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Greetings

If you've received this invitation then you have an embassy with us. It's the Halloween season so we thought we'd do something everywhere we have an embassy! Right here in this thread, anyone in your region may submit a sprite for this contest. The rules are simple:

• The theme must be Halloween.
• There is a strict size limit of 200x200 pixels, no exceptions.
• Nothing pornographic in nature is allowed.
• All submissions must be original designs of your own making.
• All submissions must be posted in one of the invitation threads at one of our embassies abroad or here on the TRR forum.
  (feel free to create your own thread for your submission if you go that route)

Simple right? Some of you are probably wondering "What is a sprite?" Well that wikipedia entry is a good place to find the answer. The winning submission will be used as TRR's flag in-game for the duration of Halloween. We look forward to seeing what your creative minds are capable of...creating! Best of luck to all of you!

The Rejected Realms Update

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WA Delegate: The Church of Satan
| Culture Officer: Catalyse  | Foreign Affairs Officer: Wabbitslayah |
| Media Officer: John Laurens | Outreach Officer: Marilyn Manson Freaks |
Speaker of the Assembly: Kyorgia

An election, and another election... and wait, is that another election?

If there's one thing we can be sure of it's that the Gods of elections are surely pleased with The Rejected Realms. Throughout the last three months several worthy candidates have lined up to be sacrifices to the Gods of elections, but only a few of them were holy enough to enter the sacred walls of Electionhalla. Even some of those that were thought to be worthy at first were rejected entry into Electionhalla, and were expelled from it, or how we call it in Electionism, they resigned.

The first of the several sacrificial rituals started in August, and several pious rejects lined up, citing the reasons of why they were worthy, and soon enough all rejects were enjoying the election rituals, casting their vote into the sacred ballot box. Flower Boy, Catalyse, Katie Rybeck and Frattastan were deemed worthy of being sacrificed this election season, but many of them were not capable of faring through the trials and tribulations the gods set before them.

By early September one of the officers had already been excommunicated, resigned, and a challenge for this newly vacated position, erupted from two worthy candidates, Marilyn Manson and John Laurens. Battling between each other with the best election weaponry they could find, in the end, after Manson had received 13 votes and Laurens had received 6, it was Marilyn Manson that was chosen to be sacrificed on the Holy Sepulchre of Outreach on the 8th of September.

Soon after another challenger appeared from the crowd. Wabbitslayah challenged Frattastan, who decided to not meet his opponent on the field and instead cower inside the walls of Electionhalla, which was not a good sign of things to come. In the end Wabbit was selected to be an officer on the 16th of September, while Frattastan was expelled from the godly realms.

But this wasn't the last we had seen of Laurens, and again on the 12th of October, after another resignation occurred, he again battled, this time with his wits as no worthy opponent had emerged from the crowd, to obtain the favour of the gods, and after four days of strenuous discussion with the gods he did.

Last but not least, undefeated and unopposed champion in the coliseum of Speaker elections, Kyorgia was again chosen as the holy champion of the Assembly, the Speaker. And now, with only a few days before the next holy festivities we await for the new candidates.

Werewolf Fever

There's a new fever passing through The Rejected Realms, and it all started on the night of the 15th of October when a hooded man was spotted poisoning the water depots. A lab analysis of the water discovered that it had been contaminated by the lycanthropy virus, but by then it was already too late to stop the virus from spreading through the water supply.

As generalized distrust between the citizens of the region and chaos ensued, the mayor of The Rejected Realms, Frattastan, was found dead in their office. Further inspection showed that not only had he been killed by a werewolf, but that he was the one who had contaminated the water supplies too, apparently as a cruel prank. The few citizens that had gathered at the town hall hurried to elect a new mayor, and as soon as they could, hurried back to their houses and hoped for the best during the night.

To everyone's horror, the new mayor that had promised to find a solution to this crisis had too perished the following night. The townspeople decided that the best course of action was to vote on who they believed was a werewolf, and then executing them. Soon after a consensus was formed as to the guilt of Escade. Escade was taken to the pyre on the town square and lighted on fire, and as she burned many could observe her werewolf fur appear under her skin.

Believing that they were finally free of the werewolf menace, the citizens went about their daily life. To their horrible surprise, they again found another body, that of resident superstar fan, Marilyn Manson, which showed all the signs of having been killed by a werewolf. Again, accusations were flung around, and as the names of Catalyse and Kyorgia were thrown around, it was finally decided that the more suspicious of the two was Kyorgia, who, after being skinned, was shown to be hiding werewolf fur under his human skin.

