teams either looking to claim or significantly extend their lead in the table. Nevertheless, opportunities were few, far between and (when they arrived) golden. Alex Sharp - an 1830 Cathair regular like Maerhen Wake, the last person to score against this team - spurned number one, prodding it just wide, although the cross into his vicinity was curling and challenging even by the most objective standards.
Dekamela weMexala, ushered into the lineup for rotation's sake, had a decent time, contributing Saint Eleanor's two first-half shots on target. Tom Hammond claimed her opening effort clearly, but had more of a challenge with her second; she made herself the centre of an eight-move passing diamond before just about breaking into enough space to launch a swerving thunderbolt from just inside the area, which was deflected onto the post and out for a clearance.
Saint Eleanor found their way through in seemingly improbably - yet surprisingly familiar - circumstances. weMexala had effectively swapped positions with Pilchard early in the second half, and earned Jermaine Gates a booking for tugging her down about thirty yards from goal. Bridget Coombe spotted the resultant free kick and, after spending what must have been thirty or forty seconds orchestrating the Eleanorians' placements, almost floated the attempt through the left of the goal, past Hammond and into the inside side-netting. Astonishing circumstances demanded astonishing goals.
In a match slow-walked as much as it possibly could have been, the Eurans were outnumbered, outmatched, and now they were outscored. Fittingly, they only had a few responses up their sleeve. It took fifteen minutes before Owen Holden, with his first serious touches of the game, was able to back up their intentions with deeds, teasing his way past a couple of Eleanorian defenders before being stopped in his tracks by John Bailey. Singh pounced just moments later: set up by clubmate Owen James, she broke into what little green space she had before powering a deathly-accurate strike through her laces and deep into the net. Nobody was stopping that at any stage whatsoever; they couldn't have. She tried again with five minutes to go, this time with much less success, and was promptly substituted off.
This is, for all intents and purposes, a moral victory to go with the actual one they secured against Brenecia before the break for regional tournaments. Coombe has repeatedly accepted as much throughout the evening. Clinging on for dear life against the second seeds in the group may not have been the headline anyone was dreaming of, but it is the least they could have asked for; it sets them up in good stead for Panamer, the Polar Islandstates, and the rematch against all ten teams in the group; and it keeps their hope of a first World Cup participation since 2000 - perhaps even a first ever automatic qualification - alive. Was anybody expecting this after Donovan Lane reaped such havoc on them mere weeks ago?

⨷ ⨷ ⨷ ⨶ ⨷ ⨷ ⨷

Thirty Years of Eleanorians - 1984: "I knew exactly what I'd do with my lottery winnings"
Published by Daniel Bourne on March 5th 2005

The Eleanorian Lottery, inaugurated five months ago, promises big payouts - big enough to cover the average salary for a number of years if you play your cards right. John Fowler in Jacobville district has faithfully purchased a ticket for every draw since that very first, but hasn't gotten much of a return from it. "As far as I'm concerned, it's a good waste of money. It's something I've wasted a total of thirty dollars on or something like that, but it's a good waste, let's put it that way."

He has, however, struck gold once. "It was around seven or eight draws ago that my ticket had 11, 21, 26 and 35 on it. I checked the paper the following day and found that yeah, those numbers appeared in that draw so I go to the post office, fill out my form, send it to Finance HQ in Central and bang - three thousand in my account and I have no idea what to do for it. I work for the council's estates and buildings department and I don't know what to do with that money so I almost asked my mum and dad, what do I do with this money? I have no idea, no idea, I repeat, no idea at all. Then it hit me like a truck."

Much of the Jacobville Community School building has not seen significant upkeep since it was constructed in the early 1980s, a few years before Fowler's birth. "I read in the paper over Christmas - so maybe a couple of weeks ago - that they had a leaky roof in the science department and they needed a good sum of money to fix it. They'd raised a bit from generous souls who've been there or have kids there, which I'll admit can describe anybody but you know who you are. Not enough, though, and I thought maybe if I got in touch with them and slid the winnings their way, they'd get it fixed in no time."

The man promptly got in touch and explained his newfound fortunes, to which the school responded that "they were delighted to be associated with me. They even wanted me to attend the official roof-fixing celebrations, to which I said no, you can credit me all you want but I don't feel like taking the glory for this. I went to Jacobville CS but so did everyone else; this is their win, not mine. They got the roofers in pretty sharp after that and a few more days of people giving money and I'm told the students can now do experiments and store their books without having to worry about the damp or anything. Other schools have problems and I'd love to help them where I can, but charity begins at home as far as I'm concerned."

Fowler ultimately did not need to tell his parents. "They read about what I did with the three grand in the paper. I mean The Reporter, the really big paper everyone buys, not The News Letter or one of the super-local papers. I think I've become a bit famous as a result of what I've did and how JCS is benefitting but other than to LocalTALK, my favourite station, I haven't really been willing to chat about it with anyone." When asked if he's ever talked to Harriot Berry, the accountant from Millerham who remains the only person ever to have won the Lottery's top prize in its short history, he insists "that's literally the only thing I have in common with her."

Fowler admits he hasn't been tempted by Blue $80,000 and Green $200,000, the two scratchcard games, which continue to run with top prizes still available to claim due to a relative lack of interest. "What's the point? It's like the critics were saying in the first place, if people want to win money gambling on things they don't know about, they'll just go to the bookies. The lotto's an obvious attraction because, well, the lotto's everywhere, but scratchcards are something most people don't really get the point of - I don't, that's for sure - and I can see why."

With that said, however, he fully intends to keep playing the traditional lottery game. "Now if they do two games a week or introduce fancy new lotteries, I'm not too sure if I'll do more than just the traditional Sunday draw - but Sundays I'm definitely entering. I'm not looking to keep the money for myself if I ever win anything, just give it to other good causes in the area. I don't trust myself with the dosh and reading about other, bigger winners from elsewhere, I'm not sure I ever would. It's a case of as you were all the time, really, but I'm happy like this."

by **Bears Armed** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 12:56 pm

The Bear-Belles and acompanying people disembark from coaches at Kerroy's-Den Aerodrome (1), after the short trip of just a few miles from Wimbley Stadium where they had gathered for a last pre-journey pep talk and a protective 'Ceremony of Blessing'. Each of these people is wearing not only comfortable clothes for the flight but also a pair of the radish earrings prescribed to ward off Hwrackspurrts. Additionally, before they board their planes -- of which there are two, as usual, so that the Belles will just about be able to field a team (albeit without a full complement of substitutes) even if one of those machines malfunctions -- each person is issued with either a necklace or a headband, depending on their personal preference, that is decorated with corks from Effbark Ale bottles (2): These, they are told, will ward off yet another type of tiny trouble-making creatures... which are called 'Narrgles'. (3)
Upon boarding their planes,the players & staff (& accompanying journalists, too) are issued with small bottles of a stomach-settling medicine, as usual, because Bears generally don't take very well to flying (although wizards tend to fare better in this respect, at least when aboard magical rather than technological transport). (4) For the same reason they are also offered the option of a separate 'Calming Potion', magically brewed, and most of them accept this. Once everybody who is going has taken their seat, and a final pre-flight checklist has been completed, the two planes are quickly given clearance for take-off: There are delays necessary due to other planes taking-off or landing, because the country currently has a ban on non-'governmental' civilian flights (5) except with specific official permission under special circumstances such as this situation.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Meanwhile, in Plumtrees Park, the Fane-Urrsen family are having ice-creams and drinking (Yes!) Effbark Ale at the cafe in Plumtrees Park. Jammy has been instructed (by both his editor and his own wife) that he will not be going to Gnejs to cover the forthcoming football match, because he needs to spend more time at home relaxing after his recent travels for work took him into the middle of a civil war in the also-Iduvian nation of Cape Aurea. Suddenly he rises to his feet and, without saying anything, dashes rapidly across to the boating lake that covers the site of the Belles' original stadium (6) and dives into the water. His daughter Erissabearr uses her wings to fly after him and over the lake, but she cannot now see any sign of her father: Instead, a bit further out across the water than she expected him to have reached, she notices a significantly larger-than-Ursine figure whose details she can not mke out clearly because disturbances in that part of the lake have stirred up mud from its bed and thus made the water there very murky...
(7)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

