Cup of Harmony 89 - Everything Thread

[Oberour Ar Moro]

Admiral Gillaumin-la Bonrande addresses the graduating class of the Oberour Ar Moro Naval Academy in Recholen.
OOC: The image was generated through midjourney.

Naval Chief of Staff Admiral Guéric Gillaumin-la Bonrande's as-prepared remarks for the Oberour Ar Moro Naval Academy graduation

Cadets. Suffisants. It is an honor to be here with you today. To see young men dubbed officers of the Navy, as so many generations of officers before, is a great honor.

For four grueling years you have been tested mentally and physcially. Much has been asked from you as cadets, because much will be asked of you as sailors, and as officers.

And it is an honor to be a sailor and to be an officer of Oberour Ar Moro. To serve Oberour Ar Moro. To follow in the footsteps of Melar Amable, Jean-Henri Dauvergne, Jozeb Portzamparc, and Maulde de Froit-Mantel. It is as high an honor that I can imagine.

Never forget that at every moment of every day much depends on you. Your leadership. Your abilities. Your wisdom. And your ability to serve your fellow sailor and your fellow Oberour.

We are currently at a time of peace. The ships of Oberour Ar Moro sail the seas of Rushmore, with their cannons silent. We can be thankful for the rest, but you know, as I know, that there will be a time when we are called forth to serve in combat again. Where are forefathers climbed riggings and boarded enemy ships we one day will pilot drones or dive in submarines.

You are here today to take a solemn oath. To protect the men and women of our Dominion. To make a covenant with not just your fellow sailors but with every man of Oberour Ar Moro. And to swear fealty to the Chancellor of Oberour Ar Moro, to follow his will and do his deeds. To the greatest of your ability and with every breath in your body.

Find strength in the storm, and calm in the eye of it. Congratulations, Cadets.

[Kronbia]

---

Previously

1. Match in the Eastern Port

2. The Carbuco Massacre

3. Primera Liga Kronbia

4. Rocio de Hielo Scandal

5. Barrio de Arboles disaster



6. Kronbia National Stadium

After the Barrio de Arboles disaster in 2005, the he Kronbia Football Federation (Federación de Fútbol de Kronbia) submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Youth and Sports to build several stadiums with a capacity larger than the clubs’ stadiums, to host popular matches to accommodate a large number of fans, and for the clubs to rent the stadiums. The stadiums can also host other events such as conferences and concerts. After studying the matter, the Ministry of Youth and Sports announced that a Estadio Cerro del Sol stadium would be built in the capital, Ciudad de Halcon, with a capacity of 22,000 seats, and a plan was put in place to build one stadium in each of Kronbia’s cities with a capacity larger than 10,000 seats. Indeed, the construction of the capital’s stadium was completed in 2007 to be the largest stadium in Kronbia and its national stadium. By 2015, four other stadiums had been built in each of Kronbia’s cities.

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Birth of a Rising Star

After Ismael Gabriel's injury, the rising star Justino Vito participated, who showed exceptional performance from the first minute of play, as Justino participated in the first match against Valentine Z, he managed to score his first international goal and make assist for the forward Ovidio Florencio to score a goal. In the second match against The Ko-orenite Constellation, he scored the winning goal from free kick. In the third match against Langenia, Justino make assist for the forward Ovidio Florencio to score winning goal. It seems that the player will be one of the most important midfielders in the Kronbia men's national football team.

---

[Kamijiro]

衞。Defend, Part Four: Counter!

It's been a week since the attack on Relâmpago Naval Base. The national team continues on...

After a week of build-up into a counter-attack on Nakahini and Velikaca, the first-ever Kamijiroan bombs are dropped onto foreign soil. First targeting the larger of the two countries, Nakahini, the bombs hit their marks on multiple military bases, including Nakahini's largest air force base. Destroying an approximate of seventy aircraft and with a casualty total of an estimated fifty, the run was considered a success. However, this news is not broadcast nationally.

This is because after the attack on Relâmpago, several outspoken politicians claimed that Kamijiro deserved the attack for their role in imperialism throughout the history of the nation. A joint statement from the leader of the EKEN (End Kamijiro's Empire Now) party and the RLNK (Return the Land to Native Kamijiroans) parties claimed that Kamijiro had instigated the attack by attempting to expand the country's claims on international waters. The statement caused mass unrest within cities, with protestors claiming that an Kamijiroan counter-attack would be further Kamijiroan aggression - proving that they are the aggressors and not the victims.

Because of this, King Kaminari allowed for the military to act covertly. News of the counter-attacks has been stifled at every turn. The upshot is that the national team continues to do well, giving the country something else to focus on as it is left in the dark about the nation's military activities. A 2-0 win over Brusseldorf slid the Lightning into the top spot on the table at 3-0-0 with a +4 goal difference. Goals from Darren Williams and Saiichi Demizu in this match assured a victory for the defense-heavy Kamijiroans.

Back at the military hospital...

Ash takes her first steps since the attack on Relâmpago. Her legs tremble as she stands, a nurse helping pull her up.

As she walks, she asks around the hospital about any news of a counter-attack. But of course, there is no news.
"We know nothing? How do we know nothing?"
"The brass are censoring all the info. Some bleeding hearts decided to make a big stink about our 'empire.'"
"Empire? We're literally two islands. And even then, those two islands are literally so close you can swim between them."
"Yeah. But because of the fact that there were colonial powers here, those hippies decided that makes us an empire."
"That's... stupid as hell. Wow. So because of them, we can't know what's happening in detail?"
"Not right now. The King and the brass are worried that the public will have a bit more of unrest if they knew all the details."
"So not even I can know, even though I'm military?"
"Hon, even I don't know. And I've been doing this military health officer thing for twenty years."
"Guess we'll find out sooner than later, though. Thanks, doc."

And with that, Ash wobbles out of the hospital on crutches. As she does, she sees a familiar flash of hair. But just as soon as she sees it, the woman is gone. Was it Emi, back to check on the girl she'd saved? Or just a look-alike...?

[Riena]

The Riena Sentinel

---

Contract extension in the offing for Cocoa Haneda
Wavelets manager set to be offered extension on improved terms

---

Sources within the Riena Football Association have suggested that manager Cocoa Haneda is set to be offered a two-year extension to her contract in the coming weeks.

Haneda has performed well above initial expectations in her debut cycle as national team manager, leading Riena to the verge of a playoff spot in the World Cup qualifiers despite enduring a less-than-stellar start to her tenure in the Campionato Esportiva. Under her stewardship, Riena has achieved a number of landmark results against established footballing powers, most notably holding Tumbra, the ninth-ranked side in the multiverse, to a 1-1 draw at the Wavelet Arena, and upsetting the runaway group eight winners Baker Park 1-0 away. Having failed to secure a playoff spot, Riena's performance in the Cup of Harmony in Banija has also been encouraging thus far, with the Wavelets securing two successive 3-1 wins against West Vdara and Savojarna, although their good form was brought to a shuddering halt by a 4-0 thumping at the hands of top seed Drawkland.

While Haneda has enjoyed no little success in terms of results, the RFA are said to be more impressed with the manner in which Haneda has moulded the Wavelets in her image. Having been forced to scout and put together a squad from scratch following her appointment as manager, Haneda has been quick to establish a well-defined style of play and footballing philosophy that has served Riena well so far. The exhilarating brand of vertical, possession-based attacking football espoused by Haneda has been widely popular with her players, within the RFA, as well as with the public at large, while the RFA has also taken note of the chemistry and unity that Haneda has managed to forge amongst her players within a relatively short time span. Many of her players are said to enjoy playing for a tactful, open-minded manager who is only too willing to listen to their needs, concerns, and desires, and is at the same time unafraid of laying down the law when the situation calls for it. RFA president Ryuji Kagami is also said to appreciate Haneda's skill in managing the dressing room, with the mood in the Wavelets camp said to be 'harmonious' and 'constructive' even during rough patches of form.

All indications are that Haneda's new contract will see her receive slightly improved terms, but with a significant salary raise clause that would be triggered in the event Riena qualify for the World Cup. Other clauses that are said to have been included in the initial proposals submitted to Haneda's camp include substantial bonus clauses and an optional two-year extension clause, which would be automatically triggered contingent upon reaching certain objectives such as the quarterfinals, semifinals, or final of the Campionato Esportiva or Cup of Harmony. But perhaps most significantly, the contract proposal currently on the table is also said to contain a significant release clause as a means to deter clubs and other national teams from attempting to poach Haneda. Haneda's current contract contains a similar release clause, but for a far more modest amount which would be realistically affordable for many Riena Sunrise League clubs. Thus far, Haneda has not been linked to any other jobs, and has been on the record stating that she is happy to remain manager of the Riena national team for the foreseeable future, but the inclusion of this release clause is perhaps a reflection of the high esteem in which the RFA hold her.

Haneda's camp is not expected to raise any significant objections to the contract proposal currently on the table. However, any formal announcement will only take place following the conclusion of Riena's involvement in the Cup of Harmony to avoid causing any unnecessary distractions. Riena are currently in third place in group three with six points, behind Oberour Ar Moro and Drawkland on goal difference and head-to-head points respectively, and will look to continue their push to advance to the knockout stages against bottom side Yakk Empire in two days' time.

---

Related stories

• Football — WC97: Tumbra and Sylestone carry the standard for Esportiva in Pasarga and Eastfield Lodge
• Football — CoH89: High-flying Riena come crashing down to earth with 4-0 defeat to Drawkland
• Football — Riena undone by their naivety against yet another high-ranking side: they have to wise up quickly
• Football — Pure potential: The story behind Cocoa Haneda's unwavering commitment to youth over experience
• Football — Riena Midnight League club list to be formalised soon, but delays not out of the question, warns RFA president

---

[Banija]

Hello folks! Welcome to the fourth cutoff for Cup of Harmony 89! We oughta Hoist the Colors High during this cutoff!

Friendly reminder that we are back to 24 hour cutoffs! So see you all tomorrow for the all-important MD5

RP Prompt: Back towards a nationbuilding prompt. Tell me about organized crime in your country. In what forms does it exist, if any? Is there any sort of mafia-style organization in your country, either nationwide or concentrated within a particular region and/or locality, that exists? Or, of course- even a transnational org. If so, what form does it currently exist, and are the leaders publicly known? If so, who are they? Why does the org exist- is it to perpetuate money and power, or are they politically motivated? Is there synergy between the crime syndicate and the state?

If organized crime generally doesn't exist in your country at this moment, Is there a history of organized crime in your country that has now been stamped out? If so, the above Qs apply, with the additional question of how was it stamped out?

Maybe organized crime exists, or has existed, in your nation but not quite mafia-style. If so, the above Qs apply, with the additional question of what was the structure?

If organized crime of any sort does not exist in your nation, and has never existed in your nation, the question is- how has your nation prevented the rise of organized crime? The rest of us are taking notes!