While The Rejected Realms seems to be safe for the moment, there are scary tales that the epidemic has reached the underground levels of the region only known as discord, where the plight of the innocent citizens continues on.

The Rejects' Brigade

The Rejected Realms Army (RRA), otherwise known as the UDL's Rejected Renegade Squadron, continues to soldier on against the raider menace, as the invaders continue to attack The Rejected Realms by sending the worst of the membership of the regions they have raided, such spammers and trolls, and I assume, some good people too.

The RRA has, in the past few months, seen an increase in members, with new recruits coming from all sorts of backgrounds to join the RRA's power couple, guy and frattastan, in the march towards the inevitable continuation of the march. People from all walks of life have flocked to join the RRA: refugees from the latest GCR civil war, recently dugged out FRA veterans, out of work defender ideologues or just your common reject, all have come together.

When lucky enough not to fall asleep during update, the RRA can show itself to be a large force, though sadly the many seniors in its ranks need to take long rests between updates, lest they end up out of commission sooner than expected. If lucky enough, or if Command is daring enough to wake her from her slumber, we can even count on Crazy Girl, who has interrupted her retirement in order to update a few times.

Beyond the usual update routine of liberations, defences and detags against more or less notorious invader groups, the RRA took part in the liberation attempts of Socialist Alliance of Eurasia, where, along with other defenders, we were left to be picked one by one by invader sharpshooters and their BC rifles.

Also noteworthy for us were the minor update of the 23rd of September, when 7 soldiers were able to wake up just in time to set our most recent record of update attendance, and the liberation of Shrektopia and the other operations on the 17th of October when, exceptionally, we outnumbered any other group in Libcord.

At this point we're confident that the only thing that can put an end to the RRA is the RRA itself, or rather, a member of the RRA. As the army's self-appointed chief ideologue, The Grim Reaper, has prophesied, if in his second coming he is not accompanied by any other member of the RRA into update then that may very well mark our end, if not all of R/D or even Nationstates. But until then, the Space Unicorn Brigade marches on.

Update written by Catalyse

The end of R/D...let us hope. xD

In any case, thanks for the update! I have to say, I liked the simple format...it made the dispatch easy to read compared to a lot of the fancy formats that other regions put out.

I have to say, I liked the simple format...it made the dispatch easy to read compared to a lot of the fancy formats that other regions put out.

Including ours?

Including ours?

What say you on the matter?

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WA Delegate: Catalyse
| Culture Officer: Marilyn Manson Freaks | Foreign Affairs Officer: Frattastan |
| Media Officer: John Laurens | Outreach Officer: The Church of Satan |
Speaker of the Assembly: Kyorgia

New Delegate Elected


The RRA parading with a portrait of a former delegate. We're not too sure of which one this is...

For The Rejected Realms, December was not only the holiday season for the celebration of Rejectmas, but it also turned out to be a far larger election period than the triannual general election for Officers. Late into November, Catalyse declared her intentions to challenge sitting Delegate, The Church of Satan, followed soon by the incumbent's declaration of intent to run in opposition, alongside Crazy Girl to again take over the mantle of the perennial candidate.

We'll skip through the boring election process, pass the political maneuvering and ignore the vote buying by going straight to the election results! Coincidentally, this article happens to be written by election's winner, but that there is just a mere coincidence.

Truthfully the campaign was much less interesting, and much less stressing, than any allegations of wrongdoing or electoral manipulation would have made it, and instead all three Delegate candidates conducted their campaigns respectfully, with the only incident of notice having been The Grim Reaper's torturously long SWOT analysis presented to Catalyse.

The elections were closed on the 11th of December and Catalyse was declared the victor with twenty four first preference votes, while both The Church of Satan and Crazy Girl enjoyed five first preference votes each. This marked the first time in TRR's History that an incumbent Delegate that has decided to contest an election challenge lost an election.

Catalyse's inauguration took place on the 13th, and while the initial celebrations were interrupted by a group of protesters throwing tangerines at the Delegate, the RRA was quickly called into action to curb the resistance, I mean unlawful protests... and make sure democracy takes it's due course.

During her inauguration speech, Catalyse delineated her mandate of which she hopes to accomplish during her term, including her short and long term plans, from reviewing and revitalising TRR's Foreign policies to exploring and developing new cultural activities.

