1584 Hylis Open

The Sainamese Open is a major tennis tournament held annually over late Quartyr and early Fein in Rasswitt, Hylis Federation. First held in 1502, the tournament is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of the year. It is player on clay surfaces since 1527.

1583 champions:

• Men's Singles: Nehemiah Aicken (Hylis Federation)
  
• Women's Singles: Felice Lamb (Florinthus)
  

Voice of Siora International Music Competition

1584 - Nyland

The South Sea Center for the Performing Arts, shown here during early Fein, sits in the middle of downtown Isort, just blocks from accomodations, shopping, restaurants, and the city's port.


Landry Hall inside the South Sea center will house nearly 3,000 excited visitors this Vintyr.

After 12 years of waiting and a 30 year career, superstars Kent are ready to host the 1584 competition!

DATE: 14 Quartyr, 1584
TIME: 09:50 Local
LOCATION: Lancashire, Cynas

Edward Archer: Secretary of State for the Republic of Cynas

"Sir?" I blinked and looked up from the morning paper. A young lass- one the new pages I think- was staring at me. I quirked an eyebrow and motioned with my hand to have her continue.

"They will be arriving momentarily. President Stewart wanted to make sure you were prepared." I scowled and harrumphed as I stood up, folding up the paper in the meantime. Slapping it upon the table with a loud "thud", I grumbled before grabbing my suitcase.

"Yes yes. Tell him I'm on the way down." The page nodded and scurried away, leaving the door to the cabin wide open. Bloody 'ell... can't anyone close the door properly? I meander towards the door to slam it shut, but stop as I reach the entrance and grab the knob. Slowly, it slips from my fingers. I stumble towards the guardrail on the front patio to the cabin and grab it, shrugging off the guards near me. After shaking my head I look up, before the wondrous sight of the harbor to this small sleepy town.

It's been too long since I've been here. Far too long... 15 years in fact. The last time I was here, talks collapsed with Falsea and Sindar-Astrasia. Our ambitions to create an indefensible wall against a growing beast slipped through our fingers. Neither of those confounded delegations saw what we saw. A looming threat on the continent, a specter of absolutism and aristocracy, had been given free reign to prepare themselves, largely unmatched save for our stalwart allies in the South.

Sindar-Astrasia and Falsea had their reasons for dismissing the gravity of the situation at the time, but for Cynas, it was the matter of staying true to Taeunas. After all, what would they say were we to align with a dictatorship of the proletariat and a spineless duchy? We had our strong ally already. We didn't need anyone else.

...Right?

But the question started to bubble a few years after the talks fell apart. What if the circumstances changed? What if Taeunas destabilized or worse yet, opted to abandon the pact for whatever reason. We were scoffed and mocked for our concerns. The growth of Adwest's military capabilities fanned the flames for our small yet vocal group, but not enough for any of the three nations to see what we saw.

Westenne changed that though. Kolhar changed that though. Suddenly, there was a realization by many in the region, Cynas especially. There was a certainty that all of the people who mocked us before finally saw. They realized there is only one undeniable certainty in this world and that there was no certainty. One bad year could shift the tone of our relationship with our ally to the South. One crisis spun out of proportion could change the tune of an entire nation. The desires of a single person could resonate deeply for years.

Adwest's intentions were clear to us. The writing is on the wall. If we did not draw a line somewhere, it is very likely we could be picked off one by one, by Adwest or a foreign power. If our northern neighbors were taken down by Adwest and absorbed into their growing empire, that would leave us and Taeunas.

And then it would only be a matter of time before Taeunas blinked and-

"Sir. We need to go now." I blinked and looked at the page. She pointed to the time on her phone and I winced. Five minutes until the conference. I need to get there quickly.

"Right. Thank you," I reply. With that, I burst off into a run and make my way down to the conference hall in the main building. Today would be the first time we had a negotiation to create a defensive alliance in a long time. It took a lot of coaxing, debating, and a bit of dirty work before my department finally convinced Sindar-Astrasia and Falsea to try again. There will be no blunders. No repeats of our mistakes. This time, we will succeed, and our Intermarium Wall shall be realized.

I reach the front of the building two minutes before the specified arrival time. Just ahead on the pathway, President Dwight Stewart taps his foot impatiently with his guards in tow. He notices my arrival and walks straight towards me. I meet him about halfway and we shake hands briskly.

