World Cup 94 [roleplays]

[Tumbra]

Brusseldorf 3–5 Tumbra

TMB (4-2-3-1): 1 - N Barker; 2 - A Renton (18 - C Finney, 75'), 14 - W Pritchett (4 - I Ashburn, 45'), 20 - Y Lawson, 19 - J Green; 6 - T Harrison, 8 - V Hicks (16 - I Robertson, 75'), 10 - P Cole; 7 - V Wells, 9 - L Crossley (21 - J Hardaker, 84'); 22 - C Henshaw (11 - N Riordan, 81')

TMB scorers: Yvonne Lawson (18'), Charlotte Henshaw (50', 68'), Phil Cole (80'), Valerie Wells (88')

Player of the Match: Yvonne Lawson [TMB]

---

Tumbra 1–0 United Hawkland

TMB (4-2-3-1): 13 - R Russell; 18 - C Finney (2 - A Renton, 77'), 4 - I Ashburn, 5 - S Kerr (20 - C Whitfield, 81'), 19 - J Green (3 - T Mercurio, 81'); 15 - M Finnemore, 32 - L McCormick (16 - I Robertson, 89'), 35 - N Coleman (10 - P Cole, 77'); 17 - R Haines, 9 - L Crossley, 11 - N Riordan

TMB scorers: Mark Finnemore (80')

Player of the Match: Mark Finnemore [TMB]

Codazur
Cap Nord
3.00pm

It was a lazy afternoon — well, lazy for the hubbub of the Esportivan Cultural Festival, at least. The trickle of visitors to the marquee containing Evening at Mount Vernon had slowed to a crawl; just in time for the three pm handover. The security guards lounged lazily near the entrances; it was obvious by now that all they wanted to do was to hand over to the next shift, go to the less seemly part of the festival, and knock back a cigarette or two.

Gruffly, the security guards looked at the clock; it was three pm. Slowly, they ushered all of the visiting crowds out of the marquee; the exhibition would now be closed for ten minutes, to let the cleaners do their job. Four men and women, in various shapes and sizes, carrying cleaning equipment but also carrying heavy duffel bags, presented their credentials to the security guards at the front of the tent.

"You lot aren't the regular crew that take this shift, are you?" asked one of the security guards at the front of the door. "Face coverings and all too."

'Spinelli', 'Ivanovic', 'Mancini', and 'Blackthorn' looked at each other. "Regular crew are off sick, so we got the call. Face coverings are because we've got deep cleaning today," said 'Mancini', in a tone of voice that tried to sound convincing but...wasn't. It evidently passed muster, however, because the security guard let them in, then continued to try and hold back the crowd gathered at the front of the tent.

"Didn't even ask for face that one time," said 'Blackthorn' as the four headed into the empty tent.

"Shut it, you," said 'Mancini'. "Got enough going on as is."

The four were now inside the empty marquee, with two security guards on either side of the painting. Upon seeing the four cleaners, the security guards relaxed; one of them took out their phone and started fiddling with it. The four 'cleaners' each decamped to a separate corner of the large marquee, and started cleaning. This was vital; they first had to lull the security guards into a sense of security that was even greater than the lull they were already in. There was a quiet tense atmosphere as the four of them started cleaning the marquee. 'Mancini' was on edge; they kept themselves to a small area surrounding his duffel bag. 'Ivanovic' was more relaxed, cleaning as if they were a regular cleaner; 'Spinelli' had their earphones in, while 'Blackthorn' was slowly setting up.

A few minutes later, Spinelli seemingly heard something in his earphone, dropped to his knees, and rifled through his duffel bag. He withdrew a small silver canister; upon seeing it, the other three put on their full masks. The guards didn't notice, but in an instant — one, shining instant; 'Spinelli' pulled the ring on a canister — which more accurately now resembled a grenade — and lobbed it at the guards as a heavy, smoky gas emerged. 'Spinelli' quickly snapped on their own mask, and in an instant had taken control of the situation. 'Blackthorn' had produced a gun from his duffel bag; 'Mancini' had taken out a canister of his own, and lobbed it at the other end of the tent.

The guards, powerless against the heavy, thick gas, collapsed, one by one. 'Spinelli' didn't know if they were dead — 'Kontiola' had only mentioned it was a very powerful knockout gas — and so they preferred not to think about it. Seeing one of the guards claw at his own throat, however, they'd probably be left with at least some form of injury.

"Brutal", said 'Ivanovic', voice now distorted by the high-tech mask that somehow had LEDs on it as well. He nudged one of the guards' shoulders with his boot. "Still alive. Just knocked clean out. That one guard who clawed at his neck's just a prissy bitch. And now we wait for the calvary. Get your guns out."

The other three took out their carbine rifles and prepared for the worst...

"The other five goons should be way causing terror by now," said 'Spinelli'. "Spinelli to Amos, where's our calvary?"

"Right here," replied another distorted voice. "Your fucking calvary's right here."

Outside

The four cleaners had arrived to the exhibition grounds in one van. The five gunmen had another. Unlike the cleaners, they'd eschewed the flimsy disguises; it was straight to the pink jumpsuits with the LED masks for them. 'Edgeli' held a carbine rifle; the other four had weapons of varying persuasions. The aim was not to present themselves as a professional outfit; but rather a rag-tag bunch of robbers who would be very difficult to track down. Illegally acquired Lentech MRMG-74s, a Redruth AS45 with the serial number filed off; nothing that could be traced. With luck, everything used in the commission of the robbery bar the painting itself would be thrown into the ocean during their escape from Cap Nord; jumpsuits, LED masks and all. Their headquarters had long been ransacked, and burned; a nice little distraction for the emergency services while the sixteen robbers took hold.

"Showtime," said 'Edgeli' as he opened the van doors and the five marched out into the grounds of the festival, just outside the marquee. By this time, there was a general sense of chaos; smoke was emanating from the marquee and the sight of five heavily armed people in pink jumpsuits and LED masks didn't help matters.

"Get down on the ground, people," 'Edgeli' said, revelling in the opportunity to finally use the full capabilities of his mask. "Down. Hands where we can fuckin' see 'em."

"Spinelli to Amos," came a voice in his ear. "Where's our calvary?

"Right here," spat Edgeli into the mask's microphone. "Your fucking calvary's right here."

The great heist of the century had begun.

26-PLAYER SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP 94 QUALIFIER MATCHES vs KHARAKIA and vs. ANCHERIOND
Link to full roster
Goalkeepers: 1 - Nick Barker (FC Inter Nantwich), 12 - Victoria Jones (Lakewood City), 13 - Richard Russell (Lakewood United)
Defenders: 2 - Annie Renton (Victoriaville City, CDG), 45 - Sabine Kemp (Raven River, NPH); 4 - Ian Ashburn (Lakewood City), 5 - Stephen Kerr (Chromatik, CMT), 14 - Wendy Pritchett (Grande Mountain, CDG), 20 - Christine Whitfield (Myana, CMT), 24 - Yvonne Lawson (St. John's Arsenal, QUE); 3 - Tracey Mercurio (Kingston FC, QUE), 19 - James Green (Bavingtor FC)
Midfielders: 6 - Trudy Harrison (Chromatik, CMT), 15 - Mark Finnemore (Couno Rangers), 32 - Lucas McCormick (Lakewood City); 8 - Vincent Hicks (Couno Rangers), 16 - Ian Robertson (Ridgewell Rovers), 33 - Wendy Thomas (Alnio, CMT); 10 - Phil Cole (Osarese Marcadia, AUD), 23 - Susan Monaghan (Sabrefell Athletic, NPH)
Wingers: 7 - Valerie Wells (AFC Treason, NPH), 17 - Rebecca Haines (FC Inter Nantwich, TMB); 9 - Lynne Crossley (Crossroads, CMT), 21 - Julie Hardaker (Myana, CMT)
Strikers: 11 - Nick Riordan (Sabrefell Moths, NPH), 22 - Charlotte Henshaw (Lakewood City)

[PotatoFarmers]

Poafmersia 2–5 Natanians and Nosts
Goalscorers: Jordan Huerta 28' (assisted by Tessa Bjarnesen), 40' (assisted by Aapeli Shea)
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: Aleksandar Malloye (Potts 50'), Sylvia Fusco (Berg 50'), Kelefe Hans (Oriol 72'), Leontiy Seet (Handris 72'), Taliah Alcock (Bjarnesen 84')

Lozho 1–0 Poafmersia
Goalscorers: None
Lineup (4-3-3): Aleksandar Malloye; Kilikina Lee, Diamond Byan, Kelefe Hans, Xenophon Robson; Magreta Rym, Sylvia Fusco, Aapeli Shea (c); Tessa Bjarnesen, Jordan Huerta, Leontiy Seet
Substitutes: Nacro Astro (Byan 61')

Change: Two Decades of International Football in Poafmersia
Part 4

Poafmer Times: PFFA announces new callups for the WCQ squad, calls for patience as board has "full confidence" in coaching team

Poafmersia - In response to the recent slate of bad results experienced by the Poafmersian national team against lower level opposition, the PFFA has confirmed that it has made call ups to 5 players to join the national team training and participate in the qualifiers.

In a press statement released this morning, the PFFA listed out 5 players that they will be adding to the submitted roster, meaning that these 5 players could participate in the next cruical games against Farfadillis and Baker Park. In particular, 2 of the players, namely Florent Rivera, 29 (CF/AM) who currently plays in Ko-oren's Advance Alara; as well as Emma Henderson, 29 (RB) who currently plays in Ko-oren's Arboren FC, have previously been called up for other national team games. The other 3 named were right winger Sakari Cantù, 27, who currently plays for Nephara's Southfell United; striker Suada Bogdanić, 27, who currently plays for Brenecia's Southern Star, as well as centerback Liadan Holmström, 28, playing for Mancodas City.

The statement highlights that the coaching team's initial decision was to stick to a team of 26 players throughout the qualifiers, having "assessed the chemistry between these players" and felt that the chemistry between the players mattered more. However, with some players experiencing dips in form, the team's performances "has taken a dive" and that the coaches felt that it was "appropriate" to introduce some new faces to contest for the starting positions. "The coaches believve that these players have the personal capability to play in the national team, they will be assessed for their chemistry with the rest of the team and decisions will be made to rotate these players as part of the usual rotation for the squad."

In addition, the statement provided an update on goalkeeper Nicole Potts' situation. "Against Natanians and Nosts, Potts suffered a concussion after some rough play during a corner play. For the safety of the player, it was decided that Potts will not play the away game against Lozho, instead staying in hospital for further observations and checks. As we have gotten the all clear signal from the hospital doctors and our in-house medical staff, Potts is now fully fit and will be ready to play in our next games at home to Farfadillis and away at Baker Park".

The statement further requests fans and Poafmers in general to remain calm and have confidence in the team coaches to turn things around. "With the help of the rest of the team coaches and some new technology, the team has identified some fundemental issues for the team and is currently working on them heavily during training sessions. There are also slight changes in player selection that will be made against some of the stronger teams so we can aim to achieve maximum points in those games."

[Nyowani Kitara]

NYK Commentators, during the Nyowani Kitara at Juvencus World Cup Qualifier

Play-By-Play Commentator: "75 minutes on, there hasn't been any goals in this contest. We still sit at nil-nil- two teams who are playing their fourth World Cup Qualifier against each other in the last two cycles. Last year, Nyowani Kitara's trip to this country ended in a shellacking- and effectively killed the slim chances we had of winning our World Cup Qualifying group. This year, the equation is quite different. Both teams are thick in contention for a playoff spot, but instead of Juvencus gunning off with the group, it is Nyowani Kitara who's got the better chance of winning this group."

Color Commentator: "Well, of course, the Kitarans are surging in this group right now. But in this game... Juvencus have showcased why they've had our number over the past few years. Our last three matchups against them- we haven't scored once. And we're an attacking team in so many ways. THey are able to shut down our midfield, kill their connections with our wingers and attackers, and have all in all just been better than us tactically."

"But today, things are a little different. It's a hostile environment, yes- but the game on the pitch itself seems just about even. Neither team creating much- but oh dang! LOOK AT THAT THROUGH BALL!"

Just then, the half-Banijan, Pierre-Didier Kouyaté, had found the ball in the middle of the pitch, and played a long, overhead through ball- to Julio Campana, who had a step on his defender.

Play-By-Play Commentator: "Malmquist giving chase, but Campana is in on goal! He takes a touch, and then shoots as Bigombe comes sliding out- AND IT'S SAVED! OH MY, HOLY HELL! A SLIDING BIGOMBE MADE HIMSELF BIG IN A ONE ON ONE SITUATION, AND GOT A SAVE- THERE'S MALMQUIST WITH THE CLEARANCE! BIG-TIME SAVE TO KEEP THE SCORES LEVEL! Easily the best chance for either team in this game so far. Will this be Nyowani Kitara's night??"

---

Nyowani Kitara earn tough away win against Juvencus to extend winning streak to 7 games on the bounce

DEWAYO, NYOWANI KITARA- It's difficult to continue to win games in World Cup Qualifying. But the ability to take three points, in the tightest of games, is more than a skill- it's an art. "When you start poorly like we did, the only way to climb back up the table is to consistently have efforts that earn us three points." Liang Wei told reporters. "Obviously, we're on a winning streak right now- but these wins are not promised to us. And obviously, each game is its own game. But a trip to Juvencus- getting three points here means a lot. A team that we have struggled to break down over the past few years, the pair of goals we got today were sensational- let's ride this."

We'll briefly go over the games. Juvencus v. Nyowani Kitara was mostly even matched- many would say that the fairest result would have been splitting the spoils. But this sport is a cruel one, isn't it? But it's why we love it. It is certainly won and lost on the fine margins, in those key moments, when players rise to the occasion. We had that happen on an individual basis. Campana got in behind our defense for a one v. one opportunity in the 75th minute, and Odour Bigombe made a massive save to keep the game level- if he had given Juvencus a 1-0 lead at that point, that might have been a wrap for us in that match.

But as the minutes wound down, it would be a moment of the spectacular from Nyowani Kitara that would win this. Arvid Hansdotter, almost everybody would agree, is our best player. And he asserted himself- stepping up on a long range shot, from about 25 yards, and absolutely drilling it. Obviously, a low percentage shot- but like we said, sometimes, it's about the moments. Away from home, of course, the goal was wildly celebrated. He found the visiting fan section and leapt amongst their number, earning himself a yellow card for time-wasting as he did so. And a suspension from the South Covello. But who gave a damn?

