See RP thread here.

Xiomera's Empress Calhualyana, in order to cement her claim to the Obsidian Throne and fend off any pesky notions of someone other than her ruling the country, is making a bid for dynasty. In order to do this, she has to start a royal line. Which means....she has to get married.

The royal wedding, planned for October 22nd, 2021, is set to be a lavish affair at the Palace of Flowers, the massive royal palace in the Imperial capital Tlālacuetztla. If you're in the mood for a wedding, this planning thread is the place to start.

The major players, as you might expect, are the bride and groom. For those unfamiliar, Calhualyana is the Empress of Xiomera. She came to power by engineering a coup against one Empress, then overthrowing the Emperor she helped replace that Empress when he went a tiny bit insane. Her husband-to-be, Xiyāōtl, is a dashing naval commander with a social media-friendly persona and a desire for both celebrity and power. They both like each other also, so there's that.

Xiomera's royal wedding is meant to cement the rise of Calhualyana and her political movement, the Xiomeran Citizens' Party (XCP), to total control and dominance of Xiomera and its people. You can help celebrate that....or disrupt it. Anyone is free to join in this RP, which will be limited in duration and is more of a special event than an ongoing storyline.

Ground rules:
1) Anything that could harm any of my characters must be cleared with me first and approved.
2) Anything that could cause major physical damage, or harm to the public, in any location in Xiomera must be cleared with me first and approved.
3) No taking control of any of my characters, or posting actions on their behalf, without my prior approval.

Other than that, you're free to do as you like within reason. If you're unsure if something would be okay, ask on this thread or ping me on Discord.

Some possible ideas:
1) You could send someone to attend the wedding, either on behalf of your nation or on their own basis. Officials from nations on neutral or friendly terms with Xiomera can be assumed to receive invitations. Also, anyone who knows the Empress on a personal basis from a friendly or neutral state would be likely to receive an invite. If you would like someone to attend but aren't sure they would be invited, feel free to ask me.
2) You could send a gift to the happy couple, either as a genuine gift or as sarcasm (subtle or not) aimed at everyone's favorite Empress.
3) You can post news stories or editorials about the wedding, the bride and groom, and anything else related.

I'm very open to different ideas on this RP, so feel free to run something by me if it doesn't fit those suggestions.

Palace of Flowers
October 4th

"You look so pretty," Tiacamaco said, with tears in her eyes. Atemin, her husband, had a huge smile on his own face as he looked at his daughter. "The formal dress is very fine, but it helps that someone as beautiful and graceful as my daughter is wearing it."

Calhualyana smiled in response. "You always say that, father. But I'm not a kid anymore. It's okay to admit that I am not the most beautiful person in the world, even though you always told me that when I was little."

"But in my eyes, you have always been the most beautiful little girl in the world," Atemin said with a parent's pride. "I knew that you would grow up to be someone exceptional, but I never dreamed that the two of us would be standing in the Throne Room of the Palace of Flowers, watching you prepare for your wedding. You have no idea how proud we both are of you."

Uncharacteristically, Calhualyana blushed. Few people could bring out her emotional side, but her parents were still among those who could. "I'm glad.....that's all I ever wanted."

Atemin grinned more broadly, looking towards the man standing next to her. "You look almost as good, Xiyāōtl," he said with a chuckle. "No offense."

Xiyāōtl smiled. "I would never expect a proud papa to elevate anyone higher than his daughter." In his formal Imperial Navy uniform, Xiyāōtl did cut a dashing figure. But in her formal dress, perfectly arranged hair and tastefully done makeup, the Empress was the star of the show. As she should be.

Xiyāōtl's own parents, Poyotlaha and Ualixoztlin, had big smiles on their faces as well. "You've done us proud too, son," Poyotlaha said. "And I have to agree with you, Atemin. We also never dreamed our son would be standing in the Palace, to be the betrothed of an Empress. Our kids have definitely done well for themselves," he said, placing a hand on Atemin's shoulder.

"As much as I enjoy the proud parental enthusiasm, we do have to get a picture taken," Imperial Steward Xiuhcatli said gently. The two sets of parents laughed agreeably, moving to the side of the Throne Room as Calhualyana and Xiyāōtl stood next to each other for the formal portrait.

