Hello everyone! Soon, it will have been one year since the 2021 New Riga Olympiad began, and as the IDU Olympiad is a biannual event, it is time to begin discussing what we would want from a 2023 Olympiad. With permission from IDUOC President Laeral, I would like to open discussion for the third edition of the IDU Olympiad. 

There are two main things that would need to be discussed before another addition of the Olympiad can be effectively planned. First, a host nation/host city would have to be selected, and second, any changes to the Olympic Program would have to be discussed(However, sport selection is largely at the discretion of the host, so this would likely have to be discussed after host selection). 

If you are interested in applying to host the IDU Olympiad, please fill out the signup below: 

Nation Name: 
Puppet?(Y/N): 
Proposed Host City: 
Summary of Host City/Bid Details(Optional): 

I look forward to seeing what bids are posted!

Quote:

The Nuclear and Zombie Defence Act
An act to protect the IDU from nuclear apocalypse and hordes of undead.

The League of International Democratic Union Nations,

BELIEVING it necessary to protect our region in the event of nuclear war or zombie apocalypse;

RECOGNISING that such cataclysmic events require experienced commanders to dedicate their time to the formulation of strategies for survival and victory;

ACKNOWLEDGING the need to grant temporary powers to such individuals to protect our region during these events;

Hereby resolves the following:

§1 Appointment of N-Day General

1. The President of LIDUN is required to appoint an N-Day General no later than the final day of August each year.

2. The N-Day General shall hold their post only until the conclusion of the N-Day event.

3. The N-Day General shall be responsible for:
b. Negotiating Non-Aggression Pacts and other event-only treaties unless we are in an inter-regional alliance.
c. Recruiting other officers before the event, where necessary.
d. Assuming overall command of IDU forces during the N-Day event.

4. The N-Day General has a responsibility to:
a. Ensure that at least one officer is online throughout the event.
b. Ensure other IDU participants are following orders.
c. Prepare and produce a strategy for the IDU’s participation in the event.

5. The Regional Founder shall give the N-Day General both Appearance and Communications authority for the period lasting from the formal announcement of the N-Day event to the conclusion of the event.

6. Any further officers appointed by the N-Day General are required to follow the orders of the N-Day General and uphold the General’s strategy.

§2 N-Day Alliance Formation

1. The N-Day General is responsible for conducting negotiations regarding the IDU’s participation in inter-regional alliances for N-Day.

2. IDU members are entitled to vote on whether or not to join any inter-regional alliance.

3. The President of LIDUN may impose restrictions on the N-Day General regarding topics of negotiation at their discretion.

4. The N-Day General is responsible for liaising with any inter-regional alliance if our participation in such has been decided.

§3 Appointment of Zombie Controller

1. The President of LIDUN is required to appoint a Zombie Controller no later than the 25th of October each year.

2. The Zombie Controller shall hold their post only until the conclusion of the Z-Day event.

3. The Regional Founder is required to give the Zombie Controller Border Control authority for the period of between the 29th October and 2nd November.

4. The Zombie Controller shall be responsible for:
a. Informing member nations of the Regional Anti-Zombie Policy (RAZP).
b. Ensuring the borders of the region are closed throughout the Z-Day event.
c. Ensuring nations adhere to the RAZP.
d. Warning nations violating the RAZP of the potential consequences.
e. Kicking nations who repeatedly ignore said warnings for the duration of the event.

5. The Zombie Controller may appoint further individuals to assist in the issuing of warnings and reminders of the RAZP.

§4 Ejection of Zombie Policy Violators

1. Violators of the Regional Anti-Zombie Policy are entitled to two warnings given by Telegram from the Zombie Controller or their appointees.

2. Nations who persist in the use of Zombie Hordes following two warnings must be expelled from the region by the Zombie Controller or Founder.

3. Nations who persist in the use of Tactical Zombie Elimination Squads following two warnings may be expelled using the Zombie Controller’s discretion.

4. Nations expelled in this way shall be invited to re-join the region following the conclusion of the Z-Day event.

 was thinking, i have this idea where i'll make a new region- through one of my puppets or something. I was also thinking- why not make it like a colony or ally of IDU or something- we could send our puppets there or something? good idea or bad?