OOC Footnotes

1. Before the construction of Heathrow Airport, the main airport for the London area was at Croydon which is in the city's southern suburbs (a bit further from Wembley than Kerroy's-den is from Wimbley). I have material written about who Kerry was, and why he (& his followers) denned where they did, butcan't find those notes -- which are only handwritten, not typed & lectronically stored -- at present.
2. 'Effbark Ale' is the Urrsish equivalent of RL Britain's 'Ginger Beer', a spicy but [basically] non-alcoholic beverage that is consumed mostly by children... Americans, think in terms of 'root beer'. The 'Effbush', whose specially-processed bark is used to flavour this product, is a conifer closely related to -- or, according to one school of botanical thought, included within -- the genus Cryptomeria.
3. Nargles, like Wrackspurts' ("Hwrackspurrts"), are a type of creature whose existence is alleged but not proven [IC] in the Harry Potter books.
4. For this reason, aircrew in the Confrederal Army's small 'Flying Corps' are mostly from minority-groups such as Humans (including, in recent years, a few volunteers from the tribe of Kawaiian refugees that has been granted a home here), Vokksurr (anthropomorphic foxes), and Arrakune (anthropomorphic raccoons): There are none of either the Brocks (anthropomorphic badgers) or the Luthrai (anthropomorphic otters) involved, though, the latter because they are even more averse to flying than are most Bears and the latter because they cannot concetrate reliably for long enough to undergo the necessary training.
5. For one issue, the "no flights" option chosen; and then, for another the "exception to this rule for aircraft on government business" option.
6. That stadium, which had previously belonged to National University's main branch at Council Groves, was demolished many years ago: Running water over its site was the final stage of the 'purification' rituals to cleanse its location of the bad luck (especially for natives of this nation) brought to it by a powerful 'Jinx Spirit'. This happened sometimes around WC#50 IIRC: At any rate, it was shortly after the destruction of the nation of Dancougar by a rashly-summoned demon,due to that being's chaotic power spreading to Wimbley through a trophy for which the two nations's football teams had been competing regularly -- the "Shirt On A Stick" -- to attract and strengthen the Jinx Spirit...
7. Would any fan of DC Comics care to guess, either by TG or when they next post in this thread, where I plan to take this side of the story: Ideally it will be continued in my next post, in a couple of days' time.

by **Polar Islandstates** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 1:00 pm

He should have been reviewing the videos of the games, he knew that. Identifying weaknesses, acknowledging good passages, highlighting poor decisions and analysing the next opposition tapes.

Should have been, anyway.

Instead, the pile of memory sticks, so carefully colour coded and labelled by his team of analysts, were sitting untouched in a pile on his desk. Saterun. The Jovannic. Cap Nord. Saint Eleanor. Night had fallen hours ago, and there was no sound in the office except for the gentle whirring of the laptop fan, the fleshy thud of his finger on the touchpad scrollbar, and the sporadic clacking and snapping of the bulb in the projector that was cooling down after getting bored of waiting to be used to watch some football highlights and going into hibernation as a result.

Iosef Miroshnichenko was doomscrolling.

He’d managed to mostly put the words and actions of the Secretary General in that meeting out of his head by the time the game against Saterun had kicked off. Just the opinions of a man who didn’t understand football, right? Just another politician who wanted to exert some control on events on the football field, or catch a tan from standing in Miroshnichenko’s reflected glory. He looked around nervously at that thought, even though he’d never verbalised it. He blinked and shook his head in an attempt to get out of it. It was late. There was no need to be paranoid. The OO didn’t have the ability to read thoughts. Not yet, anyway...

Let's see.

He hit refresh on his deja.vu feed for what felt like the hundredth time that evening.

Right...

His eyes scanned the comments aimed at him. He didn't understand it. He was winning, wasn't he? He set the team up to be hard to beat, first and foremost, and they weren't even conceding goals at the moment! So why all the negativity?

"Aalto is the real brains behind these wins..."

Wrong.

"I'm so sick of us scoring with our only shots in the entire match..."

But we were winning.

"These tactics are boring."

These tactics were successful.

"I don't understand what the VFA see in Miroshnichenko? Imagine if we qualified playing like this. I'd be so embarrassed..."

What?!

Miroshnichenko ran his hands through his hair, exasperated. Lund's criticism he could handle. That was just, a politician more concerned with how Valhalla looked to the rest of the Multiverse. But the fans... The fans wanted to win, didn't they?

Or did they?

He thought about that first comment. Aalto, being the brains. Was that true? Certainly, he coached attacking movement with a skill that evaded Miroshnichenko, but, it was only within the allowed frameworks, wasn't it? The overall tactic was Miroshnichenko's and Miroshnichenko's only.

Maybe he'd show them, next game. Maybe he'd play all three strikers from the start. That'd show them. Maybe then they'd see what happens when you went toe-to-toe with teams much stronger and more experienced than you.

Miroshnichenko wasn't boring, he was... practical.

He was pragmatic.

He was realistic!

He was... doomscrolling.

Refresh... Refresh... Refresh......

by **Vilita** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 1:04 pm

Rotropii Puts Foot in Mouth, Vilita Finally Win

Alikki-Corra Acadmey, Alikki-Corra, Vilita :: It was a fascinating week to be a follower of the Vilitan National Team as head coach Endur Rotropii did the unthinkable on the heels of three consecutive World Cup Qualifying Defeats and refused to take blame for the results, instead, throwing their own players under the bus and blaming the Jungle Rebels poor form on the players themselves.

Of course, after becoming the first head coach in over 30 cycles to lose three consecutive qualifying matches while in charge of the Vilitan National Team, there was no question that the Vilitan Footsport Association was going to relieve Endur Rotropii from the position of National Team head coach. There was, of course, the small matter as to who would replace Rotropii on the sidelines, but that was perhaps a problem for a different day. When Rotropii took to the media center after the 0-1 defeat to Trolleborg and said that it was the players, and not himself, who was to blame for the performances - clearly attempting to preserve their job for just one more game and a chance to turn things around at home against Dantopia, the Vilitan Football Association decided to play ball.

Endur Rotropii was a long time defender and one of the top defenders of their era in the history of the Vilitan National Team. A champion of World Cup 68, Rotropii famously retired just prior to the Jungle Cats golden era from World Cup 77 through 83. At 53 years of age, Rotropii was now long separated from their playing days at Marine Coast United or with the Vilitan National Team. However, Rotropii could still be seen with their boots on at every Jungle Rebels practice session, running along with the team and staying in shape.

Now, with the comments Rotropii made in the media center, the Vilitan Footsport Association decided instead of just straight up firing the head coach, they would issue an ultimatum. If it was the players at fault for the Vilitan record at World Cup 94 Qualifying, then replace them. With yourself.

Rotropii was given the green light to kit up for the Vilitan National Team for the first time in 14 cycles. No one expected it to go well, and in all reality, it didn't.

23 minutes into the game Rotropii would be the center of controversy with their stamina no longer allowing them to keep up with the opposing attackers. As Dantopian star Michael Danchevy attacked Rotropii's defensive position, the former Marine Coast United defender clumsily fouled their opponent in a desperate attempt to prevent a goal. Adding embarrassment to poor execution, not only did Rotropii's mis-timed tackle fail to entirely take Danchevy down, they would then catch their balance and fire the ball past Zelkki Milake Jr, levelling the score in nullifying Kunaro Tlikara's 17th minute opener. Finally, as the Dantopia National Team were celebrating their goal, Rotropii would be booked for their clumsy foul in the build up.

Oddly, however, having Rotropii in the lineup did somehow motivate the Jungle Rebels to play better. Whether it was the first-hand practice of having 3 games in a row playing with ten players on the pitch or simply the comradery and support to rally behind an under-performing teammate, the Jungle Rebels did all they could to maintain possession and keep the ball out of the feet of the opposing attackers. Also helping distract from Rotropii's woes was the fact that the Vilitan attack was finally clicking. By halftime, the Jungle Rebels led by a 4-2 scoreline with Tresizi Rokopolis adding two more goals and Sami Samii'i netting the other for Vilita.