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

Matchday 4 Scores

Color Code
Bold Green- Has won the group
Blue- has clinched a top 3 spot in the group and a berth in the knockout stages
Red- Cannot finish as the best 4th placed team and are eliminated from the Cup of Harmony

Group 1
HOT-DAMN 2–4 Patriotlandia
Audioslavia 3–1 Reçueçn
Kanzlia 2–2 North Oharan Valley Union

  Group 1                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Kanzlia                           4   2  1  1    9   7  +2    7
2 North Oharan Valley Union         4   2  1  1    5   4  +1    7
3 Audioslavia                       4   2  0  2    7   4  +3    6
4 Reçueçn                           4   2  0  2    9   8  +1    6
5 Patriotlandia                     4   2  0  2    7   8  −1    6
6 HOT-DAMN                          4   1  0  3    9  15  −6    3

Group 2
Kronbia 0–1 Doubeia
Valentine Z 0–0 The Ko-orenite Constellation
Langenia 1–2 Indusse

  Group 2                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Kronbia                           4   2  1  1    6   5  +1    7
2 Indusse                           4   2  1  1    6   7  −1    7
3 Doubeia                           4   2  0  2    8   6  +2    6
4 Valentine Z                       4   1  2  1    7   6  +1    5
5 The Ko-orenite Constellation      4   1  2  1    5   5   0    5
6 Langenia                          4   1  0  3    6   9  −3    3

Group 3
Savojarna 0–1 Drawkland
Yakk Empire 0–2 Riena
Oberour Ar Moro 3–1 West Vdara

  Group 3                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Oberour Ar Moro                   4   3  0  1   10   6  +4    9
2 Drawkland                         4   3  0  1   10   4  +6    9
3 Riena                             4   3  0  1    8   6  +2    9
4 Savojarna                         4   1  0  3    5   8  −3    3
5 West Vdara                        4   1  0  3    8  12  −4    3
6 Yakk Empire                       4   1  0  3    4   9  −5    3

Group 4
Kamijiro 1–1 Restresas
Alanis Star 1–4 HUElavia
Brusseldorf 2–2 Captina Island

  Group 4                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Kamijiro                          4   3  1  0    5   1  +4   10
2 HUElavia                          4   2  1  1    9   3  +6    7
3 Brusseldorf                       4   2  1  1    8   8   0    7
4 Captina Island                    4   0  4  0    6   6   0    4
5 Restresas                         4   0  2  2    6  11  −5    2
6 Alanis Star                       4   0  1  3    3   8  −5    1

Group 5
Hispinas 1–2 Darmen
Qusmo 0–1 Sangti and the Filindo Isles
Katzeburg 2–1 Xanneria

  Group 5                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Sangti and the Filindo Isles      4   4  0  0    9   3  +6   12
2 Katzeburg                         4   3  1  0    8   5  +3   10
3 Hispinas                          4   1  1  2    6   5  +1    4
4 Qusmo                             4   1  0  3    5   8  −3    3
5 Xanneria                          4   1  0  3    5  10  −5    3
6 Darmen                            4   1  0  3    7   9  −2    3

[Audioslavia]

Parts [1][2][3]

Carrying the One

A few thousand years ago, Audioslavia had a disastrous fourteen minute experiment with a monarchy. The movement to restore the monarchy has never gone away in the millennia since, which in turn means the righteously violent republican movement continues to pursue its ancient and sacred oath to murder anyone in Audioslavia who holds the title of First In Line For The Thone. Due to the popular Successr mobile app, Audioslavians keep an occasional tab on where they might be in the line of succession, and are advised to emigrate sharpish should their number drop into the single digits.

In the last thousand years, the average time anyone has spent both in Audioslavia and First In Line to the throne has been about 24 hours. That’s the average, brought up by the antics of one particular Audioslavian who escaped ‘justice’ for over a year. Most heirs have a life expectancy that can be measured in minutes.

---

If Fraser Farrington was sure of one thing, it was that he wasn’t sure exactly how serious things were going to get. He knew he was a marked man, and that previous would-be kings had been murdered brutally and immediately, but he didn't know to what extent he would be hunted and chased as he bid to either leave the country or lay low, whichever felt more feasible.

The second he'd heard the news, Fraser had excused himself from his meeting and jumped into the first taxi he saw. He went towards his apartment, initially, but asked the taxi driver to just keep driving as soon as he realised, approaching his apartment block, that the amount of suspiciously unmarked vans in the vicinity was four times what it usually was.

The driver obliged, but was clearly spooked by Fraser’s sudden anxiety, if not by the fact that two of the vans started following them. Fraser directed him to a supermarket, paid him the twelve dollar fare with a crisp fifty, and ducked into the supermarket just as the vans were pulling into the car park.

Fraser wasn’t from the streets. He was from a gated tree-lined avenue full of over-sized cars whose owners spoke with accents entirely unlike those of the surrounding towns, and much more like the people he saw on television. He was a rich boy, the son of a millionaire, the brother of two professional sportsmen who’d earned so much money from skiing it had almost paid for twenty years of lessons, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have the kind of smarts that could get him out of a situation like that. He didn’t know drug dealers, he knew art dealers, and had to wherewithal to know that they were largely the exact same thing.

He’d shared a flat with Rene for six months. Rene’s job was to look, sound and act like he knew what he was talking about, which meant acting the exact opposite of who he really was, which was a thirty-two year old cola-head who had never learned that rules also apply to him. Rene was the kind of guy whose main advice for the business world was to carry a clipboard and look like you knew where you were going, and would be damned if he'd ever let anyone get in his way.

Fraser, still in his suit from work, had formulated the plan on the fly. He marched into the supermarket, found the stationary section, picked up a clip-board, and marched towards the section of a supermarket at the back that everyone knows solely as ‘the back’.

He winked at the first young worker he saw as he passed under a set of metal shutters that separated the bright creams, oranges and blues of the customer side of the store from the dull concrete and brick of the staff-side, saying simply ‘requisitions, love’, winking, and waggling his clipboard.

“Dave’s not here” said the young lady.

“That’s why he sent me” said Fraser, over his shoulder. “Tell your Eff Ess that Clark’s signed in for a minute” he said, turning a corner. He’d naturally invented “FS”. The worker could figure it out herself.

Pallets of stock blocked anyone’s view of him as he found the nearest sign of daylight and marched towards it. He emerged in a private car-park at the back of the supermarket, entirely fenced off from the outside world. A three-lane motorway roared in the distance, behind the fence and an adjacent warehouse. The only road, or even pathway, from here, was blocked by a gate and lead only back round to the public carpark.

He heard a voice. He looked around and saw nobody, but did spy a lighter and a packet of cigarettes sitting on a chair outside what he assumed to be a temporary office. He unsheathed a cigarette, lit it, coughed, and then leant against a wall reading his clipboard.

Two men in green overalls passed him, neither taking much notice. Voices could still be heard, though, and he found his attentions drawn back the way he came.

“No, no you can’t come back here, this is staff only” said a voice, that of the girl he’d walked past earlier
“You just let that guy in” said a gruff voice with a distinct Celerden accent.
“He’s from rec.. recreations, he works here”
“He doesn’t work anywhere, none of them do” sniffed another man. “Come on, love, this is government business”
“I need to get my manager, then, but you can’t… hey”

"Government my arse" thought Fraser, throwing the cigarette onto the floor. "They're no more governemnt that I am a sodding king".

He half-ran to the gate that separated him and the slip road that ran back to the other side of the supermarket, back to the car park. He noticed a button, pressed it, and then cursed the gate for opening as slowly as you could possibly design a gate to open. When there was just about enough room he squeezed through and broke into a run, darting round the corner. He didn’t stop to see if he’d been seen, he just walked briskly back round to the front of the supermarket, where he was greeted by the sight of an unmarked black van.

Fraser froze. He waited for the door to open. It didn’t. The windows were so tinted, he couldn’t see that there was nobody inside. He figured he’d just walk out of the car-park, but realised he had no way to go. Pausing, he looked back at the van, went round the other side of it, and tried the door, which swung open easily. Ducking his head inside, he saw a key in the ignition.

“Idiots” he thought, and got in.

He travelled for two hours on the motorway, heading along the coast to the east, before peeling off towards Celta. It was on the smaller, winding roads that he realised he was being followed. Unmarked van. Three people in the front seat. Three?. Oh, oh… Of course they had a tracker on their own van. He imagined the two losers he’d given the slip to had just gone and found one of their van-mates and given them the constantly moving GPS co-ordinates. He’d stuck to the motorway the entire time, he’d have been really, really easy to pin down. He wondered what might have been in store for him if he’d have just kept going along the coastal motorway.

Day had turned to evening, and as evening turned to night, he hatched a plan. He had enough gas for an hour or two. He’d keep going, changing directions in a way that meant he wasn’t doubling back on himself and didn’t look like he was trying to give him pursuers the slip, but that looked like he was zoning in on a particular village. He pulled up such a village on his phone - Brezomorado, forty clicks away - and took an unpredictably inefficient route there. Driving through the village, he again turned his attentions to his GPS, this time finding a random bridge two kilometres away, well outside the village, seemingly free of any houses. He set the coordinates for the bridge, put his GPS down, and slowed right down in front of a church, pulling up to the side of the road but, importantly, not parking, or even turning the engine off.

A van pulled up behind him and waited for an agonising amount of time. It was four seconds, but if you knew it was what separated you from three or four men who were about to jump out of a van and assassinate you god knows how, then they’d have felt like an hour to you too.

A door of the van opened. Fraser gunned it. He didn’t even look in his mirrors to see the door close again with the sound of three angry men swearing and putting their pistols back in their pockets. Him and his black van rounded the corner and sped along a narrow village road as fast as his protesting engine, and suspension, would carry him. Approaching a junction, he peeled away in the direction of the bridge, down an even narrower road, albeit with fewer cars and, as he had hoped, no street lighting whatsoever.

The road straightened out, he took a deep breath, and switched the headlights off.

All went black. Fraser drove on feel, sensing when the car was going over rounder, looser gravel and veering back towards the centre of the road, feeling the bump of cats eyes under his right tyre and edging back to his side. Just as he was getting his night vision in, lights in front of him signalled that another car was approaching. It jolted in surprise and sounded a faint, dull, quietening horn as it disappeared behind him, its red lights outshone by the whites of his pursuer after a few seconds. He got the impression his pursuers still knew where he was in theory, looking at the GPS map, but not in practice, IE actually visible in front of them, and that was buying him time.

The route to the bridge meant a left at a junction, which he took as quickly as he dared, which wasn’t quickly at all. His eyes had adjusted to the brightness somewhat, his senses piqued by the sheet adrenaline of it all. He glimpsed, in his rear-view the white lights of his would-be murderers disappear as the white van guessed the wrong direction, but only briefly. The assassins executed a tight turn in the background, as the bridge filled his field of view. It was tiny, definitely no longer than twenty metres, but the body of water it spanned looked quick-flowing enough. He slowed to.a stop, ditched the van, and skipped down the narrow incline from the start of the bridge to the river. Seeing it was flowing east, he followed that direction, hoping he’d see - he didn’t know what. A canoe? Did regular people leave canoes lying around? If this were a movie there’d be canoes, or one of those enormous rafts with a propeller.

He’d gotten two hundred metres downstream from the bridge when he noticed, over his shoulder, that a van had now parked on it, and flashlights were being pointed from its windows along the river, both on his side and the other of the bridge. After another few minutes, still traipsing the long grass right at the side of the river, he noted that he was being followed by not one, not two, but five men. That must have been all of them from the van. How could they possibly have known that he’d come this way? How could they be 100% sure?

He heard the sound of a distant engine. A motorbike? Behind him, the five flashlights were joined by a sixth, this one steadier, but approaching fast. Fast, and becoming impossibly, excruciatingly louder by the second.

The darkness was entirely ruined by the sight of a jet-ski next to him. A man lifted the visor of his helmet and pulled something out from beneath hit seat.

“Fraser Farrington, First in Line for the Throne and Rightful Heir of Audioslavia?” Said the man, his voice muffled, but unmistakably an absolutely rhetorical question.
“Fuck” said Fraser, defeated. The man on the jet-ski took the object from under his seat and held it towards Fraser. Fraser looked down. It looked like a… a helmet?

“Come with me if you want to live. In a castle. And call people ‘Subjects’” said jet-ski man. "And turn your phone off. That's how they found you. That's how I've just found you, your grace"

Fraser dumped the helmet on his head so quickly he almost got it back to front. As he leapt onto the jet-ski and held his arms around the man as tightly as he could, bullets started to fly. If you’d visited monarchies before, you might remark that they sounded like the firework display after a coronation.

[Kanzlia]

The unholy alliance between crime and the Army

Take a look at Kanzlia's most notorious crime syndicate and how the Kanzlian Army played a major part in their rise

"We bite" is the motto of the Triewaal Backstreet Syndicate one of the precursor syndicate of the larger Invisible Hand and subsequently has been misattributed with the larger syndicate as a whole. It is hardly surprising as the brutality of the Invisible Hand matched the macho-esque motto.

