Author Topic: Free Mundus  (Read 46073 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Libby

  • Order Of The Pen
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,062
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lodja/Kaitaine
Free Mundus
« on: September 06, 2017, 03:11:59 PM »
[/img]



UC SHED LIGHT ON KAITAINE SPACE "DISASTER"

A team of scientists from Ui Cennesliag today have announced a disturbing piece of information about the recent Kaitaine space launch. According to one of our sources the supposed unmanned mission may not have been so. Files have been released of a voice recording that the UC science team claim could only have come from orbit. A conversation was monitored for around thirty minutes and then went silent from one end, no further contact was heard despite what appeared to be input from ground control.

Since the early part of the year Ui Cenneslaig have operated various space based labs and monitors in order to learn more about the solar system. One of these picked up the transmissions of the Kiataine space launch a full 24 hours before the Pravada announcement of a satellite launch that was designed to burn up in the atmosphere. Speaking to our publication Professor Killian McHugh of the Ui Cenneslaig space programme said. "This is disturbing, it is our point of view that while being obsessed with carrying out a rapid space programme in order to impress the world that they have rushed to send a manned mission knowing full well they are not ready. As such I believe what we have picked up is a great disaster in space, maybe the first of its kind. I think this person has either burnt up in re-entry or skimmed off the atmosphere and is lost in space with no chance of rescure." The audio has been made available to several other nations who have also given similar assessments including the Joint Nordic Space Programme whose director told us, "In our view this is a failed manned mission. I think they knew this was a possibility and as such delayed the announcement until they knew how it would have ended. This shows you can not rush space exploration."

So far the Kaitaine Ministry of Defence which oversees the Kaitiane space programme has refused to comment on the speculation instead just re-releasing statements about a successful launch and satellite mission.


Offline Lakhzovia

  • Regional Power
  • ***
  • Posts: 393
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lakhzovia
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2017, 11:30:45 PM »

Lakhzov Airforce bombs chemical plant as army flees Khaliniz Brigade advance


These are the shocking scenes from earlier today when the Lakhzov Air Force bombed a state owned chemical plant after Khaliniz Brigade soldiers looked set to overwhelm the Lakhzov guards. While the Lakhzov government has been reluctant to allow key strategic assets to fall in to the hands of the nascent Utman Republic this is the first case of them deliberately destroying a site rather than allow it to fall under Utman control.

There are unconfirmed reports that villagers and Khaliniz Brigade soldiers within a 5km radius of the site have suffered breathing difficulties leading some to fear that the fire at the plant has released toxic chemicals into the air. Some have gone so far as to speculate that the reason the plant was destroyed was to cover up evidence of chemical weapons research and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

Over the past weeks the Utman Khaliniz Brigades have made a number of important gains in Transmecuria seizing over one hundred police stations, an airport and at least one power plant. The Utman Provisional Government has stated that the seizure of key infrastructure is an essential step in Utman state building.

The Kadassa Regime has responded by ordering the Lakhzov Defence Forces to guard key strategic infrastructure, however not knowing which target is next has impacted their ability to provide sufficient defensive coverage, the commencement of the rainy season has also limited the LDF's ability to deploy reinforcements and supplies to the region providing the more mobile and locally based Utman militias with a powerful tactical advantage, and one which they have been exploiting to great success.

The Lakhzov government has declined to comment on the incident telling FMN that the ban on our news network remains in effect.

Offline Sam

  • Microstate
  • *
  • Posts: 78
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Saheristan
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #2 on: September 15, 2017, 03:45:44 PM »

Special Report from Talmar District, Lalishistan by Marjorie Barron, investigative reporter and war correspondence for FMN

The Saheristani government is making a determined effort to reclaim Talmar District from Triple L insurgents, that much is true. However, regardless of what Al-Šāṭi would have you believe in their latest report, the truth is different. This is Marjorie Barron, with a special report from Talmar, bringing you the real story.


The Army’s attack has been swift and ruthless. There is a decisiveness and viciousness at play not seen in previous attacks on Talmar.

Government forces have now blockaded most roads into the area, and I may be the only foreign journalist in the region at this time. From what I have seen so far, I can confirm that the government is waging what appears to be a campaign of reprisal, rather than liberation, attempting to terrorise the population away from their support for the Triple L, who they seek to punish for their latest abortive attack in the Saheri capital.

First, despite claims by the Saheristani Army broadcast in Al-Šāṭi, we have seen no evidence of precision bombing or shelling. On the contrary, the army is indiscriminately shelling villages in which insurgents are suspected to be hiding, while the air force is deploying napalm to deforest areas of the landscape, robbing insurgents of cover and attempting to deny their escape routes with cluster munitions.


Our team has also witnessed crimes against humanity being perpetrated by the Lalishi Liberation League.

Triple L forces are also liberally deploying antipersonnel landmines across the valley in preparation for further government attacks and are forcibly disappearing and torturing suspected government collaborators.

Army losses have been substantially higher than expected, but Al-Šāṭi’s report ignores that fighting has already begun in earnest.

Fighting has already begun in earnest and significant causalities have been taken by both sides. The army is better trained and equipped now than it has ever been, and has brought tremendous firepower to this engagement. However, the Triple L are dug in deeply, and they know this region intricately. 

Hundreds of civilians have already been displaced by the fighting, and many are being corralled into IDP (internally displaced persons) camps. These camps lack basic amenities and seem to be intended to secure and search the general population for insurgents.

Overall, it is immediately apparent that despite fierce resistance, the government is making significant gains. Previous strategies to win over the hearts and minds of the Lalishi population seem to have been ditched for much more liberal rules of engagement, matching the conduct of President Ashkan’s aggressive anti-terrorist policy.

My team and I will remain in the region as long as we can, but evading both sides is becoming increasingly difficult as combat escalates. This has been Marjorie Barron, from the Talmar Valley.

President Khalid Amin Ashkan
The Republic of Saheristan

Wiki Pages:
Saheristan Profile
Insurgency in Lalishistan

Offline Achkaerin

  • Lord Chief Justice
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 3,967
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: the Holy Empire of Achkaerin
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2017, 01:16:40 PM »

DID UTMAN LIBERATION ORGANISATION TAKE SHOT AT WASP?


In a breaking news story the Free Mundus Network can report that it has acquired information from a credible source that indicates that an incident involving an Achkaerinese Wasp Type helicopter some weeks ago may have been more that it seemed.

The incident in brief terms saw the wasp, during coordinated operations with Somerset to monitor the border with Lakhzovia or more specifically an area of Lakhzovia claimed as the Utman Republic, forced into making an emergency landing due to what at the time was termed "unclear reasons" by those involved, the Lakhzovian authorities and military were subsequently able to rescue the crew and recover the helicopter, the helicopter has since been repaired and the two officers aboard it are in fine shape.

However this network has now received information that the most likely explanation for the incident is that someone took a shot at the helicopter, the most likely candidate being the ULO, this is something forcefully denied by the ULO. We will have more as this develops.

guest17

  • Guest
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #4 on: September 29, 2017, 08:13:48 PM »


Probe incident causes widespread fires, evacuations ordered

1,083 people have been on the evacuated from the town of Tej'ca and its surrounding villages, after the unexpected crash landing of an Ahkbanilese space probe. The prototype space probe, a latest test by the Ahkbanil Hwolikwuyxi (Airforce) Extlepahai’ko (Astronomical Research Division), was meant to have an issueless landing within a predesignated location in Ahkbanil. However at 10:42 A.M. it is believed the probe encountered an issue with its landing mechanisms causing the spacecraft to free-fall for some time. At 10:57 A.M. the craft crashed near the town of Tej'ca and three surrounding villages. Fortunately no one was injured during the initial impact, however the impact initiated a fire resulting from leaking rocket Fuel and the force of impact. This resulted in a massive fire first occurring to the north of Tej’ca near a small farming village. From there the fire spread consuming the village and causing massive damage to its fields before spreading south towards Tej’ca and other villages. The Local Tej’ca Fire force rushed to try and stop the fire from preventing however do to the flammability of the crop fields the nature of the fire and its fuel controlling the flames has proved difficult.

“We arrive on one scene and put the flames out only for word to reach us that the fire has spread elsewhere”  That was one local firefighter who voiced her frustration with the situation. Battling the flames has become “a game of cat and mouse” as another describes it.  Due to the scale and nature of the fire, the local  Tej’ca  Fire Force has allowed those willing to volunteer and assist in their operations. These entail not just putting out the fires, but also assisting in evacuation efforts and distributing supplies as needed.

1,083 people have been evacuated from the Tej’ca and its surrounding villages, unfortunately some have been injured in the chaos of the situation thankfully however there have been no deaths as of yet. The Government of Cojotan has called for Ahkbanil to “answer and take responsibility for this situation”. These calls have taken the form of a request of  reperations by the Ahkbanil Government equaling value to the damage dealt by the fires as well as a means to recover what crop has been lost to the flames.        

As of the fire has been burning for near four hours and does not seem to be ending anytime soon.     

Offline Weremark

  • Microstate
  • *
  • Posts: 64
  • The Raven Lord
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Weremark
Free Mundus
« Reply #5 on: October 01, 2017, 06:02:29 PM »



The Problem With Mundus


"Hello there, Mundus. I apologize for hijacking this rather reputable institution's broadcast, but I see no other way of delivering my message to the public, as a man branded terrorist and thief. For those of you who do not yet know me, my name is Jory Hellhorn, and I am a friend of world freedom. I must admit, and you may know, that I have not made one of these broadcast manifestos in a very long time, however, recent events have prompted me to come out of the shade, so to speak. I've always been mediocre at trying to segue into my message, so I will instead be frank: Mundus has a festering problem. 

A problem which has gripped it for centuries. Which has left fathers childless and oppressed and repressed millions upon millions of world citizens. I speak not of war, for war is a necessitant of human nature. I speak of monarchy. Whatever tribal stupidity propelled those who rule into power has long since been eclipsed by general learning, interconnectedness, and a desire for knowledge as of yet unprecedented in all of human history. The average high-schooler knows more than a monarch of two-hundred years ago; the average university student has a larger vocabulary. Why then, do we as human beings continue to bow down to those who have snatched power from the mandate of the people without any merit of their own outside of their wealth, riches, or good looks? How many outright imbecilic decisions have we seen monarchs make in the past month alone? Let me lay it out.

I speak, of course, of the Pope's moronic remarks of earlier; to denounce even moderate socialism as evil is to enrich oneself in the long term. But I know not if he knows that, for agents of religion are plentiful deniers of the scientific method. That, however, is a discussion for another day. Let us move on to the Commonwealth Treaty Organization, a husk of a good idea so blatantly political that it has done little more than serve as a mouthpiece for a certain group of nations since its inception. While I stand here and speak to the people, I am sure you know what they plan, ah yes, the Network of Crowns, they call it. An enabler of debauchery and social stratification, a promoter of the nationalism which has kept us all separate and warring over reasons that will have no logic or reason in the coming centuries, no. These are only the most blatant abuses of power that come to mind, there are millions more. The change must start now, before it's too late for our children and grandchildren.

Mundus worships power and wealth, when they should be worshipping freedom and love.

And I have come to realise that governments and corporations can no longer be trusted not to keep us in the dark ages of religion and autocracy, and as such, I have taken matters into my own hands. I have been accused of killing people which I did not; I have been accused of instigating violence. I promise you that none of that has been true for a decade, but I will deliver this warning: It will be true again, and soon. I have no hatred for the common man, nor for the rich man in the traditional sense. I have a hatred for greed and unreason, and both of those pervade Mundus. Thus declare I that the National Freedom Assembly of Weremark of which I was once part is now no longer confined to that miniscule nation's borders, no, for this problem is international, and demands an international response.

I hereby declare the International Freedom Assembly, may all those who hate Gods and Kings flock to our side, for we will deliver to Mundus the freedom it has never truly had!"
« Last Edit: October 01, 2017, 08:15:15 PM by Weremark »




The Kingdom of Weremark

        NSWiki | Notable Characters

Offline Gadshack

  • Banned
  • Microstate
  • *
  • Posts: 83
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Ahkabnil
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2017, 12:19:58 AM »


ARQ is Disarray After Probe Incident

Fires in Cojotan on the Night of the Accident

The Extlapa’ko(esh-tlah-pa-koh), Aerospace Research Quadrant(ARQ) has announced that it’s searching for equatorial candidates to launch from after n incident which left thousands of Cojotani citizens displaced when a test rocket for what Ahkabnil is naming the Geo-orbital Location Spotting Network, or GOLSN, failed and crashed over Cojotan just outside of its airspace.

The launch was supposedly secret and was not meant to enter Cojotan’s airspace, but debris from a booster failure fell near the border. The following fires were devastating, displacing thousands and the numbers increased from there on. “This is a regretful event that we should have prevented, and the Aerospace Research Quadrant sends its deepest apology on behalf of Ahkabnil to those affected by this unexpected event.” Tekpilli of ARQ publicly stated.