Within hours, that portrait, along with the news that a date had finally been set, was making its way into the Xiomeran and international media. Invitations were also going out to select national and international guests. Royal wedding fever had officially begun in Xiomera.

Voting for the IDU Cheese Festival 2021 is now open!

We have received the following entries in each category:

Best IDU Cheese

Kremākon - Democratic Republic of Eiria
Capravino Cheese - Gardavasque
Tziquia Cheese - Xiomera
MilliCheese Vegan Cheese - Milintica
Stagcapri - Libertas Omnium Maximus
Karr-Fyrrie - Bears Armed

Best Imported Cheese to the IDU

Tequila Jack Cheese - Great Tequila Island (Texas)
Seaway Sansamooshi - Jutsa (Forest)

Best Cheese-Related Product

The Ultimate Pleasantanizer - Jutsa
Kwermbrynyr Rarebite - Bears Armed

All participants who submitted at least one entry may vote for one product in each category. Please post your votes in the thread below. 

Please cast your vote by the 30th September 2021. The winner will be announced in October. 

Thank you all for participating!

As another project I had promised to work on, I have created these potential regional seals. They all look the same for a reason: to provide continuity and uniformity in regional symbols and representation. I created seals for the different regional officers as well as IDUSA Speaker and the IDUSA itself. Let me know what you all think.

I have been badly, badly behind in getting some welcome and recruiting TGs going for us as promised. So, here's my attempt to fix that.

For a basic welcome TG, I was thinking something like this: 

Quote:Welcome to the International Democratic Union! We're glad to have you here, and look forward to getting to know you (and your nation!) You're probably wondering how to begin participating in the region. Here's a quick guide to get you started.

1) If you haven't done so already, please consider joining the WA and endorsing our elected delegate, Sanctaria. It's not a requirement, but the more nations that endorse our Delegate, the more able they are to represent our collective interest in the WA.

2) Sign up on our regional forum. You can introduce yourself, and begin participating in regional roleplay there. You can also request citizenship and join our regional OOC legislature, the IDUSA.

3) Stake your claim on our regional map to find a place to call home. Questions or requests concerning the map? Reach out to our regional cartographer, Gardavasque. Have questions about the ecology of your nation and how it fits into the IDU map? Reach out to our regional ecologist, Bears Armed.

4) Once you've got your foundation down, build your nation and its place in the IDU further. You can post all about your nation on our Regional Wiki. You can also use the IDU Media Center to post news updates for your nation.

5) Join our Discord servers to participate further in roleplay, hang out with us, and see what's happening behind the scenes. We have two servers. Our primary Discord server is where we conduct most of our online activity and chatting. Our in-character Discord server is specifically designated for real-time interaction between characters.

6) Have any other questions or concerns? Feel free to reach out to any of our regional officers listed on the regional NS page, or to any of us on Discord, and we'll be happy to help. Also, if you've asked for something on our forum (such as citizenship, IDUSA membership, or a map spot) and haven't heard back in a timely manner, please let Xiomera know either by Discord or NS telegram.

Once again, welcome to the IDU! We're glad you've joined us.

Quote:

Balder Bugle Issue XI

A publication of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs of the Realm of Balder.

A New Term Begins

Statsminister & Cabinet Appointments

On 15th August 2021, King North East Somerset officially opened parliament and appointed J. S. Talleyrand as Statsminister. This is J. S. Talleyrand's fourth consecutive term in the post, a record in Balder, and means that at the end of this term he will have held the position continuously for 1 year.

Opening Parliament, King NES commented that such a term of service "is to be commended." and set out his hopes and aims for his government in the coming term.

Following his appointment J.S. Talleyrand appointed Kazaman as Deputy Statsminister and Minister of War and Foreign Affairs, and Sarah Bread as Deputy Minister of Engagement and Culture. An advert for the position of Minister of World Assembly Affairs has been placed and the Government is looking for keen Citizens, Residents or WA Members in Balder to apply for the position. J. S. Talleyrand also outlined the five pillars of core policy for his new government and noted there was much to be achieved: "We have much to do, so we must get to work immediately. Because the future can't wait. We deserve it, but we must work for it."