"Let's go," He says, breaking the handshake. I nod and we make our way to the front to meet our guests from Sindar-Astrasia and Falsea.

Nylander Centrist Democratic Alternative 1584 Primaries

The Nylander Centrist Democratic Alternative, a recently electoral coalition formed by the New Centrist List and the Green Party, has open primaries in order to elect their presidential candidate for the 1584 Vintyr Presidential Election. There are four candidates, and you have two votes. Below you can check a list of their candidates, and their political platform.

Name:	James Douglass Brockenborough
Age:	54
Political experience:	Nylander Assembly (1564-1578 and 1582- ).
Political views:	James Brockenborough was a SDAP member for more than twenty years, after joining while studying Law and Constitutional Jurisprudence in the University of Rosdam. He was elected to the Nylander Assembly for first time in 1564, being reelected three times. In 1578, he resigned in order to join a position in the Department of Homeland Security, under the leadership of Secretary Alexandrine Leville. Brockenborough, however, was disappointed about how radicals were taking over the SDAP during and after the leadership of Agnetha Norup. He left the SDAP in early 1580, only a few months before the alliance between SDAP and PAN resulted in the creation in the Nylander Popular Assembly, which Brockenborough regarded as "a political cult of unelectable mountebanks". He joined the New Centrist List in late 1580, and in 1582 he was elected to the Nylander Assembly again, where he has been working recently mostly on labour and health care issues lately. Brockenborough's campaign proposals can be defined as "a pro-business and center-left platform". He propose a slightly increase of spending, and introducing education and labour market reforms in order to make Nylander economy more competitive. At the same time, he proposes to introduce single-payer, which he believes it is a pragmatic and feasible health care reform. Brockenborough has also proposed improvements in law enforcement, and more transparent and efficient judiciary system. Despite being considered left-leaning inside the New Centrist List, he has supported President Kohout's Military Modernization Act. On foreign policy, he has been described as a "realist interventionist".

Name:	Lenna Schenkenberg
Age:	55
Political experience:	Nylander Assembly (1568- ), Speaker of the Nylander Assembly (1579-1581).
Political views:	Lenna Schenkenberg is a trained economist, with a PhD in Economics for the prestigious Molenbek College, in Nyköping. She has no known political experience before late 1567, when she joined the New Centrist List, at age 38. She was elected to the Nylander Assembly the next year, being comfortably reelected in her district for the next four elections. On economic issues, Schenkenberg is considered a centrist. While she has defended and aims to keep the tax reform passed during Tilda Morgen's administration, she has proposed lowering tax on wages and gradually lowering welfare payments to those outside of the labour market to increase the economic benefit of working relative to receiving welfare. She is "realistically pro-immigration", claiming that Nylander economy should not introduce further restrictions on immigration in order to be competitive and to keep demographic growth. Schenkenberg has promised an ambitious health care reform, which combines a system of federal subsidies with a nationalised health insurance plan, which would aim to reconcile the interests of Nylander consumers with the health care industry. Many believe her main weakness as candidate is foreign policy, as she has been rarely actively involved on foreign affairs issues.

Name:	Bjorn Schmidt
Age:	42
Political experience:	He was elected Governor of Nyflåland in 1579, being reelected as 1583.
Political views:	He was surprisingly elected Governor in 1579 as candidate of the New Centrist Alliance, becoming the youngest governor and the first ever from the Green Party -which he joined in 1571. He was reelected in 1583, and few members later he was elected Chairman of the Green Party, playing an important role in strengthening the cooperation between the Greens and the New Centrists. Schmidt is considered a young and charismatic politician, and his supporters claim that his reelection as governor -in which polls predicted him to lose against the Nylander Liberalist candidate- proves that he is ready to be president. However, his critics claim that he lacks political experience, and that his tenure as governor was not exactly very successful on practice, with a considerably increase on state debt and constantly flip-flops on government's policy. As the only Green Party candidate in these primaries, his economic platform is not much different that the one that Tilda Morgen proposed in her 1578 campaign. Schmidt, a trained lawyer on environmental issues, has also propose to introduce environmental taxation as way both to defend the environment and increase revenue. He has also proposed a soda tax, in order to fight the increasing obesity in Nylander children. Governor Schmidt has promised to increase spending on education and healthcare. He is openly a pro-immigration candidate, claiming that immigration not only strengthen Nyland economically but they "enrich our society and culture". As Governor, he was personally involved in a state plan which offered residence to a few thousand of refugees from New Galasia and Central Tambossa. On foreign policy, he was promised to improve cooperation with other states in the region, although he has been skeptical about trade agreements in the past. He has also promised to make the promotion of democracy and equality abroad a central part of his foreign policy.