Written by Catalyse

Hall of Fame given a Rejectmas Present

The Hall of Fame, instituted in late November by the Assembly of The Rejected Realms to honour past members of the region and their contributions not only to its community but to NationStates as a whole, was graced with a most joyous and happy Christmas morning when a gift was found inside the office of the Hall of Fame's Director, right next to the fireplace. A Rejectmas miracle, as some have called it.

The present's wrapping, decorated with drawings of tangerines allusive to Rejectmas, was quickly torn into shreds by the Hall of Fame's Director, after a vote determined they'd be the one to open the mysterious gift, while the rest of those present hid behind the Director's desk.

The present turned out to be a portrait of an angel, along with a plaque with a small biography of someone. Everyone was left befuddled as to what the gift actually was, but a well timed call from the office of the Speaker of the Assembly quickly answered any question that there might have been. Apparently the Assembly forgot to inform that Sedge was to be the first inductee to the Hall of Fame and their induction would quaintly fall on the 25th of December.

Sedge is not only a former Delegate of The Rejected Realms and prominent regional member, having stood out as an Officer and during the time following Kandarin's resignation, he was also one of the most prominent defenders and a NationStates Moderator, credited with having brought better insight and greater attention to many Gameplay-related issues. And perhaps now we add the much lesser achievement of having been the first inductee to our Hall of Fame to his accomplishments.

Written by Catalyse

A Hairy Rejectmas Story

This year, to celebrate the Rejectmas season, the Delegate opened the hall of the Reject's Palace to everyone and invited all Rejects to participate in the festivities, the banquets and the various activities offered in the festival grounds. The festivities began on the 26th of December, the date marking the traditional start of the Rejectmas season, and will be ending upon the conclusion of its activities.

To show that we were celebrating a hairy Rejectmas, we decorated our numerous cities in black, silver and indigo. Fun fact: dramoon is also recognised by most local authorities as a Rejectmas colour but has been lost since the thirteenth century, yet, some choose to represent dramoon with the colours of either "Thistle", "Chestnut" or "Mauvelous"!

On the RMB, nations were invited to change their flag in the spirtit of Rejectmas and sing Rejectmas Carols, and then further invited to share those carols on the forums so they could be submitted in the Rejectmas Carol Contest for a chance to be dubbed "Head Rejectmas Tangerine Sprite" if their submission was voted the best, along with having their submission featured in a TRR publication!

Other activities and games included a festive purple Rejectmas Tree decoration, a Rejectmas Edition Werewolf game, a Rejectmas Chess Tournament, a Rejectmas Flag Contest, along with several quizzes and spam games.

Written by PowerPAOK

Thank you for reading!

Thanks for the update, and my condolences on not surviving the challenge. For what it's worth, I followed that election and it seemed to me that people voted more from a desire for something fresh than out of any dissatisfaction with you.

Thanks for the update, and my condolences on not surviving the challenge. For what it's worth, I followed that election and it seemed to me that people voted more from a desire for something fresh than out of any dissatisfaction with you.

Yeah everyone seemed to be more in favor for a desire for change than any issues with my delegacy but Catalyse is doing a good job. ^_^

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WA Delegate: Catalyse
| Culture Officer: Marilyn Manson Freaks | Foreign Affairs Officer: Frattastan |
| Media Officer: PowerPAOK | Outreach Officer: John Laurens |
Speaker of the Assembly: Fauxia

News from the Assembly


The Grim Reaper punches a Mottoist assemblyman during discussion of the "Regional Motto Act Repeal".

This last month has seen growing activity in the Assembly, not just in the form of elections, of which there have been a few since the last update, but also in legislation and treaties! Two recent proposals have been brought up in the Assembly recently, the "Regional Message Board Act Amendment", which has developed into a proposal of a wider "Regional Officers Act", as the original RMB act predates the existence of Regional Officers, and the "Regional Motto Act Repeal", which deserves its own paragraphs.

The "Regional Motto Act Repeal", proposed by The Grim Reaper, has led to heated discussion and has caused severe division among the ranks of the Assembly, leading to the formation of the two first informal political parties in The Rejected Realms: the Mottoists and the Anti-Mottoists. We will delve further into the two groups that have made the Assembly their battleground during this so-called "Motto Crisis".

