MARNIE Archives August 2015

This page holds archived editions of the MARNIE newspaper which is published every Monday. The Archive contains at least four-week-old issues, and links are clickable despite what the Editor's Notes of the paper editions say. In order to keep the reading content manageable, each month will have its own page.


Midgard's Alpha Realm News
International Edition
August 3rd, 2015

Editor's Note:
Links can NOT be clicked but all photos on Imgur are all in the same album. Some of them are bigger files due to picture collages. Other links lead to this server's wiki.

In Worldwide News:
Red Sand And Pipeline, page 20

In Regional News:
Island Claims, page 31

In Local News:
Hacker Theft, page 45

Worldwide News

Duchy of Eureka
(ks) The creator of the giant bridge in the territory known as Eureka recently returned home after about half a year of absence. He agreed to joining his territory as a duchy to Kriegstein and thus earned the title of Duke Septicaemia.
During a tour of the bridge, the duke stated, “It's a Sydney Harbor Bridge rip-off.” As can be seen in the comparison on https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#43, the Eureka Bridge is actually a fitting reconstruction.
However, the bridge is not completely functional yet, since its builder “got bored after I finished the aesthetic part of it.” Due to that, “I haven't outfitted the [bridge] towers or finished the rails.”
Duke Tomoko Kuroki of Aresia questioned, “Why did you build a bridge over land?” To which Duke Septicaemia explained, “Because it's not a bridge, it's a symbol.” A few photos of the area can be viewed at https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#44. He left deciphering the symbolism to the tourists.

Kairo's Pyramid
(sc) During one of our journalists' excursion via the overworld metro system, the Slavia Confederation was visited. There, a lot of structures were created during the past couple months, among them the infamous but already abandoned Flying Islands of Lord Nomgol and the noteworthy harbor of Alexandria that was planned and built by Resident Alex_Lopatin. Another interesting spot for tourists is the great pyramid put up by Resident Berezov around the beginning of July. It is located near the station Kairo and reaches a towering Y132 at its top. Due to the immense height, the view from there is rather limited. At level Y70 the pyramid's base spans about 126 blocks squared, and its inner secrets remain a mystery for now.

Assault on Spawn Police
(ns) Resident Yagira, who still seems to spend most of his time around New Spawn, acted out another bout of outrage on July 27th. This time, not only did he assault police officers, but he hanged one of the mall guards above the mall entry as a symbol of his anger. He also placed a sign demanding unequivocally, “DEATH TO THE IRON GOLEMS!!!!!” Photographs of the scene were taken for evidence; one of those have been leaked to the press and can be seen at https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#45.
Although the police officer could be rescued before suffering fatal damage due to sturdy iron armor, Resident Yagira is unlikely to ever regain a good, or even just neutral, reputation among the New Spawn police force.

War of Liberation
(ks/bf) On July 21st, Royaume de Kriegstein formally liberated areas under Commonwealth occupation. Details of the operation and its results can be read on the page https://dev-urandom.eu/battles:war_of_liberation in the Autism Almanac.
Duke Tomoko Kuroki of Aresia later explained, “I invaded to get lands. I just wanted lebensraum since if you recall, Kriegstein was just three city-states basically. My people need lands.”

Fire Spirits
(sm) On July 21st, Resident Berezov of Smolenia shared a picture of the stunning view of fire spirits living in a swamp area near his home. It can be seen at https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#46, where it is also shown that more recently, Resident Berezov demonstrated that these fire spirits seem rather attached to him and occasionally accompany him on journeys outside their known areas.

Commonduck
(cw/er) On August 3rd, President Hinoarashi of the Republic of Ender provided an amusing analogy to the present outline of the Commonwealth regions. In case of removal or map adaptations, the comparison will be archived for posterity at https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#47. The caption to the duck picture says, 'White-Faced Whistling Duck on one leg, looking backwards.' It may suit the Commonwealth in more ways than just its looks.

Red Sand And Pipeline
(ar) Speaker BearMonger of the Republic of Ender recently discussed plans of creating a red sand factory and pipeline to transport goods to his emporium at the New Spawn Marketplace. The pipeline will be “a track with water streams made of ice. […] It barely takes any room, it's just long.”
The sand factory's design is “extremely technical” and “the machinery required is intense. It's technically duping actually,” Speaker BearMonger admits regarding the process, “but it's such a complex and involved build that I think it's totally legit.”
Considering the non-availability of red sand in our current Alpha's Realm, many residents applaud the idea and are looking forward to its implementation.

Nouvelle Reims Subway Station
(ks) Duke Tomoko of Aresia and Duke Septicaemia of Eureka collaborated on August 1st in order to build a subway station in Nouvelle Reims. The station houses an already finished 4×4 tunnel leading all the way and straight towards the Duchy of Eureka.
In building, the two dukes tried to adhere to King Sidmarcus's building style, which they managed to a satisfying degree. However, when they asked for Moderator P_P_A's opinion on the half-finished facade, an intense discussion about pillar architecture and meaning arose. Only after several reformulations of questions and explanations of personal views, all three parties seemed to reach some agreement about the architectural intent.

Regional News

Skellsborough Academy
(sf) Last Friday, Duke Speermen of Skellie Farm suffered a brief bout of Nomad Nostalgia, during which he considered selling all his stuff and taking to the road again. “Having a home was fun, but it is not my way,” he claimed. The duke was promptly reminded by his co-founder Krille3 that the great hall in their fort still needed banners and therefore Duke Speermen's continued presence and assistance was required.
The latter gave in and got rid of some frustration by demolishing two buildings in Skellborough. Having cleared space, he asked for ideas on what to build next, and was reminded of his plans to build a library.
With newfound energy, Duke Speermen wasted no time in starting on the project, although he chose to first create the academy that the library will later belong to. The academy building's dimensions are just slightly above average for structures in Skellsborough, with two stories of ten by sixteen blocks and a slightly smaller attic story. The actual space will likely be less since access to the upper floors has yet to be installed.
The academy is supposed to accommodate a gathering of the book-loving elite, so the comparatively small size will suit its purpose well.