Since then the Ahkabnilian government has paid compensation to Cojotan for the ‘projected cost of damage’ in the words of the Revered Speaker.

ARQ has recently, following the events looks for areas to base their launch operations out of. Setting the criteria for ideally equatorial and a large eastern sea. For too long Ahkabnil had risked launching rockets over populated areas and dense land with little sea. “If only there was more water on this planet, but that’s unrealistic.” Tekpilli Atwohal is remarked saying years earlier.

Until a candidate is found is use their launch facilities or for Ahkabnil to construct their own, the GOLSN program is halted. The government has set a deadline for ARQ to find an area, before they are forced to use the same launch methods or GOLSN, which already has billions invested in it, will be cancelled and so will ambitious space projects.

Offline Gadshack

  • Banned
  • Microstate
  • *
  • Posts: 83
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Ahkabnil
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #7 on: November 07, 2017, 12:04:44 AM »
Analysis: The Impending Revolution in Coanchua
By Peter O’Gadphuc



YUN ARALAKI, capital of Coanchua -- Tensions have reached their boiling point here in Coanchua after months of despair among the population after the government had been unable to effectively treat the destruction caused by last month’s earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis. The population blames government corruption and the Marigold Accord for a lack of emergency infrastructure.

These tensions predate the natural disasters of last month however, with a sudden outcry since the dissolution of Soviet Rodina in 2014 to completely remove the Marigold Accord and establish a government by wholly independent convention. The rebel organization behind these efforts is the League of Free-Coanchua, an organized revolutionary effort comprised of all rebel groups in the country who have been continuously fighting against the Marigold Government since the late 1980s.

A call for independence has always been shouted aloud by most of the Koingia people, believing that they had been suppressed by the marigold accord, and see the Coanchuan government devised by the accord as corrupt. This is mostly true, as Coanchua was subject to internal puppetry of Soviet and anti-Soviet belligerents after the World War. The Coanchuan’s people strife for self-determination can be traced back to the very inkling beginnings of the country.

The Kaiop pirates/raiders developed as a nomadic multicultural people, deriving from Toshikawan, Himeyaman, native Aulukai, Maori and Vesian societies, over time syncretizing ethnically with most countries on the Krimeon and Kyne Seas. They were an outcast people, deemed too unholy for their status as living in crippling poverty, mainly in Toshikawa, and having poor or evil occupations(butcher, undertaker, etc), as well as practicing unorthodox spiritualism. These people, coming together to be known as Kaiop, would settle on Aulukai Isle in the Matilda Channel while retaining their sea-faring lifestyle, melting pot multiculturalism and assimilation with the Ipo natives, creating a distinct group known as ‘Koingia’ today, meaning ‘Cross-Seas’, as all the present people in Coanchua have a diverse ancestry due to the Kaiop pirates, from Seleucid, Maori, Ipo, Himyaman, to more than often an indiscernible mix, ‘Koingia’.

Coanchua for centuries would shift under different eras of imperial occupation, most notably Royal Seleucid who brought a brutal slave trading regime to the Andean Peninsula. Most of the people in Coanchua today have slave ancestry, and take pride in freeing themselves in a Kaiop-led rebellion in the late 19th century. The slaves traded from all over Mundus, usually ended up in Coanchua on Aulukai Isle, Royal Seleucid ruled the Channels with their slave empire.

This history is needed to understand how Coanchua feels about the past and present situation, they see themselves as proud and strong people of high stature, most notably ‘Kaiop’ servuce in the World War where they became known as elite troops, who could hold out against enemies, behind the lines, outnumbered and outgunned. Or the Kaiop pilots known as the Skyraiders, a book which released about them in 2007 arguably sparked independent patriotic endeavor. However, the Koingia people still feel oppressed and see their history as one of struggle to stand the test of time, therefore, the modern day League of Free-Coanchua sees these efforts against the established Marigold Accord as struggle for true freedom.


Marigold Troops at a drug checkpoint

The Marigold Accord was formed after the World War, under brief occupation by anti-Ardian coalitions, most notably Achkaerin. The Accord dictated that the elected government of Coanchua must remain neutral in hostilities between the Soviets and remain compliant with the oversight of a representative to ensure the most congested and profitable shipping lane remained open and stable. The Coanchuan people were taken greatly into account during the Accord’s formation, however the support of Royal Seleucid and the Accord being devised by mostly monarchies made the people discontent. Over time tensions increased, as internal conflict drove more restrictions enforced by the Accord. Many interpret the Accord as a shifting imperial puppet, of both the Soviets and Capitalist powers.

The Accord has further been justified by the Marigold government by using Kaitaine as a chief threat, with evidence showing Mcpherson’s government has backed communist rebel groups in the country and the rise of Zircon and potentially spacefighters. The drug war is also as it’s height in Coanchua, merging with revolutionary efforts as the LFC has been confirmed to use drug money to fund their guerilla and sea piracy operations in the Channel. The Marigold Government has received billions in funding to combat this, much of which goes to weapons or black holes in the government budget. Rigged elections for the past 30 years some have claimed has also been perpetuated by the Marigold Accord.

Riots across Yun Aralaki have only gotten worse and the government is under constant siege, with LFC piracy and organized fighting has gotten more intense, and many government forces have abandoned their post. Coanchua is a powderkeg, the question is what the Accord Great Power will do this time to quell it.

« Last Edit: November 07, 2017, 12:11:33 AM by Gadshack »

Offline Lakhzovia

  • Regional Power
  • ***
  • Posts: 393
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lakhzovia
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #8 on: November 15, 2017, 08:42:35 PM »


Hand of Emet accused of burning 600 Utman civilians to death in Bokar Massacre


Photo: Burned shells of homes all that remains of Bokar

The Provisional Government of the Utman Republic today accused the Lakhzov Hand of Emet militia of killing almost 600 Utman civilians including women and children in what is being referred to as the Bokar Massacre.

The attack, which many are calling a crime against humanity, is believed to have occurred Tuesday night mere days after the Hand of Emet militia officially declared war on the Utman Liberational Organisation and vowed to eradicated the organisation suggesting that this attack may be just the first of many to come.

A number of victims of the massacre were found shot to death in their homes, others in the streets and field while the vast majority appear to have been confined inside the village shrine and burned to death in a horrifying and chilling display of inhumanity. The Utman Provisional Government released a statement saying: "What we have seen happen in Bokar is a tragic and chilling demonstration of the depraved, evil brutality of Lakhzov nationalism. No more can Kadassa's regime claim that the Lakhzov national movement is one predicated on justice and peace. We have seen today their movement unmasked and exposed to the world as the demon it truly is. Six hundred men, women and children rounded up and burned to death inside a holy building, spending their last moments in terror and excruciating agony with no hope of escape. This is what the international community's turning a blind eye to Lakhzov violations has led to, a sense of impunity that has emboldened them to commit atrocities that rank among the worst in world history.

We demand that the world end their support for the Kadassa regime, immediately recognise the Utman Republic as an independent sovereign state in charge of its own destiny and recognise the Khaliniz Brigades as the legitimate expression of the Utman right to self-defence."

The village of Bokar situated in the upper Mercu river basin of Transmecuria is a remote settlement being accessible only by unmade dirt roads, the village was unremarkable except for its recent publicity as the home village of the ULO activist who was alleged to have attempted the assassination of the Chief Medaber of Khalin Danoi Yishveliy. This has led many to speculate that the attack on Bokar was carried out in revenge by the Hand of Emet who some analysts believe are strongly linked to the Medaber and his Lakhzov Home faction which is currently in partnership with Kadassa's Lakhzov National Congress Party in the Senate and government.

Offline Lakhzovia

  • Regional Power
  • ***
  • Posts: 393
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lakhzovia
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #9 on: November 17, 2017, 12:18:35 PM »


Crisis in Utman Territories as Lakhzovia cuts off electricity


Night time Satellite photo of the region highlighting the devastating impact of the electricity embargo


The electricity supply to Utman Transmecuria’s 5 million residents has dropped to unprecedented lows after the Lakhzov government ordered a shutdown of power plants in the region a week ago, with blackouts lasting for more than 24 hours the territory’s Provisional Government said Thursday, prompting fears of a humanitarian and environmental crisis.

The Utman territory needs at least 850 megawatts of power a day, but only 70 megawatts were available as of late Wednesday, when the ageing Kinere coal power plant was left as the sole operational plant supplying the region.

The Utman Provisional Government said the power cuts have caused a rapid deterioration in basic services, “especially health and environmental services, including water and sewage draining.”

The impact of the shortages are proving catastrophic for the Utman people, threatening long term economic and social damage if they continue with fishermen unable store their catch, farmers unable to irrigate their crops and industries missing order deadlines and opportunities, forcing them to close. The economic, development and humanitarian costs already are staggering and are likely to grow worse as long as the Lakhzov electricity embargo persists.

“Even without rockets and bombs, Utman in Transmecuria are experiencing a humanitarian emergency which is unparalleled since the start of the Lakhzov occupation three decades ago. It is shameful this crisis has been allowed to escalate to this extent and further squeeze an already suffocating 5 million people living under the brutal heel of Lakhzov occupation,” said a ULO spokesman. He added that “The Transmecuria electricity crisis is an illegal, punitive, measure against an entire population and must end immediately. The kadassa Regime as the long term occupying power must share responsibility for the wellbeing of Utman who have suffered due to Lakhzov policies in the region, and must not use them as a bargaining chip in this ongoing political dispute. The world should act to urgently ensure that the Lakhzov government resumes fuel and electricity supply to the Utman territories.

The Utman in Transmecuria are already enduring huge hardship and abuse of their rights that the Lakhzov occupation has entrenched. They must not be forced to suffer further and be used as a bargaining chip by President Kadassa.”


Offline Libby

  • Order Of The Pen
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,062
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lodja/Kaitaine
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #10 on: November 19, 2017, 07:25:38 PM »




SCHOOL ATTACK REVEALS STRANGE CONNECTION

Following a recent attack on a Vaguzian boarding school investigators have unearthed some connections between the institute and the little known Bene Gesserit faith. The school was allegedly attacked by members of the Borland Seperatist group as a leaflet claiming the group "shall free West Moreland" was found in the vehicle used. Chapterhouse was opened in Vaguzia in 1904 by the O'Hogan Educational Trust, a philanthropic organisation established by Ui Cenneslaig scholar Michael O'Hogan, it was the third such school set up in Mundus, the first being in Claith in Ui Cenneslaig in 1880, a second school was opened in Achkaerin in 1889, the forth of the schools was opened in Nemeria in 1923. The reason for the school being targeted has not yet been confirmed however some have speculated that it represents a foreign influence in the nation, something Borlanders may wish to remove. A total of 13 people of which 10 were students and 3 teachers were killed, around a further 30 were injured mainly through the use of dangerous white phospherous which caused severe burns and set part of the school on fire.

One of the crime investigators has confirmed however that a search of the school has revealed something "worrying". According to the police they have found a large number of text books and teaching materials relating to the Bene Gesserit faith, furthermore it was discovered that many of the students had in their rooms knives made out of bone, an object carried by preistesses of the Bene Gesserit faith called Crystknifes. The Police have made a statement on the school saying, "We have reason to believe that this school is connected to the Bene Gesserit faith somehow, the school has always maintained itself as a strong, at times, isolated community and as such it would not be impossible for it to have focused on teaching the faith. Now we must be concerned about the well being of the girls who are students there, they are our prime concern and we must begin reuniting them with their parents and guardians." The school was home to around 400 students aged between 4-18 all of whom boarded at the school. The school's headmistress, a Liza McNulty, has been asked for a statement however has yet to make one, instead however the Ui Cenneslaig businessman Niklaus O'Hogan, the descendent of Michael O'Hogan, spoke out saying, "The school is a centre of education and learning, it was brutally attacked for no reason and that should be the focus of our thoughts."

Schools in Achkaerin, Nemeria and Ui Cenneslaig have also refused to comment on the situation, however their was visible security guards around the school in the hours following the attacks. The schools have also produced a good number of respected scholars through the years and these include Thyrza Fava, wife of the ES based businessman Augustin Fava.


Offline Lakhzovia

  • Regional Power
  • ***
  • Posts: 393
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lakhzovia
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #11 on: December 21, 2017, 11:39:29 AM »


Khaliniz Brigades seize Kinere Airport

Khaliniz Brigade militants seized the headquarters of the military garrison at Kinere airport on Wednesday after killing at least seven ULO security personnel at the base in Transmecuria's second city, Lakhzov military sources said.

ULO Security forces loyal to President Uttaman in Kinere, where the Utman provisional government is based, have come under sustained attack from Khaliniz Brigade forces after the militant group seized control of the government in a coup and began a purge of moderates.

The assailants, who were wearing military uniforms, penetrated the airport garrison after setting off one car bomb at its entrance then ramming through a second and detonating it inside, another Lakhzov source said.

The twin bombs killed at least seven ULO personnel. “The attackers are extremists and their current actions entirely validate Lakhzovia's point about the terroristic nature of the Utman national movement” a Lakhzov government source said.