.....

The 2021 IDU Film Festival is now open for voting. All exhibitors may rank their top three (in order) choices for each film category. 

Submissions:

Best New IDU Film
Father Christmas (SANCTARIA)
Corinne (EIRIA)
The Edge of Disaster (LAUCHENOIRIA)
The Last Monarch (GARDAVASQUE)
The Girls of Zhou's Landing (LAERAL)

Best Classic IDU Film
The Way of Zongong (ZONGONGIA)

Best Actor
Cathy Sinclar (SANCTARIA)
Alis Krevale (EIRIA)

Best Documentary 
Conflict Inevitable (LAUCHENOIRIA)

Best Foreign Film
no submissions

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As there was only one submission for "Best Classic Film" and "Best Documentary," respectively, and no submissions for "Best Foreign Film," exhibitors need not vote on those categories. 

Congratulations to the cast and crew of The Way of Zongong. They have been awarded the 2021 "Best Classic IDU Film" Award.

Congratulations to the cast and crew of Conflict Inevitable. They have been awarded the 2021 "Best Documentary or Non-fiction Film" Award.

To remedy the sore lack of “Artistic” AoEs in Education and Creativity, I humbly present to the GA for drafting critique the:

Quote:Music Education, Examination, and Assessment Board
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Category: Education and Creativity
Area of Effect: Artistic
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The General Assembly,

Recognising that the pursuit of creation and enjoyment of music must be approached as an intersection of artistic, cultural, and academic expression;

Applauding the foundation that GAR#86 Museums of Musical Heritage provides for the protection and promotion of the musical arts, however;

Dismayed at the glaring lack of protections and promotions for the arts, in particular the musical arts, and especially with respect to the intellectual and academic approaches to musical expression;

Confident that professional musical assessment and examination after thorough education is the most effective way through which to ensure both high quality musicians and musical culture is developed;

Appreciating that the challenge of the constantly evolving nature of music, accounting for popular culture shifts over time, requires consistent monitoring and progressive development of pedagogical standard;

and Affirming that those who wish to practice, perform, and contribute in a non-professional and non-assessed manner should be able to do so without hinderance or prejudice, whilst retaining the right to equally benefit from the development of their peers who are so trained;

Hereby

Establishes the Music Education, Examination, and Assessment Board (MEEAB), to:
1. Promote the musical arts as both a legitimate and exemplary method through which cultural expression may manifest;
2. Ensure rigorous pedagogical standards are met, in accordance with the evolving needs and desires of the general population-at-large, through overseeing national music assessment and teaching curricula;
3. Provide both a broad and deep knowledge base of peers, connecting skilled musicians in various genres to those who require their expertise;
4. Act as not a gatekeeper, but as a advocate of professional and academic excellence in musical expression;

Encourages musicians and academics alike to engage with MEEAB in furthering the musical profession as a whole, across nations;

Strongly Recommends World Assembly national governments establish parallel national organisations to the MEEAB, placing musical education and examination as a national priority.

Please note name change from Remain, Reform or Revolt? to Echoes of a Hidden Past.

In 1934, the Sixteen Founders of Kerlile became the Ten Councillors of Kerlile. The new, fledgling Kerlian Matriarchy now had to find a way to erase their massacre of the others from history while forming a new nation and changing the patriarchal culture of a feudal remnant state into the exact opposite. All this while the world around was against them, wanting to maintain the old world order and viewing the fledgling matriarchy as part-joke and part-threat. In the shadows, a baby survived the massacre and not everyone is happy with the new Kerlian order.

In 2022, the Ten Councillors of Kerlile must decide whether or not to expel one of their own for treason as she lingers in prison, becoming Nine. But only once before has the number changed, and it suited the Council to pretend that never happened. Erasing the precedent now makes their trial of Carmen Robinson that much more difficult. Meanwhile the Reformists and Traditionalists each plot against each other, while in the wings the revolutionaries who are frustrated with the slow progress of reform make their own plans.