Merged from other crime groups in various cities around Kanzlia in the 1960s as the Invisible Hand. Through cunning intimidation and reckless use of violence the Invisible Hand was able to infiltrate businesses, government offices and even law enforcement in order to cement their control of the underworld and black market. They solidifed even greater control during the Kanzlian Collapse. The famine strained the entire country to which the Invisible Hand exploited through bribes and promises of security, establishing a black market worth around 2 billion gelders at its peak. At the height of their power they were extorting millions of Gelders weekly.

The name of the Invisible Hand is rather ironic as most of the public recognised a large criminal group thriving during the Kanzlian Collapse. Despite this, attempts to crack them down was often met with failure and bureaucratic mess. As it turns out the Kanzlian Army, just after being renamed from the Land Regiment, collaborated with the Invisible Hand to not only enrich the high ranking generals but also procure equipment and steal technologies. The Invisible Hand used Army resources to operate with near impunity, and the Military Police tasked to investigate this dangerous syndicate - predictably failed to do so.

The Invisible Hand eventually did meet its end. Once the Kanzlian Collapse was over, and the country began to regain its footing, the black market the Invisible Hand fostered became increasingly weaker and weaker. And once the Army's Military Police was no longer tasked to investigate the Invisible Hand, the smokescreen began to fade. The Kanzlian Navy was secretly investigating the Invisible Hand and in a secretly authorised sting operation - was able to arrest 12 syndicate leaders in a simultaneous raid on November 9 1987. 4 more syndicate higherups were killed in the raids. The loss of a massive chunk of the Invisible Hands leadership fractured the criminal empire and with the Invisible Hand engulfed in infighting, the Kanzlian Police were able to clean up without much trouble. The involvement of the Army was already discovered by the Navy during the raid but was urged by the Civilian Government to keep their involvement classified.

The details of the Army's involvement with the Invisible Hand was leaked in 2014 and shortly thereafter declassified by Admiral Resov's TCRK government. This coincided with the dissolution of the Kanzlian Army.

[HUElavia]

Alanis Star 1–4 HUElavia
(Hariwana Hopkins 65' | Jacquet 9', Álvarez 38', Milano 50', 83')
Istria Olympic Stadium, Istria, Banija

Historically, HUElavia has had low crime rates throughout the country thanks to the multitude of government actions to aid people, from welfare to universal healthcare to proper education that goes up to Undergraduate or Trade School Degrees at the minimum. That is not to say thought that HUElavia is a utopian society, as just like any other country or society in the multiverse, crime does exist.

The most famous crimes involved robbery and the occasional murder/execution between rival gangs throughout HUElavia during its more formative years. In particular, there was the Tallian-HUElavian Mafia that was mainly from the Northwest HUElavia along Canternico, and with major influences throughout many coastal cities in HUElavia and some of the more major inland cities as well. The Rus-HUElavian Mafia had influence essentially in Eastern HUElavia, especially in their area around Bolovets. the Yamoto-HUElavian Yakuza held their influence in the west coast of HUElavia, especially in cities such as Sega and Toin.

Many of the crimes and exploits done by these criminals have inspired many forms of HUElavian entertainment, with the most famous one being The Ciprianis, a popular Mafia drama inspired by the crimes and lives of the "Four Families" of HUElavia- Leone, Forelli, Sindacco, and Ancelotti. Even one of the most popular novels ever written about a Portuzian-HUElavian who was a close associate for the Leone family, Painting Houses (OOC: "Painting a house" is mafia-speak for murder), is considered a nonfiction, historical classic among HUElavian bibliophiles. Various shows, movies and games have been made of the Yakuza taking place in HUElavia and Sakura, which is a bit of a cult following among enjoyers throughout the multiverse. But, such activities have been stamped out due to undercover sting operations that can last decades with various police chiefs being assigned the many cases and eventually catching the many players in these organizations guilty of a multitude of crimes.

The families still exist to a very reduced extent, but the crimes are much more different compared to the more violent and severe that used to exist decades to over a century ago. The main form of crime that funds the black market in HUElavia is nowadays blackmail and extortion. More often than not, people can get wrapped up in scams or are blackmailed to give obscene amounts of money in order to not leak explicit messages or images. School Loan Fraud is another common crime done by students throughout the country. Drugs and Pharmaceuticals also plays a big role in crime and black market activity. But, the largest sector of crime done in the black market is tax evasion and barter trade. Such crimes have been heavily scrutinized over the years, but the current government is trying to lower taxes from the massive 99% down to as low as they can in an attempt to curb such crimes. The crime that has least amount of influence in society is guns and weapons, thanks to the more lax laws on such items, adding onto the strict guidelines for registration and mental health screening, as well as reports if someone poses a threat to their loved ones or society.

Despite all these crimes mentioned, HUElavia is in the Top 2% of the Multiverse as one of the safest nations, as well as Top 5% in compliance in society throughout the Multiverse. For the most part, HUElavians live their lives in peace, but there is that one random chance that someone can be a victim of or is actively partaking in crime.

[Recuecn]

This time it was official. The call came from a number Bonheur Relié recognized: the FNRF representative for the équipe nationale.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Bonheur." Relié grimaced. The rep's tone was cold, distant.

"Bonjour, Monsieur, vous allez bien?"

"Oui, oui, ça va." The rep did not return the courtesy of asking after Relié. "I'm calling today, because, as I'm sure you remember, your contract as manager for the équipe nationale ends when the final whistle blows in the Cup of Harmony--a moment that is fast approaching."

"Yes.."

"I know that additionally you have indicated you are hoping to renew your contract--is that still the case?"

"Yes, I don't have any other plans. I think I've accomplished good things with the team and I'd be happy to continue the partnership." Relié could sense his job on the line, and he felt himself slipping into interview mode.

"Ah." The representative paused. "Well. That is what I am calling you about today. I will be straightforward with you, Monsieur Relié. The FNRF has discussed the issue of your contract extension at some length now, but unfortunately the ÉNRF's performance over the course of the last cycle--failing to qualify for the World Cup, an unimpressive IAC, and now struggling in the Cup of Harmony, has led them to believe a change of leadership may be of benefit to the team."

"I see." And just like that, Relié was out of a job.

"You're not out of a job quite yet," said the representative. "The executive council has decided that if Reçueçn fails to advance out of the Cup of Harmony groupstage, it will move forward with its search for a new head manager. But they are giving you one more chance to redeem yourself. If you can lead the team to the quarterfinals they will be willing to give you a full contract extension."

"And what if we make it only to the round of sixteen?"

"I believe they will consider a one-cycle temporary extension in that case, as a 'second chance.'"

"I see." Relié could feel his mind racing, yet he had nothing to say.

"Do you have any questions?" asked the rep.

"No, you've made yourself clear," said Bonheur.

"Well then, have a good day," said the rep. "And good luck against Kanzlia."

[Hispinas]

REINO DE HISPINAS

COMUNICADO OFICIAL
Official Statement | Adierazpen Ofiziala | Opisyal na Pahayag | Opisyal nga Pahayag

This is to announce the abolishment of the consultant position for all sporting national teams in Hispinas.

Recent performances by the national football team without a consultant in their staff have brought positive results, and effective today, the consultancy system has been abolished, resulting to the disestablishment of the Sporting Task Force that was in place since the year 2201.

As a result of this announcement, respective national sporting associations will now fully oversee their respective national sporting teams without interference of influence from the Monarchy. In addition, an olympic sporting association will be established to oversee Hispinas sporting delegations that will be deployed every Olympics event starting the next edition. For the other sports the Hispinas may send representation without a recognized national sporting association. an umbrella national sporting association will be established to accommodate these.

--END COMMUNICATION--

[Sangti and the Filindo Isles]

Hispinas 0–1 Sangti and the Filindo Isles
Cup of Harmony 89 - Stadium of the Restoration, Busukuma, National Capitol Region, Banija
SFI Scorers: Aljon Syquiatco (45 + 1')
SFI Lineup: Federick Roncal, Jiorjohn Pico ▼ (▲ Lysander Nomel 70'), Aljon Syquiatco, Nur-Ranji Escuyos, Julie Ashley Limpiado, Mary Virginia Fonder ▼ (▲ Meira Madlangsakit 71'), Renze Coligado, Rowel Rizaldy Mercurio, Owen Makalintal, Jeremil Jomerson Boire ▼ (▲ Tomio Sulangi 66'), Aletta Abigail Reano

Sangti and the Filindo Isles 3–2 Darmen
Cup of Harmony 89 - BCEL Stadium, Jinja City, Hangaza, Banija
SFI Scorers: Owen Makalintal (32'), Aletta Abigail Reano (36'), Aletta Abigail Reano (90 + 1')
SFI Lineup: Federick Roncal, Serio Irorita, Jiorjohn Pico ▼ (▲ Aljon Syquiatco 72'), Arshed Basque ▼ (▲ Nur-Ranji Escuyos 53'), Analyn Joyce Berin, Cherlotte Penafiel, Renze Coligado, Rutchel Cerdeno, Owen Makalintal ▼ (▲ Jomark Sampang 64'), Tomio Sulangi, Aletta Abigail Reano

Qusmo 0–1 Sangti and the Filindo Isles
Cup of Harmony 89 - Star Field, Herzegovina City, Moravica, Banija
SFI Scorers: Serio Irorita (42')
SFI Lineup: Federick Roncal, Serio Irorita, Jiorjohn Pico ▼ (▲ Nur-Ranji Escuyos 58'), Arshed Basque ▼ (▲ Aljon Syquiatco 79'), Analyn Joyce Berin, Cherlotte Penafiel, Renze Coligado, Rutchel Cerdeno, Owen Makalintal ▼ (▲ Jomark Sampang 83'), Tomio Sulangi, Aletta Abigail Reano

---

NEWS | FEATURES | SFI SUPERLIGA | LSIFB | SCORES | CONTACT US

CUP OF HARMONY 89 IN BANIJA
Agilang Dilaw secures Round of 16 spot with Qusmo win
Win or draw against the Blue Cats secures group win

HERZEGOVINA CITY - A goal from Serio Irorita in the 42nd minute was enough to beat Qusmo and secures Sangti and the Filindo Isles a round of 16 berth in this edition's Cup of Harmony. The Agilang Dilaw have identified Qusmo as one of their most difficult encounters this year as they went winless against the Rushmori nation in the World Cup qualifiers leading to this tournament, and has scored in their last 19 matches prior to the meeting with the Esportivan nation.

Vicenzo Frain's team were clad again in their black third kit due to kit color clashes, similar to what happened in Matchdays 1 and 2, and is proving not to be a curse, as they won all their matches so far in the tournament hosted in Banija. Despite the win, the Sangtians struggled to contain Qusmo's offensive, and were lucky not to concede one on many occasions. However, a counter-attack in the 41st minute allowed Irorita to make a run at right side and shoot the ball just inside the penalty box, managing to roll past Kepex-Cheng Yan, who has been the player appointed by Tlanx-Nulzk Hal to be between the sticks in this tournament.

It seems Sangtian natonal sporting teams love to go to Banija as the basketball team enjoyed a group stage here in the Arrosian nation, and nearly won the group thanks to faltering in the closing stages of their group stage campaign, which the Agilang Dilaw would like to avoid, as they face the Blue Cats of Katzeburg to determine the group winners. A win or a draw would be enough for Frain's team to go into the round of 16 as one of the group winners, but he would like the team to beat their fellow Esportivans to maintain a perfect record in the tournament, the only remaining team to do so in this tournament so far.

Fans and pundits are not sure whether Frain will rest some key players or go all-out again for this matchday as he named an unchanged side between the matches against Darmen and Qusmo.

[Indusse]

OOC: The Copyright message at the end of the post has been used from the standard copyright message from multiple books.

LexiRead™ > Web Edition

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---

The Half Blood Saga I
Chapter IV
The Hidden Path

---

Previous Chapters:
Chapter I Part I
Chapter I Part II
Chapter II Part I
Chapter II Part II
Chapter III Part I
Chapter III Part II

Adael stumbled through the dark, damp tunnel, his mother's hand firmly grasping his. Miha fluttered ahead, her bioluminescent feathers providing a faint, otherworldly glow. The sounds of conflict above faded as they delved deeper underground.