The Mottoists, which includes figures such as PowerPAOK, The Church of Satan and Marilyn Manson, argue that to repeal this law would be to gut TRR of a signifcant part its culture, and that the current motto is both meaningful and suitable to TRR, though radical Mottoists, led by Jeffersonborg, despite not being as strong defenders of the current motto, have gone as far as to propose that all RMB posts not including the motto in some way should be suppressed, or that every aspect of TRR other than the regional motto should cease to exist.

The Anti-Mottoists, led by the repeal's proponent, The Grim Reaper, argue that the current motto lacks usage, not even being present in the region's WFE, is not a relevant part of the region's culture and that it is also non-representative and ill-fitting to the region, and believe that the enshrining of any regional motto into law is superfluous. When presented with the possibility of vote on a new motto being held The Grim Reaper had the following to say "If someone runs a motto contest I will genuinely stamp campaign for a no motto option.".

While the Assembly approved of both the "Regional Message Board Act Amendment", with 13 votes for and 8 against, and the "Regional Officers Act", with 18 votes for and 1 against, these matters do not seem to be put at rest. While some wish to again hold a contest on the regional motto, others have already presented an amendment to the Constitution that would replace the "Regional Officers Act", and from which conversation about renaming goverment offices has erupted.

Another recent and important piece of legislation that has been discussed in the Assembly is "Amendment XIX: Delegate Elections", proposed by the current Delegate, which has established that elections for the Delegate position will be held every six months after the previous election, in conjunction with the challenge system, making the election date flexible.

The challenge system in which any citizen can challenge the Delegate for their position, provided their candidacy has enough support, and which was the only way one could run for Delegate before this amendment, after much debate, discussion and counter-proposals, which included a ban on consecutive terms, along with longer or shorter terms, narrowly achieved the 75% approval necessary for it to pass the Assembly, with 21 votes for and 6 against.

In election news, the Assembly saw an highly contested run for the Speaker position. Then-incumbent Speaker Kyorgia faced PowerPAOK, Katie Rybeck and Fauxia. In a very close election that saw Kyorgia delve deep into the hell that is TRR's electoral system, Fauxia was declared the winner after a tie between him and Kyorgia was broken with a borda count of the preferential vote system.

PowerPAOK, who has become an ardent contributor to The Rejected Times since becoming involved in TRR, was also elected Media Officer, with John Laurens choosing to not contest the challenge, though he was not absent from the Officer's quarters for too long, as he soon challenged The Church of Satan for the position of Outreach Officer, who also chose not to contest the challenge, and was elected.

Written by Catalyse

New Friendships Forged, Old Friendships Strengthened

After having kept for some time a lower profile in the halls of diplomacy - no doubt due to widespread condemnation for its rich collection of hack writers and defender subversives - The Rejected Realms returned to treaty-making business last month, by concluding two new agreements: a cultural-oriented treaty with Forest, and a trilateral alliance with The East and South Pacifics, both of which passed with great support in TRR's Assembly.

Forest is a famous environmentalist region, whose mature debating atmosphere, successful cultural activities and many outstanding inhabitants earned them a World Assembly Commendation last year.
The treaty was atypical for partnering TRR with a non-Gameplay region, and focusing on matters of diplomacy and cultural exchange over security issues, but was received very well.

At the same time, the government also sought to expand our relations in a more conventional direction, that of friendship with TRR's fellow game-created regions. "The January Accords" build upon the previous, fruitful bilateral alliance between The Rejected Realms and The South Pacific, with provisions for mutual defense, intelligence sharing, and cooperation on cultural matters, now extending them to The East Pacific.

Known for its roleplays, its classical democratic constitutional framework, and its love of caek, The East Pacific has experienced a renaissance in various areas under Yuno's leadership, and had been under consideration for a treaty since the beginning of Catalyse's term as Delegate. The three regions assisted each other in their recent Delegate transitions, and look forward to closer cooperation in the near future.

Written by Frattastan

Awardees and Inductees

The last two months saw several people receive awards for their contributions to The Rejected Realms. The Hall of Fame saw the induction of former Delegates, Kandarin and Naivetry, on the 25th of January, with Crazy Girl, longtime leader of the RRA and root admin and of the region's forums, being inducted on the 7th of February. Additionally, several people won, or were to nominated, to the Rejects Awards, which hopes to establish itself as an yearly event in TRR.