In the past and in the present, the politics of Kerlile remains precarious, with many factions and forces plotting to manipulate the fragile institutions of power. Join the Matriarchy in their struggle to maintain stability in a system that has never experienced it. Or, cause more instability. Your choice.

Rules of RP

1. No WMDs.
2. No invasions of Kerlile, or anywhere else.
3. Use technology appropriate to the year the post is set in.
4. Date all posts, with at minimum the year.
5. No killing other people's characters without permission.
6. Do not change established Kerlian history: https://idugov.com/wiki/Kerlile#History
7. Sign up in this thread to participate!

If you'd like to get involved, please post below what nations you'd like to get involved as, and whether you want to be involved in 1934 or 2022 (or both).

18 October 2020
Promethean Sea
SNS Hercules

"Captain, sir", the warrant officer cried over the wails of the storm surrounding them. "Captain, she's listing to starboard. The rocks must have torn through the rivets on her belly". The auburn-haired, soaked-to-the-skin veteran of the Sanctarian Navy nodded grimly. "Aye. We've contained the flooding but we're too exposed out there, we need to make for port. Where's closest?"

"Sir?", the warrant officer and navigation guide of the SNS Hercules could barely hear his commanding officer over the din.

"Where's the CLOSEST PORT?", the captain screamed. Though he knew the answer. The closest port that would be friendly to Sanctarian ships was likely either Laeral or Libertas Omnium Maximus. "LOM, sir", the shout from his subordinate confirmed it. He nodded in the direction of his shipmate, who diligently set the course in navigation. It'd be a long few hours in this storm before they got to Libertas Omnium Maximus.

---

01 November 2020
Department of Homeland Security
Sanctus, Sanctaria

The Director General of the Department of Homeland Security had only just had his first coffee of the morning before it was time to meet with military top brass. He hated it. They treated him like an idiot because he never served, and because he wasn't a politician elected by the people, they claimed he had no mandate to boss them around. Which was partly correct, but everyone and their mother knew the Secretary had to delegate some meetings to civil servants, and he headed the department!

"Dr. Carson", one middle-ranked soldier said, nodding in his direction as he entered the room. The flag officers all looked up to acknowledge he had entered, but soon went back to ignoring him. He cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, we need to discuss ship maintenance, I believe? The message to Secretary Stewart indicated it was urgent?"

"It is", a gruff reply from an older officer came back. An admiral, judging by the uniform, though Carson didn't recognise the name. "SNS Hercules, of the 4th Fleet, was damaged during a storm while they were on a routine navvy in the Promethean Sea. They're in port in LOM, but the damage is too severe for them to get back to us."

"Ok", Carson said. "Don't LOM have shipyards and maintenance bases?".

The admiral smirked. "Aye sir, they do", sarcasm heavy on the sir, "but we haven't vetted their personnel. We don't know enough about the people at those dockyards. We have national security considerations. We'll need to send our own people out there for repairs."

Great, Carson thought. Foreign Affairs were going to love him for sending them this problem. "How long is it going to be out of operation", he asked.

"That depends on how long it takes our maintenance and repair crews to get there. Once there, maybe 6 months, maybe longer, we need to properly survey the damage." The admiral paused. "We need a naval base out there if we're going to be keeping the 4th Fleet in those waters. It's too long at sea for the men, and we need to be able to maintain our ships."

Carson nodded. He knew the admiral was right. "I'll take this specific incident to the Secretary and I'll draft a memo for government on the need for naval bases in the area. We'll need DFA's input, though", he said, referring to the Foreign department. The admiral just grunted in reply and went back to the huddle of military officers discussing something else.

"Well", Carson said quietly to himself. "I guess we're finished then".

---

Quote:

Department of Foreign Affairs

Bruton House

Sanctus

Divine Federation of Sanctaria

Vice-Speaker Tiacihitli
Huenyan Federal Legislature
Chuaztlapoc
Federation of Huenya

02 January 2022

Your Excellency, Vice-Speaker Tiachitli,

I write firstly to congratulate you on your decisive victory in the recent elections. The Divine Federation is hopeful this will continue the very good relationship that your good nation has with us, and that it will lead to further opportunities of development.