Kuma Negasu's goal on the counter, in stoppage time, would bury the game and give Nyowani Kitara all three points against this tough opponent. As they continue to chase Brookstation and Cardenao, it's a big road win- with the opportunities to get points starting to shrink, as we get towards the business end of Qualifying, those points were crucial. Against South Covello, even without Hansdotter (yellow card accumulation), we cruised against an overmatched South Covello side in our nation's capitol. Negasu and Angonga both had a brace as we rolled to a 4-1 victory.

But the games only get bigger from here.

Who do we have first? Darkmania. Of course, we will be heavy favorites- while their fortunes have turned mightily since we smashed them 5-1 for our first win of the campaign, even our rotated squad is expected to have relatively little trouble dispatching of them. But we got a massive contest coming up on the back half of this window- where we'll have, hopefully, a well rested first choice XI against Cardenao.

Right now, both us and Cardenao are level on 27 points in the group- we sit in both of the group's playoff spots, with us in second and Cardenao in third, on overall goal differential. And we are both three points behind the pacesetters, Brookstation, who have led this group basically from the first go- although we have a game in hand on Brookstation. "That game, NYK v. Cardenao, will be massive." Said a TV analyst. "The winner- if there is a winner- will have the inside track on really challenging Brookstation and having a chance to win this group outright. The loser will probably be playoff bound- a win regardless for Cardenao, but NYK, considering our recent history, has higher ambitions than that."

Of course, that game will be at the Revolutionary Grounds, in Dewayo. A pair of wins next window will really allow us to focus our sights on Brookstation, as we chase direct World Cup Qualification. Can we get the job done in Dewayo against Cardenao?

[Naixi]

"There is a man who lives underground, Guo Feng, who searches day and night for his wife. She lives here, in Qiawutian, he knows that much. His task is not so easy, however - she has lost her memory... all of it. She once loved that man with all her heart, but now that love has been wiped from her mind forever. He has two tasks: one, to find her, and two: to restore her memory of him. Both tasks have been too difficult for him to accomplish, thus far at least. So, you ask, what reason have you to care? I need that underground man's help, desperately. His sister controls the hospital to the northeast of the Marina... I believe you know the area. I need that hospital, or rather, I need access to a site within its grounds. But this woman's grip on the place is tight, and she denies me entry. For, Guo Feng, I do not mean she controls it in the economic sense - in the sense that she has some financial interest in the hospital - I mean that literally, she oversees everything there. Guards are posted at every door, and they have heard, from her, very definite language that they are to deny entry to my students and I.

"The man who lives underground has an interest in helping me, but he has become much too preoccupied with finding his lost wife. Too preoccupied even, to assist the Hand in its pursuit of wisdom and justice. Let me stress something I perhaps ought to have stressed more coherently earlier on - this is a hard man. He is ruthless and often violent. He is profoundly unemotional and considers logic and reason to be of paramount importance. So imagine what level of emotional distress such a man must be in to be deterred from acting - in conjunction with the Hand - upon his own self-interest.

"Find her, Guo Feng. Find her and I shall look upon you with favor."

Those are not the precise words Grandmaster Kwai spoke to me seven years ago in Qiawutian, on the rooftop of a run down two story building, but they are very close. I have, I'm afraid, once again removed language that I fear will reveal too much of my second secret. I was seventeen at the time, the youngest of Grandmaster Kwai's students. His school for martial arts, located in the dodgiest part of the otherwise-wealthy Terrace Heights neighborhood (where it descends a slope toward the Industrial Valley district), was a regional magnet for aspiring MMA fighters and spiritually-explorative chi warriors alike. I had fallen in with the Grandmaster following my flight from the... the word still seems like too much to confide in you... Ascended. They spent months scouring the streets for me, though I was of course just a teenage boy. Ultimately, Kwai had taken me in.

He was a good man, but paranoid and strict. Stocky and tall, he was a strong believer in the restoration of natural order and rigid adherent to a specific set of Confucian values, he accepted at his school only those who would adopt his stern philosophy. He was a prominent member of an old religious organization called the Guiding Hand, or, simply, the Hand. It would benefit me little to tell you all I know about the Hand, and so I instruct you to find someone else to spill the beans. All I will say is that to Grandmaster Kwai, the neon glitz of Qiawutian, with its walls of glass, vain hipsters, and perpetual crime, was an exemplar of everything wrong with modernity. He rather detested being there, I realize when I look back. I suspect, however, that he had no choice. Qiawutian was where the students were, so he had to come to them.

I learned a great deal from him - most critically, how to defend myself. His wing chun kung fu style, one of several he bestowed upon his charges, was one I took to with ease. I feared the Ascended no longer, though I suspected they hardly feared me, either. Someday, a confrontation with them is inevitable. But, both then (during my teenage years spent with Kwan) and now (during the height of my career as a venture capitalist and investor), I wait.

I met a great many friends there, though at the time I was still rather too fearful to share anything about my sexual orientation. A boy I rather liked was often in the same class as I, and we became good friends. He was stern and humorless, which made it all the more enthralling to draw a laugh out of it him. It is, of course, natural that I had a crush on him. He was, however, Grandmaster Kwai's son. Nothing could or would happen between us, and I understood without ambiguity that I must not mention my feelings to him under any circumstances.

I regret this.

One day after class - if I recall correctly it was three or four months after I heard about the "man who lives underground" - Kwen Kwai and I received an assignment from his father. We were to go undercover and monitor the activities of some triad group called the Dragons in the north-central part of the Seaport District. We drove down in a truck and staked out the location, a squalid fast food restaurant, for a few hours. We chatted for a long time about our likes and dislikes, and which things we thought were the most useful from our kung fu lessons that morning. I told him parts of the story I told you the last time we spoke, and he told me of his struggles to win the heart of some girl whose name I've forgotten.

We saw nobody in the restaurant, or at least nobody we'd been told to keep an eye out for. We were there in the car, silly sunglasses on our faces, until nearly midnight. At last, we gave up, and I started the car so that we could begin the long drive north to go back up to the martial arts school in Terrace Heights. As I began to pull out of the parking lot, a truck careened down the parkway out of nowhere. It was driving on the wrong side of the road, and I could see as it approached us (though not for long, because of its velocity) that another car was driving alongside it. Gunfire was being exchanged between the two vehicles.

I realized too late that the truck was going to hit us - its two front wheels were shot out and clearly the driver had no control over its destination. I threw the car in reverse, but it was too late. The truck slammed into our car, hard, and Kwen's side of the car was the one it hit.

I was hurt badly. My left arm and left leg were shattered in multiple places. Glass was embedded so deep in my muscle tissue than a surgeon had to ultimately remove it. But at least I lived.

Kwen was killed instantly.

The truck, which flipped rear-over-front after it hit us, slid down the street and halfway down a narrow ravine. It was, I was later told, full of Dragons-affiliated triad goons who were all also killed. (That was little consolation to me.) The other car, the one that was pumping the truck full of bulletholes, was never tracked down. I wonder to this day who was responsible. The mystery is unhelpful to my mental well-being, because, of course, the absence of an obvious malefactor makes me blame myself.

Grandmaster Kwai certainly blamed me, though he was too kind to ever admit it. I dropped out of his martial arts school after I recovered from the accident because I knew that seeing me, the person who was with his son when he died - would be too difficult on the Grandmaster. I had learned everything I needed to know about kung fu already, anyway. I moved on with my life, or tried to.

Some days, though, I still look back on my time at Kwai's school and wonder if the damage can ever be undone... if the Grandmaster could ever forgive me. The story he told me that afternoon on the rooftop about the underground man and his amnesiac wife has always rung in my head. What if I were to locate her? What if I were to come across this woman who had no idea who she was or that her husband was still out there? If I were to forge a pact between Grandmaster Kwai and the man who lived underground, would I be absolved?

I don't know, and it doesn't matter, because it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. How do you find someone who doesn't remember they need to be found? Sadly, I must simply continue with my life, and all things considered, it's a good life. I live in the lap of luxury in my spotless penthouse apartment, I am respected as a captain of industry, and the Ascended cannot and will not touch me (the MMA fighters I sponsor are rather menacing individuals). My destiny glows eternally in good fortune. Kwai will have to continue his fight to restore balance to the universe, and to heal the wounds caused by the death of his son, alone.

Matchday 14

Naixi 1 ⇨ Ning, Yep (Pao), Geng, Z.B. Tan, Tsung, Tian, Hark (Dong), Mok, Chang (Yue), Yuan, Chu ⚽x1
Greater Cebu 1 ⇨ Ivanovsky, Voltaire (Teves), Messina, Scalvini, Watt ⚽x1, Castillo, Baüer (Alsace), di Scipio, Araki (Suarez), Dias, Kraljević

10' Yellow Card ⇨ Yep (NIX)
26' Yellow Card ⇨ Dias (GRC)
39' Yellow Card ⇨ Baüer (GRC)
56' Substitution ⇨ Voltaire OFF Teves ON (GRC)
57' Substitution ⇨ Yep OFF Pao ON (NIX)
77' Yellow Card ⇨ Watt (GRC)
80' Substitution ⇨ Chang OFF Yue ON (NIX)
82' Substitution ⇨ Araki OFF Suarez ON (GRC)
83' Goal ⇨ Chu (NIX)
84' Substitution ⇨ Baüer OFF Alsace ON (GRC)
89' Substitution ⇨ Hark OFF Dong ON (NIX)
92' Goal ⇨ Watt (GRC)

Matchday 15

The Cherven Cities 1 ⇨ Vasylyshyn, Polzin, Piontek, Wrona (Rudanski), Dubek, Ziemniak ⚽x1, Nowak, Grabowski, Walentowicz (Boyko), Gorecki (Jelenski), Kędzierski
Naixi 0 ⇨ Ning, Pao, Geng, Z.B. Tan, Tsung (Ming), Tian, Hark, Mok, Chang, Yuan (Yue), Chu (Ling)

1' Yellow Card ⇨ Kędzierski (OPP)
7' Yellow Card ⇨ Hark (NIX)
16' Yellow Card ⇨ Ning (NIX)
26' Yellow Card ⇨ Z.B. Tan (NIX)
31' Yellow Card ⇨ Yuan (NIX)
40' Yellow Card ⇨ Piontek (OPP)
58' Goal ⇨ Ziemniak (OPP)
61' Substitution ⇨ Wrona OFF Rudanski ON (OPP)
62' Substitution ⇨ Yuan OFF Yue ON (NIX)
65' Substitution ⇨ Chu OFF Ling ON (NIX)
76' Yellow Card ⇨ Pao (NIX)
80' Yellow Card ⇨ Geng (NIX)
90' Substitution ⇨ Tsung OFF Ming ON (NIX)
92' Substitution ⇨ Walentowicz OFF Boyko ON (OPP)
94' Substitution ⇨ Gorecki OFF Jelenski ON (OPP)

OOC Note: This and future roleplays borrow themes and concepts from the roleplaying game Feng Shui 2. All storylines and characters are original creations. ICly, events take place in Naixi and within the Naixese timeline, not in RL Hong Kong, which is the setting for the game.

[Valanora]

The sudden shift from when everything is going right to everything is absolutely crashing in around you, the dread that is felt when the joy that you had been feeling is completely sucked out of your life. I can not begin to imagine the absolute rage and verbal thrashing that the Marauders have received after the last international window, but the pain that is being felt by every fan right now can likely be a good measuring stick of just how awful that weekend was. It is perhaps the worst weekend that the Marauders have ever had in their long and storied history of participating in the tournament and that is saying something considering the amount of time they have been playing this game. The most disturbing trend of this campaign is that all the draws and that quite frankly embarrassing match were all at home, where the Marauders are supposed to be at their best. Instead during this tournament, the side has been completely and absolutely fragile when playing in front of the home crowd and nothing about the team would give any indication as to why they fail to play up to their talent level when at the Hatire Memorial.

As infuriating and as angry as those results not only make the fans but the team itself, there is nothing to do about them but move on and not let an avalanche form from which there would be no escape. The worst thing that you can take from a shock loss is to let it continue to defeat you after the fact, which very well is likely the case for what happened in the last away trip and has allowed the Marauders to now find themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to securing passage out of the group. Strange how quickly the side can go from unbeaten in the group and seemingly cruising towards the group title and qualification to the Finals, to now needing to win out and hope to own the tiebreaker against their competitors in order to maintain that very same trajectory that seemed all but certain less than a week before. Perhaps this was the tonic that the side needed for thinking that they had figured out the issues that had plagued them during the last Finals, or perhaps it was a case of running into the wrong team at the wrong time. Regardless, needs must require to push aside all the negative and go again, that is what being a professional is about.

[Pasarga]

The Wanderers only had a single game to play in the last international window, with their bye in the group scheduling coming with it, and thus they had to ensure that they put their best foot forward in the sole match that they would be playing. Given that the team would be playing in the Stade de Torgos, it was going to be a fairly easy accommodation one would think, as the national stadium has traditionally been a fortress for the Wanderers and has seen them rescue many a draw from the jaws of defeat and snatch victories in games that they might have on the balance of things only should have earned a solitary point from. With Carpathia and Ruthenia, who were sitting near the bottom of the table, visiting and the very hefty home advantage that the Wanderers would be able to utilize, all the makings of an impressive showing in their lone match for the break were on the table. And thankfully for the ninety thousand fans in the national stadium and the millions watching across the nation, the Wanderers were not going to disappoint on this day and put on quite the formidable display that showed why they are leading the group.

There have been shouts over the last two World Cup cycles that Elek Salai be dropped from the starting line up and one of the other handful of talented strikers at the Wanderers' disposal a chance to try and lead the line, that they might have more consistency than the star man himself. And yes while the complaints about how streaky Salai can be and how he seems to fall in and out of form like the changing of the wind, there is no denying that when Salai is on form he is one of the best strikers in all of the sport. He is a generational talent, one that can play in a few different positions and does not complain when being played outside of his more comfortable and preferred position at top of the formation. Against Carpathia and Ruthenia, Salai was at his best, with a brace and an assist in the Wanderers victory against their traveling foe, grabbing goals on either side of the halftime whistle and putting in the hustle that you want to see from your star player. Also assisting on the goal from Asztrik Biró, with Ilona Kárpáty finishing off the scoring for the Wanderers, showcased his ability to be a provider on top of a finisher when called upon.