Island Claims
(vy/bf) Kaiser Austrobernd of the Mandatory of New Badfacia recently stated interest in “an uninhabited island close to you” toward Chief Tsaryu of the Commons of Valensiya. The island he had in mind can be viewed at https://map.dev-urandom.eu/#/4700/64/-600/-2/0/2 and is has been the property of King Niller of Winterlyn for months, as stated on several signs spread around the island.
Kaiser Austrobernd did not explain his sudden awareness of a speck of land quite far away from his own territory, albeit it might be speculated that he has an eye on the ocean monument next to that island. However, he did show a lack of respect toward his fellow member of the Commonwealth Triumvirate.
He brazenly declared that since King “Niller only placed signs everywhere, I think he is okay with it.” When repeatedly urged to first acquire permission of the owner by both Chief Tsaryu and Administrator Jinx of Midgard Municipality, Kaiser Austrobernd at last replied, “Nah, that comes afterward … when I invite him to my property,” which he intended to name 'St. Helena'.
Administrator Jinx and Chief Tsaryu stated their unease about this kind of behavior from a potential new neighbor and warned that they would attest to ownership and attempted invasion should the claim come to be contested by King Niller at a later point, especially since the owner in question is nearly daily available to actually receive the request and make his own decision of whether to give away or keep the island.
To date, nothing on the island has been changed, so there is hope that Kaiser Austrobernd decided to go the civil way after all.

Modernized Metro
(vy) During the week before last, Chief Tsaryu of the Commons of Valensiya modernized the appearance of Valensiya Metro's Pegasus Line in order to match newer and already modernized lines. Redstone torches have been replaced with energy blocks so the tube floor seems less cluttered, and similarly the wall torches have been replaced by sea lanterns, giving especially the free-floating submarine glass tube a more suitable ambience for an underwater metro.

Local News

Livestock Chaos
(mm) On July 28th, Resident Zlywilk visited Midgard Municipality, particularly its underground farms, and took offense to the Administration's livestock caring policy. He decided to take action and open all gates in order to 'free' the various animals.
When questioned later, he freely admitted that, “I wanted to rescue the animals. They are underground, you monster.” However, in doing so he failed to appreciate space considerations on an island and also did not take into account that the animals are safer in the lighted underground pastures than on dark surface fields where even a pack of wolves once wandered in. The animals sure seemed to feel that way, as they did not leave to the surface but rather mingled among the pastures.
Resident Zlywilk also behaved carelessly regarding the Yew populace, since leaving the gates around the mansion open allowed zombies to invade and kill many villagers.
Having thus displayed diminished mental capacity in several ways, Resident Zlywilk was given a warning this time and his action considered a prank rather than griefing, particularly since he did not kill the livestock. However, he has been blacklisted by Administration with setting a precedent.

Hacker Theft
(mm) Between July 27th and 29th, a hacker visited Midgard Municipality and stole from two chests that had been locked, as they are by default. The theft was discovered on July 29th around noon and immediately announced to Moderator Chuck_Fiinley who was awake at the time. Both he and Resident Yagira came to investigate the first discovered chest; however the moderator proved pretty useless regarding the circumstances. It was Resident Yagira who suggested checking other chests, and who found the clay chest also unlocked. When questioned if that was also empty, he answered, “Random shit.”
Chief Tsaryu of the Commons of Valensiya kindly offered books and book-crafting materials to replace the stolen ones and also explained the situation to God.
Late at night on July 31st, Moderator P_P_A grew aware of the incident and offered to check the chests. He discovered that “Ant took 123x clay balls from chest”; he was also the one stealing “stuff” from the book chest. Unless a moderator unlocked those chests for him, it is most likely that Resident Ant used hacker skills.
More interesting, though, was that “Yagira took 1152x clay balls from chest.” When questioned by the moderator, he claimed the chest had been unlocked (which was likely the case) but upon more in-depth questioning regarding the actual timeline and his contradictory actions, Resident Yagira quickly trapped himself in his own lies.
Moderator P_P_A restored both raided chests to their previous content.



Midgard's Alpha Realm News
International Edition
August 10th, 2015

Editor's Note:
Links can NOT be clicked but all photos on Imgur are all in the same album. Some of them are bigger files due to picture collages. Other links lead to this server's wiki.

In Worldwide News:
Cripple Creek's Strict Policies, page 9

In Regional News:
No Island Project, page 35

In Local News:
Seainn Hotel, page 44

Worldwide News

Creative Ex-Mod
(ar) In previous issues of our newspaper, Resident Tangaloa has been titled 'Moderator' due to his special abilities. Recently, God AlphaBernd answered the confused questions of other residents, who had wondered about claimed inabilities of the moderator, with the following explanation.
“Just to be clear, Tangaloa does not have the same permissions as me. In fact, he has not even mod rights. He has just creative mode, but for this he is banned from interacting with other players.”
This means, for example, that Resident Tangaloa cannot teleport players around the realm nor perform rollbacks or issue bans. He might be able to provide material for repairs, but is forbidden to do so.