It is on further opportunities of development that is the secondary reason for this letter. The Divine Federation, as you know, has made significant investment into the enlargement of our fleets, including our Fourth Fleet which operates in and around the Promethean Sea. This investment, however, requires us to ensure proper maintenance of our fleet, and the distance between Divine Federation lands and the waters in which the Fourth Fleet, in particular, operates is creating less than satisfactory outcomes.

In order to satisfy my government's legislative and regulatory requirements in the upkeep of our fleet, the Divine Federation has been conducting reviews into locations in the Caxcanan region where a safe haven for our fleet could be established, and, whereby, the Divine Federation would be able to headquarter the Fourth Fleet to ensure satisfactory outcomes in terms of morale of our seamen, and upkeep of our ships.

The Sanctarian Department of Homeland Security has identified the port city of Ixtenco as a suitable location to establish a naval base, and as such I have been tasked with opening negotiations with your good government to realise this. Naturally, the Divine Federation of Sanctaria would not expect such a gift to come freely, and I am happy to discuss any terms your government may have in this regard.

Congratulations, again, and warm regards,

Brian Young
Secretary of Foreign Affairs
Divine Federation of Sanctaria

Castle of Grapes, Ancestral Home of the Fleuran Royal Family
February 1934

“Welcome, ladies, to the inaugural session of the newly-formed Council of Kerlile.”

Sixteen - not ten - women sat around a large oak table. The mercenaries they’d spent the last decade paying to help retain their new country had been dismissed. The guards in the room were part of the new ranks of the Women’s Army of Kerlile, trained over the last ten years and chosen for their loyalty to the cause. The mercenaries were packing up to go home, the loot stolen from the old North Fleuran noble families weighing down their bags. The ten-year experiment had been a success.

A cheer went around the room upon Wilma Greenwood’s uttering of the welcome to their new meeting. Each of the women in the room had spent the last decade trying to shape a region of what was once North Fleura, a feudal remnant state, into Kerlile, a pioneering utopia for women and feminists worldwide. Each woman in the room had used different methods to transform the culture of her region, to change the attitudes of hundreds of people and to keep order during the most challenging transition period of the 20th century so far.

“We are gathered here today, because we have succeeded. Each of us has taken her assigned region and shaped it into somewhere women can live without the fear of the men who, up until this point, controlled the lives of women worldwide. Each of you here has accomplished a monumental task, and yet we have an even more monumental one to come. We must now unite our regions together, to create fully the new state we have dreamed of, and realise the goal of women’s equality in this small corner of the world, so that we can spread our word to our sisters far and wide, and usher in a new era where women have all the rights we have always dreamed of,” Wilma addressed the room.

Her words were followed by even more cheers. The women; the wealthiest of the regular attendees to the International Women’s Congress as of 1924, and the most willing to risk everything for a cause, had done something others could only dream of. Instead of fighting for the meagre scraps offered by men, they had seized control of their own destiny. After the death of the last in line to the North Fleuran throne, they had swooped in to the burgeoning succession crisis and turned it to their advantage, thanks to the mercenaries they’d hired and the relative weakness of the North Fleuran economy. This land had given them opportunity, and now they would bring opportunity to the women of this land.

“Our first order of business is to share what we have learned in the last decade, as to create this brave new world of ours, we must first learn the best methods of doing so. Each of you has something unique to bring to this new Council, and each of you will have different ideas of the way forward. I would invite Nancy Arnott to begin.”

*

Thus began the story of what would become the Council as we know it today. Readers will note the presence of sixteen proto-Councillors in that very first meeting, as opposed to the ten (soon to be nine after Robinson’s betrayal) we of the 21st century know. There is a tale behind this discrepancy, one my ancestors went to great lengths to bury. I write this down today, for if we should fail, the truth may fade from memory altogether, to be replaced with a convenient story, the history written by victors who won due to greed and treachery. Nobody today knows of the Six, but I shall attempt to explain what happened.

*

The inaugural meeting of the Council of Kerlile was eleven hours long, not counting the breaks taken in the middle. The meeting which began at 9 o’clock in the morning finished closer to midnight, the women participating all exhausted by the end of it. They each made their way back to the rooms set aside for them in the old castle, to rest and prepare for yet more meetings the next day - this time on how to move forward.