"Mother," Adael whispered, his voice tight with worry, "will Father be alright?" Mehrea squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Azahl is more capable than you know. Focus on moving forward."

As they pressed on, the tunnel gradually widened, opening into a vast underground cavern. Ancient stone pillars rose from the misty floor, carved with symbols Adael had never seen before. "What is this place?" he asked, awestruck. "An old sanctuary," Mehrea replied, her eyes scanning the shadows. "Used by the Guardians for generations."

Suddenly, a figure emerged from behind one of the pillars. Adael tensed, ready to defend his mother, but Mehrea relaxed. "Lyria," she called softly. "We need safe passage." The figure stepped into the light. It was a woman, tall and slim, with silver hair and eyes that seemed to glow in the dim cavern. She wore a cloak adorned with the same strange symbols as the pillars.

"Mehrea," Lyria greeted, her voice melodious yet tinged with concern. "We've been expecting you." Her gaze shifted to Adael. "So, this is Ethran's son." Adael straightened under her scrutiny. "I am. And I'm ready to continue my father's quest."

Lyria's expression softened. "Brave words, young one. But the path ahead is fraught with danger." She turned to Mehrea. "The eastern passage is clear. Kael is waiting with horses." As if on cue, a distant rumble echoed through the cavern. Dust and small stones rained from the ceiling. "They've breached the upper levels," Lyria said urgently. "Go, now!"

They raced through twisting passages, the sound of pursuit growing louder. Finally, they emerged into a moonlit forest clearing. A man stood waiting, holding the reins of three horses. "Quickly," he urged, helping them mount. "The forest will slow them down, but not for long."

As they galloped away, Adael looked back. Flashes of light and the clash of steel echoed from the tunnel entrance. He saw Lyria emerge, her hands glowing with an ethereal energy as she faced their pursuers.

"Who are these people?" Adael asked as they rode. "The ones chasing us, and the ones helping us?" Kael, riding alongside them, answered. "The pursuers are the Shadowblades, mercenaries who've long sought Jehnara's power. We," he gestured to himself, "are the Guardians. Protectors of the secret."

To be Continued...

---

Copyright © Akiho Banwari.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

http://www.lexiread.org

[Doubeia]

Shenanigans at the Women's National Team: Part 3
100 Degrees Celcius

---

Yuni Markova knew she was walking on a tightrope. The previous World Cup qualifiers weren't so much a disaster, but it didn't reflect well on her and the team. Still, what was she supposed to do when her team were assigned high-ranked opponents with no preparation whatsoever? At least the men's team had the Campionato Esportiva; the women's team went in with no idea how Markova's tactics were supposed to be applied, and no team chemistry either.

Still, the results were damning. 2 wins, 1 draw and 6 losses weren't good records by any means, even more so when the men's team had far better results: 5 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. There were only so many losses fans and stakeholders could take before the narrative started to change from a lack of preparation to the manager's inability. And Yuni Markova had enough of people doubting her skills.

Yuni never liked media duties, but she started to develop a hatred for press conferences. Every time she attended every one of these damn things, there'd always be a question about the team's form or the players, and it always had to be phrased negatively.

"The Indigo Army has gone three games without a win. Do you think there are any underlying causes for this dip in form?"

"Marin seems to be underperforming at the left wing. Might the pressure be getting to her?"

Doubeinese media have always had a knack for being sensationalists who took every opportunity to make everything a headline, and Yuni just so happened to be a headline magnet. She could be talking about anything under the sun and her words would always be twisted into some headline raving on about how the women's team is doomed. She could never catch a break.

The Cup of Harmony was going much better, but not without its own caveats. Starting the campaign with a 3-2 loss against Langenia was bad, but even more heartbreaking when Semerikova barely skied an attempt in the dying minutes, if not seconds, of the game. A resounding 3-0 win to Indusse followed, but even that game was tainted by Savanna Miloradova acting like an absolute fool. Yuni Markova was having none of that. The pressures were already immense, and Miloradova had to worsen it by committing a needless foul while on a yellow, and then wasting time for no God damn reason. If that was how she acted while representing her country, she didn't deserve the right to. Yuni didn't feel a tinge of pity when she banished Miloradova from the team, although it meant the midfield was left to Karina Mamykina and Samara Shubina to do the heavy lifting.

The next two matches were thankfully idiot-proof, but another 3-2 loss to The Ko-orenite Constellation made the game against Kronbia much more nerve-wracking. Throughout the entire match Yuni was shouting orders at the team. It wasn't as if the players weren't following her tactics; they were doing so obediently. She just felt like she had to micro-manage every single instance of the game lest her team falls back. A 1-0 win was the result, with Marin scoring the winning goal, a beautiful free kick into the top right corner. Still, even with the sweet taste of victory lingering in Yuni's mouth, the sourness of anxiety and unease overwhelmed her taste buds. She didn't want to be complacent. She couldn't afford to be. She had taken enough losses, and one more and her time as WNT would probably be over.

Yuni didn't receive any news from the FA about whether she was going to be sacked, and frankly it made her situation much worse. It was do or die. She could either go deep into the Cup of Harmony and retain her role (and dignity), or be knocked out in the group stages and lose everything. In the lead-up to the match against Valentine Z, Yuni could feel her hands sweating buckets. It was uncommon of her to be so nervous, but she couldn't control her clamminess. Every training session, Yuni would be very harsh on her players, even more than she was previously. Any mistake, and that player was dead meat. Make any more mistakes and they would be out fo contention for the starting XI. The players themselves knew how tense the situation was getting, and they were feeling the nerves as well. Once cheerful, chatty morning breakfasts had become quiet and solemn. It was as if a different energy had taken over the players.

The night before the match, Yuni couldn't sleep well. Tossing and turning in bed, she found it hard to fall asleep. When she woke up the next morning, she was groggy and grumpy. The players could feel it too. The atmosphere remained heavy the whole time, form the breakfast to the pre-match briefing.

"Just get out there and do your fucking best," was all she said to the players. The Indigo Army knew how important this Valentine Z match was. They couldn't accept crashing out in the group stages. At least, their expectations wouldn't allow them to. As the players walked onto the pitch, the stadium had a very intense environment to it. The match was going to be crazy.

[The Ko-orenite Constellation]

Chanmingoren communications re-established

After taking down information about Chanmingoren ahead of the start of the Cup of Harmony, the territory's government halted all communications with the Constellation, both with the organisation that runs it as well as with their fellow member entities. What led to the decision is unknown, but football might have actually been the direct cause: poor results by the Chanmingoren team in their two attempts in World Cup qualifying was apparently called 'an affront to the nation' and 'an embarrassment'. Sources close to Feng Zhou, the current Eternal President of Chanmingoren, and his government - Luoyang Yan the minister for culture in its cabinet - say they were taken aback by the poor results and worried how it would reflect on the position of the territory in the Constellation as a whole.

The territory has had trouble with its soft and hard power, but where it has the latter under control by increased investment in the army, the former cannot be controlled as easily. Other nations have to want to get involved, and the Ministry of Culture accepted the Constellation's bid for a World Cup qualification campaign as part of their strategy. When the results dragged down the Constellation, especially compared to the sudden success of others, while not being scheduled to play the best opponents, moods turned sour.

The first that was noticed was the information and the bios on football.chmi turning unavailable, but soon after, other world-facing government websites went dark. From what we now know, internet within the nation still worked and foreign sources were still accessible, but communication from within Chanmingoren towards the rest of the multiverse was almost completely halted.

We have learned that the Chanmingoren national team has since received a Heroes' Welcome by Feng Zhou for their efforts, calling the team an inspiration to a nation that has become so enamoured with football as a main team sport - in a landscape where individual sports were always the norm.

Feng Zhou and his cabinet opted for the carrot approach and forgoed the stick, which our correspondents in the territory call an important improvement. Zhou must have realised that punishment and isolation would have only further widened the chasm between them and the rest of the Constellation - while the Constellation also contains other isolation-prone territories - and that opting for further cooperation and openness is the only road to taking up a larger role within the organisation.

The incident marks further ongoing uncertainty over leadership roles within the Constellation, which traditionally has Ko-oren take up an important role, but them and member territories have agreed that ultimately, leadership, strategy, and initiative must come from within. Territories that have had a large role in shaping the Constellation are Irithoren, Synephoren, and the various Taloreni nations, but as the group develops, it is nations like Bandar Cang Prathoren, Uruashoren, Shahrbanoren, Mercatoren, and - yes - Chanmingoren who look like more natural leaders. Mercatoren has its enormous economy powering its bid, while other nations don't have the same measures to back up their soft power with hard power. Where the Constellation will go in coming years will likely be decided by individuals in those five nations, with others looking on from the sideline, waiting for their chance for impact.

[Katzeburg]

Besides this very moment, Anton Waldo had only sweated this much once before in his entire life.

Back then, he was a young lad, about to sit down for his first ever interview at KBC in what would have been his absolute dream job - assistant PA to the assistant PA for Jeff Mannschaft, a hugely popular late night talk show host in Katzeburg who was rather controversially replaced about a decade ago after KBC decided to offer the host of the show after him - Chris O’Dyer - his role more than five years in advance. Needless to say, it did not go well.

Neither, in all honesty, did Anton’s interview at KBC - by the time he sat down with the HR Director running the interview, he had sweated so much his shirt had gone from a bright and professional red to a dark grey that stuck to him like he had been diving in the deepest part of the Katzeburg Sea.

And now, just like that horrible interview - one where he got so nervous his first line he said during it was “Good afternoon and I’m Nightline at KBC, this is Anton Waldo.” - he was sweating horribly again, but for a totally different reason.

He had left the Star Field mid-way through the second half of Katzeburg’s clash with Xanneria as he had specific plans. Plans to sneak onto the Katzeburgian team bus after the game, head back to their team hotel and then get that exclusive access to the team which would propel his group to be the biggest fan club in the country.

Sneaking through the small carpark underneath the stadium which held the team bus, Anton, Greyson, and Mathias could hear the echoes of a game above their heads - they had left just after Katzeburg drew level against Xanneria early in the second half, so their time was limited.

Anton looked at his watch - they had only a few moments before full time. They needed to hurry.

“Quickly!” Anton hissed at Greyson and Mathias as they weaved through the cars parked.

“I could have sworn I heard a big shout there from the crowd!” Greyson said. “What if Xanneria scored? We need to go back!”

“Keep going! We’ve missed nothing, but if we don’t get into this bus now, we’ll have no hope!”

“Fine, fine,” Greyson said with ever increasing gaps between his words. “But if I’ve missed a Wruck goal, I’ll be fuming, I’ll tell you now.”

As another loud shout ruminated around the carpark from the crowd above, the three of them reached the bus. Anton pumped the air in joy before starting to look around for a way in.

The main door? Too obvious. Tie ourselves to the roof? Greyson would probably slip off, Anton thought to himself.

Scanning the length of the black and blue bus, he caught a small latch in the middle of the bus. The luggage hold.

“A-ha!” Anton said in triumph, before reaching to pull the latch. Powered by tension, the latch refused to budge for a moment before giving way - popping out and causing a small panel of the bus to rise up.

Beneath it sat a small space, probably just large enough for the three of them to sit in with a huge sense of discomfort, as well as a single pipe looking to run into a small tank - likely the fuel, Anton thought.

“Right, let’s get in now before the team gets back!” Anton said, gesturing to the small gap.

“Are you sure this is the luggage hold?” Mathias asked, sticking his head into the space to get the full scope of it. “This looks way too small to fit all the gear they’d need each game.”

“This has to be it - do you see any other latches? We need to get in now.” Anton snapped, before climbing into the small room and waving the other two in.

Greyson and Mathias exchanged nervous glances at each other before looking back towards Anton. With a loud sigh, Mathias lifted his foot over the barrier and into the small room, climbing in and sitting on the floor alongside Anton.