Planned Great Wall of Ender
(er) As a future project, Speaker BearMonger of the Republic of Ender recently announced that his government wishes to fortify the nation with a great defensive wall in order to prevent random accidental or ignorant invaders. The wall will be “several stories high with a walkway on top” and feature a “modern or futuristic” design. Speaker BearMonger asked for ideas or references of anyone who has some inkling how it could look like in our realm.

Cripple Creek's Strict Policies
(cc) After offering some opinions on a current building project in Elkkuton, the reporter was invited to a tour of the nearby settlement Cripple Creek by its founder Resident Tangaloa. A comment noting the empty police station, as well as the absence of guards on patrol, received the explanation that while accommodations have been built, due to the low crime rate in the settlement actual officers are not being employed. The upholding of the law is being observed by Resident Tangaloa himself.
For example, he expressly stated that he does not like unattended visitors in his town and thus prefers giving tours. This precaution is understandable considering the rare building materials he uses and the valuables stored in the bank's vault.
Strict rules extend to other areas as well. While visiting Cripple Creek's hospital, an infected villager wandered into the clinic seeking a cure. He was promptly executed by Resident Tangaloa instead, who afterwards offered the explanation that said infected villager “didn't have life insurance.”
Ill visitors are advised to not seek help in Cripple Creek unless they do have life insurance. Incidentally, there is no insurance agency available in town.

Southern Settlements
(jf/er) In accordance with his opinion that, “Multiple small settlements forming a landscape together are better than large, single cities,” Moderator P_P_A approached President Hinoarashi of the Republic of Ender with a proposal of cooperation.
Since his southernmost settlement Joodfontein is close to a very slowly developing Enderian town, he suggested, “How about we revamp [the town] together and also talk to the Condeurans to try and turn that southern coastline into one continuous area with villages and a few small cities connected by roads and railroads?” The idea was well received by the President, who also preferred connected settlements.

Council of Winterlyn
(wl) On August 3rd, the Council of Winterlyn held its first official meeting in the newly constructed Council Hall, located on the northwestern plateau of Wyventon. The building was erected within a day by King Niller of Winterlyn, after he “spent a good week on removing a mountain.” A good photo of the exterior has been printed on the Wyventon page of the Autism Almanac.
The huge hall offers voting seats for about sixty ministers and representatives as well as press seats. Many ministries have already claimed a seat, although due to the small number of council members, most of them currently hold several posts. “The busiest ministry there is,” King Niller explained, is the 'Ministry of Dealing with Ender' which has been separated from the 'Ministry of Foreign Relations' due to its workload.
The opening meeting of the Council of Winterlyn was attended by Valensiyan journalist Tsaryu, who courteously shared some pictures with Midgard reporters. Two of those can be seen at https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#48, showing the council members King Niller, Kaiser Autrobernd of the Mandatory of Badfacia and Resident BanksyStreetArt. King Shakomatic of the Apostolic Kingdom of Breshik also attended, while the fourth member Resident Lastebil175 remained absent.
One of the first acts of the council was a declaration of war against all creepers, and signs proclaiming that decision had been swiftly put up at New Spawn.

Emporium Progress
(ns) Around the end of last week, Speaker BearMonger of the Republic of Ender announced that the compacted design for his 'vending machine' (the emporium annex at the New Spawn Marketplace) has been completed. He claimed the start of the actual construction would happen that same day, however the work has not yet progressed beyond the patterned floor.

The Commonwealth's Metro Project
(ab) King Shakomatic of the Apostolic Kingdom of Breshik recently decided to improve transit between Nova Bydlograd and other Commonwealth regions as well as non-member areas. To that end, Grand Bydlograd Station has been constructed directly opposite the new (now domed) parliament building.
Currently, Cripple Creek's Red Line ends at this station, with a stop at Autism Mountain. A second line is under construction, and others are planned.

Griefer Reports
(ns) Last week saw two more griefer attacks which were swiftly dealt with this time. On August 4th, Criminal NukeTown (who had been here before) set wide areas of New Spawn, including the Marketplace, ablaze with raging flames as seen at https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#49. He ripped banners from shops and repositioned them haphazardly around the spawn point together with other random blocks. He was banned by Moderator Koduck who also repaired New Spawn. When the perpetrator tried to return with a different name, Moderator Koduck banned both that and the corresponding IPs.
The very next day saw three in-fighters rampaging around New Spawn, who would also attack random residents. Fortunately, Chief Tsaryu of the Commons of Valensiya issued an early warning, and the attackers DiggerOnline, mincrfata and ekonyan were also presently removed by Moderator Koduck.

Shitbuilding Academy
(wl) The Kingdom of Winterlyn's capital Wyventon has seen much change over the past couple of weeks. Aside from the Sauerei Cathedral and Memorial, a Mini Louvre has been created displaying a thoughtful donation of God AlphaBernd, and the very first 'Academy of Shitbuilding' has was established near the west gate. It sports two classrooms and a library and managed to recruit Chief Tsaryu of the Commons of Valensiya as a teacher.
The new teacher, capably consummating the position by assisting with interior design and further suggestions and donations, also doubles as a castle guard of Wyventon and set up a cozy abode in the south tower of the city's west gate entrance. He opted to take up the position after a bandit recently stole some of his donations and created much havoc in Wyventon. The bandit could be punished and the damage repaired by Moderator P_P_A, and Chief Tsaryu will stand guard to prevent such an attack from reoccurring.