Name:	Emma Nystroem
Age:	36
Political experience:	Nylander Assembly (1582- ).
Political views:	Nystroem started her political career during her college years, when she joined and was elected chairman of the Federal Women's League, a left-wing feminist organization. She graduated in Political Science and Law and Administration in the University of Lillehem. During her college years, she also won twice the Federal Debating Championship (in 1567 and 1570), becoming the first student to do so. She joined the New Centrist List in 1577, and became actively involved in Tilda Morgen's successful presidential campaign. She was appointed Assistant of the President for Speechwriting from 1578 to 1581. In 1582, she was elected to the Nylander Assembly. Since then, she was been mostly focused on women's right and social welfare, although she jointed recently the Nylander Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee recently as well. On economics and social policy, Nystroem supports a mainstream center-left platform. She has promosed a health care reform -in not very concrete terms so far- and the slowly introduction of a basic universal income in the long-term. Nystroem believes that Centrist Democrats should be a "resolutely pro-choice" political organization, and that potential Nylander Centrist Democratic Alternative candidates should not be greenlighted for the nomination if they did not agree to vote pro-choice on abortion legislation. She also proposes gender quotas at the parliament and business boards, at the extent that is possible. She has also propose to lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 years old. She claims that "if you are able to work and drive a car, then you are mature enough to exercise your political rights". She believe that the Centrist Democrats should be more actively involved with some of their demands and proposals which were barely tried to be introduced in the federal agenda, such as the legalization of euthanasia and soft drugs. She has also proposed to increase foreign aid to 1% of the GDP. Many believe that she has only small chances to win the nomination, considering her age -she would become the youngest president in more than a century- and lack of political experience, although she is credited to have been one of the most active members of the Nylander Assembly in the last two years. However, others believe that she is likely to gain many supporters who wish to widen the political debate within the organization even if she is unlikely to be the presidential candidate.

I want to do a RP with you guys with the Constitutional Convention of 1579. I think it could work out very well.

So the basic rules are each 7 duchies get delegations proportionate to their population. 1 rep. per 500,000 people. But the speaker casts the vote of behalf of the entire delegation and he will be debating on behalf of the delegation, most of the time.

So I want to give you guys as much freedom as you need to get creative and so you can each play an active role in the convention. I will roleplay the President of the convention which basically announces the debate sessions, announces with passes and does not, and dismisses and recalls the convention.

I forgot the names of the 7 duchies so if you want, you can make them up. But I will put radom duchy names down below and give some notes about them

Epela- rural, mountainous- normal political position: right
Argaza- rural, agrarian- normal political position: populist (on no particular spectrum)
Aetos- urban, unions present- normal political position: left
Ochoininon- not rural, not extensively urbanized- normal political position: center-left
Tylousa- mining companies present, corrupt- normal political position: center
Sozurion- foresting main trade, not very many people; normal political position: center-right
Pheria- urban, near the capital- normal political position: center-left

So what do you guys think? How can we make this work?

Chairperson Decision

The Moderate Coalition of Nyland is hosting primaries to decide on their first Chairperson ~ the leader of the new party. Being the first to hold the position is an important role, as the early direction of the young party will be their responsibility. Five MPs have come forward with intentions to lead the party. They are listed below.


Albrekt Hildegardt
Age: 69
Former Party: NCL

Hildegardt is the oldest member of the new party, and clearly the most experienced. Originally a member of the NL, he then spent several sessions as an independent before joining the newly formed NCL, eventually becoming spokesperson for the party. Hldegardt worked closely with former NCL leader Helga Myrhe, who spoke very highly of him. In time, however, Hildegardt become tired of the NCL's centre-left policies, advocating for a more centrist approach, as the Morgen leadership continued pushing to the left, he eventually resigned from his spokesperson position, but remained on the party rosters. When there were rumblings of a new moderate party, he made the necessary calls and joined. His experience and leadership is expected to be instrumental in the new party, regardless of if he becomes chairperson.