---

A Pillar of NationStates Retires

On 4 September a sad day dawned for Balder; for it was the day that OnderKelkia announced his resignation as Vice Delegate and Crown Prince of Balder, a decision made as part of his wider retirement from the game. On the occasion, he made the following remarks:

Greetings,

It has been my honour and privilege to serve as the Vice Delegate and Crown Prince of our region since February 2019. I am therefore sorry to announce that I recently decided to retire from the position (including the ex-officio roles as President of the Lagting and Chief Justice), as well as from my separate appointment as Chief of Defence, with effect from this public announcement. This decision forms part of a wider retirement I have decided to undertake (or, in some places, to complete) from many of my most significant and time-consuming responsibilities in NationStates. In retirement, for the immediate future at least, I will continue to serve as Prince of Jomsborg, to contribute towards upholding the in-game security of our region. However, my future role will solely be focused on on-site security and I will not be involved in regional policy discussions at any level.

I first came to Balder in October 2011 when our region was created, when I was proud to be a member of our Constitutional Convention. My first Balder nation Wicker table has the third-longest residency in our region and the longest held by any gameplayer. Thanks to the efforts of several dedicated citizens, most notably our Monarch North East Somerset, and steadfast regional allies, initial attempts to subvert Balder by hostile UDL- and FRA-aligned elements were thwarted. Instead, Balder has evolved into a free democracy and ultimately a constitutional monarchy, firmly independent from external raider or defender forces intent on threatening our sovereignty.

While I have been a member of Balder for almost a decade, I have only been involved as an official in our premier governing institutions since mid-2016, when I was pleased to be entrusted with the position of Minister of Integration. I was honoured to be nominated by the Storting and appointed as Statsminister for the first time in August 2016. In total, I served as Statsminister for 10 parliamentary terms of two months, split across three distinct continuous periods (3 consecutive terms from August 2016 to February 2017, 4 consecutive terms from June 2017 to February 2018, 3 consecutive terms from August 2018 to February 2019), serving as Foreign Minister or Chief Adviser in the intervening months. As Statsminister, it was my pleasure to lead the Statsraadet in delivering on the promises that I and the MPs who supported me were elected on. Among other achievements, we made a highly successful, active start to the regional Discord server; improved outreach to on-site nations through internal naturalisation telegrams; launched and carried forward our WA Expedition; secured bilateral treaties with United Kingdom, The North Pacific and The West Pacific; contributed to building and deftly managed tensions within the GCR Sovereignty Accords; and organised an impressive and impactful intervention in the Lazarus affair (perhaps too impactful for the liking of some raiders and defenders alike).

When I became Vice Delegate and Crown Prince in early 2019, my focus moved from managing and coordinating the performance of our government to facilitating and providing the conditions essential for maintaining a secure and free region with a positive long-term outlook. Part of this role entailed practical tasks such as efficiently determining citizenship applications, reviewing on-site security developments, publishing and promoting our WA Expedition runestones, and directing military operations. However, I have also aimed to contribute to the strategic direction of our region, mainly through my advice to the Monarch, especially on diplomatic and security matters, and to a lesser extent my input into specific executive and legislative decisions, such as in designing the constitutional reforms that led to the present bicameral legislative structure. Under the Monarch’s leadership, the foundations of Balder have become stronger. Externally, we have formed new alliances (for instance with NPO and TEP), settled previous conflicts (as in our rapprochement with TSP), strengthened several pre-existing relationships (notably our alliances with TWP and TNP) and even pursued new strategic initiatives (such as Inter-Regional Chat). Internally, while progress has been slow at times, a suitable balance between measures for upholding security and freedom has been pursued with great judgement and care, contributing to an upturn in regional activity.