There is much to say about the new inductees joining Sedge in the Hall of Fame. Kandarin was the one of the first, if not the first, native Delegate of The Rejected Realms and still considered an hallmark of The Rejected Realms and still held in high consideration in both TRR and abroad, while Naivetry, as Kandarin's successor, saw many changes come to TRR during her term, such as the adoption of TRR's first, and still current, constitution.

Crazy Girl is the only one out of the current four inductees to not only still be active, but also to not have served as the Delegate of The Rejected Realms, despite probably being the most prolific "Delegate that could have been", not just because of her place as TRR's perennial candidate, but also due to her contributions to the region, her long service as High Commander of the Rejected Realms Army and her highly esteemed place among the NationStates community.

The Rejects Awards saw several nominees, but in the end there could only have been one winner for the several categories. Catalyse, who after becoming a citizen in early 2017 went on to serve in several positions until become Delegate in December won in the categories of best newcomer, Reject of The Year, RRA Newcomer Soldier and Best Government Member

Frattastan was a close second, with three awards, Most Outstanding Officer, The Greymarshes Achievement Award, Veteran Reject Award, followed by Guy, who won in the categories of Best Legislator and Best Werewolf Player. PowerPAOK, otherwise known as Nequedum, who became the Media Officer this year and has led the TRT revival, won the Pen & Paper Award, and Dark Aku, who was a staple of TRR's RMB until his nation CTEing in July of 2017, won the Outstanding RMBer Award.

Additionally, the implementation of the Werewolf bot in TRR's discord and the forum games won the TRR Event of the Year award, while "Gaining Border Control in TRR is like finding a load of paper money in a society where currency has been abolished.", by Fratt, won the Quote of the Year award.

Written by Catalyse

Endorsements and Citizens on the rise

With both the number of nations endorsing the Delegate and the number of citizens increasing, and with all-time records in both being beaten, the government of The Rejected Realms has reason to be positive about the region's outlook.

The number of nations endorsing the Delegate has seen continuous growth since Catalyse was elected to the position, finally reaching the much awaited threshold of two hundred on the 12th of February, which, barring times when foreign militaries were endorsing the Delegate, has set a new record for the region, breaking Libetarian Republic's 195 endorsements.

Reaching two hundred endorsements translates into an endorsement rate of 39%, which despite being relatively low in comparison to other GCRs and regions with large World Assembly Nations population, is a significant improvement on the 30% endorsement rate that The Church of Satan held in November of last year, representing 149 endorsements, and is an accomplishment in a region without ejection powers and where many puppets and inactive nations end up residing in.

With 213 endorsements and a 42% endorsement rate at the time of writing, we are positive that not only we can continue to improve in this field, but that we can translate this improvement into a safer, more active and more dynamic regional community.

The number of citizens has also reached an all-time high, with currently there being ninety-six citizens registered on TRR's forums. Despite TRR's relatively lax requirements needed to maintain citizenship, the Citizenship Council, the group of officials which is in charge of processing citizenship applications and removals, continues to be diligent in its work of maintaining an updated list of citizens and making sure all those in it fulfill the legal requirements.

Written by Catalyse

Thanks for the update...I have to admit, I usually read it on NSGP since it's posted there first, but it was a good read.

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WA Delegate: Frattastan
| Culture Officer: Harmoneia | Foreign Affairs Officer: Guy |
| Media Officer: The Church of Satan | Outreach Officer: Calalin |
Speaker of the Assembly: Vulturret

Forum Move Announcement



To escape the dreaded Tapatalk, The Rejected Realms' official forum has been relocated to https://rejectedrealms.com.
Accounts have been converted, so if you were previously registered on the old forum you can reactivate yours with a simple password reset.
If you are experiencing any technical issues don't hesitate to contact one of the administrators on NationStates or Discord.



The Delegate has retired: Long live the Delegate


Frattastan plotting his return as TRR Delegate.

The Rejected Realms has held a Delegate election, leading to retiring Delegate Wabbitslayah being replaced by Frattastan. Proceedings kicked off with a challenge by Canton Empire against the seating Delegate Wabbitslayah. As rumours abounded that Wabbitslayah is unlikely to recontest, no fewer than nine candidates stepped up to challenge for the position in total, a record for TRR Delegate elections.

Spurred by the high number of candidates, the campaign was a vigorous and well-contested one, drawing much attention from both within and outside the region. Early frontrunner PowerPAOK/Nequedem/Glacikaldr was hampered by a dispute with Wabbitslayah regarding a supposed agreement regarding the timing of his challenge, having echoes of being TRR's own Granita Pact. The candidacy of prominent invader Souls was sufficient to bring NS Gameplay into overdrive, with various commentators opining that his candidacy is either the biggest danger or the best thing to happen to TRR in its existence.