Vilita were given a further boost in the second half when Lewis Shank was sent off for Dantopia by virtue of accruing a second yellow card of the match. Over the final thirty minutes of action, both teams would add another goal as Vilita would hold on for a morale re-setting 5-3 victory over one of the rising nations of World Cup 94 Qualifying.

With the win, just the second of the campaign over 7 matches, Vilita would have a decision to make, throw in the towel, make a change or forge ahead as is.

With Ukamai Talingri still suspended after receiving a second red card of the campaign against Trolleborg, the Vilitan National Team decided to call upon veteran Tropicorper Hanauma Ranbomahi for a rare appearance in World Cup Qualifying, their first since losing the opening leg of the World Cup 89 Qualifying Playoff against Squidroidia. Many expected that Ranbomahi had seen their last ever appearance for the National Team after the stunning defeat which ended Vilita's 30 cycle run at the World Cup Finals. Yet now it was Ranbomahi who was given one last chance to make amends - being called upon to right the ship to ensure that this Vilitan squad did not suffer the same fate as the squad did during the playoff for World Cup 89.

Like they had in the previous match, the Vilitan attack started out strong with four goals in the first half. Sami Samii'i and Trezisi Rokopolis would be on the scoresheet for the second straight game while Diamoa Waviino and Tresvo Tlikara would get a notch on t their belts as the Jungle Rebels had a 4-0 lead at the half. Head Coach turned Player Endur Rotropii was on the field once more and the team had seemed to perfect the art of ignoring the 53 year old where at all practical and instead playing around much to the elders frustration.

Diamoa Waviino would score their second goal of the game just after half time before Rotropii would find themselves in trouble yet again on a Euran counter attack. A second yellow card in as many matches would also lead to a consolation goal for the castaway Eurans who seemed to find themselves forgotten in their new home. Rotropii would be replaced in the 74th minute - with their mini-return to the National Team lineup potentially at its end. Within 7 minutes of replacing their former Head Coach on the pitch, Mikele Alasita closed the game out as the Jungle Rebels one-upped their goal output from the previous game, hanging six goals past Expats the goalkeeper, likely to be Fligsive FC's Euan Young though no formal team sheet was provided in the media center prior to the game.

Securing back to back victories for the first time all cylce, Vilita pulled themselves into a four way tie for 5th place in Group 15 along with Trolleborg, Patriotlandia and Tanirinthia. Despite their lowly points position, however, the 11 goals over the previous two matchdays - marking half of the Jungle Rebels total after 8 games played, would put Vilita just one goal behind Falvovespia for the most goals in Group 15 action this cycle.

 Vilita 6 - 1 Euran Oceania Territories	
	Vilita Goals:	:: 26' Sami Samii’i:: 28' Diamoa Waviino:: 42' Trezisi Rokopolis:: 44' Treasvo Tlikara:: 51' Diamoa Waviino:: 81' Mikele Alasita         
	Stats :: Vilita 	:: Possession: 72%:: Shots: 10:: Corners: 7 :: Euran Oceania Territories :: Possession: 28%:: Shots: 4:: Corners: 7
	Vilita Lineup :: 	Hanauma Ranbomahi, Kunala Jyvaiij, Injyua Klizlo, Endur Rotropii (Mikele Alasita 74'), Letirpsi Vulitn (Kunaro Tlikara 45'), Jakku’u Naboyavi, Trezisi Rokopolis (Fyin Miateal 74'), Riku Kasslin, Sami Samii’i (Minjiakuj Sklinai 60'), Treasvo Tlikara (Awukchu L’bakka 60'), Diamoa Waviino

by **Alasdair I Frosticus** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 1:05 pm

HOLY EMPIRE PLAYER PROFILE

Winxal, the Werehamster

Who is the mysterious Winxal? How did this debonair ranger fall victim to one of the rarest - possibly unique - forms of lycanthropy? Why does he transform when threatened by a gerbil? These are all questions we hope to ask him today. I mean, I suppose we could ask the Imperial defender about the Holy Empire's wildly inconsistent form over the last two matches, what between the 5–2 victory over Republic of Aiyland, immediately followed by the catastrophic 6–2 loss to Yuezhou (notwithstanding the mitigating factor of having to play the halfling Fatapato in central defence due to Radon of Woodside taking a side quest during the match). But no; as germane as these results may be to the QUEST FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION, what we really want to talk about today is werehamsters. So let's take it away and field some questions from imperial fans!

So how did you become a werehamster anyway?

'Twas an epic quest; I was roaming the far south of the Empire, where the Great Savannah starts to give way to the tropical jungles and mountain peaks that together characterise The Limb. I was hunting a troll who had been terrorising a local village, yet who seemed surprisingly adept at hiding from his victims, and was even able to elude my tracking skills...

Are you going to get on with it?

Look, this was an epic quest; it's not going to be short. Are you interested or not?

Sorry! Do carry on!

As I was saying, I was hunting this troll who was very difficult to track down. I cast a speak with animals spell, conversed with a passing hummingbird, and was told that the answer would be revealed if I could locate a group of nearby gerbils who had apparently interacted with the troll. It was then a simple matter of locate animals to find the gerbils. I walked towards them extending the hand of friendship, and... Well, when I next regained consciousness, I was afflicted by this terrible curse.

Hang on... Are you saying you were attacked by a pack of gerbils?

I don't honestly know. One minute I was walking towards the gerbils; then I lost consciousness, and when I awoke, I was as you find me now ... a werehamster!

But gerbils aren't hamsters...

Of course not. Gerbils are small rodents belonging to the subfamily Gerbillinae, whereas hamsters belong to the subfamily Cricetinae - which itself contains 19 species classified in seven genera! As a ranger, I have much detailed knowledge of animal species, including our rodent friends.

Alright, but you were attacked by gerbils, but you ended up as a werehamster; I'm confused.

Two important points here: firstly, I'm not absolutely sure I was attacked by gerbils; only that I lost consciousness as I advanced towards the gerbils. Secondly, I was unconscious for several hours; who knows what fiendish hamster lycanthropes I might have encountered during that time!

And have you ever encountered any other hamster-based lycanthropes?

Well... no. But there's always a first time!

So you were hunting a hard to find troll; were told by a hummingbird to locate the gerbils; lost consciousness while approaching the gerbils; and then woke up several hours later cursed with lycanthropy as a werehamster?

That's about the size of it!

You do realise that's a story with more holes in it than a Riverland cheese, don't you? I mean, there are no other known examples of werehamsters, you've never seen a werehamster yourself, and you don't seem to have tried to do anything about your lycanthropy; remove curse isn't that much of a high-level spell.

Look, you need at least a 12th-level Patriarch to cast that remove curse; where do you expect me to easily find one of those?

The immeasurably powerful dwarven cleric who plays for the Holy Empire in right-centre midfield?

I'd really rather talk about football, you know. This is supposed to be a player profile, not 'let's pour scorn on pour Winxal's unusual lycanthropy'. Am I sitting here pouring scorn on your disabilities?

Fine, fine... So... the Silver Elf... the team captain...

An excellent chap; a fine captain; a sterling leader - and a fine footballer, too. Also, I've never met his daughter.

Yes, but Silver Elf...

What are you getting at?

Lycanthropes ... silver

Look, he's not literally made of silver. You might as well question me about Vragchilikachran's silver hair. And besides, I only play in my human form, not my werehamster form; so far, anyway. Opposing teams have been very accommodating about not scheduling matches at the light of the full moon. It's only right to make reasonable accommodation for my disability.

A disability that primarily manifests itself under the light of the full moon or when you're threatened by a ... gerbil.

Gerbils can be very triggering given my past. It says right here in this ancient manual that 'There are other factors besides the full moon that can cause the release of the werecreature in a person afflicted by lycanthropy. One common cause is stress during a melee.' In my case, gerbils trigger that stress.