The attacks come in advance of the arrival of the ground troops of a Achkaerin led peacekeeping coalition, which are shortly due to begin their mission in the region and it is believed that aggressive expansion of Khaliniz Brigade control is a move to secure a better strategic situation in advance of the mission's commencement.

Offline DaveIronside

  • Roleplay Moderator
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,371
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: East Moreland / Royal Seleucid
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #12 on: February 02, 2018, 08:06:42 PM »

SHADOWS OF MUNDUS "BACKUP" HEAT MAPS


Following the decision of a popular fitness tracker manufacturer to remove their heat maps that have recently caused national security concerns in several nations the internet hacking group known as the Shadows of Mundus have announced they have backed up the maps. The group rose to prominence late last year when they hacked several nations and ransomed the data back to several influential companies, while at the same time releasing information to the world about several key figures. The group have now announced that they have maintained copies of the data allowing anyone with access to the files to filter and search the images, a fact that lead to East Moreland, Achkaerin, Ui Cenneslaig, Lodja,    Bykrestan and the Ecclesiastical State to ban their military from using the devices.

The group uploaded a series of the maps showing key military sites across Mundus including East Moreland Red Legion's training centre in Nya Aland, QAMB off the coast of Somerset which is operated by Rokkenjima, the Celtic Protectorate Base in Royal Selecuid and Taiwan Base in Aerternum owned by Dartfordia. In total 57 key military instillations across Mundus are still available on the internet  allowing people to see the bases lay out and from the heat signatures extrapolate the positions of key instillations such as residential blocks and barracks. Former East Moreland military officer Stephen Eastwood explained the dangers posed by this data. "This information allows anyone with a basic understanding of map software to make deep analysis that would normally take a team of observers weeks to gather. Me and three former Red's spent an afternoon looking over the data and we were able to map out patrol routes in several nations around key instillations such as royal palaces, we even found it possible to locate previously hidden bases and in one case track naval movements where we suspect a group of Marines had been doing PT each day on deck. This is a military intelligence experts dream. Few nations will be spared from this, the only one I can think of its Kaitaine, as I believe they are likely to not have these devices supplied by a major multi-national, but we did find a few very feint tracks caused by the devices across their desert."

Eastwood went on to explain that the devices would allow a team such as his to have ambushed patrols easily and also in some places launch missile strikes against targets they had no knowledge of. The FMN military expert also explained that "this data is not going away anytime soon now, even nations banning the devices are likely to find terrorists, rebels and the like are capable of launching attacks." The Shadows of Mundus have yet to explain how they will allow people to access the data.

Offline Lakhzovia

  • Regional Power
  • ***
  • Posts: 393
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lakhzovia
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #13 on: February 14, 2018, 04:24:23 PM »


Hundreds of civilians killed as Lakhzovia launches airstrikes overnight


Lakhzov bombing of Utman civilian areas began shortly after 2am.
So far 370 civilians, including children have been confirmed killed.

Thousands were fleeing Utman Transmecuria on Sunday after a night of fierce bombardment as Lakhzovia launched a full aerial assault of the territory in what is fast becoming the deadliest period of violence in the enclave since the end of the civil war three decades ago. The confirmed Utman death toll hit 370 by 10am this morning, although medics said it was set to soar after a night of intense attacks on Khaliniz Brigade positions throughout the region.

On the ground, the streets of the town of Tebruz were filled with thousands of civilians fleeing for their lives after heavy bombing left casualties lying in the streets, an FMN correspondent reported.
Ambulances were unable to reach much of the area affected because of heavy fire, and emergency services told FMN there were reports of dead and wounded trapped by the bombardment.
At Shifret-Tebruz hospital, casualties were being brought in by the minute, some in ambulances, but others in cars and trucks. Among them were screaming children with shrapnel wounds. One of them was clearly already dead, his head hanging lifelessly. Fights broke out in the emergency room as hysterical parents banged on the walls in fear and sorrow.

Emergency services spokesman Ashraf Barodan said at least 20 bodies had been retrieved from the eastern Shifret district of Tebruz, but ongoing fire was preventing the evacuation of many more. Sabah Osmagolan, 40, arrived at the hospital with her mother and her two daughters, both of them barefoot. "The bombing was non-stop, it was everywhere," she told FMN. "We ran into the streets and started to walk. It was terrifying. We got split up and found an ambulance that could bring us, but my husband is still there with the rest of the children and I can't reach him by telephone."

Figures provided by the Utman Provisional Government on Sunday claimed that at least 73 of the victims were under the age of 18.

Lakhzov President Sachim Kadassa said that the Khaliniz Brigades are entirely responsible for any civilian casualties, accusing the group of "using innocent civilians as human shields" and that “Lakhzovia has taken extraordinary measures over the past months to protect the lives of civilians, it is not our desire to see harm come to any innocent bystander and this is why, even when forced to defend ourselves, we have sought to minimise causalities by warning civilians of airstrikes.” He added that “We have designated humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of refugees and provided protected refuges where civilians will be safe; we strongly encourage Utman civilians to evacuate to these areas as quickly as possible.”
« Last Edit: February 14, 2018, 04:34:44 PM by Lakhzovia »

Offline yasha

  • Basically New Zealand
  • **
  • Posts: 212
  • probably irrelevant
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Neo Quywe Federation
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #14 on: February 17, 2018, 08:20:37 AM »

TENSIONS MOUNT IN THE MHORISH


Himeyan police presence in Nurashima has increased dramatically in the past week. Pictured are Suiseikawa Provincial Law Enforcement UTCT units in Hakae-shima.

In potentially the highest levels of tension that the disputed archipelago of Nurashima/Barnacle Island has seen since the late 2000s, Himeyan and Heyran patrols have become increasingly aggressive towards one another as geopolitical tensions flare up between the two republics. The archipelago has been a subject of repeated debate between the Syndicated Confederacy of Himeyama and the Heyran Republic since the early 70s; unofficially, all but the northernmost island of Nurashima is controlled by the Himeyan government and is subject to Himeyan laws.

The two parties came alarmingly close to open combat on Tuesday when a pair of Himeyan Airborne Defense Service S9 Mikos flew within 10 meters of a Heyran corvette during the latter's routine patrol. The S9s were reportedly preparing for another flyover of the Heyran surface patrol when the Heyran ships threatened to lock on to the fighter jets with radar missiles, causing them to break south and return to base. Following this incident, the Heyran navy has announced an increase in naval presence around Nurashima, while the Himeyans are reportedly preparing to transfer another squadron of jets to Tansei Airbase in response.

However, there is a third side to this conflict. In Hakae-shima, the largest island of the archipelago, Himeyan law enforcement from the mainland has been deployed in response to the peaceful protests by the residents of Nurashima, demanding increased autonomy from both sides. The residents of Nurashima, called Tane-jin in Himeyan have long expressed their wish to be independent to at least some degree. The population of 54,000 feels no loyalty to either side, being a mix of Himeyan and Heyran ethnicity, with a unique language borrowing from both English and Himeyan tongues.

The Himeyan government has yet to comment on the flyby and the arrival of 300 Suiseikawa Provincial Law Enforcement officers into Hakae-shima.
« Last Edit: February 17, 2018, 10:25:57 AM by tama »
something funny or offensive here

Offline Achkaerin

  • Lord Chief Justice
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 3,967
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: the Holy Empire of Achkaerin
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #15 on: March 07, 2018, 11:18:17 PM »

KIDNAPPED LORD OF WEST MORELAND IN ONLINE TRIAL


Patrick Charles, the Lord of the region of Vaguzia known as West Moreland, a man kidnapped only a matter of days ago, has resurfaced in alarming fashion in a live streamed trial currently underway. The Lord is charged with treason against the people of West Moreland by the West Moreland Regional Army or the WMRA, a recognized terrorist group by the Vaguzian Government. The text of the initial broadcast is below

Quote
"We the West Moreland Regional Army, acting as the voice of and for the people of West Moreland today charge the Lord of West Moreland with treason against the very people he is supposed to represent. We are not the uncivilized terrorists that the Vaguzian Government makes us out to be. We will provide everyone watching and listening with our evidence and as is the way of justice we will let the people decide this man's fate. And for anyone would be heroes listening, any attempt to shut down transmission will result in a guilty verdict, any attempt at a rescue will result in a guilty veridct, and the sentence is death. We have no wish to act unjustly but this is of great importance to us and we will not tolerate interference.The trial begins now."

There has yet to be any comment from the Vaguzian Government on what it will do but the broadcast has reportedly been received by international broadcasters.

Offline Major Jaws

  • World Power
  • ****
  • Posts: 569
  • Hallo, Ich bin eine Filipino.
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Quintelia, Socram and Sarandib
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #16 on: March 30, 2018, 02:35:41 PM »


QUINTELIA INFECTED BY BUBONIC PLAGUE FROM ALBA KARINYA



An anonymous doctor deployed in the town of Tubig, Romblique has transmitted a message stating that "Quintelia has been infected" along with pictures of the quarantine camp and virus showing assumptions of bubonic plague. According to him, about 1,757 has been infected and 658 has died. The government has recently announced that the nation is free from any outbreaks however, insurgents have been used as cover-up for deployment of soldiers and doctors. The government has cut all forms of transportation and communications have been severed for the citizens in the said town, populated with 54,000 people. Although the nation has sent 10,000 people to assist in quarantining of the infected, it would be a great help if nations or humanitarian organizations would help in the situation

Offline DaveIronside

  • Roleplay Moderator
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,371
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: East Moreland / Royal Seleucid
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #17 on: July 13, 2018, 10:09:19 PM »

EXCLUSIVE BARREN INTERVIEW


Following a string of attacks across Mundus the FMN has obtained an exclusive interview with the self described "King of Borland and the Boreland Folk". Our reporter meet a pair of contacts at a remote road junction, from there she was blindfolded and taken on a drive for several hours before being positioned inside a windowless room where upon she meet the man who is probably the most dangerous man alive.

The recent attacks have been highly co-ordinated and came with a countdown. This has never been the case in the past, why has there been this change of tactics?

It's simple. We are much better than any conventional weapon, we can hit any nation on Mundus, whenever we like. I can give nations warning, they know something is coming and look at what happens, we get through. I need the leaders of all nations out there to see that I am serious, that when we say something will happen then it will happen. I gave the world three days notice of attacks and behold on the third day we began our offensive. I then said 48 hours later there would be more, and again there was. I'm now telling everyone there shall, starting in 24 hours, be an attack a day for the next week.  The targets shall be any nation that has diplomatic relations with the Morelanders, and I define diplomatic relations being that they share embassies. Any nation not wishing to be attacked need only make a public announcement that they shall  recognise the Principality of Borlands sovereignty and right to exist. Do that and I give my word, and remember I've given my word for attacks and they've happened, I give my word that their nation shall not be attacked.

We understand that Tamora have already begun the process of formally recognising the Principality, how will your promise effect them?

Clearly they are a nation on the right path. They have a legislative process and I understand that. I am more than happy to sit back and allow that process to take place as I am confident that they will reach the right decision. I'm excited as I've heard their foreign minister talk a lot of sense about our history and I think that means we can do business together. You don't need to attack nations that are no threat to you and so I can promise every single Tamoran citizen on their home soil that they will not have any cause to fear us and our army. We will naturally do all possible to avoid them being caught in the cross fire in our battle for freedom.

If the East Moreland press is to be believed Empress Beatrice of Rokkenjima has in the past colluded with yourself, therefore it is rather surprising you've attacked them. Why did you target them?

We had contact with the Rokkenjimans during the unfortuante incident with Princess Adriana. We moved heaven and hell to ensure the young lady was reunited with her family, putting many of our own people at high risk. I had anticipated that Beatrice would see we are reasonable people, willing to work with others and co-operate. I could have caused all manner of chaos keeping Adriana rather than returning her. We could have executed her, left her for the wilds of the Moreland Alps and the wolves. Instead we took her into our care, I took her into my home and ensured she came to no harm, the daughter of an enemy. Let me remind the world that the Morelanders murdered my own son when he was less than a year old, they murdered my wife just weeks after she gave birth to a child that I have never seen, having stripped it away and handed it to a Morelander to be brought up a savage. Do you have any idea how that feels, I could have returned that favour a hundreds time over, yet Adrianna is alive and Helus willing well. I had hoped in the aftermath of things that we could work together but that isn't the case. Rokkenjima likes to give it the big one to the world about their influence and power, they think they are untouchable. They claim that they've faced down the might of the USR and other such spectres, that none of these nations could touch them. 130 Dead Rokkenjimans in one day shows we can do what the USR couldn't, and that is just the start. I have seen publically Beatrice call for an end to relationships with the Morelanders in the last few months. I believe she should heed her own advice and steer well clear of these Moreland savages. There is also another issue, the Illumic is no place for Rokkenjima.

The Principality of Northern Borland, a land locked settlement within Zimalia, seems to have been rather quiet in recent months, why is that?