Yet as five of the would-be-Councillors lay down to rest, the other eleven reconvened in the darkness of the meeting chamber, lit only by candles as they sought to save their fledgling state’s small electricity supplies. They had been summoned by Edith Hart, who had been the instigator behind the entire Kerlile Project. She had raised the initial funds, convinced the others, and had tricked enough Fleuran nobles that they’d gained their foothold before anyone could fight back.

“Ladies,” Edith spoke softly in the candlelight. “We have a problem.”

“The other regions are behind,” nodded Camila Letitia Hale, her Sanctarian accent still strong despite the years away from the land of her birth. “They will need more guidance.”

“Not only that,” Edith shook her head. “Our friends who lie in their beds; they seem unwilling to do what needs to be done.”

*

As the Founders of Kerlile summarised their decades of enforced transition to their compatriots, a divide had opened in the room. Eleven of the Councillors spoke of their methods to encourage the women to speak up, and to prevent the men from regaining control. They spoke of their rewards and punishments, their strict management of the territories, and the need for a strong Council to continue to guide the fledgling state and ensure the sanctity of the women’s revolution, which had been so difficult in the first place.

The other five spoke of their encouragement of change, but they reported a continuation of instances of patriarchal attitudes and misogynistic violence. They had not been willing to punish the offenders, at least no more than the North Fleurans would punish such people beforehand. The regions of the five had been left too much alone by their guardians. And, worse still, the five believed that it was time to transition to democracy already. It had always been part of the original plan, but the Ten believed it too soon. It was necessary for their guardianship to continue, at least for the time being.

The views of the five expressed in that first Council meeting were a threat to the power and influence of the Founders as a whole. And that couldn’t be allowed to continue. So, the eleven sat up all night, plotting the deaths of their compatriots, the wiping of their names from history, and the ending of their family lines. But one of the eleven was uncomfortable with this direction. There was a difference, she thought, between executing counterrevolutionary men, and executing those who had worked towards the same goal, no matter the difference of opinion.

*

Audrey Quinn slipped out of the meeting chamber under the pretence of needing to use the bathroom. Instead, she hurried up the stairs and down the castle corridor to her family rooms, where her young daughter slept alongside her nanny. Audrey slipped into the room and shook the nanny awake.

“Joan, Joan wake up,” she whispered in the other woman’s ear. Joan’s eyes opened.

“M’lady?” Joan yawned, quickly trying to get to her feet.

“You need to dress quickly,” Audrey said quietly. “You need to take Adelaide and get as far from here as possible.”

“M’lady, is something wrong?” Joan’s eyes opened wide, alarmed.

“Not yet, but there will be. You have to get Audrey out of here in case something goes wrong. I have to speak to the others; to warn them. If I don’t return, If I don’t see you again, then you have to hide her, understand? Hide her so she is never found, and teach her of this day. Teach her to tell her daughter, and her daughter’s daughter, and everyone else until the day comes when we can undo this injustice. Now, hurry!”

*

Audrey did not know that Margaret Robinson had followed her, suspecting the woman of some treachery after noticing her quiet in the plotting. Margaret slipped away while Audrey packed her daughter’s bags and informed the others of the betrayal. So the other Ten, who would become the Founders of history textbooks and the ancestors of the present Council of Kerlile, moved more quickly than they intended to.

Their new loyal servants, recruited from among those who had been the worst off before the Matriarchy, who had been rewarded most by the change of regime, crept to the rooms of the five who slept, knives in their hands. But Audrey was faster than they had anticipated, and they found her in the room of Tetli, a Founder of Xiomeran origin who, though growing up with more rights than most women in the world, saw the Kerlian project as an opportunity to bring peace and prosperity to more lands. Audrey and Tetli raised the alarm, and managed to overpower the would-be assassin.

The Castle of Grapes exploded into chaos, as fights broke out throughout the building. Joan and Adelaide, carried in a blanket by her nanny, managed to slip out and escape. They were not seen, and the family was not heard from again until 2018, with the Quinn daughter being presumed dead after what happened in the castle. The Council of modern days thought themselves safe from the skeletons in the closet. They forgot to check the ashes.