Greyson took in the situation - there was no way he would fit in with the other two, the large lad from Inverhaven tried to work out the math in his head to see where he could fit, stretching out his arms as if to measure the space available to him.

“What are you doing?” Anton asked in a hushed tone. “Hurry up!”

“I won’t be able to fit,” Greyson said, defeated.

“Of course you will! We’ll shuffle up, just please get in here now.”

Greyson nodded and edged his way into the small room, immediately coming into contact with Mathias and Anton, who were now shoulder to shoulder in the cramped space.

“This better be worth it Anton,” Mathias breathed in discomfort.

“It will be, trust me - Now Greyson, pull that cord down and we’re in!”

Greyson stuck his hand out to pull down the cord and as the panel dropped the room descended into darkness. A firm snap! locked the panel into place and they were safe.

“We’re in! Great stuff guys,” Anton said with a smile. “Now we wait.”

With the faint roar of the crowd above, the three sat in silence in the dark for a few moments, appreciating just what they had done. Finally Mathias broke the silence.

“You know, I think that pipe may have been linked to the on-bus toilet. It can’t be a fuel tank given how central in the bus it is.”

“Well, let’s hope that’s not the case, but if it is, I’m sure it won’t cause any issues - it’s not a long trip back to the hotel and what’s the worst that could happen? The pipe bursts?” Anton said, chuckling.

In the darkness, Greyson dropped his head. He didn’t dare speak up to let them know he broke the pipe loose getting into the small room.

---

Katzeburg 2 - 1 Xanneria
(Horsfall 62’, Wruck 90+1’ // Ross 22’)

Possession - 44% // 56%
Shots on Target - 4 // 2
Shots - 6 // 6
Fouls - 7 // 22

1 Whinery, 2 Howland, 15 Clarkson, 4 Knepp, 5 Colbert, 6 Plank, 7 Horsfall, 18 Arkwright (Earls 65’), 19 Spears, 10 Wruck, 11 Niles (Marsh 65’)

Player of the Match - Wruck (KAT)

Katzeburg punch ticket to knockouts with upset over Xanneria

A goal from Katzeburgian star Drake Wruck in second half stoppage time not only secured a huge 2-1 upset over Xanneria at the Star Field in Herzegovina City, but also passage for the Blue Cats into the final 16 of the Cup of Harmony.

In a rather dull showing from both sides, neither were able to break down the opposition with much ease throughout the tight clash, with Xanneria taking an early lead through striker Pete Ross, who managed to tap home a sliding loose ball from close range after a shocking piece of confusion in the box from Erik Clarkson and Deena Knepp.

Katzeburg failed to hit the target once in the opening half, with the side only getting a single shot away in the first 45 minutes, a long range speculative effort from Serena Plank in the midfield.

But the side would come out in form in the second half, coming dangerously close to leveling the scores at the 50th minute after a looping corner from Meriel Arkwright found the head of Lambert Niles, but the Axmund City striker was unable to direct his effort goalwards, sending it just wide of the post.

Vera Horsfall would eventually level the scores for Katzeburg in the 62nd minute after a decisive break-away from Wruck allowed him to get in front of Xannerian keeper Owen Toole in a 2 on 1 situation. Toole was drawn just a fraction too far out of his zone, allowing the leading Katzeburgian scorer to slide the pass across to an on-rushing Horsfall - slamming the effort into the roof of the net.

Katzeburg struggled to produce anything meaningful in the closing stages of the match, within a tightly fought midfield battle seeing youngster Elmer Spears and Royce Earls (coming on the field for Arkwright) picking up yellows for harsh tackles on Maroons midfielders.

However, a last throw of the dice in the first minute of second half stoppage time proved lucky, with Wruck again being the target man for the Katzeburgians - managing to get a foot to a loose ball which bounced into the box amidst a scramble off a Blue Cats corner. In the right place at the right time, Wruck tapped the loose ball past Toole to secure the victory.

A slim win, but a huge upset against the side which sat in the top 30 heading into the Cup of Harmony, and one which confirms Katzeburg will continue their stay in Banija a little longer, progressing from the group with a game to spare.

However, manager Becka Haberkorn was adamant post-match that the side doesn’t pack it in just yet.

“This result is a hugely historic one,” Haberkorn said.

“Since taking charge of the team, our goal was always to cause an upset or two of a top side, and a win over a side in the top 30 definitely fits that bill.

“It’s brilliant to have secured passage to the knockouts with a game left in the group, but we’ve got a blockbuster of a clash coming up in the final matchday against Sangti and the Filindo Isles, where the winner takes top spot of the group.

“It’s a game we can’t afford to be asleep at the wheel for - we need to go out with the intensity needed to pick up a win and hopefully further support a strong position heading into the knockouts to really make the most of whatever time we have left in Banija.”

[North Oharan Valley Union]

Timestamp: 14 September 2024 - 22h22
Tags: Football, Cup of Harmony 89, Green Lions

---

Knock-Outs on the Horizon
Kanzlia draw ensures that the Green Lions have their faith in their own hands

Sometimes a draw is a pity solution and one would wish that both sides would walk home with a boulder on their backs, upon which is engraved (upon the boulder, not the back) I did not deserve this point. But in the majestic Stadium of the Restauration, the draw was rather the inelegant solution to the fact that both sides could not win the same match. The Union played, from an artistic point of view, their best football so far and two stunning goals were the icing on the cake. Yaro Metakvili clearly discovered a hidden talent with his successful strike against Audioslavia and scored another screamer. In the second half, Timur Ghazaryan lived up to his reputation as national topscorer with a technically perfect header on a Japaridze cross. And so, the Green Lions assembled seven points and are one more draw away from an unexpected knock-out round. But every reason why they will make it comes with a footnote.

First of all, the opponent. In their final game, the North Oharan Valley Union faces a beer league team, an actual one. HOT-DAMN is currently trailing the table in what otherwise is a very tight group. The majority of their selection is well past thirty and should get the physical backlash of a long campaign by now. And if our eleven can show the same maturity (or lack of gamesmanship) as they did against Audioslavia, it should not be hard to lure them into red cards. Then again, they are not just a beer league team but the best beer league team in the world.

Secondly, the required result. There are theoretical models that spit out scenarios that see us qualify with a loss but for any regular intelligence, the key takeaway is that a draw suffices by definition. It gives a certain confidence as even after a goal against (and that is likely, considering the ‘the best attack is to attack’ philosophy of HOT-DAMN), nothing is lost yet. No glaring at other fields, no whipping out the calculators, just a clearly defined target. Then again, it could divide the tactics if things prove rough: falling back to defend a draw rather than focusing on a win has cost many sides dearly, especially less experienced ones.

Thirdly, there is the great mental high our Green Lions is currently riding on. Two losses against higher rated opponents and a spectacular draw against Kanzlia is more than we had bargained for. There should be no pressure as the knock-outs never were the prime target. Baltuk always focused on getting some experience and game time out of this tournament and set the bar low on purpose: all targets have been accomplished already. Then again, getting that chance for the first time will put a new pressure on the team, whether it had been long anticipated or just a recent opportunity.

For the fourth point, the current form of the line-up deserves applause. Ievalds Krastins started hesitantly for this team but gave a new twist to the number ten role that proves to fit him like a glove. Moreover, the midfield around him starts to gel with Metakvili stepping up despite his young age and a valuable, but not always visible, Rosendahl. Add to that a partnership in the back that starts to find one another and a string of assists for left-back Japaridze and things are looking rosy. Then again, striker Timur Ghazaryan will be in the stands due to too many yellows. His back up Dobrovolskis lacks no enthusiasm but cannot be the mighty leader up front through which the attacks flow.

In summary, the elements are there to make the confrontation in Bukusuma a historical night. The combination of players, confidence, requirements and opposition should be a winning cocktail (or at the very least a drawing one). But it is the nature of the Oharese character to suspect something that looks too good. Our long and diverse history of organized scamming, scheming and scanning for opportunities to exploit makes the Oharese weary of good odds: if something looks too good to be true, it probably ain’t. No wonder that bookies currently see flocks of gamblers put their money against the Green Lions. Let us hope the national team stays more level headed than their population and finds a way to win. Or draw.

[Langenia]

Noticias: Deportes Desperation Grows for Los Azules Fans A 2-1 loss at the hands of Indusse in the Cup of Harmony group stage has left fans of Los Azules reeling that the Langenian national team is at the bottom of group standings. To compound the difficulty, the Langenians were missing two key players vital to their goal-scoring machine during the game against Indusse. Playmaker Daniel Gallegos is now serving a two-match suspension after incurring a red card against Indusse, meaning he will miss Match Day 5. Striker Raul Guzman suffered a ankle injury during practice that will have him out for the rest of the tournament. The three-game losing streak has put Langenia at serious risk of an early group stage exit and dampened hopes of Los Azules qualifying for the knockout stage in the Round of 16. Despite missing the flamboyant winger Raul Guzman who formed part of their attacking trio Los Azules would begin the game against Indusse on a strong note, dominating possession for the first 30 minutes of the game to attempt numerous attacks on the opposing goal. Attacking midfielder Daniel Gallegos's shot from just outside the penalty area would be saved Indusse goalkeeper Jahangir Shehzad at the 20th minute, with forward Oscar Galindo's follow-up unluckily bouncing off the post. Langenian striker Francisco Villa, playing in Guzman's usual position, would dribble from along the side of the pitch to approach the goal in an attempt to score. Unfortunately for him, his shot would miss by inches with the ball flying past the post to end up outside. Finally, Galindo would score the lone Langenian goal as he slotted in a cross from Villa in the 27th minute. From here, everything would seemingly go downhill for Los Azules, starting with the incident that led to Daniel Gallegos receiving a yellow card. The electric playmaker considered the heart of the Langenian defense would be slide-tackled by Indusse defender Mathias Paulson at the 38th minute, causing a scuffle. Whatever words were exchanged between the two next surely weren't pleasant as an enraged Gallegos swung his fist at Paulson in an attempt at punching him, drawing a red card from the referee after a VAR review. With the Langenians down to just 10 men, Indusse would take advantage of the subsequent free kick to equalize by curling the ball over the line of Los Azules defenders for striker Antonio Mersias to toe it in past Langenian goalkeeper Eduardo Arnal. The second half the game was relatively uneventful as both teams remained locked in a draw, unable to penetrate each other's defenses. This was most observable on the Langenian side, now missing two of the key players who made up their "Three G's" attacking trio in the front. Now emboldened, Indusse repeatedly stopped Los Azules attacks to initiate counterattacks of their own, finally obtaining a game-winning goal at the 84th minute in which Antonio Mersias smashed the ball into the back of the Langenian net after receiving a cross from Bechun Butea. Oscar Galindo would unfortunately fail to equalize after his shot during stoppage time flew skywards over the Indusse goal and into the stadium stands. Only a minute later, the final whistle blew to give Langenia yet another loss. Commenting on the defeat in an appearance for Deportes Langenia Hoy, former football player-turned-sports analyst Marcelo Palacios stated "The problem with this team is that despite being the best Langenia has had to offer in a generation, the current manager has not found a way to harness the players' diverse personalities and impulses, causing problems in the way they play together as one team and also observable in the amount of fouls and subsequent goals from free kicks and penalties Los Azules have given away. Not to mention, we have for too long talked about having a strong attacking side. But what about defense? Vargas has tried to improve that, but hasn't succeeded because he won't make fundamental reforms such as changing the formation from the traditional 4-3-3 we've long used to a balanced 5-2-3." The loss has dropped the Langenians to the bottom of their Cup of Harmony group standings, putting into question whether Los Azules can ever make it into the Round of 16. Notably, in Langenia the family of Los Azules manager Enrique Vargas now has a police protection detail after the embattled national team coach received death threats towards him and his family from the notorious transnational criminal organizations Frente Tandon and Frente Negro. Both organizations, former prison gangs that morphed into major drug cartels, have long dominated the Langenian drug trafficking scene, however, the threats are suspected to have something to do with their other criminal ventures, specifically forays into the market of illegal sports betting. In a trying time for the Langenian national team and especially for its coach, it remains to be seen how they will react and whether or not they can make one last attempt at a comeback against the Ko-orenite Constellation on Match Day 5.