At a later stage in my NationStates career, it has been a pleasure to actively serve as a government official here. While I already had substantial experience of regional leadership elsewhere before I first became Statsminister in August 2016, working in Balder has enabled me to participate in roles (as an elected politician) and an area of world politics (as a GCR) in which my prior experience was relatively limited (to my pre-2010 political careers in the LKE and GB&I and my Delegacy of The Rejected Realms respectively). I hope that my contributions as Statsminister and as Crown Prince have brought benefits to the region, alongside the work of others. I am confident that a cohesive framework is in place which will allow our region to excel in the future. While my decision to retire as Crown Prince is driven by my wider wish to retire from the game more generally, I also feel that my work as Crown Prince has perhaps reached an eventual ending point and the region will be well-served in the long run by other capable leaders assuming additional, new responsibilities. I give my best wishes to the current and future leaders of Balder in guiding the region forward successfully.

Notwithstanding the retirement of such a great figure, the position of Crown Prince must be filled. In his place, the King nominated Fuzzy, Prince of Ribe, a distinguished longtime servant of Balder to serve as Crown Prince and Vice Delegate. Fuzzy's nomination is currently being voted on by the Storting, as required by regional law.

As the King has said, while we profoundly regret OnderKelkia's decision to retire we fully respect his decision and wish him a happy, well-earned retirement.

---

Balder's RP

With a new term underway, one of the government's main objectives is Balder's new Roleplay. Set inbetween the years 1811 and 1821, it is a political roleplay which follows the actions and reactions of a number of player controlled nations based on a fictional map.

The government is encouraging members to get factbooks up and running and to start making decisions, and is always looking for new players to claim a spot on the map and join. Anyone interested can find more information on our forums here: balder.boards.net/board/36/hringhorni-port

---

Balder's Game Nights

Balder's 2021 Battleship Tournament Scoreboard


The winners of Balder's Skribbl game night of 4 September 2021

Balder has recently organised not one but two game nights, with more to come! Thanks to our lovely Deputy Minister of Engagement and Culture, Sarah, Balder has already hosted two games (Battleship and Skribbl) as well as an AMA with the King of Balder, NES, on the RMB.

Notifications for future game nights will be posted on our discord and the RMB. Ambassadors and foreign residents are welcome to join in. If there's a game you'd really like to play, please let us know!

Tólan Rematara (Hello) from the Aaronian Empire. 

I joined the Region this afternoon and am just spending some time familiarising myself with the layout of the forums. I'm looking forward to roleplaying with you all.  

Quote:

Quote:Europeia Statement
Re: "Democracy/Autocracy Update"

A proposed update to NationStates, tentatively called “Democracy/Autocracy”, has led to an active discussion on the technical forums. Recently, the President of Europeia released a statement announcing Europeia’s opposition to the update. In such a statement, the President lays out the flaws that come with the update and the downfalls which, critically, fail to address issues that do "need fixing”, and instead, tries to “shoehorn R/D into the game and to penalize anyone who doesn’t wish to participate.” Such an update proves to be unhealthy and fails to solve our existing problems.

You can read and upvote our full statement here: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1580882

International Women’s Congress
Kerlile 2021

The following content is what attendees to the IWC would have been handed in a booklet upon entry.

Welcome

I warmly welcome all attendees to the 65th International Women’s Congress here in Grapevale, the capital of Kerlile. It has been many years since the IWC has returned home to the land where it was first held, and we in Kerlile are honoured to be the hosts for this year’s conference. This introductory booklet will provide the agenda for the event, handy information for tourists in Grapevale and a map of the venue. Thank you all for coming, and here’s to a productive and enjoyable conference!

Rebecca Arnott
President of Kerlile

Agenda – Plenary

DAY ONE

Session One (10:45am – noon): Welcome & Introductions
Session Two (1pm -5pm) : Women in Politics: Q&A with female world leaders
Session Three (6pm+): Evening Drinks Reception

DAY TWO

Session Four (9am – 11am): Reproductive Justice: Reframing the Abortion Debate
Session Five (1pm – 3pm): Women and Religion
Session Six (4pm – 6pm): An Equal Start: Improving Girls’ Education

DAY THREE

Session Seven (9am – 11am): Promoting International Collaboration on Women’s Rights
Session Eight (1pm – 3pm): Women in the Workplace
Session Nine (4pm – 6pm): Misogynistic Marketing: How the Advertising Industry Can Improve

DAY FOUR

Session Ten (9am – 11am): Women’s Health
Session Eleven (1pm – 3pm): Protecting Women in Conflict Zones
Session Twelve (4pm – 6pm): Modern-Day Sexism: The Signs

DAY FIVE

Session Thirteen (9am – 11am): Committee Election Speeches
Session Fourteen (1pm – 3pm): Election Results & Round-Up

Breakout Sessions

Please note: there will be no breakout sessions on days one and five. All breakout sessions take place during lunchtime and food is provided.