Our Principality was home to some 5,000 people, a lovely community, a mixture of hardly Borlanders wanting a home with their kin and Zimalians desperate to start a new life after their families were devestated by Ebola, an outbreak only we responded to. This peaceful flourishing town was bombed....illegally I may add, by the Morelanders who violated Zimalian airspace without warning, to attack a nation with no standing army, no air force and no defences. Since then our militia has been carrying out attacks to disrupt the fake kingdom of East Moreland's war effort. Its all we can do, strike against their institutions in the hope that it will delay....better still deny...their chances of attacking that settlement once more.

Today the Principality is doing well. We've got up to 2,000 residents, another 1,000 should be able to move in within the next month as we complete the next phase of  container homes. We've a school there, teaching 60 children to read and write something that Zimalians are not necessarily taught. We've created communal farms that are growing fantastic fruit products, you should try some Borland pineapple, its amazing. It's my sincere hope that once we get 24 hour electric for the Principality, something we want by the end of the year we can start hosting big events, really put us on the international stage. What we really need is foreign companies looking at our workforce and diversifying our economy. Who knows where we could be in 10 years time if the world really give us a chance.

A lot of people have drawn parallels between yourselves and the Theocracy of Kaitaine. Both are considered terrorists by some but are trying to gain recognition as sovreign states, some legally believing your Principality has more of a claim to that than the Theocracy. What do you think of them being admitted to CETO and you not?

Well that's not quiet true is it. We have two seperate applications in, one for the Principality, land that can not be disputed as a sovereign state, and then we have the Kingdom of Borland, our actual homeland that is occupied territory. People claim the Theocracy, who I would like to thank for their support of the Principality in terms of CETO admission, they claim that it is the rightful government of Kaitaine, and that is true, roughly 150 years ago they had their land violently taken from them. We had ours violently taken away from us around 1000 years ago. A crime is a crime, time does not dilute it. The Ironsides have no claim to be royalty, they stole our land and we want it back. I congratulate Erin MacGregor for getting her people their land back, she's a new hero of mine, I hope one day to meet her, congratulate her and take away the Theocracies claim to be the youngest nation on Mundus. To do that we need legitamacy, much how they have, and CETO is the way of beginning that journey. So far we have not failed, not all nations have declared their refusal to admit and we could still become members. That is the dream, but the world is hypocritical if it permits the Bene Gesserit theocracy to throw off its past, wrongly attributed tag, of being terrorists and not giving us the same chance.

You said yourself Mr.Barren that you've done things you're not proud of but where force to do them. So when you will finally win and East Moreland will be yours, will you step down and let someone else lead in order to help with the reconciliation?

I have no heir at present, thanks to Moreland murders and child snatching. We are not talking about a Prime Minister or a President, but a monarch. I've been a monarch that has fought to give my people a homeland. If I had a child and me stepping aside and them sitting on a throne would bring about my people being given a homeland and having peace and security I'd merrily disappear into the Alps, build myself a little log cabin and fill my days with fishing and hunting. That's not going to happen though is it as I need to keep fighting as no one will offer us that chance, nor do I yet have an heir.

As for East Moreland becoming mine, East Moreland will never be mine, its a fictional world. No more could Narnia be mine. What we want is Borland back.

"Will there ever be peace between Borlanders and Morelanders? Foreign nations?

Didn't you hear my last answer, East Moreland is a fictional nation. I believe there is this game on the internet called NationStates, lets you set up a fictional nation and play King, that's what this Dave Ironside is doing essentially. I may as well go on that and say I recognise the nation of....(picks up mobile phone, accesses NS website and picks a random nation).....The Kingdom of Dank Memes. That's essentially what you all do when you say the Kingdom of East Moreland. You can't have peace with a figment of your imagination. As for other nations we've tried. I extended help to Rokkenjima, we provided Ebola aid to Zimalia when no one else did, we've even in the past discussed setting up embassies with nations that shall remain nameless......so there is your answer. These nations have our promise of what will happen in the coming days, I have offered a path away from that. Ball is in their court. Frankly your questions are not repetitive and I have a Kingdom to make. Get out.


Offline DaveIronside

  • Roleplay Moderator
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,371
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: East Moreland / Royal Seleucid
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #18 on: July 15, 2018, 09:57:22 PM »

BORLANDER ATTACKS PLUNGE SHIPPING INTO CHAOS


Following a recent string of terror attacks by the Borland Separatist movement international shipping is in chaos. A few days ago the Borlanders had managed to smuggle some kind of improvised missile system onto container ships across the world. Targets in The Iwi, East Moreland, Lodja, and Rokkenjiman bases in Dartfordia and Seaforth have been hit with deaths going into the hundreds. It is unclear whether the Borlanders, who believe they are the rightful monarchs of East Moreland,have placed similar devices on other ships around the world.

We spoke to a director of one of the worlds largest shipping companies who said this had the potential to impact the global economy. "Almost all goods are moved by ship in this day and age. If we think that the average ship can carry the equivalent of several thousand containers, and the fact we have around 10,000 container ships circuling the globe that means that at anyone time we have 100,000,000 containers either being moved around the planet or being prepared to be moved. Then we add in things such as oil and gas tankers, cruise ships and grain carriers we're talking hell of a lot of ships. There is no way on Mundus that we can check every single container, it would slow shipping down to such an extent that perishable products would spoil. We now have some docks refusing to take ships without deeper security checks, or we have others being delayed from setting off. Each delayed ship increasing more and more the price of the goods. The person who will foot this bill will be the consumer. We've already heard reports from Tamora that they are taking action and soon I suspect others will. I know the Morelanders have sent more explosive sniffer dogs to ports with the military stepping in to take control of security at their commercial ports. This is a scenario we never thought we would face but now it happening and we need a global response."

There have been warnings of further attacks, with the most recent being a series of explosions that appear to have come from soda cans. Kyle Barren, the self proclaimed King of Borland and the Boreland Folk, posted a video on YouTube talking of the attacks.

"When will people learn. We promise we'll attack and we do. We promise people will die and they do. I'm not playing anymore, every single nation out there is so far denying our right to exist and we are fighting for our very survival. We have to do whatever it takes for our national security, while other nations have conventional militaries we lack that and so this is our war. Our people are denied very basic rights, the right to be recognised as a citizen, we have territory, SeaTower has now existed for three years, our citizens there creating a peaceful existance for themselves, they fish, they sell stamps, coins, replica Borland passports and various other pieces of merchandise. They have not harmed anyone, they have not had to defend themselves and have shown the Borlanders are a people who only wish to be left in peace. The Borlanders in our homeland and the Principality are denied that right and so we are fighting for their rights. I expect these rights to be granted in short order, should the international community fail to grant our people the rights they give their own citizens we'll be forced to resume our fight."

In related news the Republic of Zimalia have placed their military on high alert and President Binyamin Elwes has spoken saying, "Everytime the Borlanders try and focus the worlds attention on their fight for a homeland people like to blame us. Look at what we have achieved, we have given the Borlanders a chance to focus their attention on building a home for themselves and they settled down and built. What happened, the Morelanders obiliterated their home, 34 people killed by East Moreland air strikes that violated our air space, the international community said nothing. The Borlanders returned and began building again. I have visited the Principality many times, they are making it a lovely lovely place and I am proud to have the people there as neighbours. Now as the rest of the Borlanders carry on their campaign for global recognition it is clear they, like the Morelanders, take extreme measures but the lack of scorn poured on East Moreland clearly means the international community have given terrorism the green light. I know King Kyle is a better man than this, a kind man, look at how he moved heaven and earth to get Princess Adriana back safe and sound, a true caring gentleman. Now we are being targetted and I have no choice but to defend our territorial integrity as such we are raising our threat level to its highest. Our Air Force shall undertake more patrols and our navy shall be on high alert. We shall not tolerate being targets of the international community for offering outcast people hope."

Offline DaveIronside

  • Roleplay Moderator
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,371
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: East Moreland / Royal Seleucid
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #19 on: July 18, 2018, 10:27:38 PM »

ELWES TO ACCEPT INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT


Today the President of Zimalia responded to offers of help from various nations across Mundus following incidents involving the Borland Seperatists, whom he gave land to in Zimalia several years ago. The Zimalian, who seized power in 1993 following a coup against the government of Zimalia who was seen as pro-Afolayan[1] while being prejudice to the other three tribes. In recent days the Minister of Defence from Nya Aland confirmed she is asking her nations government to send a squadron of fighters, as is Paracambi. Meanwhile it is understood that the Tamoran Foreign Minister is due to meet President Elwes in the coming days to talk about other potential support.

The President first however spoke of the issue of the Principality of Northern Borland and the statements from Rokkenjima. "The Principality is a small sweet place. The people there are nice you know. They have no harm towards anyone or anything. I visit often to help the children there read, its a joyous moment in my life. Would I cast children into the arms of terrorists? Of course I wouldn't, children are sweet innocent things and deserve protection and care. I'd remind the world that when Ebola ravaged our nation and our medical facilities, which we are still rebuilding from Afolayan corruption, couldn't cope. Those nations that consider themselves leaders of the world, your East Moreland's, your Rokkenjimas stayed home no doubt swimming in their mountains of gold. Meanwhile the Borlanders turned up and I feared the worst, a terror group as defined by the world coming to take advantage at our time of weakness. Instead they take in the poor, the sick, the needy. They take, I am embarassed to say, better care of them than I can. I am a proud man but I have to say we couldn't protect those people, the Borlanders could and as a proud warrior I must accept the shame that I failed my people while Kyle Barren didn't. In days of old that moment would have seen me dragged from my tent and beaten to death. It is only fair a man who can protect the people be given their trust and that is what we did. Is that not a noble beginning to a nation? I granted Kyle Barren all the rights to establish laws, impose taxes and all other sovereign duties because he earned them."

Elwes went on to discuss the current threats," Rokkenjima talk of military action. We have twice experienced illegal attacks from Morelanders, no one said a thing. This is like a red flag to a bull, now every nation think we can be invaded and our children slaughtered. Rokkenjima seem to be the next to take a turn. We shall not bend to their pressure. We owe a debt of blood to the Principality following the Ebola outbreak and we also must defend our soil from invasion by a foreign empire. We sadly do not posses a modern expensive military, the Afolayans mismanaged our procurement for decades. To have Nya Aland considering to send aircraft to support us is reassuring. To then see Paracambi's Emperor send help lifted my heart. Next Tamora wish to speak and I am very excited to meet their foreign minister and see what they have to say. I shall look forward to extending our nations warm hospitality to them. Should the Alanders Riksdag send help we would humbly accept. To see possibly three nations stand shoulder to shoulder with us to defend a settlement of less than 5,000 people, none of whom have ever fired a weapon in anger at anyone or anything reaffirms my faith in Mundus after years of having them dashed. I send great greetings to Aland, Paracambi and Tamora, four nation standing against the might of a war crazy Empire."
 1. one of the four tribes that make up most of the population

Offline Dijel

  • Basically New Zealand
  • **
  • Posts: 175
  • Here we go again, baby!
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: The Republic of Kaedwen // The Commonwealth of Merina
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #20 on: July 27, 2018, 05:31:08 PM »

Inside the Kaedweni Crisis; Shocking Details Emerge


Shocking details have emerged today in the wake of a string of apparently coordinated insurgent attacks in Kaedwen, including allegations which - if confirmed to be true - could trigger a political scandal the likes of which the small Krimeon republic has never before seen.

According to leaked documents seen by Free Mundus Network journalists, Kaedweni security forces operating in the Yarra region - possibly among others - have engaged in a decades-long campaign of terror against the Djeragan people, the native inhabitants of the region who live largely segregated from the rest of Kaedweni society following a series of bitter conflicts fought between the Kaedweni Army and Djeragani freedom fighters in the twentieth century. This leak includes details of a campaign of kidnapping, intimidation and extra-judicial killings carried out by Kaedweni police and army units over the last two decades.

The Djeragan have long complained of poor treatment by the Kaedweni authorities, accusing them of imposing a state of 'soft segregation' through often refusing to grant official documentation to Djeragani individuals, many of whom live in dwellings the Kaedweni government considers to have been built illegally, preventing the Djeragan from moving out of their 'unofficial ghettos' due to often being unable to prove their identity or official residency status. These accusations are long-standing, and have long been denied by successive Kaedweni governments.

This latest leak, however, includes far more troubling details, including orders for named suspects to be taken 'dead or alive' ,guidelines on 'enhanced interrogation techniques' underwritten with the phrase 'NOT to be made public' and, perhaps most troublingly of all, a list of Djeragan detainees listed as 'liquidated'.

Along with the leaked documentation, which has yet to be verified, FMN's whistle-blower - who has asked not to be identified - included a call, in rather emotive language, for the international community to come to the aid of the Djeragan people and "bring the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice".

The Kaedweni government has so far declined to comment upon the validity or content of the leaks.