[Kamijiro]

衞。Defend, Part Five: Re-Organizing The Government?

Kamijiro's wins on the home front sees Nakahini surrender. But Parliament is getting in the way of a full invasion of Velikaca...

The Kamijiroan Parliament is an oft-maligned group of semi-democratically elected representatives that often feel their roles in society are to be the King's yes-men. Each department has between ten and twenty-five representatives, determined every election cycle by the population of each department. Usually, there is a wide variety of parties represented within Parliament, causing political gridlock that makes it much easier for King Kaminari to just... sign things into law without having to go through Parliament. This is thanks to a law that allows the King to "suggest" legislation - if it doesn't get voted on within a week of "suggestion," the law goes into effect.

However, there's a three-month backlog on voting. So by the time the King's suggestion is even brought to the full attention of Parliament, the law is already in full effect. But this time, Parliament's role is much different. Declarations of war must go through Parliament, regardless of the King's wishes. And Parliament is not budging on the non-invasion of Velikaca. The King's speech to Parliament was short and sweet.

"My fellow members of the upper political echelon of Kamijiro, the time has come. We have resoundingly defeated Nakahini. Just one enemy remains. We must continue the fight! We are so close to total victory over the savages who brutally bombed Relâmpago [Naval Base] and declared war without warning. Now is the time to act!"

There was a smattering of applause as the blonde-haired King made his way back to his seat high above the chamber of Parliament, but it was far from the usual rousing applause he gets when he speaks. And then, it was time to vote on the actual declaration of war which would allow the full Kamijiroan military to act - not just the Air Force (which, through a loophole in a 'reserve clause,' is allowed to do military actions without a declaration).

The vote? In what is being called the most unexpected result in the Parliament's history, the results were an overwhelming no. That's right, Parliament declined to declare war, despite the fact that military intel on Velikaca claims that not only are they gearing up to bomb civilian targets within Kamijiro, but they are also planning to use dirty bombs.

This, of course, riled up the King in a way nobody has ever seen. King Kaminari is usually the laid-back type, willing to let all things go. But now, he's furious. He immediately re-approaches the stand.

"Are you serious?! We have the enemy right where we want them! They're going to attack our people! Our homes! Have you no teeth? How dare you?!"

The members of Parliament proceed to start jeering and booing the King...

In a fit of rage, King Kaminari storms off. Fifteen minutes later, he returns once more - this time with a television crew. He had met with his personal advisors and he knew what he had to do next. Even if it would be one of the most controversial things he'd ever done as King, even if it made him look like a dictator...

He approaches the stand slowly, a small notecard in hand. When the chamber falls silent once more, he begins, all cameras rolling and on him, live broadcasting to the nation for the first time since the initial attack press conference.

"My fellow Kamijiroans. It is with great regret that I have to make this announcement in this manner. As of now, the entire country will be considered to be in hijōjitai. This means that I, as your King, have absolute rule. Parliament is to be disbanded for a period of six months. All decisions will be made by myself. This is due to the fact that Parliament has failed in their duties to consider the needs of you all as citizens. They have failed to declare war on an enemy that wants our country and way of life to cease to exist. Our latest intelligence suggests that Velikaca has dirty bombs and will use them on civilian targets. This intel is known to Parliament. And they still voted no on a formal declaration of war. Therefore, once again, Kamijiro is in hijōjitai. Until further notice, this has been an official announcement of the office of the King. Goodnight."

And with that, Parliament is immediately shuttered for six months. The King writes a formal declaration of war on Velikaca and writes formal reprimands for all Parliament members who voted no on the measure.

Sports are again relegated to the bottom ticker of the news channels. Clinching the group with a 1-1 draw, Kamijiro will play in the next stage of the Cup of Harmony.

[Drawkland]

Cultural Makeup

In most cases throughout history, organized crime is built by groups of desperate and destitute people who find a common ground in their history or ethnicity. Many believe that crime is the only way to profit from the current circumstances of their lives, or at least the quickest way to monetary prosperity in a society otherwise riddled with rules and expectations.

The development of Drawkland prevented a lot of this from occurring. Whether or not you agree such a regime to be tyrannical by nature, the sustained authority of the immortal Drawkionels allowed the country to advance quickly without worry about political bickering hindering technological and societal progress. Thankfully for the common Drawkian citizens, the Drawkionels truly care about their subjects and attempted to create a nation that supported its citizens while providing them the freedom to live a life of their choice. Mostly.

The conditions to create large gangs and organized crime never truly materialized in Drawkland. Development was pretty uniform across the country as each Drawkionel paid attention to their own territories and worked to handle issues quickly. No section of the nation was truly ignored, and big cities rarely had long-lasting super-dense low-class neighborhoods. Thus, truly large and persistent gang hierarchies were never established.

The Southeast

Now, this isn't to say that no levels of organized crime were ever active. In fact, the first traces of organized black market can be traced back to wild southeast territory under Ellzidan. The Elf was never quite fond of authority in general. Her own rule over the wilderness was done mostly out of necessity, and fear that a greater threat could be built and disturb the respectful anarchy the wildlands had come to enjoy. Ellzidan mostly served as an enforcer, removing threats from the area and creating laws when necessary.

As the world expanded, this delicate balance was no longer possible. The coastal cities of the southeastern peninsula grew in size and influence, especially the eastern city of Shire-Port. Merchants of all kinds, mostly those who managed to safely exploit the natural resources of the vast forests and jungles further inland, began to hold significant amounts of power in the market and in the local political structures.

This issue was only compounded when Ellzidan agreed to join the union after the great war that resulted in Drawkland's founding as a nation. Suddenly there were more people to answer to, a greater code to adhere to. The moguls in Ellzidan's territory used this to their advantage, snaking by in the letters of the law to continue to increase their influence and oppress the working class below them. But now, as Ellzidan was a public figure bound by the new laws of the land, she could no longer take care of business the way she was accustomed to.

That didn't mean the Ellzidan would give up. Instead, she pivoted. She found trusted advisors and confidants to create underground organizations to funnel the ill-gotten and exploitative gains of the wealthy back to the people who'd suffered for that money in the first place. It was subtle at first, but eventually the hole in the merchant finances were felt. They looked to Ellzidan for assistance, assuming that as the authority of the territory she would back them up. Instead, Ellzidan simply used the information given by the merchants to further assist her league of benevolent thieves and infiltrators.

Ellzidan rarely kept any of the gains from these ventures, and insisted that those who captained them retain just as much as they needed to sustain operations. The point was to give the money back to the people. Those that deviated from this structure were swiftly removed from their posts by the Elf. Eventually the need for these underground organizations lessened, so Ellzidan slowly discontinued their use, closing operations, moving the ringleaders to less dubious work.

The Elf's syndicates historically never existed. What I've just told you is so confidential that I'm sure Ellzidan is on her way to my house right now to kill me for even revealing this information. It's unlikely that any of the other Drawkionels even knew about these operations. It is likely, though, that these were the longest-lasting and most successful illegal organizations in Drawkland's history.

One Last Score

For some reason, this run in the Cup of Harmony was reminding Ellzidan of her black market days. It was not an easy task bringing those times to an end. The life underground was dangerous, but it was easier. Once a group had Ellzidan's clearance for an operation, they were clear to go. There was no red tape, there were no regulations or audits to wait for. When you had the chance, you took it. Even ignoring the monetary differences between that life of crime and one in regular society, the hassle of dealing with policy, procedure, and legality would be enough to drive one crazy.

Thus, few of Ellzidan's crime heads were willing to give up their positions. Even when promised immunity, protection, and clean assets to start a normal life, they would put up resistance. Ellzidan eventually found that, even ignoring the difficulty of the transition from black market to normal market, most of the operators felt they had unfinished business, that they were being cut off from the plans they still had in progress.

Ellzidan found it easier to give them "one last score," the opportunity to land one more big hit against the moguls, using all the remaining resources at their disposal, and allowing them to close the door on their way out. The chance to have actual finality was welcome for most, and they used it to their advantage, coming away with huge sums of money, doling the majority out as directed, and holding a fair share to keep themselves happy in pseudo-retirement. In the life of organized crime, true happy endings are a rarity, so Ellzidan allowing such an end to occur was gladly taken by most.

Now, sitting on her hotel bed in Busukuma, Ellzidan suddenly understood how her criminal generals had felt. Her job was toast. No matter how she returned from this tournament, she would no longer be the Kick Corps manager. She certainly didn't want to go. She felt that she had better things ahead. She had plans for her and her players, her partners, her associates, her sisters. Nevertheless, fate had turned against her. The authorities had deigned her unworthy of the position. Going rogue wasn't an option, the law would catch up eventually. So, she had no choice. She would get her last scheme, her final run. The only thing to wonder is how lucrative that run would really be.

The Matchday

The match against Yakk Empire figured to be a gimme. They were playing in Stadium of the Restoration, one of Banija's premier venues, and the Drawkian contingent of the crowd was sure to be significant. The Yakks were tied for last place in the group with only 1 win, but that win happened to be the only loss taken by Oberour Ar Moro at the top of the group. Barring the worst collapse since five matchdays ago, it should be three points.

And these will be even more crucial, as Drawkland is tied with Riena and OAM for the group title. OAM has tiebreaker over Drawkland, and Drawkland has tiebreaker over Riena ... but the other two nations play each other in the final matchday of group play. One of them would be falling behind, if not both with a draw. If the Kick Corps could not shit the bed against Yakk Empire, they would be the group leaders in every situation besides a win by OAM.

Ellzidan was probably the world's biggest Wavelet fan outside of Riena itself for the next matchday. A win by Riena or even a draw would see Drawkland through assuming the Corps take care of their own business. A group title would go a long way in ensuring the Corps has a favorable draw in the playoffs ... hopefully. Drawkland still has never won a quarterfinal match in the CoH, but this was Ellzidan's last chance to go out in non-heartbreaking fashion. One last score. Could she come away with the big haul?

[Riena]

The Riena Sentinel

---

Cup of Harmony 89: Yakk Empire 0-2 Riena
Wavelets secure knockout berth with comfortable victory

---

• Yakk Empire: None
• Riena: Nakiri (27'), Waraku (84')

A relatively comfortable 2-0 victory against Yakk Empire at the Kawesa Stadium in Aksum was enough for Riena to stamp their ticket to the knockout stages of the Cup of Harmony in Banija.

Having suffered a chastening defeat against Drawkland last time around, all eyes were on the Wavelets to see how they would pick themselves up against Yakk Empire, the only team in group three to be ranked lower than themselves. The way that the group had shaken out thus far meant that a win for Riena would potentially be enough to guarantee them a spot in the last sixteen should other results go their way. When asked for her thoughts on the match, Riena manager Cocoa Haneda was upbeat about her team's chances of securing a win: "I hope that we'll be able to get a win today, yeah. This is really the sort of game that we should be winning, the sort of game that we need to win on a regular basis so that we can make tangible progress in the tournaments that we play in, and of course in the multiversal rankings as well. I've spoken to the players, we're hoping that the last game against Drawkland was a bit of a one-off thing, and they're raring to give their all and prove the doubters wrong all over again. As always, we'll go out there and play our usual brand of football, and with some luck we'll hopefully be able to secure our passage to the knockout rounds."