Now the Wanderers sit at the top of the table with seven games to goal and a three point lead ahead of Tumbra in second, the top seed of the group clawing their way back into top of the table contention and looking to take the automatic qualification spot away from the Wanderers, to see the group finish in the way that it was expected to when the draw was made. On paper, the Wanderers just have to keep winning the games that they are supposed to and they will be able to walk away with the group, even afforded the benefit of having a game where they drop points and still are able to be sitting at the top of the table. Yet as we have been witness to both inside of the Wanderers qualifying group and across all of the groups as a whole, just because you are supposed to be getting a result on paper does not mean you should at all be comfortable, nor should the team think that history can be unwritten just yet. While Orengo has the team moving in all the right directions and looking to put the mistakes of the past behind them, they may still haunt the team like a dreaded spectre. Victories alone can purge them from haunting the team, victories like the one they just had, keeping their rivals just out of reach while chasing down qualification and redemption.

[Bears Armed]

The place: Wimbley Stadium.
The time: just before sunset, four days before the Bear-Belles' away match against Krytenia.

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

Florise Fane, ace reported for 'The Bear Necessities' looked out across the pitch, from an open window in the Press box, pating particular attention to the pair of stone altars that had been moved in temporarily and positioned so that one was behind each goal.

"Sacrrifices to Margaret, ayyuh?"

"Ayyuh," replied the Chairbear of BAAS, Morra Dumble. "And at both ends of the pitch, hrrather than just one of them, to be on the safe side. I don't know hwhy my predeccessor everr discontinued them, bearing in mind how far the Belles' levels of success had dropped. Maybeo she had already picked up some of those Hwrackspurrt bugs, while travelling abroad, and they made her forget about these? Anyhows, it's too late to try asking her now, with all of the poor lady's ability to hrremember things so badly damaged by the brain-fever, for true!
"I'm just glad that The Wise have managed to get me, and the Belles, and everybearry else here hwho had been affected more recently, completely purified from that infestation: I can hrrecall my own past thoughts much more clearrly now... and -- fleas and fur-loss! -- I have just hrrealised that the fuzzyness of thinking it caused kept urrs from sending a team to enter this cycle's Di Bradini Cup! Bear-on-a-Stick!
"Anyhows, ayyuh, sacrrifices... As we used to do, we are rreplacing the rubber chickens that some other nations favourr for this purrpose with hrreal poultry: At each altar we will behead and burn an eight-squared of chickens, eight geese, and an ostrich."

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

OOC notes

On why the Bears didn't enter the latest DBC: That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

"Fleas and fur-loss!" _ a common Ursine exclamation.

"Bear-on-a-Stick!" _ a stronger and therefore less frequently used exclamation, originating with followers of the Ursion religion: It refers to 'Artos Ursios', that faith's founder (and mortal-born son of 'The Great Bear, i.e.their God). who died [impaled] on the Stake but subsequently rose from his grave & returned alive again in the following Spring.

The nature of the sacrifices: Using real poultry as offerings to Margaret, instead of rubber chickens, has been the Bears' usual practice (as shown in various of my RP posts during earlier cycles) except when they were just starting out in international competition.
Ostrches were brought to these lands by the Human civilization that ruled here for centuries, long ago, but that had self-destructed in a "Wizards's War" quite a while before any Bears here (except for the Cave Bears, whose existence pre-dated thehumans' arrival but who slept through theperiod of human dominance) "awakened" into sapience. Those birds might have been kept originally just for their meat, eggs, and feathers, but the modern population descends from a strain that had been modified magically so that if & when they ignore somet other being then that being must ikewise ignore them... with many individual ostriches capable of forcing the other being's ignoring of whoever or whatever they have been set to guard as well, and some even capable of influencing machines such as -- for example -- radar systems.

[Saint Eleanor]

OOC: The magic of AM radio, eh? Good job this RP couldn't have been made possible without Mertagne (who fed me some info about his national radio network independently of the earlier-linked RP), Audioslavia (who told me "yeah, do what you want" when I asked him about his network independently of Mert telling me about the existence of a MCLM Red relay transmitter there), and Banija (who issued much-needed clarification about the mediums of the world-famous Banijan play-by-play radio commentary). Information about other channels is deliberately vague.
If you are suddenly interested in this IRL for whatever reason, please self-refer to DXing.info (basic info), FMScan.org (contains the base material for the World Radio TV Handbook, beloved among DXers), and Short-Wave.info (more general info about SW transmissions).

Channel 4 presents THE RACE TO THE WORLD CUP - World Cup 94, fourteenth qualifier game
SAINT ELEANOR 5-1 SATERUN (Rick Goldsmith 3 and 38, David Newcastle 50, Sylvia Hollenberg 54, Adam Denby 82; Andrei Coiro 67)

Report by Candy Hewitt, Channel 4 football analyst: Saint Eleanor secured back-to-back home wins for the first time this cycle, and in impressive fashion as they cobbled Saterun to break away from the chasing pack at the head of the table. The Claws could have jumped into third today with wins for them and Eura, but were rapidly defanged as Rick Goldsmith's 25-yard stinger gave Saint Eleanor an almost-immediate advantage. While they did a decent job at staying back in defence, Alojzy Addams in particular faring much better than he did in the first leg, they were repeatedly threatened and lucky neither to succumb to a near-identical Goldsmith effort nor a booming attempt by Jessica Martin that Ralf Abiatti barely pushed over the bar in the interim.
David Newcastle, among others, stepped up to astonishing effect either side of the half-time break. He first dummied Saveli Holst as well as a player with his unsavviness could, before drifting in a cross perfect enough for Goldsmith to chest and instantly fire into the net. Then, after returning from the break 2-0 up, he opted for a basic dribble, one which caught the Saterunian defence off-guard and wrong-footed Abiatti long before he was able to position himself to stop the eventual goal.
This remarkable spell of attacks was capped off by Sylvia Hollenberg, who stuck around the edge of the penalty area after a corner had been awarded. Despite an unforeseen deflection off Holst, Cathy Winchester stayed on the ball for long enough to clear room for Hollenberg, whose diving header in response was a practical necessity more than it was an attempt at showing off. Suddenly, everything was coming together for Saint Eleanor: from 1-0 up and struggling to carve out an advantage, they were 4-0 ahead and on certain course for an important win.
Andrei Coiro, a persistent danger from setpieces throughout the game, was arguably Saterun's most potent attacking force. Having been denied once after Hollenberg's goal, he finally struck and gave Saterun scant consolation when he headed in a well-placed free-kick that John Bailey, frozen in place, could never have gotten to. Mitzinho, a late substitute, offered their only major attacking impetus in open play, but his single-handed counter-attacking break from deep did not get the reward it deserved and was easily fended off by Bailey this time.
Nevertheless, there was still time for the home team to secure yet another collective five-goal salvo and fellow sub Adam Denby promptly delivered, making use of clever interplay between himself, Newcastle and Steve Pilchard with just under ten minutes to go to bamboozle the Saterunian defence, before piling a precise drive into the bottom-right corner to lock up victory. This was a big result in the grand scheme of things, but little needs to be said about it - not when Eura instead fell to a reverse against the Polar Islandstates, making Saint Eleanor outright group leaders. The quirks of the schedule mean that - if they win their next six games and avert defeat in the finale against the Valhallans - they will make the World Cup. This journey, however, must begin with a single step against The Jovannic, who so very nearly beat this side in the summer.

⨶ ⨷ ⨷ ⨷ ⨷ ⨷ ⨷

Thirty Years of Eleanorians - 1988: "I spend my free time chasing little-known radio stations"
Published by Clara Morwood on March 25th 2005

It is fair to say that Gaxerela vaRelaperana was not expecting to get a good-quality multi-band radio for Christmas in 1997. Nevertheless, he insists that it is one of the best decisions his parents ever made. "I was always a bit into science, you could say, but you couldn't really call me the most hands-on person around. The radio was a complete surprise, I was completely obsessed with it for a while and I still use it - just not on a serious, full-time basis. I've moved up a bit in the world now!"

Although vaRelaperana quickly tired of the fairly limited FM ecosystem - which largely manifests itself in the three SESB stations, LocalTALK, Sunshine Radio and some less prominent, more neighbourhood-focused private stations - he tried, and initially struggled, to get to grips with medium-wave. "There are a few stations, yes. LocalTALK goes out from the University campus, about a ten minute walk from where I live in the Collegiate district; you can understand because people there come from all over the nation and they need to get up to date with what's happening. SESBs 1, 2 and 3, you need those for largely the same reason; I've heard of people in other countries saying they use the Radio 3 frequency to follow Saint Eleanor's games. Aria 1350 is classical but not domestic-minded at all. Other than that? There was a period where I had no clue about anything."

Mercifully, during the summer holiday, a small bookshop was willing to sell him that year's Avery Book, a guide to international radio frequencies named after Eleanorian radio pioneer Frank Avery. "It must have stretched to a couple of hundred pages; the one I was most confident of getting was the MCLM Red talk station, Mertagnian but based in Audioslavia. It was as clear as I could hope from someone in their, and my, position. If I'm not listening to Eleanorian stations or doing more complex work, let's say, I still stick those people on; it's interesting to hear about what's happening in Nova Calania." Just days before school restarted, he finished erecting an antenna in his back garden, a decision that proved monumental.

Most DXers, those who attempt to tune into analogue radio signals from destinations far beyond Saint Eleanor, consider themselves to be AM specialists. While vaRelaperana does, too, his first big snag was of Cathair Public Radio on 109.3 megahertz - a frequency not used by Eleanorian FM broadcasters - a number of months later. "There's one moment everyone remembers them for but I latched onto it about six years earlier when they were talking about something completely different. Still, the people there are so annoying that you can recognise them just like that. I wrote to them the next morning, explained the circumstances it happened in, then they somehow got back to me a few weeks later and I had my first ever QSL card, the things you get to confirm that yes, you did listen to this station at that time. I think I've gotten about 150 or those from loads of countries in the past seven years."

He adds that "around ten" of those cards were issued from Mertagne, a particular favourite of his due to its expansive radio networks. "I've heard a couple of big MCLM stations on the AM band and got a card once for picking up one of the smaller transmitters in the south. Fox FM on 102.6MHz is the furthest I've ever gotten an FM signal - something like two thousand miles out, I'm not sure - and I have a card from them. A couple of years ago, one frequency had been commanded by pirate DJs who were just ranting against the government post of the time and I think I heard it for a combined ten minutes that night; when I wrote to them, they said they couldn't give me anything for legal reasons and it's no surprise their studio got broken into by the police a few days later. Still, I'll admit they were better managed than some of the actual licensed stations out there."

But perhaps vaRelaperana's crowning achievement was catching a Banija-based AM sports station's broadcast of last year's World Cup final just in time for Gereh Kama's dramatic late winner. "Mum and dad were following the final downstairs in the living room but - with the fifth version of the big yellow book I've gotten in six years - I was busy scanning through the Banija pages looking for something, anything, from them. I wanted them to win, obviously, so it was a great surprise when I turned to that one station, the signal just picked up like a miracle and Gereh Kama scored what I'll admit was an incredible - truly incredible - winning goal something like five seconds later? Another miracle." He has a QSL from that, too.

Despite the Avery Book's cult status, DXers are still rather few in number in Saint Eleanor. vaRelaperana admits that he did not expect Bridget Edwards, 2003 Golden Backpack winner and newly-inducted law student at the University, to be interested in it too. "She must have known about me by reading in one of the newspapers so I was astonished when she managed to write to me asking if I was interested in meeting her at all. As it turns out, she is also serious about it - not quite as successful as I am, but then she has a lot of other things to do." He does, however, say he has no plans on going to the University, and is looking at working as a sound engineer in the area. "Perhaps for LocalTALK, too? Maybe - but this is the closest thing I have to a hobby and I might as well put some of the things I've learned from it to use!"

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

HOLY EMPIRE PLAYER PROFILE

The Silver Elf

There are few left now who remember the dawn time of The World, who have seen the rise of the human states, who remember the time before the Empire - who may even remember a time before the golden palaces of Birgme were built - and who know the innermost secrets of time. The Silver Elf is one of those few. Now turning out in central midfield for the Holy Empire - as well as captaining the side - we were privileged enough to be granted an interview with the imperial captain after the team's 3-1 home victory over Britonisea, and put some of your questions to the immortal midfielder


I have to admit that I'm slightly in awe of being given this opportunity, sir. Can I begin by asking what I should call you?

"Sir" is fine. "My Lord" if you're feeling formal.

I'd like to start by asking you a footballing question, if that's alright, sir?

Of course; it's what I think we're here for...

Well, the Holy Empire's form has been a little bit inconsistent this qualifying campaign. Today's 3–1 victory over Britonisea was impressive enough, but that followed on from a dismal 4-3 away loss to Elmyia. What do you put this down to? Is it a reluctance to use magic - or the squad's other special powers?

Not at all. In fact, if you followed some of the excellent recent commentary from Basil and Theo on the victory over Sudilia, you'll know that the squad is perfectly willing to judiciously use magic when appropriate. As to the loss to Elmyia, it's understandable that the Elmyian media didn't touch upon this, but we had to pull Winxal when it turned out that the match was going to be played during the local full moon, and instead had to play Fatapato in defence; that immediately lost us any aerial advantage, and we struggled. No, our inconsistency is down to a more fundamental factor...

Which is, sir?

Some serious differences of philosophy when it comes to our approach to football. I mean, we have a central midfielder dwarven cleric who's Lawful Neutral, and the aeons-old frenemy of the Chaotic Neutral illusionist forward, who's himself in a tense familial relationship with the Neutral Good half-elven central midfielder; and that's before we cope with the opposite worldviews of the half-orc assassin and werehamster in defence; and that assassin doesn't get on too well with the chainmail-wearing human female forward, either. Basically, some of us want to rigidly follow the rules, others value a path of individual freedom, some take a more neutral and balanced perspective, and the assassin is an outlier - though he does value the basic underlying structure of the laws of the game, in fairness. Basically, we may have a god in goal, myself in central midfield, a couple of current and former Balance Guardians, and a range of other players of varying talents and power, but we rarely agree amongst ourselves on tactics. And while Mr Tzimisces may know how he wants to play the game, as a squad we're a group of very strong personalities.

And the solution?

We need to knuckle down and put our personal differences behind us; it's that simple.

And questions away from football...

Oh dear; here it comes...

Several readers wrote in wanting to ask about your daughter...

I'd really prefer to focus on football; I'd really rather prefer to focus on almost anything else.

But it's not as if no one's ever met her; I understand that Radon, for example...

You'd really rather talk to Radon or his father about that one.

Isn't there anything you can share on the incident?