Offline Libby

  • Order Of The Pen
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,062
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lodja/Kaitaine
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #21 on: July 27, 2018, 11:07:10 PM »

TRUTHSAYERS TAKE FIGHT TO GEIDI


Following the taking of the city of Seitch and the declaration of the creation of the Theocracy of Free Kaitaine there have been many clashes between the Kaitaine Defence Force and the Bene Gesserit faiths paramilitary arm, which some nations have declared terrorists. The fight however today spread to the 2nd largest city of Kaitaine when a force of Truthsayers, supported by a force of irregular made up mainly of deserters from the KDF or male members of the faith willing to fight, took key parts of the city.

The strike came early in the morning and while a small almost commando like force were pushed back from the cities key council building a 2nd wave helped push through. There was a hastily deployed KDF response and for most of the day fierce street to street fighting took place which resulted in major casualties on both side. Our undercover reporter in Kaitaine was in the city and sent us this report.

"I was sat having breakfast when a large explosion from the council building filled the air, I'm two blocks away but I felt the pressure from it and thought my windows were going to break. Almost immediately I heard gunfire and so went up to my roof to take a look. I could just about make out that an exchange of small arms fire was taking place and that the police who provide security on the building were being heavily pinned down. It was only when vehicles and manpower from the KDF turned up that the situation quietened down. The loudspeakers throughout the city told people to stay inside but many people joined me up on the roof. We could see figures wearing matching camoflauge uniforms moving through the streets in a rather organised way and then we noticed they were all female and thus we deduced that they must be the Truthsayers. The 2nd wave attacked and the gunfire was even more intense and after about an hour during which there were spurts of fighting the KDF called tanks onto the streets. From where we were watching on the roof you could see some locals taking bottles of water and food to the Truthsayers before taking shelter again when the firing started up again. However once the tanks came onto the streets it was clear they wouldn't win and so they withdrew and disappeared off into the dusk.

I managed to then get onto the roof of the building a little way down the street that gave a view of the council building directly. It is covered in bullet holes and several vehicles were on fire. I saw many bodies on both sides, I would say maybe 30 Truthsayers and around 50 of the KDF, there was even a tank that looked like it had been damaged badly so the Truthsayers clearly had some heavier weaponary. A small group of Truthsayers were off to one side and as I watched on a KDF soldier went down the line of them and shot each in the back of the head, I'd say 22 of them at least. They had no other prisoners that I could see but then they went into two nearby appartment blocks and I began seeing them drag people out, they looked like they had nothing to do with the attack and I was rather surprised to see them being loaded into trucks in handcuffs and driven away. I since asked the Kaitaine government for an explanation and was told that I must have been mistaken about the handcuffs but that some of the homes were dangerous to live in now because of the Truthsayers planting explosives, what I had witnessed was in fact a health and safety evacuation. "

What is clear from our reporters statement is that the fighting in Kaitaine seems to now have spread beyond the desert region and if Geidi falls then the capital is just a two hour truck journey down the coast.

Offline DaveIronside

  • Roleplay Moderator
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,371
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: East Moreland / Royal Seleucid
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #22 on: August 26, 2018, 11:07:55 PM »

ACADEMICA: A YEAR ON FROM THE END OF CIVIL WAR


In early 2017 a three month long four way civil war ripped apart the nation of Academica in Alba Karinya. On the 23rd Apr 2017, a treaty was signed that brought about the end of the civil war which had seen the government forces of Academica faced with uprisings by religious extremists of Silverdale and the ambitious Alba Karinya Unification Movement (AKUM) of the West Elizabeth Province. Meanwhile the provinces of Midvale and North Elizabeth declared an intention to become independent but fought against the rebels in a kind of  loose coalition. As the fighting escalated and missile strikes by the West Elizabeth rebels were aimed at the wider Alba Karinya community the forces of the East Moreland military moved in to support government forces and where soon joined by forces from Vaguzia. In the treaty that was signed it placed the East Moreland military in charge of security for the devastated and now split nation. Originally some 3,000 Morelander troops were assigned to the security of the nation, in the coming months this was supplemented with around 100 from Heyra as a gesture of continental support. The treaty put in place gave East Moreland responsibility for establishing a constitutional process however the remnants of the religious extremists and the AKUM still mounted occassional attacks. In the last six months however following a string of raids by the East Moreland military the nation has become more peaceful with the last incident coming two months ago when a religious extremist fired a RPG at a checkpoint injuring two Legionnaires from East Moreland.

The nation of Academica now stands ready to begin its constitutional birth and recently East Moreland civil servants have been seen on patrols with Legionnaires talking to and questioning locals about their opinions. Several polls have been carried out in the last few weeks in preparation for the upcoming process which will be overseen by Princess Freya, the sister of King David of East Moreland who was named as Acting Governor of Academica. Early indication suggests that the people favour a form of federated government with each region given some semi autonomous powers however there was a sizeable group (28%) who wished to see the restoration of the Academican Monarchy which was removed in 1908. One supporter of this is former Major in the  Midvale Militia who said, "Academica has for over 100 years been un-unified in many ways, several nations that shared some commonality but became separate. Under a monarchy we would have something to bring us all together. I wouldn't favour an East Moreland model of monarchy but would instead favour something akin to the Dartfordian model." Meanwhile others suggest this was part of the problem during the civil war. One example of this is former Academican journalist John Meanfield who said, "We saw how the AKUM sought to build an Empire in our continent which centred around a single individual. A monarchy could see such a thing happen again." The move towards a monarchy also has a major problem as the former royal family was executed and any distant relative is unlikely to be welcomed.

Economically Academica is rebuilding, the nation relied heavily on its agricultural industries as well as high end manufacturing. Both these industries didn't suffer much damage during the war and have bounced back rather quickly. Trade deals with East Moreland and Vaguzia helped ensure markets for the various agricultural goods were still found, meanwhile companies such as OsmanTech had already established outposts in the nation. With a population of 6,500,000 Academica saw some 80,000 deaths during the civil war. Companies that did see a loss of workers presented opportunities globally and under Princess Freya companies were able to recruit from abroad and several younger Morelanders took up the opportunity. One was Rebecca Graves a 22 year old engineer. "I had actually served in the military here during the civil war and made friends with many Academicans who told me what life was like here before the war began. When my national service ended I needed a job and Academica needed some engineers for getting the water back on in some of the remote areas. I applied to stay and was accepted. At first things weren't perfect, the AKUM had attacked infastructure and of course there were still a few attacks but we get those back home in East Moreland. Back home however its hard to find a job that isn't rather basic at the beginning. The oppurtunities here meant I have a chance to move up the career ladder faster and so I'd have been a fool not to take it. Property prices are also lower here and I've been able to buy a nice city centre apartment for about 65% the cost of a similar place in Northfort. The day to day life here is actually getting pretty nice, we have a thriving social life with lots of nice new bars and restaurants opening as people see chances to invest at low prices and make a future for themselves."

It is likely however that the constitutional forming process will face its first hurdle over whether to include these new wave of foreign nationals. Records show that some 100,000 foreigners have moved to Academica since the civil war ended and many intend to make the nation their long term home. One East Moreland survey said that 63% of those who had arrived plan on staying in Academica for at least the next decade. The majority of these new wave of immigration are young, single individuals who see Academica as a nation that will be able to quickly rebuild and offer grand opportunities. Rasmus Olfsson, a 25 year old Alander who moved during the Uppsala crisis said, "I won't be going back to Nya Aland, I loved the place but Academica gave me a chance to set up a new business with a lot less money than it would back home. I now run a small car company and mechanics. There was so much competition back home and businesses already established it would take me years to get to where I am now. I've got plans to buy a 2nd office in the coming months so I think I should have a say in this new constitution. I'm creating jobs and chances for Academicans so I should be able to say what happens here."

Meanwhile the East Moreland Governor, Princess Freya who has been a frequent visitor to the nation has said, "We have no preference for how the constitution looks. My brother has always said the people should determine the future of their nation regardless of where it has been. We shall ensure a safe environment for the carrying out of the consultation and strive to ensure everyone's voice is heard. In the coming weeks we shall begin the process now that we believe that the streets are safe and the environment is fitting."

Offline Libby

  • Order Of The Pen
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,062
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lodja/Kaitaine
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #23 on: September 03, 2018, 09:25:20 PM »

BENE GESSERIT LEAFLET MAKES GAMES BATHROOMS


At hundreds of venues across Kaitaine copies of a leaflet supposedly written by the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood have been found in bathrooms. The leaflets were in a variety of different languages and pinned to toilet doors, placed on top of sistens or otherwise distributed. Copies were found by Free Mundus Network journalists in the main stadium, several cafes in the neighbourhood and even in the bar of our hotel in the capital of Arrakeen. The nation is hosting the 2018 Mundus Games and was a surprise choice as an armed conflict is going on in the West of the nation over 1000km away from where the Games are taking place, as such travel outside Arrakeen is being monitored by Kaitaine Defence Force members. The Bene Gesserit faith originated in Kaitaine and was banned by the Communists, however in recent months it was revealed that Bene Gesserit disadents had hidden themselves in Achkaerin, Ui Cenneslaig, Cantabria and what was Scordisci[1]establishing schools for training members of the Sisterhood, these Chapterhouses take girls aged between 4-18 to prepare to work within the faith. Meanwhile nations such as Kaitaine, Rokkenjima and East Moreland have labelled this group as terrorists following attempts to steal nuclear waste by some members.

We have reproduced the leaflet below but as of yet have recieved no comment from the Sisterhood, meanwhile the Kaitaine government described the leaflet as "the mad ramblings of drug taking witches with no grasp on reality."

Quote from: Truthsayer Leaflet

Dear Stranger

We are the Bene Gesserit faith, a religion that searchers actively for the answers to existance and aims to prepare us for dangers that lie ahead. We believe that no one set of religious teachings are fully accurate and thus see it as our duty to God/Gods to seek out knowledge to help us discover that truth. Our faith blossomed in Kaitaine and until the early 19th century pushed for ever greater academic study of a range of subjects. In all likelihood the science you learn at schools, the art you admire, the history you read will have in some way been influenced by our work. Clearly then we mean no harm. Yet the Kaitaine government of today view us as a threat. The reason for this is simple we wish to to give people knowledge and those with knowledge will see the failed experiment of Communism as exactly what it is, a failure. The great Communist might of the USR has collapsed, Aytomov has recently thrown the shakles of this parasite to one side, leaving Kaitaine as its last bastion, a cancer infecting the flesh of Mundus. We are the knife that will remove it from our flesh and lead Kaitaine back to being a beacon of knowledge, tolerence and greatness.

Many of you reading this will ask yourself what the Theocracy of Free Kaitaine will do once fully established within the boarders of modern Kaitaine. We shall now lay these out before you.

1. A complete dismantlement of the Communist system in favour of communal entrapeneurship.

2. The creation of a free education system that shall be the envy of Mundus.

3. The reinstation of the right to worship. We welcome all faiths, while we see them as not fully accurate we believe their are grains of truth in all religions and as such faiths must allow their followers to learn and explore all systems.

4. The re-establishment of the old clan systems.

5. The disaloution of the KDF and replacing it with a Truthsayer commanded military organistion.

6. The opening of Kaitaine to international trade.

7. A commitment to abide by the Uppsala Convention, MCUR, FSC and other key international legal documents.

8. The establishment of a Tribunal of Reconciliation to allow people who suffered under Communism to tell their stories and for those who regret their actions to admit them in a judgement free manner.

9. The establishment of a democratic constitution with the Bene Gesserit Reverned Mother as Head of State ensuring it is followed.

10. An end to repression of alternative political ideas.

You may be asking what you as a guest to Kaitaine can do to support our efforts. The answer is simple, take this leaflet home, post it to your government, start petitions to call for action against the socialist purges of our faith and most importantly educate yourself about our faith and realise we are not the threat McPherson tells you we are.

Thank You

Erin McGregor
Reverned Mother of the Bene Gesserit
Head of State for the Theocracy of Free Kaitaine

 1. Last two subject to change

Offline Markus

  • Roleplay Manager
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,337
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Samantra
Lurking in Zimalia: the Manist religion of Tamora
« Reply #24 on: September 09, 2018, 11:18:48 AM »


Lurking in Zimalia: the Manist religion of Tamora

Ever since the Head of Tamora ‘s Foreign Office has visited Zimalia, Tamoran activity has skyrocketed from basically zero to thousands of Tamorans residing in Zimalia almost overnight. Since Tamora has an atrocious record of human rights and even allows chattel slavery in the open with full government and moral sanctioning, we were naturally very concerned about their recent activity and have decided to investigate.

Our biggest concerns: kidnapping and slave trading proved to be unfound so far but we did uncover other disturbing activities. 

Tamorans business endeavors so far have focused mainly on two economic sectors: mining and agriculture. Since Tamora's economy is well developed in both those sectors that raised little suspicion at first. However, we notice a suspicious pattern, the agricultural companies from Tamora seemed to focus almost exclusively on poor, subsistence farming in areas owned by Afolayans, a tribe that is often the scapegoat  for all of Zimalia's problems, with the current president often criticizing the whole tribe for the perceived mistakes of its leaders.