The lack of a clear frontrunner led to a second round of candidacy declarations as Marilyn Manson Freaks, Wopruthien and Frattastan engaged the citizenry with their visions for the region. The various candidates were mostly differentiated by personality and experience rather than serious policy differences, and the outcome of the election appeared as uncertain as it ever was.

In the end, for the second time in as many elections, the final outcome was determined by one vote. A surprisingly strong showing by insurgent candidate Marilyn Manson Freaks was good enough to make this a tight contest throughout the voting period, leading to frantic googling about TRR's voting system and a 200% increase in the viewcount for Wikipedia's article on it. Manson and Frattastan had dominated the voting, but it was the latter who emerged victorious.

This is Frattastan's second stint as Delegate, the first being a highly successful term in 2013-14. His platform set out a detailed agenda for the region, particularly in the areas of Foreign Affairs and the World Assembly. Work is already underway to implement Frattastan's policy programme, with the hope of harnessing the activity and energy that the region is capable of when it works together.

Written by Guy

Not Steering Clear of VD (Debates)

For a long time barely noticed by the citizenry, the Rejected Realms Vice-Delegacy became a recurrent topic in Assembly discussions this year, and even turned into a contentious a topic in the most recent Delegate election.

Originating in August 2011, when Sedgistan appointed three Vice-Delegates as endorsees who could back him up at a time when there multiple swappers threatening the delegacy (including the infamous Rejected Redeemer, whose identity was a source of controversy), the position had almost been forgotten, with no new appointments since 2015, and one of the original endorsees continuing to maintain it despite her decreasing activity.

In part this lack of institutionalisation occurred due to the uncertainty concerning the necessity and the purpose of a Vice-Delegate in a region without ejection powers, where maintaining high endorsement and influence level is not as vital as it would be in other feeders and sinkers.

This February, then-Delegate Catalyse proposed to add the Vice Delegate as a member of the government, but the discussion died down without any consensus on the proposed change.
Her successor wabbitslayah sought to do the same, "promoting" outgoing Officer Marilyn Manson Freaks to the position of Vice-Delegate, with concurrent cabinet access for the first time in TRR history, and envisioning him as a general advisor and aide to the head of government. This move should have been paired with legislation allowing for the Delegate to appoint new government members, in addition to the four elected ones that make up the Cabinet right now, but the relevant constitutional amendment failed to pass by a single vote, continuing to leave the Vice Delegate office in a legal limbo.
To add to the confusion, in a quick and somewhat confusing succession of events in the last days of his term, wabbitslayah fired Marilyn Manson, appointed former delegate The Church of Satan, and then reappointed Marilyn Manson.
In the most recent Delegate election campaign several candidates stated their views on the VD issue. Eventual winner Frattastan asked that the position should be codified and returned to its original limited role as backup endorsee or abolished altogether, with some voters showing uneasiness at the latter prospect.

Local anarchist icon The Grim Reaper, self-described "NS equivalent of like a CEO you call in to handle a corporate dissolution and then you fire them for incompetence with a beefy golden parachute" and "really good at this whole legislature thing", submitted an alternative proposal meant to establish Zyonn as the first person behind the Delegate in any order of precedence, and allowing her to take over the region at will, but this suggestion seems to have been largely ignored despite the increasing religious devotion towards 'Lady Zyonn'.

In typical Reject fashion it's expected that the issue will be talked to death until there's a consensus. If ever.

Written by Frattastan

Less than Diplomatic

For the past several months, the Rejected Realms has been gripped in crisis. No fewer than 22 players have made and broken alliances, plotted schemes -- often behind their friends' backs -- and backstabbed each other when expedient. With the struggle for power as vicious and the stakes as high as ever, the question on everyone's minds has been "who will emerge on top?"

That's because TRR has been playing Diplomacy, a popular 1950s boardgame that is set in the run up to the Great War. Six games have already been played, following the formation of an official Diplomacy league within the region. Participants take control of one of seven European powers, with the goal of taking over the entire continent and being crowned the Diplomacy champion of TRR. Wopruthien has taken an early lead with one solo victory and one draw, and Souls is close on his heels in second.