As Haneda would have hoped before the game, Riena started the brighter of the two teams, pushing high up the pitch and deep into Yakk Empire territory as they tried to impose themselves on the basement dwellers of the group. Emiri Nekoda missed an early chance when sent through by an incisive Nagara pass, her powerful effort tipped around the post by a sprawling Egered Khad, and moments later Kaoruko Moeta, restored to the starting XI for this game after a spell on the periphery of the squad, came agonisingly close to ending her goalscoring drought, a Yakk Empire defender reacting just in time to clear her instinctive close-range volley off the line. Those early opportunities would set the tone for the rest of the game, with Riena continuing to dominate and turn the screw on an increasingly nervy looking Yakk Empire side who simply could not find a way of relieving the relentless pressure. That pressure finally told in the twenty-seventh minute. Picking up the ball on the right, Shiori Mihane swept majestically past a couple of challenges and motored into the Yakk Empire area before cutting the ball back into the area. Nagisa Nakiri has made arriving late into the opposition area a trademark trait of hers in recent matches, and here she popped up in that dangerous pocket of space between the edge of the area and the penalty spot to lash home a first-time strike.

The Wavelets were not content with just the one goal lead — having opened the scoring, they continued to knock on the door, hoping that their quality in the midfield and in the final third would give them the further goals they needed to put some daylight between themselves and their opponents. But despite their best efforts, they were frustrated by a combination of poor finishing and some excellent defending by their opponents. Moeta came close again with a curler that cleared the frame of the goal by a matter of inches; Kirikaze had a long-range heatseeker palmed away by Khad, who was in inspirational form; and Nakiri uncharacteristically wasted a decent shooting opportunity when the ball fell to her twenty yards out, sending a tame shot skimming harmlessly wide. But despite their profligacy in front of goal, Haneda will have been pleased to note that her side never really lost control of the game. The closest Yakk Empire got to testing Miku Suzutsuki was through a Casval-Daikun Presintino snapshot after the ball had dropped to him from a corner; the Riena goalkeeper was sharp and alive to the danger, getting down well to her right to turn the ball away from danger. Aside from that one chance, Riena were in control of the game, barely allowing their opponents a sniff of the ball as they patiently passed the ball around in the middle of the park, waiting for an opportune moment to strike.

That moment would eventually come in the final minutes of the second half. Again it was Nakiri who played an instrumental role in creating the goal. Part of Haneda's tactical setup for this match clearly involved doubling up on the Yakk Empire left back Orgil Ambat, and Nakiri played a part in that by constantly drifting from her position in the hole over to the right to create three-on-two overloads on that flank. It was through that avenue that the goal came — Origami Sangomiya, who had come on for the excellent Mihane, threaded an incisive pass behind the Yakk Empire backline for Nakiri to run onto, and Nakiri's swirling cross was emphatically finished on the volley by Yume Waraku at the back stick. But despite going two down against a Riena side in the ascendancy, Yakk Empire did manage to fashion one last chance. The substitute Jin Tinpeg, who had been gamely running the channels for his side, picked Kanna Nagara's pocket in the midfield, and seeing Suzutsuki off her line, the midfielder pulled the trigger from fully fifty yards out. Nagara's blushes were only spared by the heroics of Suzutsuki. Realising the danger just in time, the goalkeeper dashed back towards her goal, and just about managed to tip the ball away from danger. The resulting corner came to nothing, and Riena were able to celebrate a fully-deserved victory that, despite the late scare, was never really in any doubt.

With results elsewhere in group three playing out in Riena's favour, the 2-0 victory proved to be enough for Haneda's side to secure third place in the group ahead of Savojarna, West Vdara, and Yakk Empire, which means that they are now assured of a place in the knockout stages of the Cup of Harmony alongside Oberour Ar Moro and Drawkland, with the former being Riena's opponents in the final match of the group stage. While both teams have already secured their advancement from the group, the result of the match may well have an impact on seedings for the knockout stages. Haneda will no doubt impress on her charges the importance of securing a positive result against the sixty-second ranked team in the multiverse to ensure a more easily navigable matchup and to continue their momentum in the latter stages of the Cup of Harmony.

---

Yakk Empire (4-2-2-2): Khad, Ambat, Xi, Kirminov, Oranbaat; Tibie, Openka; Boryozov, Orgaat; Ninjao, Presintino
Substitutes: Morgil-Bahk, Lhi (75'), Naanbagred, Ayil-Orbat, Sahkmar (67'), Egered, Agart, Tinpeg (55'), Oryaangabar, Tsedinaat (67')

Riena (4-3-3): Suzutsuki; Kisaragi, Shikimori, Skamandros, Mihane; Kirikaze, Nagara, Nakiri; Mercerian, Nekoda, Moeta
Substitutes: Kamikata, Hakura, Ishikari, Sangomiya (72'), Orihime (45'), Frostfield (72'), Kazamaki, Yuzuriha, Waraku (65'), Shishido (80')

---

[Banija]

Hello folks! Welcome to the final group stage cutoff for Cup of Harmony 89! Let's jam out to Big and Rich during this cutoff!

Reminder for all- this is the end of the group stages! From here on out, there are approximately 48 hours between cutoffs, as opposed to 24. Remember that!

Matchday 5 Scores

Reminder: Top 3 in each group, and top overall 4th placed team, advance to the Round of 16. Everybody else is eliminated.

Color Code
Bold Green- Has won the group
Blue- Has clinched a berth in the knockout stages

Group 1
North Oharan Valley Union 0–1 HOT-DAMN
Reçueçn 1–1 Kanzlia
Patriotlandia 0–1 Audioslavia

  Group 1                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Audioslavia                       5   3  0  2    8   4  +4    9
2 Kanzlia                           5   2  2  1   10   8  +2    8
3 North Oharan Valley Union         5   2  1  2    5   5   0    7
4 Reçueçn                           5   2  1  2   10   9  +1    7
5 Patriotlandia                     5   2  0  3    7   9  −2    6
6 HOT-DAMN                          5   2  0  3   10  15  −5    6

Group 2
Indusse 0–0 Kronbia
The Ko-orenite Constellation 2–1 Langenia
Doubeia 3–5 Valentine Z

  Group 2                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Kronbia                           5   2  2  1    6   5  +1    8
2 Indusse                           5   2  2  1    6   7  −1    8
3 Valentine Z                       5   2  2  1   12   9  +3    8
4 The Ko-orenite Constellation      5   2  2  1    7   6  +1    8
5 Doubeia                           5   2  0  3   11  11   0    6
6 Langenia                          5   1  0  4    7  11  −4    3

Group 3
West Vdara 1–2 Savojarna
Riena 0–1 Oberour Ar Moro
Drawkland 6–4 Yakk Empire

  Group 3                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Oberour Ar Moro                   5   4  0  1   11   6  +5   12
2 Drawkland                         5   4  0  1   16   8  +8   12
3 Riena                             5   3  0  2    8   7  +1    9
4 Savojarna                         5   2  0  3    7   9  −2    6
5 West Vdara                        5   1  0  4    9  14  −5    3
6 Yakk Empire                       5   1  0  4    8  15  −7    3

Group 4
Captina Island 4–1 Kamijiro
HUElavia 2–1 Brusseldorf
Restresas 0–2 Alanis Star

  Group 4                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Kamijiro                          5   3  1  1    6   5  +1   10
2 HUElavia                          5   3  1  1   11   4  +7   10
3 Captina Island                    5   1  4  0   10   7  +3    7
4 Brusseldorf                       5   2  1  2    9  10  −1    7
5 Alanis Star                       5   1  1  3    5   8  −3    4
6 Restresas                         5   0  2  3    6  13  −7    2

Group 5
Xanneria 2–2 Hispinas
Sangti and the Filindo Isles 1–3 Katzeburg
Darmen 3–2 Qusmo

  Group 5                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Katzeburg                         5   4  1  0   11   6  +5   13
2 Sangti and the Filindo Isles      5   4  0  1   10   6  +4   12
3 Darmen                            5   2  0  3   10  11  −1    6
4 Hispinas                          5   1  2  2    8   7  +1    5
5 Xanneria                          5   1  1  3    7  12  −5    4
6 Qusmo                             5   1  0  4    7  11  −4    3

Knockout Stage Seeding Table

Overall Seeding                    Pld  W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Katzeburg                         5   4  1  0   11   6  +5   13
1 Oberour Ar Moro                   5   4  0  1   11   6  +5   12
1 Kamijiro                          5   3  1  1    6   5  +1   10
1 Audioslavia                       5   3  0  2    8   4  +4    9
1 Kronbia                           5   2  2  1    6   5  +1    8
2 Drawkland                         5   4  0  1   16   8  +8   12
2 Sangti and the Filindo Isles      5   4  0  1   10   6  +4   12
2 HUElavia                          5   3  1  1   11   4  +7   10
2 Kanzlia                           5   2  2  1   10   8  +2    8
2 Indusse                           5   2  2  1    6   7  −1    8
3 Valentine Z                       5   2  2  1   12   9  +3    8*
3 Riena                             5   3  0  2    8   7  +1    9*
3 Captina Island                    5   1  4  0   10   7  +3    7
3 North Oharan Valley Union         5   2  1  2    5   5   0    7
3 Darmen                            5   2  0  3   10  11  −1    6
4 The Ko-orenite Constellation      5   2  2  1    7   6  +1    8

4 Reçueçn                           5   2  1  2   10   9  +1    7
4 Brusseldorf                       5   2  1  2    9  10  −1    7
4 Savojarna                         5   2  0  3    7   9  −2    6
4 Hispinas                          5   1  2  2    8   7  +1    5

*= Both Valentine Z and Riena are swapped to avoid group stage rematches in the first round of the knockout stages.

Round of 16 Matchups

#1 Katzeburg v. #16 The Ko-orenite Constellation @ Kawesa Stadium(cap. 47,000) in Mynda, Aksum

#8 HUElavia v. #9 Kanzlia @ Star Field(cap. 70,000) in Herzegovina City, Moravica

Above two winners will meet in Quarterfinals

#4 Audioslavia v. #13 Captina Island @ Kabonero III Field(cap. 48,000) in Istria, Moravica

#5 Kronbia v. #12 Riena @ Keystone Stadium(cap. 47,000) in Sisonke, Kitara

Above two winners will meet in Quarterfinals

#3 Kamijiro v. #14 North Oharan Valley Union @ BCEL Stadium(cap. 52,400) in Jinja City, Hangaza

#6 Drawkland v. #11 Valentine Z @ Hangaza Unified Stadium(cap. 55,000) in Aissa, Hangaza

Above two winners will meet in Quarterfinals

#7 Sangti and the Filindo Isles v. #10 Indusse @ Albert III Memorial Stadium(cap. 48,600) in Dodoma, Bunyoro

#2 Oberour Ar Moro v. #15 Darmen @ B&B Grocers Field(cap. 44,000) in Umbazi, Buganda

[Indusse]

OOC: The Copyright message at the end of the post has been used from the standard copyright message from multiple books.

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The Half Blood Saga I
Chapter IV
The Hidden Path

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Previous Chapters:
Chapter I Part I
Chapter I Part II
Chapter II Part I
Chapter II Part II
Chapter III Part I
Chapter III Part II
Chapter IV Part I

They rode through the night, the forest giving way to rolling hills. As dawn broke, they crested a rise, revealing a breathtaking view. In the distance, snow-capped mountains pierced the sky.

"The Frostpeak Range," Mehrea said. "Beyond lies the first trial on your path to Jehnara."

Kael pointed to a nearby stand of trees. "We'll rest there. You have much to learn before we continue, Adael."

As they made camp, Adael's mind raced with questions. He pulled out the map tube, carefully unrolling its contents. The parchment inside seemed to shimmer, the markings shifting as he watched.

"How does it work?" he asked.

Kael sat beside him. "The map reveals itself differently to each chosen seeker. It will guide you, but also test you. Your father deciphered the first part of the journey. Now it's your turn to unravel its mysteries."

Adael studied the map intently. Slowly, patterns began to emerge. A hidden path through the mountains... a series of caves... and beyond that, a shimmering mirage that could only be Jehnara.

"I think I see it," he murmured. "The way forward."

Mehrea and Kael exchanged glances. "Then rest while you can," Mehrea said softly. "Tomorrow, your true journey begins."

As Adael drifted off to sleep, his dreams were filled with visions of a shining city, his father's face, and the challenges that lay ahead. The quest for Jehnara had begun in earnest, and nothing would ever be the same.