In its essentials, Radon encountered a group of adventurers who were seeking to open the Grimoire of the Imagined - Vakraas was temporarily dead at the time. They naturally travelled to Tell Morkin given its associations with Radon's father, and when he saw that one of the material components of the spell required to open the Grimoire was a single strand of my daughter's hair, he brought them to my palace just in time for the recurrent Games I hold every few centuries or so. I believe he gave them some advice on how to prosper in the Games, and upon achieving victory, they asked for that hair strand.

And did you give it to them?

My daughter chose to give it to them after they explained what they were trying to achieve. We had both met Vakraas a couple of thousand of your years previously, and while - rightly - we thought he was a bit of a scoundrel, we also recognised that The World was a livelier place with him active in it. So she agreed.

I'm a bit lost...

What's confusing?

I'm not sure of the connection between Vakraas being temporarily dead and opening the Grimoire of the Imagined, sir

Ah; I see. It's really quite simple. Vakraas had been a Balance Guardian for over 2000 years; he was a bit tired of that status, but the only way he could step down was by dying. So he died - but he also arranged that he would return to the living if anyone managed to open his spellbook.

Which was the Grimoire of the Imagined?

Precisely. Though he also made it very difficult to open the book; it required acquiring a range of rare objects - a fragment of the Woodcross, a strand of my daughter's hair, a jewel of the shadow elves, a living sword, that sort of thing.

But this suggests that Vakraas had some sort of special connection to your daughter...

What are you suggesting?

Well, only that if he included a strand of your daughter's hair as one of the items that had to be collected...

I think Vakraas meant for it to be very difficult to open that book; though it's also clear that he wanted to come back in time - so very difficult, but not impossible.

Thank you, sir... I was going to ask if you could perhaps reveal some arcane mystery to us...

Well, I know a fair few of those, that's true.

But explaining the story of the Grimoire of the Imagined probably already counts.

I suppose it does; but I could also explain the True History of the earliest days of Birgme, and how the Platinum Throne was first built; or perhaps explain how the Five Tribes united to form the Empire; or Chalgain's plans for the next Chailday; or how Vakraas's father cast out the illithids and founded the Library of Landshead; or...

Amazing, sir; but in fact Mr Tzimisces is signalling that we're out of time for this question and answer session.

Ah well; perhaps next time, then?

I really, sincerely hope so, sir.

[Squornshelan Remnant States]

Ok so 9 goals in 4 matches is a decent step up from recently, but where the defense go? Can y'all really only do 1 thing at a time? #PenrookeOut

---

you didn't really expect they'd go all of quals only conceding every other match, right?

---

what an idiot, some people want to start firing coaches as soon as a team drops any points at all, OP how about you temper your expectations a little?

---

How about I expect the SRS not be sitting second behind a pot 3 team with six to play, how about that

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this twii has been deleted

[Sargossa]

Not for the first time the director in the TV centre cut to the camera currently pointed at the older gentleman, stood with his hands clasped firmly behind his back on the edge of the technical area. This was the third time since taking charge of Sargossa that Slavko Jelic had faced his homeland. He’d been recommended for the post by his compatriot and peer Lev Repin, fulfilling a dream of becoming an international coach, one he thought had passed him by after losing out to Dzvezdan Kitanchev when Repin himself had stepped down as coach of Mytanija. Ironically, he may have had another chance at the top job, with Kitanchev not lasting long in the role, but Jelic had made his choice. He’d been a coach for far too long to have regrets. As had his opposite number, another old foe from their days spurring in the Mytanar domestic league. Misel Ravnjak had replaced Kitanchev, he and Jelic had locked horns many times before. Both men had oodles of experience, both favoured similar styles of play and both favoured similar tactical setups. Jelic would dearly love to show the higher ups at the FSM exactly what they were missing. But this, much like the reverse fixture in Esca, was proving a nerve jinglingly tight encounter.

Goalless at halftime, the Estadio Generalissimo Joaquín Delgado had erupted into life seven minutes into the second half when the home side found a way through the solid Mytanar defence. Wingbacks were always going to prove crucial in this fixture and it was Antonio Benito on the left who provided the moment of inspiration. The Sportivo Soluca star managed to kill a lofted pass dead before tricking his way beyond the covering Matija Gvardjancic. He shaped to put in a deep cross before instead pulled the ball back towards Pablo Alarcón. The feint was enough to catch Foma Koshkin flatfooted, allowing Alarcón to steal in front of him and beat Semir Besak at his near post at close range. No keeper likes to be bested at his near post but even one of the best across all the World Cup qualification groups, which Besak certainly is, could do little to react to the chance. Unsurprisingly for a big Rushmori derby the stadium was packed and the noise was deafening as the home fans celebrated a not entirely deserved lead, all things considered.

The Hoops had probably, on balance, been the better side and there was little doubt they’d come roaring back with a vengeance. Denis Ovsyannikov very nearly drew the visitors level straight from the kick-off, with a vicious drive from distance that Alejandro Martínez barely managed to claw away. The Corsairs did manage to hold out until the seventieth minute mark before parity was restored with a goal as simple as it was effective. Again, it came from a left wingback. Asmir Milosevic was the beneficiary of a beautifully weighted pass from Nurija Papez. He paused, looked up and placed a pinpoint cross onto the head of substitute Milica Prokopljevic. Martínez stood, rooted to the spot, as the big striker steered a header into the corner. Now it was several thousand Mytanar fans in the corner, sandwiched between two thinks rows of kevlar, who could be heard above the near hundred thousand Sargossan fans that surrounded them. The game was paused momentarily as green flares were hurled onto the pitch. Jelic didn’t bat an eyelid, he’d seen it all before.

Ultimately this match would see no winner, although both sides had their chances to take all the points. That included two potential fairytale moments. Jezdimir Ocokoljic, a genuine legend of Mytanar football rolled back the years with a turn on the edge of the box and a curling drive that drifted an inch wide with Martínez well beaten. While, at the other end, the Mytanar born Elías Pozo rattled the foot of the post from just outside the box. Alas, there would be no fairytale. Just a point apiece. A point that didn’t do much to help either nation. Although it left the visitors with a very healthy looking twelve-point playoff cushion, but it also saw Banija extend their hold over the top of the group to an impressive ten points. Sargossa remain in the second playoff spot but are now just a point ahead of the Ochre Islands and Sylestone.

[Tikariot]

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
Part 6 of Darkness Descends
Part 7 of Darkness Descends
Part 8 of Darkness Descends

Sanford nods and sets out to lead the way. A narrow pathway leads up from the plain of burning sand, the figures that had been fighting each other before without paying any heed to their passing, now reacting to them. Eventually the sand gives way to solid ground, which leads them toward another valley, which is similar to the previous ones, dark, cracked rock, high, twisted cliffs to the sides, not leaving them any choices where to go but straight ahead.

As they reach the deserted valley, The Shadow stops and slumps against the wall, sliding down the rough rock, still holding her in his arms.

"Are you ok?" Alistair rushes to his side.

"Yeah, yeah, just tired. This lady gets heavy after a while!"

Alistair laughs. "Touche. We should he safe here for a while at least."

After a few minutes, Myfanwy begins to stir and her eyes flutter open. She looks around "Where - are we?"

The Shadow startles awake. "We're - in hell?"

She can't help but chuckle. "Very helpful! Wh-what happened?"

Sanford chimes in. "You shot that - that thing with a bow and then passed out."

"Oh."

"Yeah, you saved this guy."

She turns to look up at The Shadow. "Hi. Thank you."

As she sits up, she looks around. "How did we get here?"

Sanford nods toward The Shadow. "He carried you all the way."

"Are you insane?"

The Shadow shrugs. "Maybe, word's still out."

He pushes himself off the ground and stretches, wincing. "We should get going, I want to get out of this whole thing."

He offers Myfanwy his hand to bring her back to her feet.

They set back out, the area being eerily quiet. An eerie glow illuminates the desolation, the silence making it feel oppressive, almost physically weighing them down.

Time seems to stand still and they have no idea for how long they have been walking through the never-changing landscape, it could have been minutes, it could have been hours. Then suddenly, something changes. A sound emerges out of the gloom, a steady ticking sound that echoes through the valley, amplified by the utter silence it is cutting through.

The echo makes the sound seem to come from every direction at once, becoming disorienting. The glow subtly changes and a brighter flicker appears as the ticking becomes louder. Then the fire of torches becomes stronger and the quartet approaches a gigantic clock made from stone, the noise not only echoing through the narrowing valley but reverberating in their heads.

The clock seems to glow, pulsating like a heartbeat in the rhythm of the arm. Every tick is like a physical blow. A narrow tunnel leads into the rock face underneath the clock. As they enter, the ticking is amplified even more, echoing even stronger in the confines, almost putting them into an odd trance. A light at the end of the tunnel is the only thing keeping them moving forward and the moment they exit the tunnel, the ticking stops.

They stop, unsteady on their legs, taking a few minutes to collect their thoughts and begin to think straight again. In front of them lies a huge funnel-shaped abyss in the ground, a staircase leading downward. At the bottom of the staircase begin ten concentric trenches, all of them teeming with figures, too far away to make out any details. Torches illuminate the scene.

The four look at each other, wordlessly, and The Shadow takes the lead, stepping onto the uneven stairs, which seem to be hewn right out of the rock, without any regard for symmetry or evenness, making them a treacherous descent.

Along the perimeter, faceless figures stand, their heads moving along with their passing, but none of them make a move toward them. After what feels like an eternity, they reach the bottom of the staircase and look down at the trenches, each more revolting than the one before. A narrow ledge leads downward, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

The Shadow whispers. "The Malebolge. The trenches of deceit and fraud..."

---

Line-up for Match Day 16 against Katterimunk

Line-up for Match Day 17 against StrayaRoos

OOC: Images of the eighth circle of hell are Midjourney, the rest is mine.

[Huayramarca]

News Compact – 24/04/1989

Written by: Donna Quispe
24/04/1989 – Last Updated: 10:46 A.M.

Football The Huayramarcan National Team is entering in the late stages of the World Cup 94^th Qualifiers, overall speaking, Huayramarca has had a solid performance so far, with offensive fulbo in display, although it has hit a bit of a bump in the road as of late. Two defeats in a fortnight, something that Huayramarca hasn’t had for five years ago, specifically that dreaded WC 89 window that killed off our hopes for a potential first World Cup Qualification back then; but time has come and now, its matter to stand up and return to the fight.

Blâás Âgínsôgnó is annoyed at the last set of results, although he has left some interesting phrases in the air after the set of matches against Île de Richelieu and Sannyamathland, as he said “I definitely prefer to lose 4-5 and 3-4 than 5-0. I love that the team scored goals, that they fought with dignity and didn’t let the rivals defeat us in a humiliating way… Although, I have talked with them [players] and told that we need to score more than our rivals, as we have been doing, we need to turn that 4-5 into a 6-5, that 3-4 into a 5-4, that’s the Huayramarcan way!” Dignity is the word, as Huayramarca showed to be combative despite being overwhelmed at some points of the match, not gifting everything, yet making the rival pay a high toll for their victory.

The situation in the leaderboard doesn’t look bad despite Huayramarca has fell to the third place, as Ko-oren and Jeruselem had to pay byes or dropped points in their matches, which has contributed to have the Ko-orenites at first with three more points; the Jeruselemites have only one point more. Despite that, the players know the circumstances of this last window, have learned some errors, and know what to do for the next fortnight. Paolo Manco, one of the defenders, talked during the press availability session in Sannyamathland and said, “We committed some mistakes, we forgot to pay attention to counterattacks and 2v1 chances, we lost our marks and that’s the result. We need to defend better, as we have been doing the prior matches [Huayramarca had four clean sheets prior this window].”

The captain, Ian Mamani, also had his opinion after the match “We have been working nicely on attack, that’s the way to go; but we need to have more control of the different circumstances of the match, we can’t allow that many goals being scored past our goal… That’s not the way we have been playing, and we need to do some arrangements there on training sessions, when we do that, we will come back to the path we have been following through this qualifier.” Both declarations matched with some of the costly mistakes the midfield and defence have been committing during the fortnight, including a counterattack in the 92^th minute from the Richelienne squad that made the Condors lose their first home match since the 91^th World Cup cycle.

The next fortnight of matches for Huayramarca features Darmen and Greater Cebu, teams that may be lagging in the leaderboard but aren’t something to disregard, as Mr. Âgínsôgnó said in a presser, “We know the history between Huayramarcans and Darmenis, five matches played and five draws. More than ever, we need to change that trend and make it shift towards our side, more if we consider that we will play at home, so we must make that a significant factor of the equation!” The last match between Huayramarca and Darmen was a 3-3 stalemate in Chuckio in this qualifier, featuring some last-minute action from Diego Uscamayta to save the point at the road.

In regards of Greater Cebu, visiting Mandalanusa has always been a difficult task for Huayramarca, but Âgínsôgnó believes that this is the time to make the difference, “There was Acastanha, Eraman, etc. Visiting that region has been a complication, but if there’s a moment to change that is today, we have accumulated an interesting mixture of experience, talent, and ability to make things go in our way, we must prove it once again and bring those three points, as we really need those right now.”

Considering the schedule and the next couple of matchdays, keeping in track will be important as the next fortnight can decide many things, as Huayramarca visits Jeruselem, and the Jeruselemites have to visit Ko-oren next; the top three will have a fortnight of direct matches to deal, but Orlando Mina downplays things a bit: “It’s right, we have to play them [Jeruselem], but our mind is set on facing Darmen and then Greater Cebu, that’s our task, that’s what we need to solve.”

And here we go, let’s show our support once again to help the National Team recover from the last fortnight, it is the time to stand back and keep in the fight for our World Cup dream, nobody said that it would be easy! We all know it, so let’s go to the stadium and support The Condors, as we will face Darmen and, if you want, prepare yourself with some of the discounts offered by Condor Travel to watch the National Team at Greater Cebu!

Are we ready to host something that big? The new President of the Huayramarcan Football Association, Eduardo Conde, has confirmed the interest of the association, after talking with President-in-charge René Dañín, to submit a joint host bid for the 86 ^th Cup of Harmony alongside the Poafmersian Football Association, as an attempt to “Show the open arms of Huayramarca to the world.”

Many political pundits have expressed their opinions in regard of the bid, from favourable to negative opinions, but what it’s certain is that the process is already undergoing a voting process from the World Cup Committee. Johanna Gallardo, president of the Democracia Ya think tank, is concerned due to “the significant downplaying of the current political crisis, which is still unanswered, in favour of hosting a significant event.” Gallardo also considers that “We have other priorities, such as providing a way to the nation to stabilise politically, solving the Ocean of Ayes tension, rather than a football tournament.”