While there's nothing wrong with focusing on substance farming, it was strange for those companies seeking profit to focus on a sector that can yield little profits while ignoring the larger, more developed farms in Zimalia. And us focusing  on this paid off , it seems the poor farmers were offered contracts with various clauses that could bankrupt them if they couldn't meet certain quotas of production and other aspects. Naturally, some of them, for various reasons, couldn't meet the quotas and had to pay crippling penalties which put them in the situation of either selling the land to the Tamoran companies or going bankrupt and having the government take their land.


As was expected, the farmers avoided at all costs to sell the land to the companies that essentially bankrupted them and they went through the bankruptcy process. However, the Zimalian government instead of taking their side and helping them, they seized all their land and sold it off to tribes that were more loyal to the president, government cronies and other individuals. 
As farmers began to realize that there will be little hope for them with their government, some of them began to sell the land to the Tamoran companies rather than go through the bankruptcy process. All land that was bought by the companies was immediately resold to the newly founded Manist  Association of Zimalia(MAZ). A religious association that coordinates all Manist activity in Zimalia. For those who do not know, Manism is the native religion of Tamora, an ultra conservative religion known for, among other, for the acceptance of slavery.

MAZ bought all the land they could that used to be owned by Afolayans and allowed the former owners to use the land as they did before for a fee , usually around 20% total agricultural output. At first the deal seemed generous but that was only at the beginning. MAZ assigned a Manist Imam to each village where MAZ had land. The Imams then used the land as a means to control people by instituting a reward and penalty system for everything the villagers (whose land now MAZ owned) did. Here are some examples:
 
•   Send the children to Manist school is rewarded.
•   Refuse to have the children vaccinated  (free of charge by the Manist) is penalized
•   Miss temple services get penalized.
•   Pray in public(according to the prescripts of Manism) get rewarded.
•   All women of the family wear the hijab- rewarded

The rewards range from paying less agricultural output for using the land and even getting more land to operate while penalties are exactly the opposite: you pay more to use your land and even lose some of the land which is then given to those that  "behave" and "follow" the rules.

For those that prove exceptional in following the rules, the Imam provides them with basic agricultural equipment which is still owned the by MAZ but allowed to be used for a fee.


If that wasn't bad enough, the Manist also indoctrinate children in the village schools. While it's true they provide adequate conditions and education (considering the poor condition of Zimalian villages) it is the religious studies that are most worrying. While all religions can be argued that indoctrinate children, the Manists take it to a whole different level, not only do they try to induce children the idea that they are Manist/Tamoran (those terms are often used by their Imans interchangeably though they mean different things) and do whatever possible to eraise their cultural identity but also turn the kids against their parents by encouraging children to denounce their parents and other adults if they don't follow the rules (always wear the hijab etc). Children are encouraged during their Manist teaching studies (which is an hour every day) to tell their teacher if any adults broke the rules and are rewarded for reporting adults. This insidious system of perverse incentives creates a constant culture of fear among the population of the villages as anyone can be seen by children and reported if they don't follow the rules. 

One other thing MAZ is doing is Zimalia is work closely with Zimalian Union of Labour and, we suspect pay them, to get them in touch with various destitute people that are desperate for a home. MAZ gets those people in these Afolayan villages where MAZ owns the land and provides them with a home there. Because these people have no connection to the villagers they are more inclined to follow the system put in place. So the newcomers inadvertently put pressure on the villagers to follow the rules or otherwise the newcomers will be rewarded with (what used to be) their land.

Any villagers who refuse to follow the system are given notice that they will evicted from their lands since legally they no longer own that land. There have been cases where MAZ has evicted farmers from what it used to be their lands and redistribute the land to the remaning villagers that follow the system and the newcomers to the villages. Without any means to provide for their families and with no government support because they are Afolayan, the families had to return and ask to be received back which MAZ agreed but moved them to a different village.

In the spirit of objectivity, we would like to note that there were also positive aspects to be found beneath the malign influence of MAZ. Among these we count:

•   drastic reduction in malnutrition.
•   access to medical care: basic care is provided in a newly set up clinic that deals with cases form all villages under the influence of MAZ, more advance care is provided at the Tamoran embassy in the capital of Zimalia which has been renovated to include medical facilities. The more serious cases have been treated in Tamora.
•   there is a genuine effort to provide children with basic education (though the negative aspects mentioned above remain).
•   access to medicine is provided by MAZ (though the dubious reward system is applied to have access to them in all but the most serious of conditions).
•   there is a slow but concentrated effort to get the economy of the villages going: basic aquiculture equipment is provided by MAZ as are livestock, some investments in roads have been made but generally only to connect MAZ villages together. Building materials have been provided to improve housing condition but access to it is conditioned by respecting the dubious reward system presented above.
 
We have also found the following patterns but we have yet to determine the reasons why:

•   Tamoran influence in rural villages and the MAZ "system" is only applied in Afolayan villages. Farmers from other tribes when faced with issues in delinquent payments are generally given a pass by having their payments rescheduled.
•   there seems to be a concentrated effort from MAZ to uproot the villagers under their influence from their tribe and clans by encouraging to limit contact with the other Afolayans, imposing the Manist traditions and the rewards system on them and teaching their children they have a different identity.
•   MAZ has started a peculiar campaign called "one million letters of thanks" for the Zimalian President where villagers and generally people that have been helped by MAZ are encouraged to write to the president and thank him (for being such a great president). We believe this is the early stage of building a personality cult for the current Zimalian president but we have yet to determine why MAZ is doing this. 

We will keep you informed as the story progresses but in the next episode we will show you the malign influence that Tamora has on public workers in the Zimalian capital.


Offline Markus

  • Roleplay Manager
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,337
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Samantra
Lurking in Zimalia: the Manist religion of Tamora part II
« Reply #25 on: September 09, 2018, 08:21:30 PM »


Lurking in Zimalia: the Manist religion of Tamora part II (ZUL & public employees)


After previously presenting the impact Tamora has had in the rural areas of Zimalia, we set out to see exactly how they operate in the mining sector. Now before we proceed further we would like to inform our viewers that Zimalia isn't known for its transparent decision making process or its corruption free public employees, so what we'll present further isn't meant to suggest that Tamora has introduced corruption in Zimalia but merely that it has taken advantage of it and in some cases taken it further than others have.

With that being said, in Zimalia little gets done if you don't bribe public servants so we needn't do a report on that since almost all foreign businesses have to conform to this system or lose their licenses to operate in Zimalia. Where Tamora is working differently is in relation with the Zimalian Union of Labour (ZUL). They are the right hand of the president of Zimalia and all companies have to have a certain (high) percentage of workers from them. Unsurprisingly, it's usually the best paid jobs despite the fact they are poorly skilled.
So when we investigated Tamoran mining companies doing business here we saw no members of ZUL going to work at these companies. Such a breach of "protocol" would have severely displeased ZUL and they wouldn't allow the companies to operate. Nevertheless, we decided to ask ZUL about this aspect and got a short reply in writing saying the Tamoran companies are compliant with the demands of the law which was something we didn't expect. We expected to be informed that they somehow had an exemption (no doubt bought though bribery) or a delay in implementing the requirement (again bought) but not that they are fully compliant.

After much effort we managed to get the payroll list of one Tamoran company doing business in Zimalia and part of the mystery was explained. They did have ZUL workers on the payroll but only on paper as they never showed up. However, what was strange was that the positions filled by ZUL employees were lower paid than the other Zimalians (which weren't members of ZUL and had to actually work) on the payroll. That was something which was hard to believe ZUL would accept even if it meant their people stayed home doing nothing and still get paid a decent (though below average) wage. For those that don't know, trust me you don't want to know how jealous ZUL guards its privileges. If something like this would be allowed by them then all other foreign companies would do it. It had to be something more and so we continued digging. We got the payroll of several other Tamoran companies working in Zimalia and things started to make sense. The other companies were employing the same ZUL employees in their companies, so while they were paid less from one company they did get on average three paychecks from three different companies all while never working even an hour a week.
If things would have stopped here it might not have been so unusual, but further investigations revealed that some of the ZUL workers that appeared on the payroll were beginning to attend Manist services at the newly built temple in the capital. Knowing the methods employed by MAZ (Manist Association of ZImalia) in the rural areas we suspected there was more to it than a conversion of the heart or sense a gratitude for being overpaid for doing nothing.

So further investigations revealed that the ZUL employees attending religious services at the Manist temple each made weekly visits to Tamora staying 3-4 days on average and then returning. Such a love of travel to Tamora was more than suspicious and we had one of our reporters follow one such Zimalian to Tamora. What we have found was unexpected to say the least. It would appear the man had a very young Tamoran wife in Tamora. That's even though he was married and had kids in Zimalia. Further investigations concluded that around 5-10% of Zimalians members of ZUL on the payroll of Tamoran companies all had new families in Tamora and were living basically double lives. We found strange that Tamorans and especially Manists ones which are very protective of their women (even though they don't consider them equal to men) would allow such quick marriages to take place with individuals which most likely weren't entirely convinced of "the word of the Prophet". Marriages in Tamora are arranged by the parents of both families after careful considerations and negations which seemed very unlucky to have occurred in these cases. It didn't take long to find out that the women were ex slaves (most likely working at the brothels) which were freed on the express condition they would have to marry the Zimalians. We were unable to find out who made this arrangements and who paid for the release of the women as that wasn't the purpose of the investigation. It is ironic how perhaps Zimalia inadvertently managed to free more slaves than the embargo of Lodja and Paracambi did.   

Further investigating the Tamoran activity revealed how they discreetly provided benefits for key public employees in the Zimalian capital. While no doubt they paid the "standard" bribes all foreign companies are expected to pay, the Tamorans used the newly "converted" ZUL employees to further "grease" the families of the public employees by providing cars to be "borrowed" by  wives or paying their rent etc. They thus created what we estimate is the beginning of a vast circle of bribery.


The Tamoran corporate culture


Seeing how they operate in the rural areas we decided to see how Tamorans companies treat their employees (the one that don't have the backing of ZUL and actually have to work). After a careful analysis of the payroll list we managed to get access, we found the following aspects:   

•   all employees were over 30 years of age, with most being even over 40. All of them had families with at least two children.
•   few had relevant working experience, most would seem they were desperate to work because they were working very poorly paid jobs barely managing to feed their families.
•   wages seemed to be some 10-15% higher than the Zimalian average, which is nothing unusual since most foreign companies tend to pay better what was unusual was that these wages were higher despite the fact they had few relevant work experience.

After the modus operandi we seen the rural areas we decided to investigate to see exactly what the Tamoran "corporate culture" is all about. After a couple of weeks of monitoring we reached the following conclusions:

•   the real working week had 45 hours, 10 hours a day (of which one hour break). We understand that's the standard in Tamora but we are not sure.
•   the Tamorans offered extensive training to get the Zimalians they hired up to standards. We estimate that had a detrimental effect on the speed of which they managed to get their mining operations going.
•   the safety standards were adequate, care was taken for the safety of the workers though protection equipment was somewhat lacking.
•   overtime was paid but at the normal rate even for work on Saturdays. Working on Sunday was done only in emergencies and then employees were paid double. We understand that is because Sundays are meant for Temple service in Tamora.
•   when work accidents happened employees were taken care well above what was required by legislation(we have documented a serious case were one employee lost his hand, he was taken to the best available hospital in Zimalia, which no doubt implied paying bribes, and later had a prosthesis done in Tamora, he returned to work but on a different, less risky position).
•   the work contracts signed by employees had no shady clauses, employees were free to leave the company (though few did).

As expected we also found Manist influence deeply ingrained the companies:

•   employees that converted to Manism were provided free education for their children (at the Tamoran embassy) at conditions far better than those of public schools in Zimalia and were also given free meals (which is a great benefit in Zimalia). Unsurprising, the school put a heavy emphasis on the Manist religion.
•   some the wives of the employees that converted were hired by the embassy, the Manist temple and there are even reports that some have found low government job no doubt through the network of "friends" mentioned above. 
•   the families of the converted employees were provided with (we assume) free medicine and  various aid (clothing etc). Furthermore, through the newly established connections with public employees, the families also enjoyed small "benefits": had various paper work processed faster etc
•   the break hour at work was used for both eating but also praying, all Tamoran employees (which all had management or supervisory positions) had collective prayers. It's clear that was also meant to pressure Zimalians employees to convert.
•   its seems that employees that converted and somehow did not respect the Manist rules were fired though no further actions against them was taken.

Tamoran activity also seems to focus on "convincing" the members of the Zimalian tribal council to pass a law that would allow imports of Tamoran goods tariff free. Seeing how Tamorans have operated so far, there is little doubt they will succeed if nothing is done to stop them.
We believe the Tamoran influence is Zimalia is more malign than of other foreign countries as they seems to be establishing a network that mixes financial incentives, bribes, personal desires, religion and corruption which will be very hard to disestablish and to allow Zimalia to become a functional democracy with respect for human rights. 