Regional News

No Island Project
(bf) Concerning our article 'Island Claims' in the MARNIE issue of August 3rd, Kaiser Austrobernd offered a statement in form of a reader's letter. In it he noted that, “I've asked Niller before for the island,” though the answer that time was not mentioned.
The Kaiser also stated that, after the reporter had left the scene, he did have a chance to discuss the island with King Niller of Winterlyn (again), and apparently Chief Tsaryu of the Commons of Valensiya commented during that as well.
The content of the discussion was not detailed, however Kaiser Austrobernd felt that Chief Tsaryu was “flaming” him and declared, “No, I'm not moving there anymore, thanks to Tsar. […] After Tsar's speech the island project is also aborted since he doesn't want me to build something near him.”
When questioned, King Niller refrained from in-depth comments as well but confirmed that he was asked, and that he declined giving up the island.

Inactive Neighbor
(zy) Resident Mad_Hodman, who had stated an interest in the settlement Zweiyurten, has been inactive for a month. Upon visiting the site, investigators discovered that no noticeable changes had occurred in the area, nor has the sign pillar offering the land to interested settlers been taken down or adjusted with new ownership information.
The offer of the original founder, Resident Speermen, therefore still stands and the region remains open to interested settlers.

Local News

New Shops In Station Mall
(mm) After the recent decimation of the population, commuter vendors offered to remain in Midgard Municipality for the duration. These peculiar Yews claim to origin in parts so shrewd that their names cannot be pronounced in English, and have taken to adopt alliterated names referring to, most often, the products they sell. One such family has set up a small wool store on the first floor.
A gathering of Midgard's own librarians also decided to set up shop, on the third floor close to the library.
With the upstart in business and many recent visitors, a security guard has been hired for the mall and is often seen patrolling the foyer.

Seainn Hotel
(mm) In order to better accommodate various visitors, Midgard Administration funded the construction of a hotel close to the station. It was originally planned as a small inn but quickly took greater dimensions than expected, leading to its name adaptation.
While the structure is already finished, the rooms are not yet furnished. However, the interior designer stated confidently that the hotel can be opened to public access by the end of the week.



Midgard's Alpha Realm News
International Edition
August 17th, 2015

Important Note!
Due to a two-week company vacation, there will not be a MARNIE issue on September 7th. Whether there will be one on August 31st and/or September 14th depends mostly on (the nonoccurrence of) events.

In Worldwide News:
Shako-Plot Foiled, page 30

In Regional News:
Village Resurrected, page 41

In Local News:
Hotel Opening, page 45

Worldwide News

Southern Growth
(jf) East of Joodfontein and Weitenbosch, Moderator P_P_A has founded two new settlements. While the building style is related to that of the nearby villages, the new settlements have a more modern look about them. They are being built with rarer materials such as stained clay, its various colors affording the houses a more lively, individual appearance.
The northern village has been given the name Drellingen, referring to the planned use of field workers in the future. A small and comfortable Baroque church overlooks the village square, and a fence ensures the residents' safety.
A little ways farther south, another small village in the same style was founded and, after elaborate consideration, named Volweiler by Moderator P_P_A. Both villages have been connected to Weitenbosch by country roads.

Aresean Nation
(at) On August 15th, former Duke Tomoko announced that he was “handing over power to P_P_A and the Caeruleans” regarding the government of Royaume de Kriegstein. Moderator P_P_A is listed as Secretary General as of August 16th.
Tomoko decided to revive the Sea of Ares area and has started the construction of Aresianapolis, which will be the capital of the newly founded nation Aresean Technocratic Republic. Leadership will once again fall to Supreme Technocrat Tomoko.

Peaceful Kriegstein
(ks/er) Under the new government, Royaume de Kriegstein and the Republic of Ender signed the Treaty of Castile, wherein Kriegstein is declared independent and an economic/military alliance is established.

Wyventon Statue
(wl) Following the current trend for posturing, the newest addition to Wyventon, capital of the Kingdom of Winterlyn, was a great statue on an eastern plateau during the last week. Signs declared it to depict 'The late Sauerei on his heavenly throne', guarding the entrance to a storage area. During a quest for others' opinion, King Niller was informed that the person was hard to distinguish from the throne due to similar coloring. He decided to rebuild the statue and proceeded to deconstruct the original. Its place took a standing sculpture holding a flag. A sign on the socket proclaims, 'The Late Sauerei leading the battle against endarian, oppressive rule.'

Kriegstein Subway
(ks) From the recently finished Subway Station in Nouvelle Reims, various lines are planned to be established. The single already working one leads to Lichmond and Hinoarashington; others shall connect Kriegstein duchies with each other and surrounding territories. However, with the recent redistribution of authority, it is now unclear whether work on those subway tracks will continue and, if so, at which time frame they are to become operational.

Reoccurring Spawn Haunting
(ns) The Zombie child ghost that had been driven out of the erotic shop at the New Spawn Marketplace appeared again on August 9th. The apparition could be captured with special cameras on photographs, one of which can be viewed at https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#50. The ghost boy found interest in the storage area next to the mall entrance and may actually have raided some of the compartments, as he is now wearing a full set of leather armor, partly even enchanted.
His new choice of refuge seems to have scared off the meek trader who had set up shop in a corner of the facility, as the fisherman has since vacated the building. It is uncertain whether further exorcisms will be tried.

Cleaning Tomoko
(ns) After repeatedly bemoaning the “shitty spawn”, as well as hearing simimal complaints from many residents, mall manager Tomoko took it upon himself to try and clean up his area of business. He stated he wanted to make it “look c&a, […] cute and adorable, like small city.”
With donations from Chief Tsaryu of the Commons of Valensiya, he funded, designed and executed street repairs, replacing the brick road leading to his establishment with an asphalt one.
The mall itself was afforded a new, more attractive front, with a changed entrance to the storage facility now inside, signs around the area were updated and superfluous chests were relocated with the help of moderators.
The new road garnered an ambivalent reception, especially as it covers only a very small area and seems inconsistent with the rest of New Spawn. However, the immediate area of business from the arrival point to the mall is undeniably cleaner, clearer and overall more attractive. Pictures are available at https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#51. The banner adorning God Alphabernd's office was designed by Kaiser Austrobernd of the Mandatory of New Badfacia.