Meanwhile, Bernardo Figueredo, president of the San Carlos Archipelago Tourism Association, considers that hosting the Cup of Harmony “is a big step for Huayramarca, considering the possibilities to benefit hundreds of thousands of people, especially entrepreneurs and SMEs during the tournament.” Then, he adds, “We must showcase ourselves as a premier tourist destination in the Multiverse, hosting the Cup of Harmony will be the one of the biggest chances we have ever had to take advantage of it.”

Eduardo Conde, in the other hand, has said in a press conference that “Huayramarca has evolved positively in football” and that “evolving comes with some interesting ventures that can position the Huayramarcan football in a better standing multiversally.” During said press conference, he explained that there are “eight to ten venues that may be used”, there are strong indications that those venues will be the traditional ones The Condors use throughout World Cup Qualifiers. Also, he emphasised that “we must be patient” as “the vote lasts for a month”, providing a time frame on which we can show our support to the joint Poafmersian-Huayramarcan bid.

Ocean of Ayes Crisis: Huayramarca has shown “its keen interest to have talks at Koroa City” to solve the situation at the south of the Ocean of Ayes, has said President-in-functions René Dañín after having a conversation with his cabinet a couple of minutes ago. This comes after the Cardenaoan Navy had a joint military exercise south of the ocean, and the Ko-orenite Navy is reinforcing, movements that the Huayramarcan Government are following close, and suspiciously as those happen.

There are strong indications, according to the State’s Intelligence Bureau, that the situation could scale and involve “the Especial Economic Zone and Territory of the Plurinational State of Huayramarca”, specifically the San Carlos Archipelago, as it is right in the middle of the trajectory that the Ko-orenite vessels must go through to the south of the Ocean of Ayes.

People across the nation have expressed some of their thoughts and concerns with us, that’s something we want to share with you:

Fernanda Gaviria: “I do fear on getting involved into a sticky situation like this, we are through a political storm here and the least we need is to get dragged by a military maelstrom. We need to keep our territory and society aware from this!”

David Reasco: “I have read in an Ochre newspaper that they’re planning to decolonise the San Marcos Islands, which I know there aren’t any San Marcos Islands, perhaps a mistake, but they mention that the islands are near Ko-oren… That means, of course, that they’re implying the San Carlos Archipelago, which is the only one near Ko-oren… As somebody who was born there, I’m scared of all of this, and I hope the Huayramarcan Government shows a strong stance at the Koroa City meetings.”

Gabriela Choque: “There’s an old saying by math’s professor saying “The more we fuck around, the more we find out” that means that people should often not try to get into new stuff to avoid issues… I’ve heard that the San Carlos Islands are under a threat, and I hope that they don’t mess with us.”

UPDATE: René Dañín has mentioned, a couple of minutes ago, that the San Carlos Archipelago is under threat, and that’s why “We will assist to Koroa, but we will increase the navy presence around the archipelago to protect the Huayramarcan overseas sovereignty”. As the situation scales, the Defence Condition of the Archipelago is now under stratum 2, that means “under threat” from a scale of 1 to 4, where 1 is “imminent danger” and 4 is “peace”. “We hope we received fake or wrong information, since the consequences of the information could be a bit toned-up.”

If you are in the San Carlos Archipelago, we ask you to take care and all the caution needed, as we are under a threatening situation. Please, be informed through official sources, avoid falling for fake news or rumour spreading. We must be alert of the developments of this situation. That’s why we exist, read Trome to be informed with the latest news, always verified!

[Aeragny]

When visiting Airannia, though, it's not all gloom and doom. One could definitely visit some of the few nicer places in the country. Your honest travel guide has managed to find one or two places in this country that can be designated as passable. Let's have a look.

The first is in the city of Folmigna, in Ajurton. Here, one can find the hot springs (dirty, crowded, hard to reach) - and the city is also home to a tourable cave system (dark, cramped, full of bats). When it comes to the real attractions, though, for a football fan, there's only one real destination - the Muros Halligén park - which used to be the real beating heart of sports in Ajurton. I say, used to, because since the unification, no places in Ajurton except for the capital (Klujo) have had any development for the better. Post-1967, the Halligén Park saw most of its functions for national sports phasing out; first the Ajurti football association left for an office in Klujo. Then the national athletics fields were moved to Jodoque, and the national baseball fields wound up in Palton - both satellite cities of Klujo. Eventually, the sports museum closed here, due to a lack of "context". Eventually, all that was left was a shell of what it used to be, as the fields that were once used for athletics, football and other sporting events. There's little to see here nowadays, which makes it an ideal location to take some time off. Walk through the green meadows, lounge in the perfectly flat fields, and use this area as a perfect place to recharge in your otherwise undoubtedly exhausting trip through Airannia. In many a city, this kind of green space would have fallen into disrepair, or been used to redevelop, considering how nearby it lies to the centre of the city, but since there's been basically no developments whatsoever in this area (at least, none that are government funded), it sits just as it's been. It must have been on these fields where Gary Goppré learned to shoot so well; so well that he scored a hattrick against Archalit in the most recent match.

Perhaps you find yourself moving to the east, into the kingdom of Rellebois. If so, the town of Eranesque, home of the midfielder Renald Duponte, might lie on your path. And if you're in the area, you could be wondering what possibly could be the reason for anyone to visit this town. You'd be right to ask so, but it's quite incredible what this town has to offer. You see, in all of Rellebois, there's only two zoological gardens - one in Duxembois, which is incredibly expensive (for its surroundings - relative to your own wealth it should still be rather afforable), and has been so heavily funded by the state that it doesn't feel authentic any more. Seriously, the Duxembois Zoo has more infrastructure and services than entire towns elsewhere in the kingdom. However, for the true Relleboisian, animal-watching experience, such as the one Renald Duponte might have experienced in his youth, it's imperative to visit the Parc Zoologique Cap d'Eranesque. Wedged, I mean, situated inbetween a busy, busy road, the river Josse, a parking lot and the seas, this small park has all the animals one could want to see. Especially if the animals one is interested in are small, unassuming, and do not require more than a simple cage to feel stimulated. Elephants are a tough sell, but parrots? There are a lot of parrots. If you are dead-set on seeing a lion on your trip, be sure to pay attention to the roundabout just before entering onto the wide, spacious and luxurious parking lot - an artpiece by local sculptor Henrique Morris has been placed in the centre, resembling a tree of life surrounded by several animals - of which most are not at all to be seen in the zoo. There's no parrot on the artwork though. Perhaps it was because of the talking parrots he saw as a child that Duponte was able to take command in the role as captain, which he took over from Allbhy, who was injured during the match against Elvatoes. Regardless of whether or not it was because of his speech abilities, it seems to have worked well, as a winless streak was immediately broken.

[Independent Athletes from Quebec]

OOC: Twenty-hour flight and lots of tasks on hand once in Seoul did not help. Regular programming will resume next cutoff.

Goal Counter:
8 - O. M'bah-Pinho
4 - A. Korniloff-Kouyate
3 - Hong Y.S., K. Huitema-Omeasoo
2 - A. Salihamidzic Beckie, E. Udegbunam, R-A. Wawanolett, Z. Woodcarver
1 - P-K. Cizeron, K. Dormann, C. Icardi-Rabiot, Mariano Kang, Kim S.W., C. Oh-Chainey, R. Vanderley

Assist Counter:
3 - R-A. Wawanolett, Z. Woodcarver
2 - J-C. Babin, J. Dyxkeson, E. Kweon, A. Korniloff-Kouyate, S. McTavish, Pyo S.H.
1 - M. Bouck, P-K. Cizeron, C. Higgins-Mah, Mariano Kang, P-K. Miller, C. Oh-Chainey, D. Watson-Lukwago

Clean Sheet Counter
2 - S. Middleton
2 - Goh Y.R., C. Moussenguet
1 - Kang G.H.

While the TWGS Studios are busy occupied with the matters of primary interest, that being the 'Social Seasons of Shin-goryeo' back on home soil and the concurrently running 'The Wreck of the Edward FitzSimmons' and 'Playing With the Boys', they have also quietly been putting together a mini-series, or two, or two-too many, for both present and future time. They, while yet to be fully fleshed for some and requiring additional time for maturation in others, will be the ones to look forward to down the line.

Now let's find out about them, from these notes of the TWGS Studios:

5 In 5 (Possible Production, release time TBD)

NOTE: Please note that while the production of this specific work has already taken place, the post-production phase may require additional work and time that require significant time. The TWGS Studios are responsible for the possible non-release or cancellation of the work, but will not be held responsible for any material cost by those betting on any content involving the work before the release date's set to be announced.

In a five-part piece that employs military documentary as a genre, one that is considered to be rare in Quebec and Shingoryeo, the TWGS Studios will be exploring the stories of the Royal Quebecois Marines and the Royal Quebecois Navy's involvement in the Isla Aloshaki. Set in the perspectives of the five figures - navy pilot Albertine, submarine crew member Fran, lieutenant Claude, commander Michel Kreiss-Bradeau, and Member of Parliamentary Military Committee Louise Shim - as the 24-hour lead-up to, during and after the operation of the Isla Ashaki takes place. Setting behind the background of the operations that involve three nations of Quebec, Banija and Cardenao, as well as possible regional conflict awaiting in the halls of Koroa City, the operations of the impending takeover of the Isla Aloshaki is the one many look forward to.

THE DOCKERS (Mini-Series, in production phase)

In a documentary series produced and presented in honour of Mipojoseon FC's IFCF Champions' League victory, the TWGS Studios will be covering the club's full domestic season, as well as the club's long history and the players' perspectives too. Formerly a club with history, but one with long years of struggles leading up to this point, Mipojoseon's resurgence back to the top of the Quebecois footballing pyramid first came in mid-2040s, when the Quebecois shipbuilding industry's boom phase, combined with the rising interests in rejuvenation of the Mipo district on Twin Cities' eastern boroughs, all come together. Given a new source of pride, amped up with smart scouting and not to mention a strong front office that have outlasted the test of its managerial list - Hannah Walton, Charles Byeon, and Lisa Amos being the biggest ones - the team slowly builds their way up, and into the international success.

But what had gotten into the minds of many, especially after the initial international breakthrough, was their struggles both on the Q-League and the IFCF stage, in more recent years. Having watched Montreal Koreana inch closer and closer with their Champions' League and Challengers' Cup runs, the Dockers feel a greater sense of urgency to outlast their recent rivals for a silverware. With their new gaffer Lisa Amos - who has refused involvement with media for personal reasons, including this film - the wonderful journey for the Dockers begin with a CWC finals run, where they fall just short to Mar Sara FC in Vilita, but the grounds for brighter future lies await...

Ahead by a Century (Release time: World Cup Qualification 95)
Phase 3: World Cup cycle 95 - World Cup cycle 99)

In what is expected to be the first season of the Phase 3 storylines set to take part in the 4Q of the OOC year 2023, Ahead by a Century goes back into much of what has already been covered by the earlier seasons. In teaming up with multiple studios, which include taking pre-determined narrative reasoning classes in the Delaclav-Portelian Studio across the Blood Sea and then into the Iarokanet Bay, the TWGS Studios head back into the three fundamental families of the arc - the Heos, the Jeongs, and the Lundrigans - that will start out in a small school by the name of Avon-Gillespie.

There, a transfer student from Twin Cities finds herself welcomed, but also returning to the threads of fate that her father, after her previous exposure to it at age six, had tried his best to avoid. From some distance away she draws the interest of a long-disillusioned prefect who notices the oddities when one day, he heads back to his dormitories to pick up a golden realises that his heart's calling has at last called back again....

Independent Athletes from Quebec (IAQ) - World Cup 94 Team
WINDOW 8 - v. Geektopia, @ Legalese
26-PLAYER ENTRY

GOALKEEPERS (3):
Mederick Brown (West Couno United, TMB), Goh Yeong-Rok (Kingston FC), Kang Gwang-Heui (Aminey SC, KOR)

DEFENDERS (11):
Alain Delisle (Montreal City), Kira Dormann (Kingsbury United, TMB), Goh Hak-Seong (Herzegovina City FC, BNJ), Coralie Higgins-Mah (Alnio, CMT), Joo Pil-Seung (Frenei Tor, CMT), Hannah Kim (Damogran, SRS), Noel-Hercule McKinley (West Couno United, TMB), Anne-Marie Morse (Lanar, CMT), Sinisa Salihamidzic (Montreal Koreana), Donovan Watson-Lukwago (St. John's Arsenal), Frederic Yabusele (Atletik, MYT)

MIDFIELDERS (6):
Cesar Icardi-Rabiot (Jinja City FC, BNJ), Mariano Kang Mêndêlöíndçêl (Rulandea Kosta, FFD), Samuel McTavish (Lakewood City, TMB), Camille Oh-Chainey (CSKA Quebec), Pyo Seung-Hye (Avondale City, SYL), Alain Vadnais (Swangard Athletic)

FORWARDS (6):
Kate Huitema-Omeasoo (Istria City FC, BNJ), Kim Sang-Wook (Clayquot City, KSK), Amina Salihamidzic Beckie (Kingston FC), Otis Tekaronhonte (Eivora Athletic FC, TKT), Enyinnaya Udegbunam (Latrobe Athletic, KSK), Ruby Vanderley (Lanar, CMT)

Starting XI vs. Geektopia (3-4-3):
Kang G.H.
Higgins-Mah - Salihamidzic - Dormann
Yabusele - McTavish - Vadnais - Mariano Kang
Huitema-Omeaoo - Kim S.W. - Tekaronhonte

Starting XI vs. Legalese (4-2-3-1):
Goh Y.R.
Watson-Lukwago - Dormann - Goh H.S. - Delisle
Pyo S.H. - Oh-Chainey
Udegbunam - Tekaronhonte - Vanderley
Salihamidzic Beckie

[Saint Eleanor]

Channel 4 presents THE RACE TO THE WORLD CUP - World Cup 94, fifteenth qualifier game
THE JOVANNIC 0-2 SAINT ELEANOR (Steve Pilchard 26, Hugh Roanoke 62)