Any player is free to join the league and become involved in the brutal games of Diplomacy. You also have ample opportunity to stab Frattastan in the back. Now who wouldn't want that?! Or if betraying Frattastan is not your cup of tea, maybe you can gain revenge on Souls for his NS transgressions.  Whether a citizen, interested observer, or ambassador to sign up register your interest in the TRR #Roleplay Discord channel.

Written by Wopruthien

Invitation to TRR's CYOA Game: "Fallout Arizona"



War. War never changes. Even with the Old World rushing off to its doom, there are those who still safeguard the values, lessons, and convictions of America from the ruins of the atomic fallout. In the West, the values of democracy and the rule of law, and, in the East, the lesson to never repeat the same mistakes. The clash of the Bear, the New Californian Republic, and the Bull, Caesar’s Legion, was inevitable as their quests for glory consumes them. What remains by 2897 is a shell of both, as the NCR prepares to push back against the final holdouts of the new Caesar. First Sun City in the ruins of Phoenix, and then the final march to Flagstaff. A swift victory is promised by Mason Salvatore, one of the two possible candidates for presidency within the NCR’s upcoming election in the senate. All that stands in the way of the reborn crime family’s rise to power is candidate Aaron Hanlon, the nephew of retired Chief Hanlon of the NCR Rangers who is facing waning support. The NCR-Legion war has become a final opportunity for the many schemes of the Old World to take root. Will the conquest Arizona be what finally allows the NCR to remake America, or will the legacy of Caesar be one that forever changes the NCR’s very values? You enter Arizona as a Reject (not like this though, sadly), watching helplessly like the many other casualties of this war as the senate decides America’s future and the Legion does its best to make them pay dearly. Will you correct America’s path; or will you be its downfall? Or maybe you might just end up dying to an extra sneaky bark scorpion.

Ultimately, you decide, in the Rejected Realm’s Choose Your Own Adventure Game: “Fallout Arizona”! The polls will be made daily—or as regularly as I can remember and am able to make them—and will be open for the entirely of the interregional community, resident or otherwise (not that we would ever banject or eject you, or could for that matter, even if you did move in a puppet just to vote). So here’s where you come in: we’re inviting you to join in on our CYOA Game written by yours truly, Glacikaldr, or Nequaldraok if you’re looking for a portmanteau. The concept was first inspired by this YouTube video by ShoddyCast, but I could list many more that would be best to keep hidden: otherwise I’d ruin some of the many surprises I have instore for you!

So far we’ve just done a few parts within Chapter 1, and you can catch up on the setting, story, and previous options chosen, as well as the character sheet we’ve made through both gameside and offsite polls that we will be developing together throughout the process with almost every decision we make, through the dispatch following dispatch: here.

Further, if you’re looking for a better to stay updated on when a new poll is made, look no further than the new subscription service for the game! You can learn how to subscribe, for either RMB mentions or Discord pings, here. Thank you for joining us on this journey if you choose to do so, and we look forward to seeing as many of you over on our polls as able and willing!

Written by Glacikaldr

Thank you for the update!

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WA Delegate: Frattastan
| Culture Officer: Harmoneia | Foreign Affairs Officer: Guy |
| Outreach Officer: MargiBoof | Officer without portfolio: Crazy Girl
Speaker of the Assembly: Vulturret

Diplomatic Announcement about the NPO

In the wake of allegations concerning the role of high-ranking members of the New Pacific Order in infiltrating and destabilising other game-created regions, and in hiding players shunned by the rest of the NationStates community, The Rejected Realms has closed its embassy with The Pacific.
The government statement on the topic can be found here. No further action is expected to be taken at this time.


An Islands TRReaty



Tourism from TRR to the 10000 Islands is expected to increase following the signature of their treaty.

Last month the Rejected Realms ratified the 10000 Islands – The Rejected Realms Treaty of Friendship, capping months of negotiations over the Treaty.

10000 Islands and The Rejected Realms have a long history of friendship and cooperation. On the military field, the regions had for years jointly participated in and coordinated joint defender operations through their respective militaries, and moreover regularly assisted each other in Delegate transitions and times of need. Cultural exchange and synergy between the regions has increased dramatically in recent times, setting the stage for a comprehensive treaty between the regions. This is not the first time a treaty is considered between the two regions – 10000 Islands participated in the negotiations of the XYZ Treaty, a multilateral treaty between defender regions, but ultimately did not sign it.