Enderian Breakdance
(er) A curious attraction has been discovered during a chance trip to Hinoarashington D.C. by one of our reporters. While sightseeing, he was lured my music to a square corner where a particularly lively villager was dancing on his head. The artiste named Grumm cheerfully turned toward his audience and jumped up some inches all without using his hands. He declined disclosing where he learned such skills but allowed a photo, at https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#52.

New Spawn Cinema
(ns) After Speaker BearMonger of the Republic of Ender determined that the addition to the Marketplace was too small to house his planned emporium, mall manager Tomoko mentioned plans to establish a cinema in the annex instead.
After some consideration, Jinxauthor_Mel of the Midgard Municipality decided to take up Tomoko on the offer to build said cinema. To date, the main theater has been finished and is already operational. Pictures can be seen at https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#53.
Currently, it features the 3D movie 'First Pigmen Heroes', and in concurrence with the movie it is based on, the actors tend to jump out of the screen. As this is a new kind of experience for the audience, and since the surrounding halls are still under construction, entry to the theater is at present free for a trial period. Viewer opinions and suggestions are welcome; please place them at the inside back wall of the theater if you choose to comment.

Shako-Plot Foiled
(ab/er) In a daring move, King Shakomatic of the Apostolic Kingdom of Breshik declared himself a 'loyal ender citizen' on August 11th in order to run as candidate during the Republic of Ender's presidential election set for October 8th. When questioned whether any foreigner is just allowed to decide this, President Hinoarashi of the Republic of Ender declared, “No. But I accept his citizenship.” He explained that, since Ender doesn't have dual citizenship, “If he sacrifices Breshikan citizenship, that means Breshik doesn't have a leader. And its citizenship falls below three or five,” thereby dissolving Breshik's nation status or possibly even a city-state one, which would in turn mean a restriction on territory King Shakomatic may claim - and likely eliminate President Hinoarashi's most persistently resurfacing headache.
Despite the logical explanation, the President's decision met scathing opposition from Speaker BearMonger who will also run for President and used the opportunity to disparage the current leader, stating his conviction that, “[Shakomatic] is just plotting against us like some filthy Muslim.”
In the end, both candidates were proven correct in their interpretation of the situation, since King Shakomatic “did not rescind Breshikan citizenship and is now ineligible,” as declared by the President - who will have to keep dealing with this headache, especially if he wins the coming election.

Friendly Respect
(ca/at) Mostly motivated by boredom, as stated by the perpetrator himself, Supreme Technocrat Tomoko of the Aresean Technocratic Republic extended his “cleaning” to the farther reaches of the New Spawn area on August 14th.
Because he considered it “shitty”, he tore down the small automated mushroom farm Superintendent Tablecat of Calis had constructed there, referring to a month-old agreement that had since been retracted. The action met with fury on the part of the owner, mostly due to the disrespect shown towards a friend.
The structure was recovered later that day by Moderator June, and while S.T. Tomoko refused to apologize for “removing shit”, he did reimburse Superintendent Tablecat with a stack of redstone later on.
Two days after the incident, relations between both residents seemed repaired when in a deal Superintendent Tablecat agreed to build a huge slab-roof in a very short time in Aresianapolis for generous payment from S.T. Tomoko.

Fallen Nation
(ua) With the saddened comment, “Time to end the farce,” Prime Minister Salah of Umm Al Asufli officially rescinded nation status due to the emigration of most citizens. The settlement is now independent, according to its page.

Regional News

Village Resurrected
(ov) On August 11th, Supreme Technocrat Tomoko of the Aresean Technocratic Republic undertook a journey to the Northeastern Sea and a small village even farther east. The place is the settlement of Resident Opti, who asked that Tomoko check whether his Yev residents were still alive and unharmed. S.T. Tomoko found them ailing and undead instead and ventured out to cure and save them. As of August 12th, Opti Village (temporal designation) has regained four inhabitants. As they are still in convalescence, they are being deterred from venturing outside their homes for the time being.

Academy And Library
(sf) Duke Speermen of Skellie Farm finished the outer construction of the academy building in Skellsborough and also established the adjoined library. The latter one has been furnished perfunctory.

Local News

Hotel Opening
(mm) According to schedule, Midgard's Seainn Hotel was finished at the end of last week. It hosts fourteen rooms and offers a restaurant, pool with sundeck and entertaining roof maze for its guests.

Late Non-News

Free City of Aresia
(fa) Formerly known as the Duchy of Aresia, the area had been designated as Free City on July 31st. The small town within its protective walls has been growing in leaps and bounds, sporting embassies, residences and stores, all of them grandly overshadowing the early rise of its Breshikan Quarter.
President Hinoarashi from the republic of Ender designed and constructed the Constituent Lodge of the Eastern [Star] Aspergian Rite in the beginning of July. Around the same time, Resident Alex_Lopatin created a Slavian Embassy, and then-Duke Tomoko built a Lovemaking Hut with the help of Resident Berezov. More recently, Speaker BearMonger established a store in Aresia as well.
The Free City of Aresia also features a smithy, a statue of Duke Tomoko and buildings of various other residents. Its newest project is a subway station for which construction has started close to the town's northern wall during the first week of August.