Report by Candy Hewitt, Channel 4 football analyst: Despite a relatively underwhelming two-goal win, Saint Eleanor absolutely eviscerated their hosts The Jovannic to consolidate their two-point lead in Group 12. For a scale of how comprehensive this victory was, the Jovannicans were completely shut out of any attempts on goal, a stark contrast to the return leg when they proved to be a surprise in counterattack and came within a late, rather bizarre Rick Goldsmith strike of all three points.
This time, however, Goldsmith was silenced; the closest he came to repeating his heroics, near the end of the first half, was not only dragged wide, but resulted in him getting booked after the referee promptly noticed that he had forcefully barged Fertieas Pasti. The spotlight was thus on everyone else to make a difference. Steve Pilchard was the sole starter to break through, doing so midway through the first half when, having placed himself in a deep but promising position between Pasti and Jewr Clarkey, he curved an effort that barely wound up on the right side of the post.
David Newcastle was good enough, pitching a low cross that Pilchard should have converted, but was routinely stiffed by Clarkey and thus failed to be an individual success. Jessica Martin, arguably better now than she ever has been in cycles past, fared better, but the two good chances she had were too close to stopper Jerrett Toi for comfort and he easily fended off both. Bridget Coombe took responsibility for a distant free-kick and - despite the pleas of Goldsmith - cannoned it against the bar instead, where Toi was wont to clear and the Jovannican backline even happier to concede a throw-in they would never need to worry about. (Hollenberg, one of the heroes in the last game, was replaced by Lydia Nicholls owing to ultimately unsubstantiated fears of a renewed threat from the hosts.)
Instead, it was Hugh Roanoke who struck the second dagger through Jovannican hearts, connecting with a mistimed cross from Martin that should have gone Goldsmith's way; barely behind Clarkey and therefore onside by the narrowest of margins, he tucked ahead of his man and beat Toi by a rather more emphatic margin to put the White Stars on course for victory. Exandra Davies, not often used in her roving role so far with Coombe's more defensive tactical vision in play, was unleashed for one of her more serious attacking performances these qualifiers afterwards; she proved admirably that, should a wingback-focused strategy ever be needed, she would happily fill in, but - other than a couple of decent but ultimately ill-followed-through passes - the immediate evidence to back this up was very limited.
Sure enough, Nathaniel Cox admitted after the match that the result was fully deserved. Still, Priscilla Evans' regiment should be under no illusions - there will be no giveaways in the coming games. At least for the following two, Saint Eleanor only play a decently-performing Cap Nord that defeated them last time around; the Polar Islandstates need only face a sorry Lisander; Eura play Saterun and West Barack and East Obama, which have lived up to their potential but may nevertheless prove to be rollovers as they have been against Saint Eleanor in recent times. The periods of success have lasted for longer than they have done in this campaign so far, but for how much longer?

⨶ ⨷ ⨷ ⨷ ⨷ ⨷ ⨷

Thirty Years of Eleanorians - 1989: "I ride my bicycle to school - and everywhere else"
Published by Stephen McDonald on March 30th 2005

Karen Bryant might be the last person you'd expect to take up cycling. Her parents drive a 550c, Hiyashi's compact SUV; she doesn't normally leave the western city on family trips, except to visit the National Park; and her house isn't all that far from Whitehammer Community School or the district centre. The divergence can get completely superficial at times. "For starters, I don't think I've worn a pair of trousers for a few years, absent the horrendous levels of cold you get a couple of times every winter. Not too practical."

Nevertheless, when she saw a bicycle for sale in what was otherwise an unassuming electronics store on the high street, she fell in love. "Hiyashi make pretty much everything, or at least their outpost in Broadlands does. Who could have guessed they make bicycles? A bit basic - domesticated, if you well - but still a good rider. Richard at the till pointed me to everything anyway and I bought a helmet, a pair of stabilisers I've long since gotten rid of, locks and so on, even a nice little basket at the front... I think it took me to about three hundred dollars all told. Money well spent, I suppose."

Bryant says that her first ride, to the Community School a couple of days after getting it, was "dangerous but liberating. I needed a couple of minutes to lock the bike and hand my helmet into reception - I'm still not sure how you're meant to secure it and I'm a bit scared of riding without one - but I'd say it was completely worth it. Saint Eleanor is rather flat for the most part so this was just me retracing the route I used to walk to school, but on wheels!" She insists that her friends "aren't jealous at all: they're as willing to accept it's a bit pulsating as I am but we have completely different views."

Bryant does, of course, stick with her parents for car rides, claiming that "I have a younger brother and it wouldn't make too much sense to just tag along anyway." When she does have the time to go out by herself, however, she whips out her bicycle. "I've done it for about two years now. Saint Eleanor, the city, is about eight miles by eight miles across so going to the other end of the city - which takes four hours or so if you're walking - is more like half an hour by bike. Or five minutes by car, but everyone knows where the motorways are."

Her journeys via bike, outside the district, have been fairly adventurous. She took it to the National Liberation Arena in 2003 to watch Athletic Saint Eleanor's 3-0 defeat at the hands of Independence 1975 ("utterly soul-crushing, if anything"), to the University campus in Collegiate ("a place so beautiful and intricate that you'd struggle to get around there in a day"), the Zoological Gardens ("an exhausting ride, to be sure, but they have absolutely everything - including a bike shed, although I'm told that's meant to cater for tourists with folding bikes"), and to Marketplace CS's defeat against Jacobville in last year's Charles Trump Shield ("who doesn't love the cheerleaders? If I was going to Marketplace, I'd definitely be a member of the cheer squad!"). Under no circumstances, however, is she going to move up to competitive racing: she says "there isn't the market here and, if there was, doing anything other than recreational stuff is going to tire me out."

Asked if there's anything she'd like to tell prospective bicycle riders in Saint Eleanor - just over 1% of the population owns a bike, according to surveys, and even fewer of that number actually uses them regularly - Bryant says "you should be using the main carriageway; the community largely doesn't see the point in bike lanes and they haven't been implemented outside the grand eight-lane road to the Presidential Palace." On the more utilitarian side, she argues that cyclists should "watch out for dangers, don't try and overtake lorries because they're faster than you are anyway, make sure you have a fluo vest and never, ever forget your coffee."

In theory, Eleanorian law allows sixteen-year-olds - whose ranks Bryant will join this Liberation Day - to learn to drive motorcycles up to 125cc engine capacity, including mopeds; anything higher-powered and cars is adults-only. Nevertheless, motorcycles are even harder to come by, with only 1,600 of any description across the country: 10% are under Army command and most of the civilian stock have foreign license plates in the first place. "My parents lived and worked abroad when I was aged between three and nine, so it's always exciting to see one of those about. The challenge is going to be finding an instructor who either isn't fully booked or on perma-holiday for the foreseeable future; when I do pass, however, dad's promised he'll cover the cost of my first motorbike. I still think I'll use the classic pedal-cycle for short trips into town and going to school, though."

[Mytanija]

Bigger Mbala-Ekakia relished matches like this. Mytanija versus Banija, at Radnika, in front of 60,000 fans. It was a shame that there wasn’t more riding on it, Banija had been so consistent throughout qualifying, winning every single game with minimal fuss. Mytanija had lost the reverse fixture 1-0, it had probably been the Banijans’ biggest test, but even that they managed to negotiate safely. Still, it was a match between 1st and 2nd in the group and one which would perhaps decide if Banija would go through the entire qualifying campaign without dropping points. Mytanija didn’t feel any special responsibility, but the ease with which Banija had managed to dispatch some decent teams didn’t bode well for anyone else to take a point or three off them, so perhaps it did fall on the Hoops to do so. Bigger had been involved in lots of big matches before, for Atletik, for Wirr Tsi and for the national team. This felt like one, there was something to play for even if the result of the group was a foregone conclusion. Taking an unbeaten campaign off the table was a worthwhile cause.

Captaining his team in a match like this was the sort of thing Bigger had dreamt of as a child. He had been the first black player to play for Mytanija and now Mytanija’s first black captain. He wore the armband with pride, proud of his Thessian upbringing and his Ketioulais roots. It was important for Bigger to be there, to represent the growing Mytanar-Ketioulais community and to show many more just what was possible. He had seen a similar thing happening with Jana Anusic, the first woman to pull on the sacred hooped shirt and the two had been asked to do a few interviews together. Some dismissed it as tokenism, as something which didn’t materially improve the lives of black Mytanars or Mytanar women. A sentiment of high-profile athletes being so far removed from ordinary people was still commonplace, but it was all about opening doors and broadening the possibilities and Bigger felt that he had done that. There was still racism within Mytanar society, however much progressives congratulated themselves on Mytanija’s great strides forward in that area. Bigger was on the frontline when playing away from home in places like Miago and Cassia, there was still progress to be made.

Many players had wondered what Misel Ravnjak’s arrival as manager would bring to the national team. They had been so used to playing a possession-based style of football under Lev Repin and most recently Dzvezdan Kitanchev that the change towards a more reactive approach seemed almost anathema. Bigger had always been confident that his position within the setup wouldn’t change. His track record at different clubs and in different systems spoke for itself. He was a winner, and he backed his own ability. But there was always a question mark when there was a new manager. Ravnjak had spoken to him early on. He wanted Bigger to be the leader. Some of the experienced players were getting into the twilight of their careers, so it was time for Bigger to step up and take on the responsibility that they had shouldered for so long. The likes of Jezdimir Ocokoljic and Grigorij Savicevic couldn’t play on forever. Bigger was next in line, he had the track record of playing in big matches and his leadership qualities had always been noted. He was thankful for the recognition and he’d told Ravnjak he could rely on him.

So here he was, ready to lead Mytanija out against Banija. Ready to try to stop the Banijans from a potentially perfect run through Group 14. Ravnjak wasn’t usually one for tinkering. He was different to Repin and to Kitanchev. His 5-3-2 had been the stock formation for the national side since he had come in. But for this fixture, at home, he was changing to a 4-4-1-1. He had spotted something in the way Banija had played in the first leg, with players dropping deep from the forward line and he wanted to play two central defenders instead of three with two midfielders directly in front of them to form a bit of a ‘cage’ around anyone who might drop into deeper areas. It was a chance for the wingers to show what they could do too, though they would be tasked with tucking into central areas to provide support against Banija’s top-class midfield. Whether it worked would only be analysed through the result, not the performance. Bigger wanted to do all he could to ensure Ravnjak got the credit at the end of the day.

[Polar Islandstates]

Despite recent results, recent performances, Emmanuele Niemi was disappointed in himself. The Terns were winning games, but he wasn't scoring goals. And what striker could be happy with that arrangement? He was getting game time, too, that was the annoying thing. Many people had told him that, unless you were first choice, in a Miroshnichenko system the strikers on the bench tended to stay there. To his surprise, he'd had plenty of opportunities. The gaffer seemed off his usual game, and was giving players more freedom than usual. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. But there was freedom.

He'd scored goals, too, all three of the strikers had. He couldn't be mad, as such. Just, he knew he had more to give. He hadn't featured at all in the last two games. Hadn't scored in the previous three, either.

The fact was, his thumb was still bothering him. Or, lack of. That freak accident in the hotel gym still came to him in dreams... He'd seen people about it, but it was lingering. Understandably, nobody was expecting him to have cleared it away neatly by now, but he always expected the best from himself. It was just a thing strikers did.

With hindsight, forcing his way into the lineup for the DBC final was maybe not the best idea. Some said it cost the team the chance to win. Other said they'd be concerned for his future in the game if he hadn't demanded to play.

Fiddling with his sports bandage with his remaining fingers, a nervous habit, he looked up as Aalto came over and gave him the nod.

Game time.

Two nil up against Panamer, ten minutes to go, the perfect time to play with freedom. No pressure. Relaxed. Time to get back on the scoresheet and make some hay.

Eisenhauer slapped his good hand awkwardly when he came off, and then he was off. Doing what he did best. Harrying defenders, getting in the face of the goalkeeper, sailing as close as he could with the referee's patience.

He loved it. He lived for it.

And then, he noticed his thumb's absence. Again.

He misstepped and trod on the ball when clean through on goal. Damn.

One pass. Two passes. Three passes. A cross... And there went Aigner's clean sheet.

Double damn.

Niemi threw up his hands and tried not to look at the bench. Trotting back to the centre circle to take the restart, he could have no idea that an old man in Jan Mayen was watching him very carefully indeed on his television set, and having an idea...

[Eura]

WORLD CUP 94 – QUALIFYING GROUP 12 – MATCHDAY 14
Eura 1–2 Polar Islandstates
Scorers:
Singh 50
Lineup:
1. T Hammond
2. A Mason
4. J Menard
15. K Sherwood (sub Bedford 82)
3. M Taylor
6. J Gates (sub Brown 85)
16. G Stewart (sub Vincent 79)
11. O James (sub Barnes 67)
7. A Woodman
10. S Singh
14. K Archer (sub Marshall 73)

WORLD CUP 94 – QUALIFYING GROUP 12 – MATCHDAY 15
Lisander 0–2 Eura
Scorers:
Taylor 57, Menard 87
Lineup:
1. T Hammond
2. A Mason (sub Mills 52)
4. J Menard
19. Q Phillips
3. M Taylor (sub Almwood 90)
6. J Gates (sub Cole 88)
8. O Vincent
11. O James
18. B West
9. A Sharp (sub Miller 74)
10. S Singh (sub Holden 74)

---

“Fuckin’ booooooooo!”
Jack Menard sank to his knees and spat on the Bastion Arena’s hallowed turf. He tried not to look up until the heckling had ended from the infuriated majority of a 110,000 capacity crowd.
“Bloody useless!”
“Wankers! Embarrassing, fucking EM-BAR-ASS-ING.”
“I thought we were unlucky actu-ow!-uhh, booo, dickheads.”
As an 1830 Cathair and Eura centreback, the national team captain too, Jack was expected to meet high standards – if nothing else, he was one of the highest capped defenders in Euran history.
Tonight had not been his night, nor was it so for anyone else in red and gold. The Terns celebrated a famous victory which, alongside their triumph over Saint Eleanor, announced their return to the international stage proper.

Eons ago, losing to a Polarian side home or away was no disgrace, but they had been out of the competitive game for a long time and Eura had been expected to win this game. Losing ended Eura’s unbeaten run and put their hopes of automatic qualification in real jeopardy.
“Hard luck today. We’ll get them next time, alright?”
Glen Merson was a nice chap and had managed the squad well, but Jack wasn’t really in the mood for his wholesome positivity, arm-over-the-shoulder cuddliness. Jack wanted to be screamed at, and in turn he wanted to give the rest of the squad a deserved bollocking.
Years of this shit, he thought to himself, in my fucking prime, and we keep doing this over and over.