At least when you're threatened by a Gerbil.

Look, are we here to talk about gerbils, or are we here to talk about football.

Both? Maybe more the gerbils than the football?

I'm sorry, I've had enough. Good day to you. I have better things to do with my time that suffer ridicule over gerbils and the terrible curse of werehamsterism. I'd rather focus on my football, thank you very much.

by **Tikariot** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 1:08 pm

Part 1 of Darkness Descends
Part 2 of Darkness Descends
Part 3 of Darkness Descends
Part 4 of Darkness Descends
Part 5 of Darkness Descends

"Nooooo!" Myfanwy's voice tears through the strange silence as they see The Shadow tackle the fire demon over the cliff's edge. They rush to the edge of the cliff watching the light of the burning demon get dimmer before finally extinguishing. After a few moments of shock, the three rush down the pathways and stairs as quickly as they can without plummetting from the edge.

As they reach the bottom, they frantically try to get their bearings to see where The Shadow had likely landed. A dull glow hangs over the area, barely strong enough to illuminate the churning surface of the black river next to them. The riverfront is barren, made from the same dark rock as the plateau above.

"There's no way he could have survived this," Alistair says.

"He's not dead," Myfanwy responds with a grim edge to her voice.

Alistair knows better than to argue, but if he had intended to, Sanford's deep voice alerts them. They rush to his side, and in front of them lay the shattered remains of the demon, swept ashore from the river, its fire extinguished by the black water.

"I-is it - dead?" Myfanwy asks with a shaky voice.

Sanford pushes the body with his foot. "Yeah. Not sure that thing was alive in the first place, but it's gone."

"But where is--" she can't finish the sentence.

Alistair puts his arm around her. "We'll search. If he's here, we'll find him."

They spread out in a desperate attempt to locate The Shadow's body, sure that there was no way he could have survived the fall, even less so being entangled with a burning demon. After searching along the entire riverbank they could access, they reconvene next to the demon's corpse, a dejected look on their faces. Myfanwy sobs as Alistair pulls her in to console her. A splash from the riverbank causes them to turn their heads, and they see a hand trying to grab hold of the rock. Immediately Sanford and Alistair rush over to grab the arm and pull.

The Shadow looks more dead than alive, soaking wet, parts of his robe scorched, scratches, and light burns all over his face.

"Is he-" Myfanwy starts, not allowing herself to finish the sentence again.

Alistair is crouched down next to him and nods. "He's in rough condition, but he's alive."

The Shadow weakly lifts his head and whispers, "I-I don't h-have time to d-die..." With these words, he passes out.

He has no idea how much time has passed when he wakes up. He hears the roar of the river Styx. He feels the hard rock beneath his body, yet his head is not on the ground but on something soft. Just as he wonders if he is dead or alive, he tries to move, and a piercing pain sensation shoots through his head.

'I guess I'm still alive,' he thinks, happy that thinking doesn't hurt. He groans, which immediately creates a stir around him. He senses more than he hears that someone kneels down next to him.

"Can you hear me?" he hears a deep voice, full of concern.

He opens his mouth, trying to say he can, but all that comes out is a hoarse croak followed by a cough that brings back the pain in his head and side.

"Don't try to talk." The deep voice returns, and it sounds familiar. Sanford.

Carefully he opens his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a red blur. He closes and opens his eyes again, hoping that they had calibrated themselves. Slowly things come into focus, and he realizes that it is Myfanwy's hair that he sees and the softness beneath his head, her thigh.

He lifts his arm to touch her hair. The next thing he feels is a soaking wet cloth smacking his forehead.

"He's awake."

"Oh shit, sorry!" Alistair mumbles.

Despite the pain in his head, The Shadow begins to laugh, leading to more pain, but at this moment he can't help it. After a minute, he sits up against the advice of Sanford and Alistair. He feels some dizziness coming up, but he is determined not to let it take over.

"What happened? We thought you were - dead..." Myfanwy says with a shaky voice.

The Shadow carefully turns to her. "So did I. Well, I thought I was going to die but I'm not sure what happened. That-that thing is, it held on to me and I felt the flames and the heat and it just started laughing. But, but then as we hit the water, I heard it scream and even though, I don't know. I didn't feel any impact, only the water pulling me down, deeper and deeper. I'd kick and try to come back up and I did, just long enough to breathe in before it would pull me back under.

Then I saw something at the bottom. The water was pitch black, but down there, as if trying to defy the blackness, I saw it clearly, glowing..."

He begins to cough.

"What was it?"

He puts his hand into his pocket and pulls out another ring with a weak smile before he feels the dizziness take over, and he falls backward, blackness swallowing him again.

When he wakes up again, he feels strangely refreshed. He opens his eyes, and everything is quiet except for the relentless rush of the Styx. He looks around and sees Sanford sitting on a boulder near the riverbank, looking around to ensure they are alone and safe. Alistair is slumped over deeply asleep, and as he cranes his neck, he sees that Myfanwy is asleep as well, resting against the rock wall, her long red hair obscuring her face.

He sits up, and motions for Sanford to come over. The square man looks tired, exhaustion etched into his face.

“Finally!” he says.

The Shadow furrows his brow in confusion. “For how long have I been out?”

“It’s hard to say down here, but probably a good day. How do you feel?”

“Surprisingly good. I hurt everywhere, but it’s manageable.”

The big man smiles. “Good! Because we’re getting tired of this place.”

The Shadow laughs out. “Can’t blame you.” He stretches, wincing as his muscles protest against the movement. “Then I guess we should get going?”

“You literally just woke up! Are you sure?”

He nods. “Yeah, we need to get this done and get out of here.”

Sanford nods in return. “Then let’s wake up the sleeping beauties.”

The Shadow expects him to rouse them from their sleep, but instead he just yells “Wake-up time, we’re going!”

Myfanwy and Alistair startle awake and the moment she sees The Shadow up, Myfanwy runs over, embracing him in a tight hug. “I--we thought you were gone…”

Alistair and Sanford clear their throats. “Uh, hello?”

Myfanwy disengages with a nervous chuckle, her cheeks turning the colour of her hair. “Sorry…”

“So, I guess we have to get across this?” Alistair points at the black waters of the Styx.

“I’m not entirely sure if we have to get across or into it.”

The red-haired man glares at him “Into it? He must have hit his head harder than I thought.”

The Shadow can’t help but laugh. “You tell me what to make of this:

In the fifth circle's river, a soul of deep despair,
Drowning in dark sorrow, aching wounds they can't repair.
Lift the spirit burdened with eternal grief,
Restore their hope and bring them sweet relief.

It does say ‘in the river.’”

Alistair makes a sweeping motion to encompass the full expanse of the river they can see. “This is a lot of river to be ‘in’.”

“Styx, isn’t that the river that leads to the underworld with the ferryman, Charon?”

The Shadow nods. “To Hades, yes, but I see no ferry around.”

“Th-there!” Myfanwy stammers as she points across the raging river. A figure is standing at the banks on the opposite side, clad in what appears to be a seaman’s clothing. It is holding a ferryman’s pole in its right hand as it stares across, its eyes glowing from the distance.

Out of the waters rises a skiff, bobbing in the current of the Styx. He steps into the boat and pushes across the churning waters as if traversing a still lake. After a few minutes, the skiff’s prow crunches against the riverbank, and Charon extends his hand to invite them on the shallow boat. After glancing at each other, The Shadow steps into the vessel, the others following suit.

Wordlessly, Charon pushes the skiff away from the shore, setting it out on its course across the pitch-black waters. The Shadow looks at the ferryman. He is gaunt, of indeterminable age, with sunk eyes of fire, long, tangled hair and beard. As he pushes across the river, he gives no indication of being aware of his passengers. Despite the strong currents and broiling surface, the boat remains perfectly still, as if floating above the torrent.