Hildegardt is likely the candidate closest to the center, ideologically speaking, with a diverse set of opinions that appeal to all sides of the aisle. His age is a concern however, and there are many young voters who see him as out of touch. That being said, his experience and number of legislative contacts are valuable.


Daniel Lars Boardman
Age: 62
Former Party: NCL

Out of all the potential chairpersons, Boardman has had the highest position, being Secretary of the Treasury for the Morgen administration. He oversaw the drafting and implementation of the Morgen tax plan and from that can claim an instrumental role in the current budget surplus as well as the governments burgeoning coffers. A firm fan of Tilda Morgen, the same cannot be said for Anders Kohout, who Boardman has a distinct but respectful distaste for. Boardmans conflict with Kohout mostly is caused by Kohouts reaction to his tax bill failing, which he calls childish and overbearing. His parties refusal to combat the Kohout regime on ensuring the Morgen plan is the chief reason he left, though he was also disappointed at the NCL for failing to pass necessary legislation to spend the money he raised for the government.

Out of all the candidates, Boardman is likely the most left-leaning, though still has a mostly centrist perspective. Boardman is widely respected in the political community. He wants the moderates to emphasize prudent fiscal spending and immigration reform to ensure that refugees and immigrants are properly taken care of and integrated into society.


Rosario Manrique
Age: 56
Former Party: NL

Rosario Manrique, the child of an immigrant from Eskkya, was a vocal opponent of his party after they continued, time and time again, to sabotage the agenda of President Kohout. He was a firm supporter of Kohout and should he be selected as Chairman it can be expected that Kohout would be a shoe-in for the Presidential nomination selection. Manrique is an experienced MP with a robust legislative catalog that primarily focused on tax reform. In particular, he closely worked on the original Harrow tax plan as well as providing assistance in forecasting for the Morgen plan.

If chosen, Manrique wants the Moderates to focus on capturing voters from the other parties who are tired of the constant ideological sparring and simply want positive results. He believes there is a market for this sort of voter and that, given time, the Moderates will find their place in government.


Roxanne Dietrich-Hall
Age: 33
Former Party: NL

The youngest member of the new party, Roxanne Dietrich-Hall was only serving her first term in the legislature when she decided to break from her original party and join the Moderates. Her position is, as she would self-describe, centre-right with an emphasis on LGBTQ and womens rights on top of mild economic liberalism. She has invested time and legislative resources in evaluating ways to improve the Nyland education system. She was a supporter of Kohout and his healthcare bill, and was flabbergasted when her party was the reason it failed. She was one of the first MPs to join, as well.

Her ambition for the party is to reach out to those the Liberalists have forgotten and to create a new center-right option for voters, so they do not feel the need to vote for either a left party or a far-right option. She feels the NL has failed its voters and that a new center-right party is needed.


Erik van Holkiet
Age: 49
Former Party: UP
One of the few Moderates from the Ultranationalist Party, Erik van Holkiet is an MP who was elected in his district on a platform of Nyland-first economic policies and ensuring immigration policies benefit the Nylander people. van Holkiet had always been a stranger to the UP, as he frequently stated that he believed the party was too harsh and supporting policies that served in accommodating refugees rather than outright barring them entry. Furthermore, he criticized his parties apparent lack of ambition and regularly demanded his party actually do something with their mandate, to no avail. His leaving the party does not come as a surprise to Party leadership, and his leaving is not seen as terribly controversial to his constituents.

Van Holkiet is seen as an outside bet for the Chairman position, but his admonition for his party could elevate him in some peoples eyes. His goal for the party is to identify what the people truly want and then pursue that. His ambition is to create a new system for voters to communicate with party members so they can better reach each other on key issues.

Hey guys,

I am back and it been a crazy ride my Sophomore year so far. But I am glad to be back and having a good time with you all.

I would like to tell my story of what happened. You guys don't have to read it if you do not want to, but it is there.
The "story" will be in italics.