Once they had returned to the dressing room, Glen continued his pleasantries. Jack just shook his head and shut him out.
A few days later he was in Lisander. The team propping up Group 12 had robbed the Eurans nicely earlier in qualifying, securing a 3-3 draw in Bastion, coming from behind twice to tie the match. Jack hadn’t played in that game, being rested for Quentin Phillips. This time he was on the team sheet.
Again, Eura were unimpressive. 0-0 at half time. They were in trouble.
If you can’t rely on others…
Jack opened the second half by cynically hacking down Lisander forward Leo Artemon, who had been giving Eura trouble all game. Now Leo would be having troubles with his calves for the rest of the match – his pace would no longer be a threat. Was it worth it in exchange for a yellow card? Absolutely.

It turned out he didn’t have to take responsibility for everything, not quite. Molly Taylor gave Eura the lead, ducking and weaving between Arthur Trindade and Matias Laurent before firing a superb effort through the goalkeepers’ hands. Anders Michaelichen should have done better in the Lisander goal.
But Eura, as they so often did, started to wobble a bit, both in their minds and at their feet. Passes started going astray and Lisander were chasing an equaliser. History could be repeating itself.
Skip forward to the 87th minute, and the depressing sight once more of Eura defending desperately in a game they once would have aimed to win with ease. Ricardo Santander whips in a delicious corner…
…Jack shoves and elbows his way to the ball – just tentatively enough to avoid a calamitous penalty – and thunders it away with his big old forehead.

Eura could be away, if only Ben West would pass. The tricky attacking midfielder seems to have gotten himself stuck until he sees Owen James running up the wing.
Joined, surprisingly, by Jack.
James races onto a long ball and darts clear, leaving defenders in his wake. He runs the length of the pitch, bearing down on goal. And all the while lanky centreback Jack keeps the pace.
Owen reaches the box but has nowhere to go – Richard Maud and Trindade have blocked him off and he loses his pace at just the wrong moment. He doesn’t have any options…unless…
A threaded pass slips between Maud and Trindade, and the covering Julian Naus is just a yard too far back. Before he can get there, up steps Jack, philosophical musings running through his mind-
Just fucking fuck it into the net!

WHAM!
Left foot.
Top bins.
No drama.
And as the final whistle goes, a familiar, irriating voice from the crowd has changed their tune.
“Fuckin’ MennnAAARDDDDDD!”
Jack allowed himself a cursory glance and smile, followed by a thumbs up. Come the final whistle, Glen was back.
“Well done today.” Hmm. No qualification needed this time.
“Yeah, thanks. See you in a minute.”
Jack took a breath, and drew in the atmosphere both literally and metaphorically. And as he left the pitch, the chant went thusly:
“He’s big, he’s hard, he’s always standing guard, Men-ard, Men-arrrddd….”

---

“YES! Get in! Love that lad. He votes for us, doesn’t he?”
“Err, possibly. I’d have to check in with our data people.”
“Do it – and if he does, send him something nice from us.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then do it anyway. Tonight is a night to be celebrating, eh?”
“Let’s wait and see. This could blow up in our faces.”
“Or it could be the beginning of a brave new era…”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Oh, you’ll see it alright” said Tom Bannister, Unionist leader, with a shit eating grin on his face.

---

emplor.eur/main/news/eura
UNIONIST AND CAPITAL PARTIES ANNOUNCE SHOCK ALLIANCE
CHEEKY FUCKERS HAVE ONLY GONE AND DONE IT
Eura asks: now what?

[Cap Nord]

At last, it had happened. Whilst the whole dressing seemed to be in smithereens, Nicolas Durant struggled to hide his wee smile. Eleven minutes was an eternity if you waited for the bus but for an international debut, it was over in a blink. It did not matter to Durant: from tonight onwards, he could say that he was an actual Whaler. Not that it was something to be proud of at the moment. Cap Nord had made an appearance as had been seen once too many times this campaign: a furious start and ditto first half, completed by a nifty combination through the center that saw Till Myrrheim mark his fourth goal of the campaign. But as time went on, The Jovannic restored the balance on the pitch. Eventually, Calvareze Smarze did so as well on the scoresheet, riffling in a thunderbolt from far out. The Whalers tried to get back in the lead but lacked the punch, even after four substitutions, to win back the initiative. A deserved point for the Emperors whilst Cap Nord looked on course for their worst qualifying series so far. Few doubted whether the head of Finchley was on the chopping block and the players, who appreciated the Lozhoan despite the results, seemed in bits.

Apart from international debutant Durant. A second suspension for Poulsen opened up opportunities on right-back and a good season start with FF allowed 'Nico' to win a shot in the red-yellow-and-blue shirt.

After the team breakfast, all players were allowed to go their way. Being near Fallwich, Durant decided to go past his old home in Isbècque rather than returning to Stennköping immediately as the bye day gave him a few days off. In his head, that sounded as a good enough excuse to show up there again. A while ago, in his last days living in Isbècque, he had argued with his closest neighbor Eve Lafay. He regretted it, more and more every day, but his stubbornness had kept him from getting in touch again. Nico knew he was to blame for the argument and had now, finally, gotten the excuse to patch things up with Eve.

Whistling the latest pop hit from The Escalator, he knocked on the door of her apartment. His former place, the penthouse floor, was now taken by some business yuppie but her flat had been nearly as familiar to him. As he stood there, he realized how much he had missed her in Stennköping. Everything there was nice, and clean, and well arranged (as you would expect it to be in those quarters) but the loneliness was killing him. He also discovered he did not miss someone like her. It was Eve, and no one else.

No reaction.

An internal struggle. Maybe this was a dumb idea to start with. But in his pocket burned the old key she had given him, back in the day. Why did he have it on him? Had it been foreseen subconsciously? Or was he always carrying it on him, knowing that the opportunity to apologize and carry on as if nothing had happened would come sooner or later?

The door swung open and a coolness swung over him. The decorations and furniture were all still in place, as stylish as Eve Lafay was: the pastel accents and reproductions of lesser known pearls by infamous artists. But something seemed off. As if he was walking through a ghost house that was frozen in time. On the table, paperwork lay scattered. In the corner sat unopened letters, which set off a nerve with Nico: Eve would even open his letters if she saw they were older than a day, she could not stand the thought of an overdue bill. These were dated a week ago. He saw other things across the table: a map of Codazur; a picture book on Tumbran painting; documents for some Eve Rourdan. One of those, some sort of insurance file, had a picture on it. Different hair, the cheeks a bit thinner and a blank stare that looked from another world. But unmistakenable Eve Lafay.

As Nicolas parked his car in the biggest lot near the Esportivan Cultural Festival, he wondered what he was looking for. Well, Eve of course. But considering the complete lack of options, it seemed a good idea to start from the last place he had seen here. Or at least, it was the final idea he had left. The landlord claimed all rent had been paid up until this month, but that he hadn't been in touch with Miss Lafay lately. Nico then called the law firm she had been doing her apprenticeship in: Sarzakis, Sarzakis and Associates apparently never had heard of an 'Eve Lafay'. When Durant hesitantly informed for an 'Eve Rourdan', he got the same reply. For a second, he had contemplated going to the cops but for what? A wafer thin story about a girl who no longer was in touch with him.

Durant stepped, engulfed by his own thoughts, through the lot to the entrance. He was about to line up in the queue as the doors on the non-descript van by his left swung open. Four or five creators jumped out, their pink jumpsuits and almost comical LED masks heavily contrasting with the line of refined art lovers. Still, it were not the masks that startled Nico but the heavy arms which they held in attack position, forcing everyone in their path to the floor with loud shouting. In the complete chaos, Nico's instincts were to jump in hiding as well and the closest thing was the van itself. Crutching, he held on to the front of the car, out of sight for any driver. He felt frozen in time and suddenly, every of his basic senses worked twice as well. The smell of the gasoline from the running car was nauseating. And the sound of… The sound struck him right in the heart. Only one person admired DJ Felony enough to listen to that old bootleg of highway electro. After all, he had heard it numerous times in the apartment of…

Eve Lafay.

Or at least, of some Eve, Nico realized as he tried to vanish in thin air.

This RP combines info from the first RP I did (most easy to find with keyword 'Durant'), the last RP I did (most easy to find on keyword 'Hemming') and the general heist thread aligned by Tumbra.

[Kelssek]

Matchday 16/17 cutoff

Cardenao's RP below was counted for this cutoff.

[Cardenao]

Headlines From Around Cardenao

World Cupdate

It is time for another update of Cardenao’s progress in the World Cup and sadly it is bad news we bring. A 4-1 win at home against Camerania and a nine match undefeated streak gave the Blue and Golds plenty to be optimistic about heading into a must-win match against group leaders Brookstation. A win against the 43rd best team in the world would’ve seen Cardenao take the pole position in the group, alas La Furia Azule fell to a 1-0 defeat though it wasn’t without an honorable effort from the players. This impactful result sees us slip to 3rd place in the group, tied with Nyowani Kitara on 27 points though they have a +5 goal differential lead over us. On the bright side, Cardenao now has an eight point gap over 4th place so falling out of the playoff spots seems unlikely, though anything can happen in the world of international football.

The 4-1 home win over Camerania was very much a ‘business as usual’ affair, though the visitors scoring in the first 20 seconds was certainly not in manager Ramon Lamberti’s gameplan. The mostly reserve team Lamberti sent out showed great strength of character to not let this unfortunate start to the match get their heads down as they battled back and took the game right to Camerania. Chimo Ventura came close to equalizing in the 7th minute before Lonzo Capiatelli and Jennario Cervahir combined well in the midfield with the later sending a perfectly weighted through ball to the feet of Alberto Godwine, who sent the keeper the wrong way with a smooth fake shot before passing the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-1. From that point out, it was an entirely one-sided affair as the Cardenaoan side stamped their total authority on the match. Capiatelli got one of his own in the 24th minute before Moustir-Yves Almeny scored a brilliant curling freekick in the 30th minute to firmly put the game in our hands. Halftime came and went, Ibai Acosta-Vargas came off the bench to score in the 71st minute, and the game ended comfortably 4-1 in Cardenao’s favor. 27 points to our name, nine games undefeated, and a chance to beat Brookstation to take first place in the group. Oh what could’ve been!

Alas, despite our strong showings in the nine-match run before this and the general feelings of vague optimism heading into this decisive fixture, turns out our opponent was feeling just as up to the challenge as we were. It was a great match, one that neutrals certainly went home feeling thrilled to have seen and one that Cardenaoan supporters all over the multiverse went home feeling quite sad. We here at The Cardenaoan Correspondent don’t much like writing about losses so we’re going to keep this short, Brookstation beat us for fuck’s sake. This 1-0 loss drops Cardenao down to 3rd in the group as the undeniable Nyowani Kitara moves over us on goals scored or goal differential, I’m not sure which as I’ve not read the entirety of the tiebreakers but either way, they are ahead of us.

Now though, we look ahead. The loss is behind us, now it’s time for Cardenao to undergo another unbeaten streak, hopefully all the way up to and including the World Cup Final! Up next, we face off against the Snow and Ice Caps and revenge is certainly on the table. We somehow lost to the now 7th placed team in the group in our first meeting, so now we must win and bank the three points as our opponent after them is most certainly the biggest match left on the schedule.

Nyowani Kitara, we meet again. Cardenao’s historic 4-2 home victory against the 10th best team in the world was hugely celebrated within the victorious country, and those celebrations and joy are sure to fuel the fire of vengeance for the defeated Kitarans. Defeating them, or at the very least getting a draw out of this fixture, will be of paramount importance now that we suffered a loss to Brookstation. A loss to Nyowani Kitara is sure to end our increasingly improbable hopes at topping the group, while even more losses and results going against us could possibly see Juvencus mounting a late surge and putting our playoff position in jeopardy.

Despite our seemingly comfortable-ish position in third, tied for second and eight points clear of fourth, now everything seems to hang in the balance. A loss or draw to Snow and Ice Caps then a loss to Nyowani and things get uncomfortable. Four or six points against these two foes and we can probably feel certain of our playoff-position.

The lads are playing well…can they play even weller?

San Carlos Wherelands??

The latest development in the simmering tensions in Anaia seems to be centered around the San Carlos Islands. A Mertagnan aircraft carrier is sailing to or has possibly already arrived at the Huayramarcan islands in a typical show of force. This escalation revolves around the Ochre Islands apparent recent push for the complete and total decolonisation of the Ko-oren inhabitants of the San Carlos Islands, which has been hard for us to corroborate: it seems Ko-oren might have nothing to do with the Islands? Who knows, we certainly don’t, but that doesn’t particularly matter here. All eyes trained on these particular islands is good news for Cardenao though as our own wargames have progressed to the next stage.

‘Mockvasion’ of Isla Aloshaki Commences

The military invasion-exercise of Isla Aloshaki began in the early morning hours when Triple-Threat aircraft began a mock bombing campaign. The focus seemed to be primarily on coastal targets such as anti-ship missile launchers, entrenched guns, anti-air facilities, and the like, while secondary targets were struck deeper within the island, perhaps mock radar facilities and longer-range missile systems.

After this aerial attack, a large-scale naval invasion and landing seems set to be simulated with mixed ships and soldiers of Cardenao, Banija, and Quebec gearing up to set for the shoreline. According to the Ministry of Defense, the ultimate goal is to take over the administration of Isla Aloshaki and build a highly-modern large-scale military complex on the entirety of the island.

Stay tuned.

[Audioslavia]

Missing the Point
Everything you ever wanted to know about 3CGCA but were afraid to ask for fear of summoning another Jeremy Jaffacake stats blog

With the Bulls having (finally) stormed through to the top of their qualifying group with two shut-out wins, queries have been put forward about the side's exemplary defensive performance thus far, with only six goals conceded across sixteen qualifiers. How good is this, historically? Where does six goals conceded in sixteen games put us when compared to, say, every other team in history?

Well, let's assume the Bulls draw their four remaining games 0-0 - or win them all 8-0, it's all the same for GA. A record of just six goals conceded across 20 games would make for a Goals Conceded Per Game (GCPG) of 0.3, good enough for about the sixtieth best single-cycle performance of all time, behind three historical Audioslavian sides and six teams that didn't even qualify from their group. One of those, World Cup 26's System Karela, went 1-9-2 with just one goal scored and two goals conceded. Nine 0-0 draws out of twelve games is.. not something we'll be seeing in the World Cup any time soon, no matter what new bus Ko-oren are developing.