As they reach the other side, Charon again extends his left hand to indicate they have arrived at their destination. They step off, and before them lays a large swamp. Dead trees rise from the murk, with large pools of stagnant water. A murky sun or moon casts a pale light on the desolate landscape. Figures lie submerged in the filthy water, their bodies half-buried, lost in their own self-pity and depression. They make no effort to communicate or engage with others, embodying their refusal to participate in life's activities, their howls of lament drowning out the rush of the river.

The Shadow turns toward his companions and gives a start. Charon and his boat are nowhere to be seen, having disappeared as silently and suddenly as he had appeared. A path winds between trees’ skeletal corpses.

“I guess this is where we’ll go.”

With grim determination, he sets out, the others following close. The laments rise in cadence as they pass by the writhing figures, wading through the stagnant pools of murky water. Wherever they look, there are bodies, some almost fully submerged in water or the swampy morass, some in prone positions, wailing away sorrowfully.

They move further into the swamp, and the laments get louder and more anguished, the constant noise beginning to unnerve the quartet. In the distance, they see the pale light reflect off a larger water surface. Getting closer, it is revealed as a large pool of water, a murky brown streaked with crimson, giving it an unsettling look. In its centre kneels a large figure, bent over, its head almost touching the pool’s surface.

Its wails sound inhuman; it feels as if it itself has become sorrow and anguish. Opposed to the hundreds, if not thousands of other figures they had passed, this one reacts to their arrival. The wails stop and it raises its head. Its eyes are hollow, the face distorted in a mask of grief and sorrow. Its hollow voice reverberates with a deep-set pain that is almost palpable.

“Welcome to the end, where hope has forsaken all. Desolation and decay are all that is left for us.”

A howl of anguish follows the statement that penetrates everything.

“We have traversed four circles of hell to reach you. We were faced with darkness and decay, gluttony and hatred. We fought with demons and liches, yet we never gave up and don’t intend to give up now. You have something we are searching for.”

The laughter emanating from the bent figure sounds wrong on many levels. “I have grief, sorrow and pain. I have nothing that could be of value to you. You have wasted your time, your hopes. You belong here now.”

The Shadow seems unfazed by the figure’s words. “No, we do not belong here, nor into any other circle of hell. I am here to break a curse; the only way to do so is to fulfil the Tome of Lost Souls prophecy. And I will not fail.”

The figure remains silent as if mulling over his words. It slowly raises one arm, and the glint of gold draws their attention to it. “So you want this.”

It is a statement, not a question. The Shadow holds its eyeless gaze, unwavering.

“What will you do if I do not give it to you? Kill me?” It gives a short, harsh laugh. “Death holds no power over me. It would be a relief. But I have no hope even for death.”

The Shadow begins to wade into the pool of brackish water. The figure does not move.

“Will you take it by force? Will you be a thief to steal from those who have nothing left, even hope?”

Still advancing, he says, “No. You will give it to me.”

“Why should I?”

“What do you have to lose? You said it yourself; you have nothing left, not even hope. You know you cannot even hope for death, so what value does the ring hold? What difference to your being will it make if you have it or not?”

Behind him, he hears the whispers between his companions, the tone of their whispers indicating that they are unsure of what he is trying to do. Undeterred, he moves closer to the figure that has not moved. Finally, it speaks.

“What advantage do I have?”

“None.”

“Then why should I help you?”

“Well, actually, there might be a benefit.”

It only stares at him.

“The ring is a connection to something that caused you to be here for all eternity. Giving it up means that it will not eternally remind you of it.”

A long silence follows as he stops within an arm’s length of the figure that looms over him. He can sense the uneasiness of his companions as one swipe of the arm could spell the end of him. Yet he stands there, unwavering, keeping his eyes on the figure. He is not sure how much time has passed but suddenly, albeit slowly, the figure brings its other hand up and pulls off the ring.

“You wield a sharp tongue, stranger, but I must admit that you are giving me hope, no matter how minuscule it is in the grand scheme of things.”

The Shadow stretches out his hand, and the figure drops the ring into his palm. The Shadow bows to the figure before turning and calmly returning to his companions. Without stopping, he motions for them to follow as he circles around the pool of water, leaving the strange creature behind in silence.

Myfanwy looks back toward the figure still kneeling in silence, looking after them. “Did you really think this would work??” she asks incredulously.

The Shadow casts a sideways look at her and says lowly, “No.”

Line-up for Match Day 10 against Sendhang

OOC: Images of the fifth (?) circle of hell are Midjourney, the rest is mine.

by **Brookstation** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 1:13 pm

Continued from here

There was this one Hacienda player, the unforgettable Andre Tudor though, who despite being at a clear disadvantage, kept pushing and sweating, just hoping to turn the tables at the last moment. Tudor was different from the rest of them. When all the rest of the squad were elite members of the Royal Brook club, Tudor had barely attended a sophisticated party. While players like Pucci and Robinson would be spotted and bars and clubs at 4 am in the morning, Tudor would be safe asleep in his bed with his wife and children.

Hobbs had never even tried to think highly of Tudor, let alone giving him any important role in the team. On the other hand, Taylor was aware of Tudor’s true potential and he knew that he was one of the boys who could be trusted during an emergency. That was the very reason, Tudor was the first name that Taylor wrote down on his sheet before every match, much to the dislike of the rest of the squad. Tudor had saved his team before on occasions but that day, his faith in the good old Tudor would be rewarded.

With just around 10 minutes remaining on the clock, Silva misplaced the ball and lost it to his opponent Zuill who passed it to Tudor who in turn went on to make one of the greatest run, completely unparalleled by any Rottenham defender, through the sidelines. As he approached close enough to the penalty box, he carefully curled a ball that just managed to escape the reach of Tom Schmit. It was definitely one of the greatest goals that I had witnessed with my naked eyes, it was goal glorious enough to win a final, leave alone a quarter final. Tudor had performed magic. Everything began to turn the opposite way following the miraculous goal and suddenly out of nowhere, Hacienda’s class was converting the game in their favour. The obvious winners, Rottenham were lost as Hacienda now aimed for the winner. Robinson shot one of the closest range balls which hit against the bar, much to my disliking. This was the last attempt of the game, which meant that extra time was necessary to settle the tie between the two most stunning sides of the season. After the miracle that Hacienda pulled out of nowhere, it felt like Hacienda had lots to win but none to lose.

Extra time was not something that I or Devon had even thought of. It was unnecessary hurdle in our path as it simply meant that the last bus to home would’ve left by then. It was upon us to take the final call but funnily enough there was no question of a final call, we were definitely staying in the stadium just like the rest of the crowd.

Similar to how Rottenham’s Oliviera had dominated the first half entirely to the advantage of his team, Tudor was now the player under the radar and the one in charge. Only five minutes into extra time, Tudor provided the perfect assist, which the Rottenham defense failed to intercept, capping in Curtis Stoop, bobbing Hacienda into the lead. Even if the match equally belonged to both the teams after their marvellous efforts, there could sadly be only winner and Rottenham were still struggling to cope with the improving Hacienda side.

The noise from the Hacienda crowd resonated throughout the stadium and with only a few minutes remaining, Tudor delivered the climax, another shot at the corner of Schmit’s net. The job was done, the whistle blown and a game won. What followed next was the most bizarre celebration that I had witnessed. Fans didn’t take the slightest time to invade the pitch completely and the Hacienda side, in their brilliant purple attire fell to the ground celebrating in tears. I remember Devon saying, “ After what we have achieved today, winning the cup is a mere joke.”

*

Unfortunately, Devon and I were unable to witness the entirety of the mad celebration because we had other thoughts troubling us and thus as soon as the referee had blown his whistle, we rushed down towards the bus station in hopes of catching the last bus, our last hope. No sooner did we approach the bus station than the last bus commenced and with a sprint faster than an athlete, we somehow managed to hop onto the bus, just before it left the station, much to the irritation of the driver. But we were still very relieved, just to know that we didn’t have to spend our nights on the roads of Hacienda.