DAY TWO

Room One: Was the Kerlian Project Successful? A discussion on how successful the creation of a feminist state has been since the foundation of Kerlile in 1924.
Room Two: Gender Equality in Caxcana. A look at the state of affairs on the continent of Caxcana and how different states have implemented policies over the years.
Room Three: So, You Want To Be A Politician – tips for running for office for any women seeking to make change.


DAY THREE

Room One: Political Scandals. Panel discussion on how the standards female politicians are held to can differ greatly from male, with a focus on Lauchenoiria.
Room Two: Secadualist Sects. Learn about the different denominations of Kerlile’s major religion and why so many radical feminists worship Feminea.
Room Three: Beauty Standards in Laeral. Discuss how the intersection of racism and sexism can produce pressure for women to conform to societal standards.


DAY FOUR

Room One: How to Make Change. Interactive session discussing tactics for improving the women’s rights situations in countries, companies, schools, universities and anywhere else.
Room Two: Examining History. Discussion on women’s role in history textbooks and the way history is taught in schools in many countries.
Room Three: Women in Theocracies. A comparative look at women’s rights in states where religion plays a large role in governance, focusing on Zongongia, Iskiram and Mallacaland.

Other Events

A drinks reception will be held on Day One in the conference venue. All over 18s are warmly invited to attend, including men.

Tours of Grapevale will be leaving throughout the event. Please see the tours stall for more information and to sign up.

Voting delegates will have received invitations to a private reception to take place in Councillor Greenwood’s residence on the evening of Day Four.

Childcare is available in the Wilma Greenwood Function Room. Please ask a member of staff for further information or visit the childcare venue. 

Grapevale Tourist Information

Transport

The conference venue is accessible via bus routes 4, 4A, 42 and 87. All of these buses stop directly outside the main entrance.

The nearest subway station is Hartwood Cross, which is a two-minute walk to the venue. 

The nearest train station is Grapevale West. The train station is a ten-minute walk.

Parking charges for private vehicles are 20 KCD per hour, unless the vehicle displays a valid Disability Exemption badge. Foreign visitors can pick up local badges by showing their foreign equivalents at any tourist information office.

The Conference Centre taxi rank is located to the right of the main entrance.

Hotels

There are two hotels attached to the conference centre that will cater for voting delegates and national delegations from foreign governments. For observers and those attending fringe events, a wide variety of hotels can be found online at visitkerlile.ker/Grapevale/accommodation 

Internet Access

Upon arrival in Kerlile, instructions on internet access within the Matriarchy should have been handed to you after border control. If you do not wish to sign your foreign SIM card up for our registration service, a temporary local SIM can be purchased at any tourist information office, central train station, or airport. Please note that local SIM cards are subject to greater restrictions than foreign SIMs accessing our networks.

Attractions

Booklets on things to do in Grapevale will be available at the information kiosk at the conference venue, and in leaflet stands nearby. A map of tourist information points should have been given to you upon arrival in Kerlile. If you have not received a map, or you have lost it, spares can be collected from the information kiosk.

Emergency Procedures

In the event of a fire, please leave the building and congregate at your nearest fire assembly point. These are marked in green throughout the car park. 

In the event of an attack, please remain calm and follow instructions given by security personnel. Details about our common procedures in such scenarios will be available in the tourist information pack all visitors to Kerlile are given. You are advised to familiarise yourself with these procedures, though such an event is highly unlikely.

Please read your Tourist Information Pack, as it contains important information on emergency procedures, local laws and customs, and current product rationing due to the local shortages of certain items.