Midgard's Alpha Realm News
International Edition
August 24th, 2015

Important Note!
Due to a two-week company vacation, there will not be a MARNIE issue on September 7th. Whether there will be one on September 14th depends mostly on (the nonoccurrence of) events.

In Worldwide News:

Ambitions of Dobrograd, page 9

Continents Named, page 19

New Spawn IMAX, page 43

Worldwide News

Griefing Friend
(ab/ns) As a Breshikan correspondent reported, on Sunday 16th a griefer named DRZSOMB struck Nova Bydlograd, the capital of the Apostolic Kingdom of Breshik. He attacked Resident Zsombipancake, “griefed his house and killed all horses in the town, also he destroyed all windows in his path.”
Kaiser Austrobernd of the Mandatory of Badfacia came to support Resident Zsombipancake in a retaliation attempt while calling on Moderator Rosenmann for assistance. The griefer refused to talk to the Moderator and was detained for a day. The Breshikans were given sixteen spawn eggs as reparations, in order to restore their equine population.
When asked for a statement at a later point, Resident Zsombipancake revealed that he knew the attacker from outside Alpha's Realm and had considered him a friend before.
On that occasion, Chief Tsaryu of the Commons of Valensiya and Duke Nekronys of the Duchy of Dobrograd (Kriegstein) informed that Griefer DRZSOMB had returned later, destroying further places such as the New Spawn Marketplace and Akarinka's Rail. The damage could be repaired by a moderator, and the criminal received a lifelong prison sentence.

Ambitions of Dobrograd
(dg) On August 21st, Duke Nekronys of the Duchy of Dobrograd overheard a conversation concerning the recently built royal road connecting the duchies of Royaume de Kriegstein. He criticized the design and suggested a wider road with sidewalks, as an example of how it “can be done better”.
As a member of the nation, Duke Nekronys accepted a challenge to improve the road along its entire length using the resources of his duchy. However, he postponed the realization of the project until “after my town square.”
Regarding said square, Duke Nekronys published a design that can be viewed at https://imgur.com/a/RkDRm, asking for “a little help here, some good ideas on this thing. […] On the sides of the logo will be two statues, horo on the left side and some other on the right. The stairs in front of the square is the place where the town hall is supposed to be.” The logo 'DC' stands for Dobrochan, the origin of the duchy's residents.

New Watertown
(ab) From Grand Bydlo Station in Nova Bydlograd, a second line has been finished leading to Balzsam's Farm and New Watertown through the swamp, affording an interesting view from both inside and out.
Developing the swamp area is a collaborative project of the Residents Zsombipancake, Balzsam and JStalker with a little assistance of Kaiser Austrobernd of the Mandatory of Badface. A Hungarian flag proudly guards the entrance to New Watertown, which is built on pillars and stilts just slightly above the water's surface. With a balanced combination of wood and glass, the buildings give a modern yet homey impression, and most of the already finished ones have been furnished and given a purpose.

Chest-Spam at Ender Farm
(te) In the dual quartz Endermen Farm in the End that was built by Resident Anon1234, Moderator Chuck_Fiinley and Resident WTCRsayready have recently placed several private chests along its edges. While all but one are not actually in the way, they do ruin the clean and symmetrical design of the building, so a complaint was addressed at the first Moderator who showed up.
Moderator Bikki took a look at the chests and found “tons of stuff in them” and did not wish to relocate them since “it's some work.” He suggested asking the placers to remove their chests themselves.
Moderator Bikky deemed the XP-Farm “slow” and offered to build a faster one himself. That, apparently, does not count as “some work”.

Continents Named
(ar) Tentative suggestions for naming the three major landmasses of Alpha's Realm seem to have been accepted by veteran residents.
The main continent which houses both Old and New Spawn has been termed Ur/Origin. If just one of those designations has to be chosen, our editors lean toward 'Ur' but encourage opinions and comments of the residents who actually started out from Old Spawn.
Due to its most prevalent feature on the map, the new eastern continent has been named Snowbelt, and for equally map-related reasons the southern one is called Southrim for now.
The wish of actual residents of the Northeastern Sea to call the body of water they live in exactly that has been vetoed by the King of Breshik who prefers to have areas named after him that he has so little interest in that he would even spell his self-chosen designation wrong.
Nevertheless and despite official entries in the Autism Almanac, due to general acceptance among our esteemed readers and because it better describes the actual location in Alpha's Realm, our journalists will continue to call the ocean that is our home the Northeastern Sea.

Independent Orcaella
(oc) On August 19th, the former Duchy Orcaella declared independence from Royaume de Kriegstein and assumed settlement status instead. Its leader Carluga, no longer a duke, has not yet decided on a form of government for his now independent settlement but created a page in the Autism Almanac where future progress will be documented. The official map of duchies on the page of Royaume de Kriegstein has been updated to reflect this change.

House-Tree Home
(ns) New Resident OhmKitten, who was guided by Resident OrdealEarl to a remote and well-hidden location south of the Slavia Confederation and not too far from New Spawn, has started to build a home base during the past two weeks.
Lacking the jungle tree seeds he required to realize his planned project, he undertook the long and hazardous journey through Nether and deserts toward the lone western Jungle of Alpha's Realm, where he successfully gathered the needed plants.
Back home, he decided to have a giant jungle tree grow inside his basic home and build the extensions he had in mind around the huge trunk. The construction blends in well with the surrounding forest and grants Resident OhmKitten the desired privacy.

Tradition Battles
(lc/ab) June 20th saw the first 'battle' over a tradition in Alpha's Realm, the details of which can be read on the page https://dev-urandom.eu/battles:the_theft_of_power_hours in the Autism Almanac.
The battle remained a verbal one and centered around the Condeurian tradition 'Power Hour', which King Shakomatic of the Apostolic Kingdom of Breshik was accused of trying to steal. Once the King retracted his claim, the battle was concluded peacefully.