So I will start in September and early October. My main thing that was on my mind the first semester was Iceland. Iceland, Iceland, Iceland. I wanted to go to foreign exchange there during my Senior year and it excited me. Especially since there were exchange students in my school. One was Eva from Wallonia (in Belgium) and Riku from Finland. They were awesome people I had to pleasure to work with Eva in my band as we played a duet on the Christmas concert with me playing Oboe and her violin. Well, we were that is. The snow had our concert delayed twice and was cancelled afterwards.

September and October nothing really happened and it was a peaceful year it seemed like. November rolled by much the same with some stress keeping up with my grades, as well as December. But I loved our Winter this year. For the first time since I was 5 years old, I got the see snow in person!

Of course politics was on my mind as well. I will not get into details, but it really distracted me from my schoolwork. I literally watched the AP federal election map all night until 22.30. And that what I considered "good times". I wanted the highest GPA I could get and I was on track to getting straight A's. But I ended up getting a 3.46. I was so upset for the last couple of weeks because I did not think I could compete in the foreign exchange program with that on my transcript.

February roll around and a new semester started. With the help of my Councillor, I had a plan to manage my procrastination. It initially was working, to an extent. Something happened that completely destroyed any hope of managing my procrastination that year.

Take a guess on what it might be. I will leave that for later and it will become more obvious later. I might already gave it away   .

As you know, I am in band. As such, I have a responsibility during American Football and Basketball seasons to attend all games and perform there with my pep band. Nah. Screw it. I will tell you just to save you time. I started having feeling for a girl and it was the first time I had ever had that feeling. At 15, am I late to the party?

It was a girl in my band class that plays the flute. So sit pretty close to her when I play the Oboe so I have known her for a bit. We have of course talked before and at points, I wanted to become friends with her. But it did not last long enough for me to do much about it. Plus, I really did not know how to approach her. And you would think that it would be easier now, right? Ooops, my bad. I should have spoken earlier.

The thing about her though is she distrusts pretty much everyone unless you have known her for an observably long amount of time. Also, she is extremely introverted. Even though it is just emotions, I think why I fell for her was her character. Although she is quiet and introverted, she is a very decent human being and we had some overlapping interests. She had good character in my mind and she was someone that I felt comfortable trusting. Someone who I could lower my "wall" to so I can at least get to know her.

Her twin sister was in 3 of my classes. So I decided to befriend her. She was open to the idea of a friendship but she is a different story. She has an interesting way of looking at life. At first, I was excited. She seemed with a really good human being and she had a rich personality. But she later told me a month after we became friends that she was living for one thing only. For a friend she told me. One friend alone. She did not give any other details but I heard enough and it freaked me out.

In short, I told my mother about this and she alerted the school of it the next day. I had no idea that she would do that and when my Councillor pulled me out of my class the next day and asked for her name, I broke down in tears. Because I made a promise that her thoughts were safe with me and I never never judge her or think of her any less. I broke the pact. But I know that this could help her. I a few days later told my Councillor, but the school already found her by that time.

She next week asked me why I told them. I told her I did not and that I told my mom. She asked why I told her. I responded that I was freaking out and I was fearing for her life and that I cared about her. She responded that I shouldn't and she can take care of herself. She seemed unusually cheerful that day despite all of that. But the next weeks I would get cold silence from her.

I left her be for a couple of weeks but when I one day greeted her. She gave the coldest response anybody ever gave me. I responded by writing her a letter that night basically telling my side of the story and that I am her friend and I do not care if she is angry at me. I will still be there for her. Well, it was an epic fail. The next day she cut ties with me completely. It was one of the most upsetting thing that has happened to me in 3 years.

Meanwhile, the other twin (the crush) built a distrust towards me. To this day I am still figuring out why. All of this plus the exchange overloaded me. So I decided to come back on here to at least remember something that I was fond of. Emotional Therapy I suppose...

That was a really shortened version. But it should get the point across.

So I would like to finish off saying I want to start with a brand new fresh nation. My last two nations I don't really have the inspiration to play well anymore. I would do a bad job at rping those nations.

Hope to hear from your guys!

-His Wizardness

Tsukuyomi Games
Tsukuyomi Entertainment's gaming division

READ THE STUFF IN THE SPOILER TAGS TO UNDERSTAND ARK RATINGS!!!