Offline Libby

  • Order Of The Pen
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,062
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lodja/Kaitaine
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #26 on: September 11, 2018, 10:43:31 AM »
[/img]


A CONCUBINE SPEAKS ABOUT "EUGENICS"

The Bene Gesserit faith is perhaps unique in that it views females as both possessing great power such as being the only ones able to harness the alleged magical properties of a sacred spice, while at the same time making them almost subservient to men by "assigning" them as concubines for the sole purpose of procreation. As the faith which has been in hiding for several hundred years being to reammerge on the global scheme much is being revealed about its inner workings as the new Reverned Mother, a 19 year old selected by the Sisterhood because of her ability to recite the final words of her predecessor, despite being outside the death chamber, permits access to the four Chapterhouse Schools which make up the faiths leadership. In a recent press release by the Rosari faith regarding the Heyran IVF programme and the Bene Gesserit interest in it was said "The silence of our Catholic contemporaries is stunning as the Heyran Republic, and now the Benne Gesserit, openly discuss what are increasingly inching toward babies by design. Children created outside of love, some doomed to the rolls of a corporate entity which sees them as mere assets, the consequences for these aberrations from nature are certain. I fear for the lives these children shall lead, but fear even more for those who may inevitably be declared flawed by those managing these programs." This marks the first real public criticms of the Bene Gesserit's sometimes controversial stance on procreation. We were given unique access to Chapterhouse to speak to a 23 year old named Niveden who is an Honored Matres to one of the faiths most influential individuals, Duke Niklaus Corrino.

Niveden was born in Kaitaine, a nation the Bene Gesserit see as their rightful home and where they now control an estimated 15% of the territory and have declared it the Free Theocracy of Kaitaine something many see as simply a symbolic gesture. At just 6 months of age her parents smuggled her out of Kaitaine with the help of the Sisterhoods paramilitary wing known as the Truthsayers, her father died in the escape and upon reaching Ui Cenneslaig her mother handed her over to the Sisterhood for training before returning to fight as a Truthsayer. Niveden discovered that her mother was captured and executed by the Soviet government of Kaitaine when she was just six years old. She was educated at the highly academically respected Cliath Chapterhouse however as students progress they are streamed in terms of roles they will fulfil in the future, the most academically gifted become Missionara Protectica and become responsible for overseeing the academic and scholarly role of the faith, often supporting the faiths ever changing nature through research. The most spiritual become Mothers, responsible for guiding the faithful along the paths they believe the faith should adopt and interpreting the meaning of visions allegedly brought on by the spice Melange. The most physically strong become Truthsayers, a paramilitary force that has been discovered to have been active in insurgent operations in Kaitaine for the last 50 years, and have been classed as terrorist by some after members of the organisation where killed attempting to remove nuclear waste from East Moreland. Finally those who fulfil neither the three criteria become Honored Matres, destined to become what some may call "Breeding Stock" and surrogate mothers. It was an Honored Matres who brought up Niveden once she was handed over to the Sisterhood and is a role that today she is proud to fulfil.

"An Honored Matres is a vital role in our society. It is believed that a supreme being will be born if only we can create the perfect conditions. As such the faith seek to better mankind, we learn about science, the environment and try to help improve it. We try and better ourselves physically and mentally. We seek to try and raise people out of poverty through education and other good deeds. Ensuring we create strong bloodlines is just as important. This is not done by accident, the Missionara screen our family backgrounds, take account of our personalities. These are then used to match us with a male who will add something to our bloodlines. I was fortunate enough to be paired almost perfectly with Niklaus Corrino, a man the faith believes is full of strong characteristics the Kwizach Hadrach would have, it is therefore beneficial for him to produce a large number of offspring. Now if we had moved back hundreds of years ago he would have been a regular visitor to Chapterhouse where a succession of willing concubines would have been brought to his bed chamber for him to impregnate. That practice, thankfully, has stopped as the faith realised that the most suitable place for a child to grow was in a loving home. Many of us Honored Matres do not bare the name wife but essentially that is what we are like, Niklaus has his actual wife and two concubines, between the four of us we create a fantastic family home for the five children he has produced. If we did not follow this lifestyle he would have had less children and his wife Agatha would perhaps be unhealthy due to raising so many children, instead we share the load and help bring well rounded, cared for children into the world."

This is a process many call Eugenics, a set of beliefs and practice that aims at improving the genetic quality of a human being, and in that regard what the Bene Gesserit seek to achieve is eugenics however they would argue that it makes common sense as Niveden explains, "Estiamtes are that around 35% of marriages in Ui Cenneslaig end in divorce. This figure is reduced down to 3% for the Bene Gesserit. The reason for this is the careful matching process by the Missionara Protectiva, as a result Bene Gesserit families are far more stable meaning children don't suffer the hardship of seeing their family fall apart. Furthemore the fact we have larger extended families means children have a far better support network than non-Bene Gesserit children. While what we are doing may have a purpose of creating the Kwiazch Hadrach we as a by-product create strong and stable families full of love. This is something that the Heyran experiment is missing and rest assured however it is done by our faith that element will remain as it is a vital part of our heritage to create large, strong and stable family groups. It is a throwback to our ancient history where family groups wandered the desert and there was safety in numbers."

It is estimated there are currently around 600 girls aged between 10-18 studying at Chaperthouses across Mundus assigned to the role of the Honored Matres, a role that once assigned can not be switched from however a girl may refuse a match as Niveden explains, "As a 17 year old girl I was delighted to hear I would be assigned to Niklaus, the man was very handsome, very rich, very powerful and highly respected in our faith. Yes I was doing my sacred duty in pairing with him but I could have walked away at any time. Those Honored Matres who do refuse matches are given roles acting as what I suppose you'd call nannies and mentors to girls living at Chapterhouses, or in some cases they leave the Sisterhoods official roles and venture out into the wider world. I know some of my classmates who took the skills we were taught and are now nurses and widwives. Regardless of the role you end up in Chapterhouse realise not everyone can serve the Sisterhood directly so we are prepared and equipped for life outside the system. This isn't some kind of forced arrangement its an act of service and love." The Sisterhood estimate that it currently has around 1,000 women placed as concubines globally having given birth to some 3,500 children. We were informed during our visit that 32 pairings had been approved for the year with ceremonies usually taking place in late September at a time known as the Spice Harvest.

One of those 32 is Madeline O'Leary, a 17 year old from Claith whose parents were part of the Bene Gesserit diaspora she will be joining with a young man called Steven Brayfield, a 22 year old distant relation of the Corrino family. "I had been introduced to Steven on several occasions and was given the chance to question him along with an older Honored Matres, he seems a very kind and caring man. He already has a two year old daughter who seems very sweet and I can't wait to join his family."

Some would argue the girls have been indoctrinated into this almost romantic vision of their futures however what we gathered from our visit is that they are 100% commited to the role they believe has been entrusted to them by a higher force.

Offline Markus

  • Roleplay Manager
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,337
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Samantra
Explaining what has happened in Tamora the last 24 hours
« Reply #27 on: September 17, 2018, 06:34:45 AM »


Explaining what has happened in Tamora the last 24 hours


These days we have seen a series of peculiar ceremonies in Tamora that made many wonder what has happened in Tamora, with some conspiracy theorists even  claiming that a coup the d'état has taken place. Unfortunately, those looking for thrills or even those hoping for reforms in the nation infamous for having almost 38 million slaves are to be disappointed. The Emperor is still in control and him delegating his powers while he is abroad is genuine Tamoran tradition. Furthermore, the delegation of power is real with the Fist Wife now having the right to make decisions and issue decrees in his name. The tradition comes from a time when communication was difficult and took a long time, and in a nation that is so reluctant to shed away needless customs and traditions it is not so unusual it survived. For the rest of Mundus it makes little sense but for Tamorans that view everything outside their borders with suspicion and distrust it makes sense to be nervous whenever their Emperor leaves the country. That and the fact he rarely leaves the Imperial Palace let alone travel abroad explains why the tradition has survived until this day.

The real news was the decision of their religious leader to give Alya, the Emperor's first wife, the title Mother of the Nation. That title which to my knowledge has no equivalent in other Mundus countries is hard to describe and define for non Tamorans . It is a symbolic title, extremely rare ( has only been given to three other women in Tamoran history) and yields huge power because of that respect. Now readers of the article would be excused if they are in disbelief that in a country that women have an inferior status to men prescribed not only in religion but also in law and where some women are tagged and tracked by their husbands or fathers, that they can actually command power and enjoy huge respect . The system they are born in is rigged against them but that doesn't mean Tamoran women, like other Mundus women, don't have aspirations, and manage to overcome the hurdles against them. So when I say women in Tamora have power it is not intended to diminish the harm the system they are born in doest to them but to appreciate the skill and determination it takes for women to achieve that power. With that being said, they have carved a niche for them: they are overwhelming of judges in Tamora and after they no longer are able to bear children are generally allowed to pursue carriers. But perhaps the best explanation for why women do have power in Tamora is that Tamoran society was and still is very hierarchical. Tamorans shun equality, in their hierarchical system any noble woman, no matter how low the rank, is of higher status and respect than that of free man.

Returning to the title of Mother of Nation, many would wonder how can a symbolic title have any real power. In order to explain that readers need to look at this picture which has been trending in Tamora's social media. In other Mundus countries perhaps it would be nothing special but in Tamora where the Emperor is feared and one cannot go nowhere near him, and the nobles almost never even interact with regular citizens,  it is rare for Tamorans to get so close to a noble let alone the First wife of the Emperor. Furthermore, Tamorans tend to be formal people and rarely feel the need to get so close to the higher ups of the ruling class. However, it seems that Tamorans, especially the ultra conservative ones and women,  genuine like her and feel comfortable around her. With the new title they bestowed upon Alya, the Manist Church basically tells the Tamorans people that she is a champion of the Church and it is okay to show public support for her. With such a backing from the Church and the support of the Tamoran people behind her she can achieve a lot in Tamora. Any Tamoran business will listen to what she has to say since she needs only to look funny at one of them and the people might stop buying their products. Also, since the title has been given by the Manist Church, its imams will also listed to her word, and in a country where the churches own the schools, hospitals and even a large part of the press such influence will give her significant power.
Some might wonder if Alya has any ambitions of her own but one needs only look at her close friend Musaevna , one of the most influential and ambitions women in Tamora, and see that's it's unlikely she will be the kind of person that will shy away from using her new title at the full potential.

Offline Markus

  • Roleplay Manager
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,337
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Samantra
Going where no non-Tamoran has gone before: into the SF universe of Tamora
« Reply #28 on: September 29, 2018, 11:43:20 PM »


Going where no non-Tamoran has gone before: into the SF universe of Tamora


Tamora has made headlines recently as nations have sanctioned the country for their  continual use of chattel slavery. Other journalists have presented the issue far better than I could so I won't linger on that.
What I wanted to see was how Tamorans, and especially Tamoran writers deal with SF. I always believed that if you look at SF you can tell a little about what the aspirations of people are or at least on how they imagine things will work out for their country. So I took on the mammoth task of reading no less than twenty novels all written by Tamoran writers. I devoured these books in the hope that i could get a sense of how Tamorans think. before I tell you what I found, let me tell you that most of the books were written between mid 60s and late 90s. Only a couple of books were from the early 2000s so they don't factor in the recent geopolitical changes. Also, these are some of the most popular SF books in Tamora, so there might be a lot of more obscure writers out there for which my observations will be totally inexact. Now before you ask why I didn't look also read the more obscure ones let me tell you this: good luck finding an obscure SF novel translated from Parthian to any of the major Mundus language. Furthermore, I do not claim that my twenty novels are a relevant sample or that my noble effort is in anyway a scientific study. So without further ado here is what I found:   
 
•   Tamorans read and write quite a lot, they have a very healthy book market. You might not believe that considering the literacy rate in Tamora is 89% but it's true. It's also a sad fact that most of those unable to read or write are slaves but I won't get into that.
•   Tamorans, at least when it comes to the SF genre, love space opera and long novels. The level of detail in their novel is staggering, they describe in minutia how the ship crew is organized, how they eat, when and how they pray, what holiday they take, how many family members they have and what they talk about with their relatives back home, what they teach their children in schools, how they sleep, how their elevators work etc.
•   Religion is everywhere in their books. None of the novel I read ever pictured a secular Tamoran society or at least something more akin to moving towards religious indifference. On the contrary, even though the action takes place in the 25th or even 31th century: almost all their women always wear the hijab (worry not, those that don't wear it do it because they are of other faiths not because they are atheist), crewmen pray daily, the officers often go in religious pilgrimages while on vacation, Tamoran starports are sometimes closed because there is a major religious holiday, starship captains often quote from the Book of Mani (their Prophet) or the Supreme Ayatollah (some old guy they have a lot of reverence for), all public hallways of ships are decorated with religious icons or portraits of their Prophet and Alya (some major religious figure), imams are everywhere (no really, everywhere, in two of the novels imams are starship captains!!!), small orbital Manist temples (cause why pray on ships or the planet surface when you can have a whole orbital station designed especially for praying?) and many more things. There have been no "miracles" described in their novels, so at least there was that.
•   As you can probably guess by now, they don't imagine the future as humanity being united under one government. On the contrary, the Empire of Tamora always remains entirely sovereign (and usually much expanded than present day Tamora). It's more like nations states in space. When most of humanity is united, it is usually because it is in conflict with Tamora and they stand alone against the rest of world. 
•   Tamora of the future is never presented as being the most technologically advanced, the richest or having the best ships. Furthermore, while their major villains (from various foreign countries) have exceptional qualities, their main heroes tend to be average and are often beaten (and die) when they first meet their enemies in battle. Also, the more villainous a nation the more its government and society changed from how it looked at the time when the novel was written.
•   The social mores of Tamorans remained unchanged: they still shun alcohol (though not ban it), modest dressing is strictly adhered to, men and women never touch in public even if married, the same siege mentality remains prevalent, public display of religion is everywhere from speech to clothing and buildings, women play a secondary role and are mainly housewifes, polygamy is still practiced, the (space) forces are male only (with one exception, there was a novel written by a woman where women did serve but it was on segregated ships/service), some shops/facilities are segregated by sex etc.
•   The biggest disappointment for me was the complete absence of any sign that slavery was abolished in their novels. Not only that but in the few cases where reforms were undertaken to give slaves more rights it was presented as a big mistake, treason, sedition or even heresy ( I kid you not) and it always lead to bad things: a slave rebellion, the discovery that it was a foreign conspiracy (of course) meant to destabilize the empire etc. 
•   The fact they continue to portray Tamora as having slavery has lead to some unusual outcomes: they always present Tamora as rejecting cybernetics or androids and instead relying on slave labor.
•   The most interesting and funny aspects of the books is how they portrait the main countries of Mundus in the future. Please note that the books are written between the 60s-early 2000s so they don't factor in the recent geopolitical changes.