Chicken Islands Repopulated
(sc) The well-known floating Chicken Islands of the Slavia Confederation is finally seeing some activity again. The structures, created in this year's Spring by Lord Nomgol and officially abandoned by him in early Summer, were recently discovered by Resident Dora who decided to settle there.
The new owner not only cares for the chicken population, farms and houses, but took upon himself the addition of another island in the west where a small castle is already being built. The castle will likely be the Islands seat of government once it has been finished.

Regional History Museum
(ab) The newest endeavor of the Apostolic Kingdom of Breshik is a 'regional' history museum built by King Shakomatic. Some donations have already been made, one by Resident OrdealEarl (whose island Spȧrdör is nowhere near even the Commonwealth region, much less the Beshik one). Beneath the museum, an archive is to be established containing “all the treaties ever signed by the Commonwealth as well as all the books I can get my hands on,” King Shakomatic stated.

Enderian Request for Materials
(er) Speaker BearMonger of the Republic of Ender has decided upon a place and design for his emporium and has been mining nether quartz at the end of last week. However, since the work is slow going, he has asked residents to either sell quartz to him or help him mine for a set rate of four diamonds per stack of quartz blocks. Residents who are interested to take him up on the offer can almost always talk to him by calling out his name.

Additional Offers in Admin Shop
(ns) The admin shop at New Spawn now offers various mob heads and, likely intended as a prank in reaction to various residents' requests, sells one hardened clay block for one block of clay.

Rise of Ares
(at) The capital of the Aresean Technocratic Republic, Aresianapolis, is being developed at a stunning pace. Only a week after the first floor 'roof' had been laid over the plus-shaped area, several buildings have been erected on top of it. Furthermore, in the center the ground has been dug out to bottom level and a plaza been created, around which skyscrapers are being built in a cooperation of Supreme Technocrat Tomoko, Kaiser Austrobernd of the Mandatory of New Badfacia and Resident Horseapples. Resident Nick4629 also contributed to the development of the area by creating a lush park leaning against the northwestern corners of the city.
Beneath the surface, the Ganymede Command Center has also been fleshed out, particularly the quarters level. And in the span of two days, S.T. Tomoko constructed a (not yet named) space station in the upper levels of the atmosphere above the southern coast, observing and guarding the fledgling capital.

New Spawn IMAX
(ns) As of August 21st, the recently built cinema inside the annex of the Marketplace is fully operational. Four smaller halls show movies around the clock, and the main 3D theater is being visited by a regular audience.
The entrance and walls sport posters and banners of movies that will be released at a later time, as can be seen on https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#53, and the ticket and snack vendors have set up shop. Their prices are rather steep and bringing your own sustenance is being frowned upon, so please do so only very secretly.
For Soartex Club members only, special shows are offered, a snapshot of which can be viewed at https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#54.

Street Maps for Nova Bydlograd
(ab) In order to facilitate easier navigation in the capital of the Apostolic Kingdom of Breshik, Kaiser Austrobernd announced that he had placed secured street maps around Nova Bydlograd. The town covers a wide area with narrow streets and houses looking mostly the same wherever one turns, so a plan of the street layout will come as a great help indeed for casual visitors.
Kaiser Austrobernd also broached the idea of writing a tourist guide about the town but acknowledged that this is best done by the builders themselves who at least know what their empty houses were meant to be used for.



Midgard's Alpha Realm News
International Edition
August 31st, 2015

Important Note!
Due to a two-week company vacation, there will not be a MARNIE issue on September 7th. Whether there will be one on September 14th depends mostly on (the nonoccurrence of) events.

In Worldwide News:

BellTower Revived, page 6

Statue Variations, page 20

United Bookstore, page 27

Worldwide News

Space Station Named
(at) In the Aresean Technocratic Republic, the rapidly built space station has been named Areios. Supreme Technocrat Tomoko mentioned some plans to possibly change details about the structure later on, but for the moment the construction and expansion of the capital takes priority. Huge amounts of Andesite are being used and, therefore, bought in great quantities.

BellTower Revived
(bt) During the last week, Resident Paper revisited his old region BellTower, to find it occupied by the Eastern Commonwealth, freed by the Republic of Ender and annexed by Royaume de Kriegstein during his one year absence, yet thoroughly ignored by all of them.
He stated his intention to develop the settlement into a nation and quickly gathered two friends in order to start with a city-state at least.
On August 26th, he declared independence from Royaume de Kriegstein and consulted with President Hinoarashi of the Republic of Ender, and Moderator June, about how to make that official.
He was advised that the annexation of his independent settlement had been illegal to begin with, therefore a treaty should not be necessary. “However, if you wanted to make things understood with [King Sidmarcus of Royaume de Kriegstein], you could have an agreement,” the President suggested.
Moderator July counseled to, “Create [the city-state] and discuss formalities later,” since it was uncertain when the people in charge would be available again.
Together with new Residents Izushi and NoLogicGamer, Resident Paper thus created the Città-Stato democratica di BellTower1) under his leadership.
On August 28th, President Hinoarashi notified Leader Paper that King Sidmarcus seemed adverse to BellTower's secession. According to witnesses, his statements seemed like “joking around” rather than an earnest threat, but the possibility that BellTower's secession might be answered with military action on Kriegstein's part spurred a lengthy discussion between former Secretary-General Tomoko and President Hinoarashi. When questioned, Leader Paper expanded on his history with and leaving of Kriegstein, reconfirming the conclusion that King Sidmarcus has no official claim on the BellTower territory. “If a guy leaves your nation and makes a settlement, you cannot choose to annex it,” President Hinoarashi summarized and also warned, “If [a nation] is going to annex random people when they're not online, that is no better than rule by Shako.”
In the case of BellTower's secession, President Hinoarashi stated that the Republic of Ender has “no obligation to participate in this campaign. We're neutral. We will broker for them and attempt to influence Kriegstein not to act, but that's it.”
At the time this article was written, BellTower's status as city-state was not yet officially approved, and discussions were ongoing.