*

Audrey screamed as the masked woman plunged a knife in her shoulder. She remained conscious, shoving the woman away and pulling the knife out to yet more agony. She ran out of the room as the other woman gave chase, leaving the table she’d knocked over after the shove on the ground. Audrey, bleeding from her several wounds, was slow, and the assassin caught up with her quicker than she was prepared for. 

In another room of the castle, Tetli held a ceremonial sword wrested from a wall display in the old king’s throne room, battling against four of Wilma Greenwood’s new guards who each held daggers. There were no guns in this fight; neither side wished to waste the precious little ammunition they had gathered in case of invasion by patriarchal forces. The Founders, those who would be remembered and those who would not, were united in their commitment to the women’s revolution. It was not enough.

Tetli fell with a dagger to her back, as across the castle the Six screamed and died. In the room Audrey had run from, however, a new spark was spreading throughout the castle, undetected as the others continued to fight, the upstairs levels abandoned as the victims of the hunt tried to escape the large building. By the time anyone noticed, it was far too late to stop the fire which had spread from the candle knocked onto the rich curtains in what had been Tetli’s bedroom.

*

The history textbooks of Kerlile tell us that the Castle of Grapes was burned in a ceremony to usher out the old North Fleura and cement the new Kerlian state. The ruins, once the fire was allowed to burn out, were taken apart piece by piece, and the new Council Chambers built on the foundations of what was once the home of the Fleuran monarchs. The city of Grapevale sprung out from what was once the vineyards of the Fleuran monarchy, their greatest export once upon a time being wine.

The new capital of the Matriarchy was hailed as a wonder of Kerlian innovation, proof of the virtues of allowing women positions of power and jobs in traditionally male industries. The city sprung up in such a short period of time it was considered a miracle by Secadualist priestesses of the new Singularist sect of that declining religion. In truth, the city was built on the slave labour of those arrested for resisting the new regime. In the early days, Grapevale was the largest labour camp of all.

In the fire, the bodies of the Six, the documents with their names on them, and the true history of the foundation of the Matriarchy of Kerlile all burned. There are sixteen regions of Kerlile, and ten Councillors. Those who point out this discrepancy tend to disappear. Those who worked closely with the Six suffered accidents; their offices in their regions were robbed or burned or turned into prisons for those who spoke out. The Six were erased from life, and erased from memory. But the Councillors remembered.

It became a cautionary tale for young Daughters of the Council. A way to ensure our loyalty to the Matriarchy, by telling us that we were not too important to be killed; that our lives are protected only so long as we protect the status quo. I see it a different way. I see it as hope. There were once people who looked at the early days of Kerlile, when it was harder to prevent the slip back into patriarchy, when the world was even more hostile than today, and thought it was possible to do this fairly.

The Six believed democracy and true gender equality were compatible as far back as 1934 when men in smoky rooms laughed and bet on how quickly Kerlile would fail. So tell me, why shouldn’t we believe in it today? The time of the Council is coming to an end. Though the traditionalists try to cling to their power, it is obvious to all that a new era is beginning in Kerlile. We, as Daughters, were raised to be guardians of the revolution. Yet we have become guardians of stagnancy, of preventing progress. I will not be part of that. 

Daughters, Councillors, everyone must rise up and say “no more”. Will reform save us, or do we need another revolution? I don’t know. What I do know is that the time for remaining as we are must end now. Those of us who truly want women’s equality must rise up, whether in peace or in war, and we must unite to show the Council that we believe in Kerlile. We believe that equality, the principle on which Kerlile was founded, is possible without the need for autocratic control. They are the ones who do not believe in Kerlile. So, if they will not give us the power, we will take it.

Will you join me?

*

From A Daughter’s Manifesto by an anonymous Daughter of the Council, written in 2021 and yet to be published.

I have temporarily posted the 2006 IDU regional flag as the flag for "All Schnauzers" in the IDU in Nationstates. I will use that account to post in the regional message board so one can grab the image (my file is in a png format.