They don't make teams like System Karela any more, a fact that most should be thankful for

One-cycle scores aren't quite our thing, though. The Idiot Project offices are more into three-cycle dynasties, as you may have gleaned from our invention of The Sossimo Lissón Metric (and its evil twin, the Inverse Sossimo Lissón Metric from Episode 5 of our YouTube series. (Is the series dead? No! It's only sleeping! Okay it might be in a coma. Okay i poked it and it might be dead. That just be's how it do)

Three-Cycle Goals Conceded Average, or 3CGCA (pronunciation guide: the rhythm is a bit like however a Francophone would say heebeejeebier) is a measure of how many goals a team conceded over three consecutive qualifying campaigns. The amount of goals a team conceded in cycle X is divided by the amount of games they played in that cycle, the same is done for cycles X-1 and X-2 and the resulting three figures are averaged.

Whereas Sossimo Lissón was looking for teams that refused to lose, 3CGCA attempts to find the teams that refused to concede.

About a hundred teams out of over 11,000 managed to concede fewer than a goal every two games, and keep up that form for three cycles. The feat of conceding only once every three games, over the same period of time, has been done thirteen times. But by only five different teams.

Ko-oren, as you might expect, are right there, conceding just seventeen goals over 54 games between cycles 90 and 92. Just above them are the great Bedistan side of the mid-twenties, who conceded just fifteen goals over 46 games in qualifying for World Cups 23, 24 and 25, losing just once.

Both teams appear just once in the top thirteen.

In positions 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 13 in the list are South Covello, whose bus-parking shenanigans in the late seventies and early eighties peaked with their World Cup 83 qualifying run, in which only one goal was conceded over twelve games. Similarly defensive minded, Taeshan were a strong team in the mid sixties, and their cycle 65 and 67 teams are both in the top ten, but it's their Cycle 66 team that takes the cake. Third overall with just 0.22 goals conceded, on average, over three cycles.

But as we hinted in the last episode, Taeshan 66 is an outlier.

No team has ever managed to go a full qualifying campaign without conceding a goal, but on six occasions have a team conceded just once in their group. South Covello 83 are in the list, as are a Valladares team taking advantage of the fact that their World Cup 54 qualifying group was run over the course of just eight games. Andossa se Mitrin Vega's strong 50s team make an appearance, conceding just once in qualifying for World Cup 59.

Of all these teams, though, only one managed to concede only one goal throughout the entirety of qualifying yet still fail to qualify. Taeshan, take a bow.

It is, of course, World Cup 66's fault. Thirty groups of six, best team progresses, runners-up duly told to go screw themselves. Drawn into group 27 (27!), Taeshan's one solitary goal conceded would come against Legalese in a 0-1 defeat. A 0-0 draw and eight wins later, the side would finish level with the Legalites but, crucially, their goal record of 14-1 would be outmatched by Legalese's 20-4, so that was that.

Taeshan conceded once throughout all of qualifying and failed to make it. The Taeshani side of World Cup 65 had conceded just five times over eighteen games, on the way to a 12-4-2 record that wasn't good enough for an automatic spot, reached the playoff and duly lost on aggregate to The Archregimancy. Having qualified for World Cup 64 with a similar five goals conceded in eighteen games, and having reached the Quarter Finals of that tournament, they would likely have found it unthinkable that they'd miss out on the next two cups despite conceding only six goals in qualifiers, but here we are. Taeshan's 0.22 3CGCA is the third best of all time. Barely qualified for one tournament.

We mentioned previously that six teams had conceded only one goal in qualifying, but we only listed three. Let's list the other three now. They happened in World Cups 22, 23 and 24, and the teams accomplishing that feat were, in chronological order, Sarzonia, Sarzonia and Sarzonia.

Despite System Karela's efforts, these are the three best three defensive units of the twenties

Outscoring their group mates 21-1, 39-1 and 31-1, losing only once and winning 33 of their 38 qualifiers, Sarzonia's record of three goals conceded across three consecutive qualifiers is unmatched. 64-66 Taeshan's 11 comes close, but not as close as 23-25 Sarzonis with 10. This team, in the middle of their speed run towards the Grand Slam of BoF, CoH, WC and Regional baubles, have a defensive record that will likely never be beaten. We may be impressed with the defensive staunchness of the modern Ko-orenites, but the Dragonflies are hitting between 20 and 30 goals in a 20-game qualifying session. Sarzonia were hitting two-goals-per-game comfortably. A different era, sure, with a wildly different standard of play, but a record nonetheless.

In World Cup 94, Naixi came close early on to hitting that fables one-goal-conceded mark, but conceded their second on matchday ten. In true Taeshani style, they were sitting just fourth in their group while having let in only one goal. The bauble of 'best defence' has since passed to an Audioslavia side who conceded only eight times in qualifying last cycle. In true Taeshani style, it didn't do us a whole lot of good then, either.

Cycle    3CGC  3CGCA   Team 
22-24    3     0.08    Sarzonia
23-25    10    0.20    Sarzonia
64-66    11    0.22    Taeshan
81-83    13    0.25    South Covello
79-81    14    0.26    South Covello
76-78    13    0.27    South Covello
77-79    14    0.27    South Covello
78-80    14    0.27    South Covello
65-67    14    0.29    Taeshan
63-65    16    0.30    Taeshan
23-25    15    0.31    Bedistan
90-92    17    0.33    Ko-oren
80-82    18    0.33    South Covello

IBJJ, G'NB

[Ranoria]

It Feels Like We’re Swimming Upstream At Times, Nice To Have A Full Stadium

The Snow Bears have had a rough go of it, but playing the first sold out World Cup Qualifying match in Smith Field history put some wind in their sails

As usual, Kris Reinhardt was called out to the postgame presser - normally a fairly private individual, between being a team captain and going the lengths she had to make this season happen, she’d involuntarily made herself into a media darling. And the first question today hit home a little more than most.

“How does it feel to play in front of a sold out crowd at home for the first time?”

Reinhardt’s shoulders tensed at the question. Smith Field isn’t a big stadium. It’s been a nice home for the Snow Bears, and they’ve traditionally played well there, but it’s a modest venue even by the most optimistic standards. For most of the teams at this level, they’d be shocked not to sell out.

Deep breath, her shoulders came back down. “It’s nice, always appreciate the support. But it just reminds me we that we’re swimming upstream to get anywhere. We were winning a lot of games, five straight winning qualifiers and a 58-25-37 overall record between those, the Cup of Harmony, and the Baptism of Fire. As a team, we were talking about maybe moving to the Karmin-Falce Superdome. And then we didn’t have a team, and now we’ve only just managed to sell out Smith Field?”

She sighed, and paused to take a sip from the vibrantly branded water bottle on the table, “Like I said, the support is always good, but we’re not quite where we want to be.”

Anyone who's kept up with the storyline of this team knows that they had to fight tooth and nail just for a chance to get into this WCQ. And to hear that heartbreaking admission, that the team had been under the impression they'd be playing in a bigger stadium rather than having the rug pulled out from under them, drives it home just what this team's fighting. This isn't the Ranorian Krauts on the diamond or those on the gridiron, with millions of fans pouring out their hearts to watch those teams push for championships in sports that are integral to Ranorian culture.

This is a team playing in a country where soccer is an afterthought. Even here at RSNN, you have to expand our "other" tab on the home page to get to our soccer content, after pro football, college football, baseball, hockey, and MMA! The applauses this team has been subjected to hearing in foreign nations, for those vaunted, beloved national teams gave them a taste of what that love and support would feel like. They're just trying to find a way to win that sort of backing here domestically.

What's it gonna take? Well, they're certainly drawing the most press they ever had, and more anecdotally a lot more bars and restaurants have been playing the qualifying matches on their television sets this season, largely thanks to the buzz that was generated by Reinhardt and assistant HC Manlafi Sowe providing their personal wealth to fund this season. The fact that they managed to sell out the stadium for the first time in their tenure there speaks volumes to the progress they have managed to make.

Other than that - they have to win games, more of them. If this team can't vault themselves into the World Cup, show that they can compete at nearly the highest level the sport has to offer, then why would fans who've been spoiled by so many incredible teams competing internationally get excited? Three medals in the last four World Bowls, back-to-back semifinal finishes in the World Baseball Classic, fans aren't going to sit down and listen to an explanation that the Cup is on a different scale. No one cares that the amount of competitors is simply beyond comparison. They want to see results.

And frankly, the NAAF is in the same boat. After a disastrous failure to even make the playoffs in World Cup 92 despite a 9-2-0 start, Ranoria's domestic soccer league has very little incentive to continue mortgaging its financial stability on a venture that hasn't produced a ton of revenue for it yet. If this team wants to continue to exist - much less earn a spot in some of Ranoria's landmark stadiums - they're going to have to elevate their play beyond anything they've ever shown before.

[Gnejs]

Troll Hunter

The spring sun was setting over the eastern parts of the Meridian Quarter in Port Kejm, giving PUFF headquarters a final lick before retiring for the day. Svea Vichy, the Assistant Director of Communications and Public Relations, was sitting at her desk and stirring her cup of tea absentmindedly. In front of her were heaps of today’s papers - national, regional, local - and on her computer screens were more tabs with online newspapers and social media sites than she could count.

«They’ve got the scent, the jackals, and they’re not letting go,» she thought to herself and sighed.

It had been a rough couple of days. Weeks, really. Coach Clentin’s plummeting approval ratings had the entire fourth pillar and social media boiling, and it didn’t seem to matter how many press releases her people jettisoned out into the ether, they were always behind and there was always a new fire to put out. This attempt at discourse management was proving a Sisyphean task, and they clearly needed to come at it from a new angle.

She had tried reaching out to the Ministry of The Interior. After all, they had been integral in setting up and implementing Operation Destiny’s Cup, and were assumingely equally interested in its success. But their Unit for Delphic Issues had offered little help, or even any sympathy for her plight. The prophecy spoke of Enda Clentin leading the Dandelions to glory; it said nothing of the road towards that glory. The Ministry had helped PUFF locate Clentin, and facilitated placing him in the proper position, and to their mind the job was done and the rest was just a case of waiting for the inevitable to occur. She had been disappointed, but in hindsight she should’ve expected as much; fatalism and disdain for inconsequential matters such as public relations were probably a bit of an occupational hazard for those people.

She had her doubts. She had been a skeptic from the beginning. But there was something about the authority with which those MTI-people spoke that left one uncertain. She wasn’t sure what she believed, but she knew enough about international football competitions and the court of public opinion to know that the latter could have a devastating effect on the former. Manifest Destiny or not, she was certain that the current PR beating Clentin endured was not helping.

There was a knock at her door, and she called for her visitors to enter. Senior Advisor Sverker Danielsson and Principal Officer Valdemar Horn entered. Svea nodded to the two men and motioned for them to sit. She wasn’t best pleased with having to rely on that duo, but intimate knowledge of Operation Destiny’s Cup was strictly regulated, and she needed people she could speak freely with. She had tasked them with digging deeper into this sudden burst of Anti-Clentin sentiment, and outlining alternative means of combating it. Her hopes were not high, but she was curious to hear what they had to say. She offered them both a cup of tea, and asked them for their report.

Danielsson spoke first. «We feel fairly certain that it’s not coincidental,» he said and poured some milk into his mug, stirring it gently before continuing. «We’ve talked to the boys down at Digital Analysis, and there are several indications pointing towards a coordinated campaign.» Svea put her hand up to silence him. «Digital Analysis?» she asked and looked confused. «I wasn’t aware we had a Digital Analysis Unit.» Danielsson cleared his throat and smiled nervously. «Well, not officially, no, but Torgeir and Joar are pretty analytical…» Svea lowered her brows. «The guys running the PUFF Instapound account?» Danielsson nodded enthusiastically. Svea sighed and waved for him to continue.

«Firstly, it’s the way it all started, it just went from calm waters to tsunami overnight, and Joar says that’s a classical tell for coordinated troll campaigns.» He paused and had a sip of his cup, smacking his lips contently.

«Secondly, it’s how it just keeps popping up everywhere. It’s not only social media - although Rock knows it’s rampant over there - but it’s comments on newspaper articles and in forums, on topics not related to Clentin or the Dandelions. Like, you have an article about the water quality in the Fjällstad rivers or transgender youth, and boom, there’s tons of comments on Clentin, Stoic Press, how he’s destroying Union football, etc. Again, classic professional trolling.»

Danielsson was looking extremely pleased with himself, obviously loving getting to use words like “troll”, “classic” and “coordinated”. It was annoying, of course; he was annoying. But Svea had to admit what he spoke of was interesting.

«Thirdly,» Danielsson continued, «even though it all seems to be coming from genuine Union users, we’ve obtained clear indications that the brunt of it originates from overseas. I won’t bore you with the technical details, but the indications are pretty solid. Pings from all over Rushmore, some Esportiva, even some action from the Pacifics. And Torgeir’s semantic analysis backs it up even further. There’s something off with much of it. It’s Gnejsian, but not quite.» Svea nodded. She knew Danielsson most likely had no idea how these things actually worked, but, again, she had to admit she was impressed.

«So, what is all this telling us?» she asked. She already knew the answer, but she felt like Danielsson had deserved it. «Torgier and Joar are pretty certain, and I agree, that someone has contracted a so-called “Troll Farm” to orchestrate this whole thing,» Danielsson said and leaned back in his chair, smiling contently once again.

«How do we approach this,» Svea said and redirected her gaze towards Valdemar Horn. «Did you have any luck reaching out to MTI this time?» she asked the elderly man. He tried clearing his throat and made a sound like he was about to lose a lung. «I spoke with the Assistant Director General at the Unit for Wonders and Bewilderment,» he said after regaining his composure. «They were initially very enthusiastic, but that quickly waned after they realized I wasn’t talking about actual trolls. I am afraid it does not look like we will be getting any assistance from the Ministry.». Svea nodded. She had expected as much, fairly certain that reaching out to the other MTI units would be a dead end. But Horn had insisted he had sway with the Ministry, him being a Unionist Party member. Maybe that stuff worked 40 years ago, but not anymore. Which was a good thing, really, Svea thought to herself.

They sat in silence for a while, before Svea continued. «What about bringing this to the Constabulary? Don’t they have a Cyber Bullying Unit or something like that?» Valdemar Horn shook his head and lifted his arms, clearly indicating ignorance. Danielsson nodded slowly. «They do. I spoke to them earlier and they’re thin on investigative resources at the moment. Most of their efforts are channeled into different awareness campaigns directed towards the youth.»

Svea sighed.

«So we’re on our own? Someone’s hired internet mercenaries to drag Clentin in the mud, we don’t know who these trolls are, and we don’t know who hired them.»

Horn and Danielsson sat in silence, the former inspecting his tie, the latter the residues in his mug. The silence lingered. In the end, Danielsson spoke. «We could get Torgeir and Joar to dig deeper? I mean, they really are quite analytical.»