P_P_A Clan Change
(ks) Since Moderator P_P_A has been appointed the Secretary General of Royaume de Kriegstein, apparently he did not consider it appropriate to be part of Caerula any longer. As was informed by Moderator June, he joined the clan Royaume de Kriegstein to officially announce his affiliation.

Hidden Gem
(ns) On August 26th, Moderator June guided our MARNIE reporter into the deep chasms beneath New Spawn and pointed out the beautification Resident Berezov had undertaken in the first week of August.
Access can be gained from one of the private reading rooms in the back of the Adult Book Store hidden behind the StarBat Café. A trickling stream bordered by lush flora present a relaxing atmosphere within the narrow chasm beneath the bustling trade center of Alpha's Realm.

Statue Variations
(ns) Moderator June decorated the two statues overlooking New Spawn with smiley masks on August 14th, later stating that he wanted to make “Spawn look more interesting”. While the mask on the Shakomatic statue remained untouched the one on the Tomoko statue was soon removed. This incited Moderator June to try out further variations, this time by altering the actual head and hands of the figure. The pictures on https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#56 show the Shakomatic smiley as well as 'Niggermoko' and 'Cirnoko', as those two variations were termed by their designer.

Theft Retaliation
(ns) After discovering the theft of six double chests of Pumpkins from his pumpkin farm in Hinoarashington, committed by Kaiser Austrobernd of the Mandatory of Badfacia “a while ago”, Speaker BearMonger of the Republic of Ender retaliated by detonating the Shakomatic statue on New Spawn on August 27th. Photos of the scene were taken by Kaiser Austrobernd and provided for public view on http://imgur.com/a/Fd5jy.
The damage was soon repaired by a moderator, and Kaiser Austrobernd paid for the fruit he had taken with emeralds. “As far as the statue, I just felt like blowing it up. Again. It's fast becoming tradition,” Speaker BearMonger stated when asked about his over- reaction. He also later declared that, “I'll blow up the statue as often as needed,” not specifying what need would be addressed with that action.

United Bookstore
(ns) During the past week, after circuitry for the IMAX lighting system were installed and walled off, the space left beneath the movie theater was renovated also. After sitting empty for some days, a proposition to use it as a bookstore was made, and counters were added to serve that purpose. As an example of how the vending stalls should work, Midgard vendor Bert Bookseller set up shop in a back corner.
The entry to the bookstore is on the lower level of the New Spawn Marketplace, straight ahead after descending the stairs and behind the MolteVolte shop. The UBS is meant to be a central bookstore where any authors may sell the Written Books (only!) they wish to distribute.

Pumpkin Clutter
(ns) In an act of mindless obstruction, possibly under some drug's influence, King Shakomatic of the Apostolic Kingdom of Breshik scattered random pumpkins on Putin Bridge on August 27th, severely hampering movement.
He also placed some directly on the spawn point, but those were quickly removed by mall manager Tomoko as they hurt residents teleporting in. King Shakomatic did not comment on any questions about this act of griefing, further suggesting he may not be all that aware himself about why he did it in the first place. Due to his temporally diminished mental capacity, he did not receive any punishment for either vandalism or reckless endangerment.

Quartz Runs
(ns/er) After various offers by Speaker BearMonger of the Republic of Ender to pay diamonds for quartz blocks or assistance in mining nether quartz were disregarded by most residents, President Hinoarashi counseled him to open a booth at New Spawn in order to buy quartz blocks in “piece meal”.
Speaker BearMonger took the suggestion quite literally and placed a vendor right in front of the spawn point, in the middle of the road, desperate huckster style. The opportunity was used by Resident Featy, promoting better the prices at his own shop, supported by Chief Tsaryu of the Commons of Valensiya.
The adjusted sign requesting to not spam Spawn with chests and merchants went just as ignored as Speaker BearMonger's initial offers.

Danikan Museum
(ab) In the Apostolic Kingdom of Breshik's capital Nova Bydlograd, the museum building has been finished, dominating the newest quarter in the south of the town. The Danikan Museum of Commonwealth History has received many donations and already opened some exhibition chambers. Particularly noteworthy is its extensive collection of flags, and the exhibition about the war for Siverny is currently being arranged.

Regional News

Area Renamed
(pg) The area formerly known as the 'Yev Sanctuary', discovered and developed by Resident Santikaye, has been renamed to Phiagrica some time ago, and been properly connected to New Spawn via Nether Rail #6. The automated sugarcane farm has been finished, and the construction on a huge round elevated farm, partly automated as well, has also been finalized, distinguishing the area next to the as yet incomplete huge tree that Resident Santikaye is currently working on. As to the choice of name, he explained that it's “supposed to be about growing plants.”

Apology
MARNIE's staff and editor apologizes to esteemed readers for rushing the issue prior to our vacation, resulting in a damaged rush-job.
Those who already purchased it will receive this proper edition, and all others may buy the belated issue at reduced price.



This issue ends the August 2015 page of the MARNIE Archives. The next issue will be posted on the September 2015 page.


1)
This nation was later merged into Mercymnius.
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