We reached Banto just a few minutes after midnight, still a long way from home. We had spent most of our time sleeping in the bus but now that we were kicked out at the last station, we were clueless as to what to do next. The last bus to Norwegian wood had left. We discussed all the probable options to return but could find none. It is at times like this that you get angry on your parents for not owning a car. It was midnight and here we were toiling aimlessly across the streets of Norhaven trying to walk back home, which would take atleast four hours. As we kept wandering, our dizziness finally fell off and our brains started working again.

It struck our mind at that moment that a lot of our school friends lived near Norhaven and if we rang up either of them before it was too late, there could still be an escape. In those days, calling a friend was not nearly as easy as it is today. We had to run our eyes through and entire directory which contained every resident’s number and thankfully enough, we found Peter’s number who was one of my close friends.

We rang his address with our fingers crossed, just anticipating a response from the other end. After almost two minutes, Peter’s dad would pick up the phone. I quickly explained the condition in which we were and he recognized me as I had payed a visit to his house just a few days ago. After a half an hour walk we reached Peter’s abode, where we were welcomed with toast and tea. Thankfully enough, Peter’s dad would even agree to drop us home. I can never repay the debt but I am still thankful to Peter and his family.

I went to sleep at around 2 in the morning and after only five hours of sleep, I was back in my classroom, trying to survive school, mostly dozing off through most of the periods. However, I saved all my energy for break, where Devon and I went on flaunting our crazy adventure, leaving everyone else in awe and filled with questions.

The 70s were so different from today. Today, one can’t even try to imagine such weird and messed up adventures. In today’s world where we get updates a second after a goal is scored, it is hard to recognize the importance of the printing presses which at one point of time, struggled, working late at night, trying to come up with a more unique headline than their counterparts. It was the 70s after all, an era which will forever be remembered for its beauty. Hacienda would eventually win the Harrison Shield but even if their win is undermined today, I will never forget the contributions of Tudor in that match.

My article doesn’t end on a happy note however. It is indeed very sad but now that I have grown relatively old, I have lost all touch with both Devon and Peter. So much so that we never even bumped into each other in this tiny nation. But they still do hold a special place in my heart and if either of you happen to be reading this article, please get in touch with me. A reunion would probably be the best thing that I can ask for.

by **Eura** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 1:21 pm

WORLD CUP 94 – QUALIFYING GROUP 12 – MATCHDAY 8
Eura 1–0 Cap Nord
Scorers:
Sharp 35
Lineup:
1. T Hammond
2. A Mason (sub Mills 30)
4. J Menard (sub Sherwood 67)
19. Q Phillips
3. M Taylor (sub Doherty 80)
6. J Gates
16. G Stewart (sub Clarke 64)
28. F Brown
12. D Barnes
7. A Woodman (sub James 56)
9. A Sharp

WORLD CUP 94 – QUALIFYING GROUP 12 – MATCHDAY 9
Saint Eleanor 1–1 Eura
Scorers:
Singh 76
Lineup:
1. T Hammond
2. A Mason
15. K Sherwood
5. M Hart
3. M Taylor (sub Doherty 75)
6. J Gates
8. O Vincent (sub Brown 83)
11. O James (sub Marshall 90+2)
7. A Woodman
14. K Archer (sub Holden 69)
10. S Singh (sub Phillips 85)

emplor.eur/main/news/eura
BARNHAM AS USUAL
Five more years for PM as Social Party win second term
- Best Social performance in over half a century with increased majority
- Liberals fall further away; Capital Party gutted
- Unionists gain ground but fail to meet expectations

Chief political correspondent Amos Mitchell reports from Bastion

As was widely expected, the Social government has secured another term in office in the United Federation, sweeping to victory with 1,740 of 3,000 seats on offer and taking 44.6% of the vote, in a result Prime Minister Harry Barnham described as “the people’s affirmation” for his government’s policies.

The Social campaign barely broke a sweat in one of the most predictable and uneventful of Eura’s post-war elections, perhaps even more so than the second Liberal/Amy Yarley landslide fifteen years ago. It’s been a remarkable turnaround for the party since that day - when it won a dismal 571 seats and took just 22.4% of the vote – and comes off the back of a busy first term with policy triumphs on health and care, the welfare system, the armed forces, foreign policy and Sameba.

Despite a tricky battle with the opposition parties on the emotionally charged subject of the delayed review into Euran football, Social’s opponents struggled to find any kind of blow to land on the government. With the notable exception of the infamous Peter Lake debacle, all of the televised debates were slanging matches between disparate opposition figures, and in the three leaders’ debates Barnham adopted an ultimately successful strategy to rise above the fray and hold on to his advantage.

Visibly emotional as he stood on stage at the party’s Kings Park victory rally, Barnham promised his regime would dedicate its second term to “finishing the job we started”, presenting the victory as the electorate signing off on the full ‘UBI-sation’ of the welfare system, an active and ambitious foreign policy and other policy projects that got under way in the last five years. There was also a surprise mention of electoral reform, the one undeniable failure of the past half-decade, as the Prime Minister announced the government would put forward proposals for a new electoral system before the end of its second term.

There has been no word on the subject of a Cabinet reshuffle yet, despite intense speculation from across the media, but sources close to the party leadership indicate Eloise Chadwick is set to remain as foreign secretary, settling rumours that the two titans of the party had fallen out. Lake could be vulnerable after his campaign performance and the failures around the football review, but its unlikely he will be moved until that as concluded. For these reasons its likely that the government will remain stable for now, and can enjoy the increased security of a more than doubled majority of 241 seats.

Eura’s political opposition face a very different future. The downfall of Yarley and subsequent defeat of the Liberal juggernaut seemed to herald an era of multipolarity in the Euran political system, but Eura’s unusually long period with the centre-left and soft-left out of power doesn’t seem to have shifted the ideological inclinations of the electorate all that much. The Social prospectus is not exactly a paragon of orthodox left-leaning radicalism – a handful of minor nationalisations were carried out in the first term, but no more are expected for the foreseeable future. But left of centre it is, and the public plucked for it in droves – and the Liberals who finished second did so on a relatively left leaning economic platform in comparison to recent predecessors.

Not that it helped Eura’s second party much, as expectations of a quick recovery from the pummelling they took at the previous election were ruthlessly dashed, flanked by Social on their left and the Unionists on their right. Their MPs will regret having rolled the dice on the inexperienced Angela Green as leader. Green was a bright star who won narrowly against Sterling Thorpe for the leadership after Carl Rutherford decided not to run. The former Minister for Rushmore’s career has peaked early and may end early after losing 153 seats; Thorpe and EOT Minister Elena Ford-Jones, both on the backbenches, are already positioning themselves for a post-election leadership challenge.

On the right, the Unionists have advanced again under Tom Bannister. They have consolidated their position as the third party - but have stalled somewhat, unable to break through like they did at the polls last time, despite the calamitous position of the Capital Party (who now offer diminishing returns) and weak Liberals. Rumours of a stunning leadership coup abound – potential rivals can be found in the form of ex-Liberal MP Samantha Walton on his left, and former journalist Jasmine Dean and soldier Dexter Douglas to his right. Capital’s latest disaster, made worse by implosion in former Sameba, has done for their leader Stephanie Wise after a failed attempt to leverage a comeback through culture warring and anti-Rushmorism.

by **Farfadillis** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 1:30 pm

Lithico™ becomes tenth Farf nation
Political situation “not any less convoluted after this,” say experts

MANDALANDA, Lithico™ — Unlike most declarations of independence throughout the history of the Multiverse, Lithico™'s was remarkably muted. Yue Billionaire Ma Ailun's Lithium-extraction project has become so resoundingly successful that, even while being in the middle of one of the Farf War's two battlefronts, the nation of Lithico™ has been able to flourish, at least in relative terms. Yue immigrants of unknown but likely unpleasant origin (mostly ex-YPA Yues, it has been suggested) and Indujan natives alike toil in the streets and keep preparing for the war effort and, more importantly, the Lithium exportation effort. A muted night of hard work punctuated by only a few celebratory explosions and ceremonial widespread arson was, perhaps, a bit too typical for an event that could shape Farf geopolitics for decades, if not centuries.

It is perhaps a muted celebration because it is not strictly one born of struggle and penury, but one that is a direct result of the general area's astonishing flourishing since Ma Ailun first set foot on Indujan land.