Lone Wolf
Title: Lone Wolf Akitian Title: Ippiki Ookami  (一匹狼) Genre: Fantasy Type: Open-world RPG ARK Rating: C Available On: PC	Show ContentOOC CREDIT: Credit to Yaichino of DeviantArt for making this picture that I used to make the cover!

Dark Cuisine Restaurant
Title: Dark Cuisine Restraunt Akitian Title: Akujiki Resutoran  (悪食レストラン) Genre:Horror Type: first-person survival horror ARK Rating: D Available On: PC	Show ContentOOC CREDIT: Credit to KurohaAi of DeviantArt for making this picture that I used to make the cover!

Curse of the Mob
Title: Curse of the Mob Akitian Title: Gokudo no Noroi  (極道の呪い) Genre: Mystery, detective fiction Type: VN-style Adventure game ARK Rating: C Available On: PC	Show ContentOOC CREDIT: Credit to SubaruSumeragi of ZeroChan for making this picture that I used to make the cover!

1584 Sainam Open

The Sainamese Open is a major tennis tournament held annually over the last two weeks of Alvan in Isume, Sainam. First held in 1528, the tournament is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of the year. It is player on hardcourt surfaces since 1562.

1583 champions:

• Men's Singles: Hermann Manninger (Gehenna)
  
• Women's Singles: Taguchi Yuyika (Sainam)
  

Saratov Elections of 1583
Elections for the Presidential office and Parlament Saratovi

• Liberalʹno-demokratychna partiya/Liberal Democratic Party - "LDP" (Social Liberals)
  
  Show ContentPlatform:

  The LDP's seeks to expand individual freedoms for the citizens of Saratov. They are in favor of Personal Privacy, Government Welfare, Government Healthcare, Moderate regulation, and open immigration.
• Partiya yednosti Saratovsʹkoyi/Saratovan Unity Party  - "PYS" (Democratic Socialist)
  
  Show ContentPlatform:

  The PYS is Democratic Socialist party pushing for "modern feminist" and LGBTQQIP2SAA rights movements. They are in favor of heavy regulation, expansion of government healthcare and welfare, and unrestricted immigration.
• Saratovsʹkyy Sotsialistychnyy Soyuz Robitnykiv/Saratovian Socialist Workers Union - "SSR" (Socialist)
  
  Show ContentPlatform:

  The SSR is a Socialist Party that is in favor of Semi-Planned Economy, Extreme Regulation, A progressive tax bracket, "modern feminist" and LGBTQQIP2SAA rights movements, and a high minimum wage.
• Demokratychna Saratovsʹkyy Konservatyvna Partiya/Saratovian Democratic Conservative Party - "DKP" (Conservative)
  
  Show ContentPlatform:

  The DKP runs a platform centered on supporting "family values" and a "tradition-oriented society". They oppose government healthcare and welfare. While they don't oppose Same-Sex marriage, they consider transgenderism a mental disorder. They support a lightly regulated economy, and only support the immigration of skilled workers. They are in favor of a strong military.
• Saratovsʹka Perovistiy Partiya/Saratov Pervoist Party - "SPP" (Communist)
  
  Show ContentPlatform:

  The SPP's platform is largely to maintain the "status quo". They support a regulated "entitled wage" for each citizen, central planning of the economy, limited imports/exports as well as a limit on immigration and emigration. The SPP is in favor of a strong military.
• Saratovsʹka Natsionalʹna Robitnycha Partiya/Saratov National Workers Party - "NRP" (Fascist)
  
  Show ContentPlatform:

  The NRP campaigns for Protectism, zero tolerance, harsher sentencing, increased prison capacity, and a referendum on re-introducing the death penalty.In foreign policy they are also in favor of turning away from Severyane in defense and economic partnership.
• Nezalezhnyy/Independent - "IND" (Not a party)
  

• Nadya Kohut - LDP
  
• Arkadiy Bogdanov - PYS
  
• Zdena Musil - SSR
  
• Marcel Lukska - DKP
  
• Oleksiy Kucera - SPP
  
• Nadiya Vlček - NRP
  
• Yevgen Stárek - IND
  
• Nikita Vašek - IND
  
• Karolína Žitnik - IND
  
• Ambrož Doubek - IND