To be Continued...

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Copyright © Akiho Banwari.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

http://www.lexiread.org

[The Ko-orenite Constellation]

Ko-orenite minister of Foreign Affairs, Abodhiru Gelogathingun, was appointed Prime Minister of Ko-oren, leaving her pet project - the Constellation - without its original designer. While it is expected that Gelogathingun appoints someone similar to her to the office of foreign affairs, multiple leaders in the Constellation have prepared their own plans for the future of the cooperation. The leaders of the big four - Ndugutisaoren, Bandar Cang Prathoren, Chanmingoren, Mercatoren - have met up in the Ndugutisaoren mji wa kwanza, the primary city, of Ntu.

The three-day convention took place in the city's main theatre hall, which looked far more futuristic than what the three invited nations would have built. Then again, maybe only Bandar Cang Prathoren is facing an environmental challenge on par with Ndugutisaoren, the former having to guard against flooding, the latter having to keep out the relentless rays of the sun. The most impressive parts of the architecture weren't even visible to the visitors: huge heat exchanges that extend dozens of metres into the ground to keep the building cool no matter the outside conditions. And that's the platform that Ndugutisaoren organised this meeting on: the future of the Constellation should be rooted in innovation to keep every territory competitive and simply a better place to live than surrounding nations. Keep economically important findings within the group, but spread inventions that improve the planet and its inhabitants.

The Chanmingoren delegation protested. Feng Zhou himself delivered a speech on his vision of the group. As expected, it was pro-meritocracy, but before he landed on his conclusion, he was interrupted by plenty of other dignitaries. "Meritocracy is a means, not an end," was one rebuttal. "A focus only on 'who governs' without taking into account 'what is governed' is asking for trouble," the Mercatoren delegation said. "The Cicada nation [what Chanming refers to] does as we expect. Lots of noise, little substance!" another Mercatoran said. That set the tone for most of day one, with Mercatoren and Chanmingoren fundamentally at odds, with Ndugutisaoren claiming neither was able to include both a fair meritocracy and a sustainable future.

Bandar Cang Prathoren's points weren't as visible: their current situation is compatible with all three of the others, with a strong economy like Mercatoren, a strong meritocracy like Chanmingoren, and green initiatives like Ndugutisaoren. Instead, they focused their day one talking points on remembering to care for all in their society, and to remember that all four were at the venue because of their similarities, not their differences.

Without an attmept to reconcile the two biggest troublemakers, the 'big four' conference already seems like a waste of time. And don't forget about the nations that had hoped to be present anyway, like the Constellation's cultural and ideological leaders in Irithoren, pluriformal Taloren, or the latent powerhouse of Uruashoren, who are quickly gaining ground on every nation in the Constellation in the three main fields of economy, ideology, and ecology.

[Doubeia]

Doubeia's Results, CoH89
P.S.: If this overwrites any of your RPs, do tell me and I'll rectify it. Sorry if that's the case.

MD1 vs Langenia

Langenia              3   -   2   Doubeia                
Gallindo (11', 29')               Semerikova (51', 60' (P))  
Guzman (71')

MD2 vs Indusse

Doubeia                3   -   0   Indusse  
Semerikova (5', 28')                        
Menshikova (64')

MD3 vs The Ko-orenite Constellation

The Ko-orenite Constellation   3   -   2   Doubeia           
Nordenflycht (1', 47')                     Rozhkova (57')             
Löwenstern (22')                           Kuzenkova-Domínguez (86')

MD4 vs Kronbia

Kronbia   0   -   1   Doubeia        
                      Semerikova (50')

MD5 vs Valentine Z

Doubeia                 3   -   5   Valentine Z                      
Marin (14')                         Elisabetta D'Elia (23', 40')      
Semerikova (57', 68')               Holly Van De Hoogte (28', 90+4')  
                                    Katarzyna Polańska (77')

[Audioslavia]

Carrying the One

Parts [1][2][3][4][5]

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A few thousand years ago, Audioslavia had a disastrous fourteen minute experiment with a monarchy. Regardless of how meaningless those fourteen minutes were, the very fact that there was a monarchy at all means two things are true forever. First, there will always be a lineage of descendents of the usurped monarch. Secondly, as long as there will always be a lineage of a usurped monarch, there will always be a Restoration movement, no matter how small or disorganised. It will invariably occur to at least one person in the country that, hey, maybe there should be a king after all, and there will always a person with a claim to said kinghood. Unless, of course, you murder every single descendent of that first monarch.

And doing almost exactly that is what one society has sworn to do.

According to this group, anyone at Number One in the line of succession needs to die. Over eight hundred would-be kings have been murdered over the last few thousand years. This group have sworn an oath to murder anyone in Audioslavia who holds the title of First In Line For The Thone. Their union includes enough members of the police, government and judicial system that no kingslayer has ever seen the inside of a cell. At least, not for said slaying of the king.

Due to the popular Successr mobile app, Audioslavians keep an occasional tab on where they might be in the line of succession, and are advised to emigrate sharpish should their number drop into the single digits. As such, the identity of the dreaded 'Number One' tends not to change too much. If you're number one, you've likely already fled the country, and the society refuses to pursue anyone outside of the borders of the nation.

---

The Union of Preservation of the Republic and Prevention of the Restoration, typically referred to as simply The Union or occasionally The Paupers, due to the acronym, did not have a single head office. Somewhat understandably, the union have always been reticent to have one single leader that yields power over parts of the country they’ll never visit. Instead, the Union has ‘houses’ all over the country, some with permanent residents, some without. Most Union safehouses are converted tenement apartments, meaning communal concrete stairs that lead to a solid door. Behind the door and its heavy locks, you can turn left and find yourself in what they call a common room, with a sofa, TV and, beyond a small counter, a kitchen. Turn right and there’s a room with as many bunk-beds as you could fit there. The only other room is a bathroom in between the common room and bedroom. They’re typically cold and unwelcoming but are usually kept clean.

It was into one such house that a balding man in dirty jeans and a very scuffed white shirt strode, followed by two much larger men who each looked like they’d been tasked with having to buy their full quota of combat fatigues using just one twenty dollar note between them.

The man in the once-white shirt is all of five feet and five inches tall, and he is furious for four reasons. One, he’s the sort of person who absolutely hates the fact that he’s five feet and five inches tall. Secondly, his van had recently been stolen and he’d struggled to get the front seat back to its ‘rightful’ position of, well, as far forward as it will go, thirdly, he really was permanently furious at being five foot five and fourthly, he’d been telling everyone around him he was going to kill a man, and then didn’t get the opportunity to kill the man. His name was Declan Parton and yeah, he would flip his shit if you ever called him Dolly.

Declan Parton’s first action, upon arriving at Calle de Carnicero Safehouse, Celta, was to head into the common room, rip his backpack from his right shoulder and slide it along the floor hard enough for it to knock over a bin in the corner.

“Fuckin’ bastards” he grunted to himself, removing his flat-cap and running a hand through his crew cut.

“Pick that up” came a disconcertingly level voice. A woman’s. Declan looked the counter in the middle of the room and into the kitchen area, where he saw a woman perched on a stool, smoking a cigarette out of the window, still with her back turned to the men. Declan got a glimpse of the contours of her face through the red sodium street lamps three floors below, and saw enough wrinkles to place her age at ‘I dunno but fuckin old’. Declan was twenty-five, so this meant ‘anywhere between 40 and 100’.

One of the big, burly men behind Declan (they weren’t big big, but compared to Declan they looked like giants) cleared his throat.

“Oh, sorry Ms Falda” he said.
“Miss fuckin who” said Declan, looking first at the man, then back at the woman, then at the bin, then at the man again, and doing all of the above using mainly his neck muscles - the movements of a limbless man trying to kickstart a speedboat by taking the cord in his teeth.
“Dec…” said the other man, quietly, carefully, eyeing the window all the while.
“Turn the lights on, one of you” said the woman, throwing her cigarette out of the window and jumping down from her stool. “You do it” she said, turning and nodding to the fatter of the two men. “You look like you can actually reach the switch”.

Declan’s ‘sthatspostamín?’ hit the room at the same time as the light from the white led light.

Falda’s age was almost unplaceable. She permanently dressed like she was about to go to the gym on a cold day. She’d never married or had kids, she’d never gone a day without doing at least a few hours of exercise, she was as black as black got, her hair the kind of white which you might think came from a bottle if her eyes didn’t give away that it was more likely down to age. Her arms and shoulders were tinted green from tattoos she’d gotten in the previous century. From a photo, you’d have put her at forty five, but seeing her move, you’d up that to fifty, maybe sixty, and that sad truth is that seeing her walk down some stairs, you’d be more inclined to guess her actual age. Falda was 78. Be under no illusions though. This woman could put you in a hospital just by a slight levelling of her expression at the right time.

“You’ll kindly pick your bag up, son” said Falda, wearing an expression which suggested not doing what she had kindly suggested might cause you the sort of problems that you’d never even considered before. Even Declan, whose capacity for reading faces went as far as ‘yes that is a face’, found himself with his bag back on his shoulder before he even realised. The upturned rubbish bin had lost only a cigarette packet and a small orange net, and Declan found himself clearing them back into the bin while he was there.

“So where have you boys been?” Said Falda, dragging a wooden chair round the counter and sitting on it, nodding towards the sofa and armchair, where the two and a half men found a spot each. “What brings you to Celta?”. Her accent was unmistakably eastern Cathair, but her consonants clicked with the deliberateness of someone who’d spent forty years speaking a second language every day. She seemed to enjoy the challenge of taking her native tongue for a rare test drive.

“Work” said the fatter of the three men.
“Work?” Falda’s eyes flashed briefly, her mouth widening to a genuine smile. She leaned forward, tilting her head to one side.
“You must have heard the news”
“News, yes” said Falda, flailing a carefree hand towards the window. “Cathair news, Skiing news, not Celta news” she said.
“Yeah well, he was Celta news today” said the second big man. “New number one came here.”
“And he isn’t dead?”
“Got picked up” said Declan. “Some Rupert on a speed-boat”
“Jet-ski” corrected the fatter of the big men.
“Jet-ski? You came here on a boat?” Asked Falda
“A van” said Declan. “His van” he nodded at one of the other men.
“The guy, Fraser Farrington, came here in his van” said the other man, smiling at Declan’s sudden glare.
“Why did you give him…” said Falda
“Fuck off” said Declan, not so much to Falda or anyone else, more to the conversation having found him out so quickly. And, of course, at the fact that he was five foot five.
“Watch your fuckin language” said the fat man, looking back at Falda with a grimace. Declan looked over at him, again, mainly using his neck for propulsion, and then looked over at Falda, who was giving Declan a look he couldn’t place. If he had been able to place it, he would have placed it somewhere safe, very gently, and then left as quickly as he could.

Falda didn’t answer, instead giving Declan a level look, disconcertingly seeming to gaze at a point six inches behind Declan’s eyes. Carefully, with an accent now shorn of any non-Catharan influence, she spoke.
“I’m Mafalda Marques”

It took Declan a second to place the name.

“Not the Mafalda…”
“I’m sure there are others” said Mafalda, standing up. “None with quite my record though. Tea, anyone?”
“But you’re…” said Declan, “You’re basically royalty, here”
“Boliyo, I can’t think of a worse way to describe me” snapped Mafalda, the only time she’d shown annoyance so far, which in turn was a record for anyone meeting Declan for the first time.
“Yeah, not ‘royalty’ but… Jesus if I’d’ve known… I mean I read about you in school”
“I know” said Mafalda, with a hint of an eye-roll. “Been trying to get the government to keep my name out of history but, you know how it is.”
“You’ve killed about twenty of the fuckers though, right”
“I killed zero, if you’d been concentrating in school, you’d know that” said Falda, now having resolved that she needn’t even look at Declan again. “Now, I asked you a question. Do you want some tea or not”
“Is there anything else?” Said Declan
“He’ll have tea” said the less fat of the two other men. “And I’ll fill you in on the mission, Miss Falda”