“I'm just happy I can regularly put food on my plate, war or not, Lithium-filled batshit or not,” said Ahezhong Ixis Vara, one of Lithico™'s various employees responsible for sifting through bat shit. “I trust Ma Ailun with my life and then some, and am willing to put my life on the line for the cause,” chimed in Yeng Di Jiade, who's currently responsible for the massive breeding of the Lithium-shitting bats autochthonous to the region.

When asked about the potential ecological fall-out from massively overbreeding a particularly invasive and dangerous species, the two heartily laughed, then one of them noted: "Get out of my sight now or I'll poke holes through you like you're a Faroleran."

The reaction was hardly a surprise: the Lithium-shitting bats have become a rare lifeline for a decent life for a good chunk of Lithico™'s citizens. They have also helped sustain the war efforts, presumably very much against Alex Terán's plans, which, leaked documents implied, counted on controlling what is not Lithico™ territory within a month of the start of the war.

The new nation will, provisionally at least, be led by Ma Ailun's right-hand man Tuskoles Yagares, who has invariably been described by locals as "about 80% as competent as Ma Ailun himself". The Indujan man, by the Yue billionaire's own admission, is likely to make an impeccable head of state. Ma Ailun, for his part, has bigger fish to fry with his Lithium-exporting enterprise and will continue to be CEO of Lithico™, which is, in a complicated way, an entirely separate position from being Lithico™'s head of state.

A perhaps interesting phenomenon going on in the new nation of Lithico™, at least for outside observers, is the extremely rapid mix-and-matching of cultures and, especially languages. The Yue immigrants communicate in their native language, as almost all Farves can pick up languages at a native level within days, but the Farves in the new nation have started developing their own Indujan-Yueyu pidgin, with many citizens taking on new names stemming from this new language, like the aforementioned Ahezhong Ixis Vara and Yeng Di Jiade. "We Farves are extremely adaptable, and we thought the best way to thank our Yue saviors was to erase some of our own culture," commented General Ailaji Jiazha Jinding, who's currently co-leading the war effort in the north alongside Szoirsian general Léonce Heheyi.

A few Szoirsian envoys as well as a small contingent of high-ranking Rulandese Revolutionary Army officials—famous Québecois ex-footballer Erin Kang among them—were present during the rather modest inauguration of Lithico™ as an independent country.

"They have been a very valuable ally against the Faroleran scum," Erin Kang commented, "the Rulandese spirit is unwavering, but their unexpected competence in the battlefield has helped steer away a lot of Faroleran forces from our own front, and we are extremely thankful for that."

"I'm here for the Yue food," commented Ferenc Antalik, one of the seemingly malnourished Szoirsian envoys. "But these guys are cool, I guess."

Besides the ongoing war, the reasons the declaration of independence has caused little reaction from Lithico™'s citizens are twofold: firstly, it was a foregone conclusion and, secondly, there isn't a history of long ethnic struggle backing some nationalist sentiment behind the declaration. There's a war, sure, but the Indujans that were living in what is now Lithico™ were content being Indujans, and they are now content being Lithico™ citizens, which essentially means they are better off Indujans who're also veering towards Yue culture at neck-breaking speed.

“We recognize the Yue invasion of Induja as a hindrance, albeit a minor one, in our war of defense against the Indujans, the Szoirsians and the Rulandese,” said the lone Faroleran representative present at the ceremony. "We do not recognize any new state being formed, but still felt like we needed to have at least one representative sent here to see what's going on. I drew the stick that was the least on fire," he explained as he pointed at his barely-burned palm. "I, nonetheless, must thank the hosts for the strange food. It is quite good," he added.

Little has changed as far as the war is concerned: Lithico™ was already a major player, and they already had a gigantic target on their back, as well as substantial Szoirsian backing. When asked, however, Ma Ailun disagrees: "I think with Tuskoles at the helm, you'll see the fortunes of the Farolerans turn sour quite quickly on the northern front. He's a very capable man, not quite as capable as me, as per his own admission, but nonetheless someone I'm very thankful to have on my side. With me managing the financial side of things and with Tuskoles' help running the entire enterprise on the ground, this declaration of independence might very well be seen, in hindsight, as the war's turning point."

Outside Farfadillis, Lithico™ continues to usher in unprecedented success for an arguably Farf-based company, with only Boom! Uranium Mining having ever reached similar heights in terms of sheer financial power. This is, without a doubt, a reality that will plague Alex Terán's mind for months.

by **Patriotlandia** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 1:31 pm

The Blues hold on in Flavovespia

Box Score
Flavovespia 4–5 Patriotlandia

First Half
- Michael Cole (6')
Alexandre Desrives (16') -
Daniel Lansdell - OG (18') -
David Rodin (25') -
Francis Fortinello (43') -
- Adrian Jones (45'+)
Second Half
- Michael Cole (60')
- Jonathan Bagshaw (77')
Lucien Graham (84') -

The Patriotlandian national was back in a tion in the Flavovespian capital the impressive Hornet's Nest stadium was full of atmosphere and energy as both teams took to the pitch. "Being on the road and going into stadiums like this never gets old", said Captain Elie Manahan. He mentioned that the game plan was to play their own game.even if communication could be hindered by all the noise. The home.team rewarded their fans early thanks to Michael Cole's swiftness, but the Blues would silence the crowd for most of the half with 4 unanswered goals,. including an own goal on the Flavovespian defense. The 25th ranked team looked out of it at times but unfortunately for our compatriots, it would not be so easy. Whatever their manager told them in the locker room, the home team was fired up and looking to erase the Patriotlandian lead. The Blues defense held strongly but VAR awarded a penalty for handball that allowed Flavovespia to start mounting a comeback. Jonathan Bagshaw would eventually tie the game for them, but Lucien Graham sent everyone into a frenzy after regiving the Blues a one goal lead with minutes to spare. "It's always nice to put one in the back of the net", said the veteran striker, "but this one was special. The guys gave it everything today against a tough opponent and it was great to give them the ending they wanted." Manager Jean Alexandre Carignan pointed out there was still points to improve. The team still shows a troubling inability to mark players in the box on set pieces and failed clearance attempts have plague the team on more than one occasion this cycle.

The woes at home reappear

Box Score
Patriotlandia 1–3 Trolleborg

First Half
Torben Kranforde (25') -
- Hannah Graham (42')
Second Half

Anselm Kollimor (58') -
Torben Kranforde (71') -

The Patriotlandians were hoping to carry the momentum of an impressive win on the road into three points at home. Besides a most recent win 5-0, the national team has not delivered on the strong home performances fans had come to expect. Trolleborg's strong defence will prove a worthy challenge. The Patriotlandian defence was the first to cede. Torben Kranforde received a long through ball past the back line before making a run in on goal. As the twine still rippled, the striker made his way to celebrate in front to the away section garnering even more cheers. Hannah Graham playing in lieu of Fortinello notched her first of the qualifying cycle. She dribbled past a couple of defenders before initiating a one-two pass with Alexandre Desrives before firing past Morten Kerr. Both teams went to the dressing room with key points to improve, for the Patriotlandians, they want to limit the ease with which their opponents counter-attack. A feat easier said than done as the team as a tendancy to put numbers forward when in possession. Anselm Kollimor surprised Paul Lataupe with a long strike that the keeper was not able to corral. Now a behind, Jean Alexandre Carignan's players started to lose cohesion in attempts to find an equalizer. A strong tackle by Loïc Lefebvre gave Trolleborg the opportunity to seal the deal with a penalty. Torben Kranforde did not waste the opportunity placing the shot expertly past a diving Lataupe.

by **Trolleborg** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 1:36 pm

Greetings, compatriots!
It's TTV with another series of sports films presented at the recent festival dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the debut of our football team in international competitions. While a series of seemingly random results on the WCQ-94 football fields continues, we, fortunately, have something to brighten up our leisure time and console ourselves in virtual reality.