   USR: is often presented as the main antagonist, the Godless communists that have conquered much of Mundus and are attacking Tamora.
   Holy Empire of Achkaerin: is sometimes presented as the informal rulers of Mundus( expect for Tamora, of course) after having turned in vassals almost all the other countries. Other times, the Holy Empire leads the free world in war against the USR while Tamora stands aside.
   The Ecclesiastical State: it is often presented as a rival to Tamora that on the surface seems to have all the advantages: bigger population (usually the Christian countries are presented as being annexed by ES), more technologically advanced and a much larger economy. Usually the two countries are presented as having a long history of war, with the ES launching crusades  against Tamora and in return Tamora launching Jihad against the ES. The epic struggles often ends in stalemate or with Tamora making some gains. Usually, Tamora manages to defeat the ES through determination (they are able to withstand centuries of war while the ES population becomes exhausted from the constant struggle, Tamorans are also presented as using kamikaze tactics and somehow those work), conversion (almost always ES is presented as a religious state on the outside but weak in faith on the inside), higher birthrate that can withstand huge numbers of casualties. The ES is never presented as leading Mundus and is always seen as a theocracy under the rule of the Pope. Presumably, Tamora cannot stand to see ES expanding too much in Mundus and it always lead to space war. 
   Lodja: either disintegrates and is absorbed by various other countries or plays a major role in controlling many countries and even most of Mundus through scheming and unorthodox means (usually involving sex). 
   Royal Seleucid: is always seen as a successful and prosperous Empire that returns to its roots and reintroduces slavery. They are sometimes presented as competitors to Tamora, other times as allies and in a  few cases they are conquered and becomes the seventh kingdom of Tamora.
   East Moreland: almost always ends up under Borelander control. Usually is because the Cultists from Royal Seleucid return to East Moreland and "take back" their country (boy did they get it wrong with this one).
   Heyra: is abandoned and its people are presented as poor refugees seeking a place of their own all over Mundus and other planets. Sometimes they are presented as mercenaries willing to fight for anyone (even aliens) because they lack a homeland of their own (another terrible miss it would seem).
   Rokkenjima: generally ends up controlled by androids or computers, giving away their humanity for technological gain. 
   Quintelia: is generally presented in a positive light (as in not shown as a villainous nation ), is often compared to Tamora and seen as falling short because of their Catholicism which makes them less religious and weak. In the novels where ES is the main antagonist, Quintelia is part of the ES theocracy and Quientelians are among the most susceptible to conversion to Manism (the religion of Tamora). In the novels where ES is not the main antagonist it is sometimes presented as a nation that stays in the shadow of ES or other great powers only to show its true strength in the final battle where it tilts the balance of victory towards the Free World against USR. 

Spoiler: illustrations from their novels • show


An Ecclesiastical fleet on its way to a Tamoran planet:




Some highly advanced Achkaerin starships:




The Lodjan ships are presented as being deceitfully large in order to scare enemies. The Lodjans also tend to take great care when designing the way their ships look:




The dreaded Seleucid ship and a symbol of Seleucid power over the Iwi and other small nations:




Morelander ships feeling Mundus after the Borelanders took "back" control of their country:




A Heyran ship in a hopeless battle with a Rokkenjiman Cube ship:




Quentellian ships coming to the help of the Free Wold in their battle against the USR (Tamora does not join the war):





So what did I get from reading all these novels other than a lot mediocre space opera? The sense that Tamorans are engrained in their religion and their mores and that there is little desire for change in their population.  As I said before, I do not claim this was a scientific study and I hope I am wrong in my assessment.

Offline Paracambi

  • Order Of The Pen
  • Basically New Zealand
  • **
  • Posts: 207
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Paracambi
Re: Free Mundus
« Reply #29 on: October 05, 2018, 10:20:32 PM »




THE SERVANTS OF THE SPIRITS: PARACAMBI VODOU

Over the last 48 hours the native religion of Paracambi has found international recogniition following the Papa Legba's Army (PLA) claiming to have started a conquest of Albion in the name of their faith. The Vodou faith is native to Paracambi and has spread little beyond the borders of the mainland and island provinces meaning that the PLA's declaration has taken many by surprise. The faith is one that many Paracambians find to be rather misunderstood as Vodou Priestess (known as a Mambos) Nava Waters explained, "In films and on TV you see Vodou as sacrificing people, using dolls to commit evil and believing in Zombies. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes we believe in magic and the ability to commune with the spirits but we do not believe we can use them for evil." The faith broadly speaking believes that an unreachable great creator is in control of the universe and everything in it, however he is served by a series of spirits known as Loa, Papa Legba being one of these. The faithful believe that each person spiritually belongs to one of 24 families of Loa and direct their practices towards them. Papa Legba acts as a spirt of the crossroads, helping people make vital decisions about where to go in life and actions to take, he is also seen as a warrior and thus seems to be the reason he has been adopted by these religious extremists.

The faith believes that during rituals spirits of ancestors or the Loa can speak through the faithful as directed by the Priests (Houngans) and Priestesses (Mambos) and that once given offerings they can convey blessings and protection upon those asking. It is not uncommon for rituals to take place in the open air and involve singing, often competative as the faithful of different Loa disagree on the manner of which songs should be sung. For example those who follow the Loa called  Ogou Feray (known as the God of Iron) choose to sing songs at a fast tempo, while those of Damballa Webo (known as the Sky Father) prefer to song slowly with their heads lifted up towards the skies.  I was invited to attend one such gathering and it was strange to see a Houngan begin a song and then various parts of the room begin their own interpretation. To the untrained ear it sounds nothing more than a cacophany of noise, but infact it is almost like a friendly competition between the parts. Following the ritual singing and dancing those of all Loa's eat and drink together and await the moments when the spirit world meet with their own. It was strange to see at one point a young teenage girl suddenly go white eyed and speak in a deep voice, much deeper than her own, she recited a family history of someone else in the room before passing a blessing, apparently brought from some distant aunt of the family. Whether this was true channelling of the a spirit, a communal religious trance or just the rum it is hard to say but as one after another channelled spirits it was clear the faith was one of love and respect for the family.

I asked Mambos Navas Waters about the reason the faith has been caught up in the misconception of human sacrifice having seen the warmth they showed their fellow human beings during worship. "It comes from the fact that we do sacrifice animals occasionally, a select few of the Loa need to have their spiritual power refreshed by the consumption of animals spirits, as such we three or four times a year sacrifice goats, sheep or cows, the death of the animal is not the important part but the community coming together to sing and dance to help the creatures spirit leave in peace and join with the Loa refreshing their power and keeping the world safe. The animal is not wasted, after the ceremony its meat is harvested and we give it to the poor by way of providing free meals for the homeless, or in some cases the community comes together to share a meal. This is the key to our faith, a community doing its best to share with each other the best we can." We then asked the Mambos about the connection with "Black Magic" that was alleged by some faiths, noticeably Christianity to be Devil Worship. Navas stated, "This is like with any faith, you get bad eggs, there are those Mambos and Houngans that try and channel spirits that they shouldn't, those of the evil in order to try and do there bidding. There are also those out their who believe it is possible to use their powers to connect with the spirit world to weaken the souls of others for their ill gains. This is obviously an unwanted stain on our faith and has shaped the media perception of us over the last few decades I believe. Show me a faith without a black mark against its name and I'll be amazed."

We then turned our converation to the PLA, "The PLA do not speak for the Vodou faith, we have no central religious figure, yes some Houngans and Mambos gain great reputations by their deeds, and the Emperor of Paracambi can trace his family line back to great practioners which means he is seen as an important voice in the faith but his words carry no more authority than mine. The fact he is possibly the most powerful Vodou practioner in the world will obviously make him a figure these idiots feel they can muster behind and hope he will protect the faith, just as he has tried to do so by ensuring the faith remains the centre of life in Paracambi, alongside our other native faith Rastafarianism. Yes it has made our homeland more conservative than I would like but it has held us in good shape. I think the PLA are simply a force of bad magic, trying to turn us away from the true Loa. They should be stopped at every turn and I am sure that Papa Legba will punish them very soon."

It was a sentiment shared by many at the religious meeting I witnessed, most very keen to point out the true nature of Vodou was about connecting with the spirit world to help act as a guide in this. They emphassised community and tha only through ensuring your community is strong will you please the Loa and thus gain their blessings, however in the younger members of the Vodou faith I sensed a difference to their parents. One Vodou worshipper, a 19 year old girl who didn't want us to use her name told us. "Our faith tells us to look after our community but we need it to be strong, as a nation the voice of Vodou is strong, internationally though its weak. I don't know of one non-Paracambian who worships Vodou, we're today a global community. How can we get the blessings of the Loa if we can't get the world to embrace them." There was a sense that this needs to be done urgently and as she later explained, "the soldier Loa's would stop at nothing to protect their community, if only someone would create it. Perhaps a global Vodou community would bring the Loa back to walking among us."

While the Emperor of Paracambi is yet to speak on the mattter of the PLA, some of those at the meeting I attended suggesting that by even mentioning them he would be connecting them with Papa Legba, something that in the eyes of hardline Vodouists would bring shame to the Loa, it is clear that the PLA are not a mainstream Vodou voice. We did however manage to track down one person online who claimed to be a voice for the PLA. They claimed to be a student at a university in Paracambi and suggested the movement was growing. "Papa Legba tells us that the world is at a constant cross roads, we stand ever presented with two choices and the route we take influences everything and everyone. For centuries our people have taken the same path, the one that tells us to be thankful for our community, and of course we are, but the modern world is eroding that. The draw of majuaina and reggae tempt many my age to claim to be Rasta's, and in many they actually go on embrace the true way of Rasta life rather than just pay it cultural lip service. Others of my age give up on faith all together and as such embrace atheism. As a result of both these factors the number of real Vodouists shrinks each day. War and the media have over hundreds of years helped faiths grow and remove their threats, Vodou never did that on Mundus, we sat in Paracambi just being grateful for what we have, ever taking the same paths. Our generation feel it is time to take the other path, to fight for our faith, to preserve it here where it belongs in Albion and in Paracambi. Once we have a community for Albion the Loa are sure to come back and then Mundus will embrace the real path." I asked him if the use of violence was justified in the aim to which he answered, "Papa Legba is no stranger to violence, he is a warrior and stands ready to fight to protect what he needs to for the good of all. We try and honour him by doing just that. Those brave martyrs on Bakkermaya, soil taken from the true faith by the wicked Cult of Helus, they are the first to fall and while I hope they would be the last it can not be ruled out. We must carry our fight to wherever those who oppose the return of the Loa dwell."

At present it is estimated that no more than 500 members of the PLA exist but as Chief of Police for Aluhampton, the capital of Paracambi, explained "We've discovered this group purposely at present limit their social media activity something that usually allows us to monitor their actions. Instead we've found them using traditional letters, handwritten pen and paper which makes them devilishly difficult to track down. It is however also a bonus as the group will find it harder to attract new members and spread their message. Its our hope that now they have shown themselves to the world they can be picked off easier."

With the faith of Vodou now essentially gaining its first global recognition in a long time it remains to be seen just how the world will react to what is an often very misunderstood faith.