I must say that we all expected with some trepidation how the random number generator, which selects films for us, would behave after the anomalous misfire last time. But nothing significant happened, and today we have three films again.

So, the first one today is "---" No, we weren’t mistaken – it’s just that the title of the film cannot be adequately translated into foreign languages. Therefore, we decided to leave an empty space, and for our foreign viewers, even if there are not many of them, we will specially decipher and explain the title of this film. One of the most appreciated poets of our country once composed an inspired poem dedicated to the Great March - an event that foreigners who are not familiar with the history of Trolleborg, can find in the table of our football championship, since one of the teams is named after that heroic deed. This poem has entered the golden fund of our poetry, but is very hard to translate big part of meaning, both because it is written in runes in a special rhythm, and because it appeals to things and cultural concepts that are not well known abroad. The closest translation of the poetic line, which is taken in the title, will be as follows: “if the weight is great, and completely unbearable, is it worth not looking for someone who will lift it for you, and isn’t it better to get together and everyone will add their strength?” And the film is about this: how the team tries out candidates for the position of a soon retiring superstar. Over the course of five series, in increasingly deteriorating tournament conditions, this problem is being solved - well, rather, it is not being solved. The film was widely criticized for its unequivocal verdict and lack of interactivity, but was also praised for its artistic values, great actor work and depth of dramatic.

And the second number will be the film “Homes We Left Far Behind”, whose name again apellated to the Trolleborg poetry famous quaitrains. This is a biopic dedicated to the life of a very famous character in the world of sports, known for his actions not on the football field, but beyond it – he is one of the most colorful figures of the huge mass of sports fans in Trolleborg. The real prototype of this man made over 100 trips to the matches of the national team, having visited the strangest and most amazing places in the universe, got into many troubles and adventures, even if it was usually due to a misunderstanding and misapprehensions. Some of these adventures are laid out in a free order during the film, and the player is given the opportunity to either give the choice to the hero himself, or make it for him and see what happens. The interactive component in this film is very varied, the plot tree is very large, there are comedy episodes and quite tragic ones, and many realities are familiar to experienced fans of our team, so this film aroused great interest among the residents of Trolleborg, since many people can closely identify themselves with it main character.

Finally, the last film for today is “A Funny Mishmash in the Cold”. Its plot is recognizable by fans with extensive experience and a good memory, although, of course, in the interests of greater comedy, much of what actually happened is exaggerated and grotesquely zoomed out. One of our football teams went to a tournament in a country that took to host it no one understand for which reasons: the visiting teams was presented with a lonely list of paper, not even completely filled out, with a simple listing of stadiums and their capacity, and on this the hosts limited their participation in the organization. Information about the cultural values of the nation, sights, transport, information about the location of stadiums and even the schedule of the tournament itself is completely absent. The local population, as it turns out on the spot, was not at all aware that something was being carried out in the country, and frankly scared of any strangers. Accordingly, the entire film, made in D3 with interactive elements, is a chain of attempts to deal with emerging difficulties and properly organize accommodation, travel, training process, leisure and so on in the absence of information and the refusal of the local population to somehow cooperate with the guests of the country. Apparently, in the interests of the plot, the characters of the film are sent to a region somewhere in the region of the polar cap. So comic episodes, like Trolls running around on training sessions in the deep snow, or cheering in the stands in several layers of clothing, amusing falls on ice, misunderstandings with local populace etc. are added. Although, in reality, in the country on which this plot based, the climate wasn't all that cruel. The last shots, however, deviate far, very far from the real results of that tournament - but they elevated film from the row of light comedy films and allow us to talk about the film as not a comedy, but as a work where several more genres merged: against the backdrop of the setting sun in an almost empty bowl of a cyclopean stadium, two miraculously fans who managed arrive in a few minutes before the end of the game at the venue of the final match, already rolled out in the snow and frozen almost to death, celebrating the victory of our players – while exhausted, but nevertheless keeping order .

Plots of this kind are traditionally popular with the public, and there are at least two more such films in the festival program - we'll see when we get them.

by **Darmen** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 1:43 pm

Wedding Of Prominent Journalist Puts Kibosh On World Cup Coverage In Darmen

SCOTT CITY - Darmeni media coverage of World Cup qualification has come to a screeching halt as nearly every Darmeni journalist has travelled to Portes Ava for the wedding of Scott City Times writer Bryan Norman. The weekend's festivities will see the largest gathering of Darmeni journalists since the 2042 Darmeni Media Convention.

Norman, who has covered football for the Scott City Times for the past twenty years is one of the most respected journalists in Darmen. He is well loved by the wider media community. His wedding however does leave a large hole in the coverage of the All Greens' qualifying campaign, with the Oldtown Tor Tong Lee High School's school newspaper gaining a press pass to cover the team's match against Greater Cebu.

"Frankly, with the way the team's been playing, most people probably won't be too miffed," stated Casey Goffe, president of the Darmeni Journalist's Union.

by **Turori** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 1:46 pm

TURORI NATIONAL ✓

@TuroriNat
The Turori National Team continued their strong start in Group 5 of #WC94Q though Goalkeeper Derizi Amatopa got a well-earned break as Terasin Maroavuao and Timaala Hualtia took the gloves agaisnt Lionguard and Kewlz 1/3

#WC94Q - #Eelightened - #Group5

@TuroriNat
-@TuroriNat

46 year old Fan Favorite and all-time hero Meldi'ita Mungwaii continued their quest to reach the 100 goal mark in World Cup Qualifying coming on as a late sub and scoring the 6th goal in a win against Lionguard (2/3)

@TuroriNat
-@TuroriNat

Timaala Hualtia picked up their second clean sheet of the cycle as Turori picked up an important victory over 3rd placed side Kewlz on Matchday 9 of #WC94Q. The Eels will now wrap up Qualifying with games against Macbon and the Coalision (3/3)

TURORI NATIONAL ✓

@TuroriNat
Due to its exclusive status as a partner with the Footsport Association of Turori ( @FAT ), its partner twii.tur and as a member of the @twiitur_blue services, @TuroriNat is entitled to publish twii with character count beyond the normal restriction. This notice is being provided due to concerns voiced regarding our coverage of Matchday 5 by the @EXT who, among all, should understand the need to sometimes put more characters than required in media reporting

 Turori 6 - 2 Lionguard	
	Turori Goals:	:: 1' Lumlao Noauryua:: 18' Turakia Diijelhma:: 23' Turakia Diijelhma:: 27' Nua'oma Aikiki:: 35' Lati'ala Giaoka:: 86' Meldi'ita Mungwaii         
	Stats :: Turori 	:: Possession: 58%:: Shots: 13:: Corners: 23 :: Lionguard :: Possession: 42%:: Shots: 7:: Corners: 5
	Turori Lineup :: 	Terasin Moravuao (Derizi Amatopa 60'), Karek Edgeli, Moumouni Verre'elali, Planio’o Nrujsa (Meldi'ita Mungwaii 78'), Biliki Rona'atu'i, Cuoabaza Orani’aoa, Naraiza Ruaplal (H’munao Cagomia 78'), Lati'ala Giaoka, Lumlao Noauryua (Tulaki Rauogba 60'), Nua'oma Aikiki (Amakli Inuro'o 63'), Turakia Diijelhma

 Turori 3 - 0 Kewlz	
	Turori Goals:	:: 5' Loala Inkabu:: 12' Nua'oma Aikiki:: 13' Tulaki Rauogba            
	Stats :: Turori 	:: Possession: 63%:: Shots: 8:: Corners: 15 :: Kewlz :: Possession: 37%:: Shots: 2:: Corners: 2
	Turori Lineup :: 	Timaala Hualtia, Moumouni Verre'elali, Karek Edgeli, Amakli Inuro'o (Lutara Makakio 45'), Planio’o Nrujsa, Kiidallen Aeroluzzi (Kala'a Yuliizala 68'), Naraiza Ruaplal, Kinabo Telioa, Tulaki Rauogba (H’munao Cagomia 45'), Nua'oma Aikiki (Trenian Omalizo 68'), Loala Inkabu (Biliki Rona'atu'i 45')

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