The Treaty thus sets in writing what the parties have already been doing for a long time, formally enshrining their close relations. It requires the parties to afford to each other diplomatic recognition, maintain diplomatic relations, provide military aid to each other, share relevant intelligence, cooperate in the World Assembly on certain proposals and undertake joint cultural initiatives.

In TRR, the treaty was ratified by a vote of 15-6, with six abstentions. While there was broad support for the treaty, an area of contention emerged relating to 10000 Islands’ policies on the participation of invaders in its community. An agreement was reached between the regions that all citizens be allowed to participate in joint cultural events irrespective of military alignment. This agreement was seen as insufficient by some members of TRR due to 10000 Islands’ general proscription on invader participation in the region.

TRR is confident that the treaty will see even closer links between our regions emerge, building on the existing strong bonds that have been formed over the past years. We congratulate our partners in 10000 Islands on this joint achievement, and we are excited to see what the future has in store for our regions.

Written by Guy

First RejectVision Edition Takes Place

Following the storied traditions of Eurovision and FRAvision, the Rejected Realms hosted its very own song competition: RejectVision. For the competition, Rejects and others were invited to enter any song they wanted to be judged by the other entrants. Unlike recent editions of FRAvision and Raidervision, they were not required - or even encouraged- to be original songs performed by the entrants.

RejectVision lasted two weeks from November 4th to November 18th with one week for entering and one week for voting. In all, there were an impressive 23 entries that ran the genre gamut from indie to metal to pop and even what has been dubbed “free form freak-out” a.k.a random noise. In order to aid participants in ranking the songs, a listening party was hosted on the TRR discord with the help of a music bot. Over those 2 hours, most everyone had a good time and bonded over music and conversation.

As for the final results, the tallies were done by the host, Deadeye Jack. In a not at all nefarious coincidence (honest!), Deadeye Jack’s entry ended up running away with RejectVision victory. Given the success of the event, it’s likely we will see future RejectVisions sometime soon. Below are the top three entries for reference:

1st Place: Deadeye Jack with 106 points Silver Lining by Mt Joy
2nd Place: Harmoneia with 83 points K by Cigarettes After Sex
3rd Place: Altasund with 69 points Old Fashioned by Panic! at the Disco

For a full view of all the entries and results you can read the RejectVision thread on the TRR forums: https://rejectedrealms.com/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=10029982

Written by Deadeye Jack

This is Halloween: Z-Day & More

Like every Z-Day, TRR gets plenty involved and still has time for Halloween festivities. This year we not only participated in Z-Day, we watched the cult classic horror film “Halloween”, held a zombie-themed flag contest, and a horror-themed short-story writing competition.

This Z-Day, we decided to embrace the horde. We themed ourselves after revenge-hungry Rejects furious about being banjected. Before you could say “BRAINS!”, almost all of TRR was zombified. In fact, we were #1 on the leaderboard for Most Infected and Most Dead. At first, there were quite a few residents attempting a cure, but we easily infected them!

In addition to participating in Z-Day, TRR watched “Halloween” to celebrate Halloween. For those who don't know, Halloween is a cult classic horror film about a serial killer named Michael Myers from Illinois who is constantly prowling for his next victim.

Lastly, TRR held two horror themed contests, one was a short-story contest, and one was a flag contest. Quite a few interesting pieces were entered for both contests, but only one person could win each one. Eventually, Glacikaldr/Nequedum/PowerPAOK was named the winner of the flag contest and Deadeye Jack the winner of the short-story contest.

Written by Marilyn Manson

Other news

• Delegate Frattastan has challenged the LKE Emperor Emeritus to a bake-off, to finally settle the longstanding dispute between defenders and imperialists. We eagerly await his reply.
  
• Harmoneia has started a book club for people with short attention spans. Reads so far have been The Outsider by H.P. Lovecraft, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin, and Carbon by Primo Levi.
  
• General elections to elect the four government officers are ongoing at the time of this writing, and are scheduled to end on December 9. The candidates are Deadeye Jack, Marilyn Manson, Kyorgia, Vulturret, and Catalyse.

Thanks for the update! It seems like things are going along well over there.

Journey Through the Woods

Forest RMB|The Rejected Realms RMB

On behalf of Forest and The Rejected Realms, it is our honor to present to you a collaborative storytelling event that will be hosted on our Regional Message Boards. On our respective RMBs there will be a different narrative that begins with a paragraph and each subsequent person to follow will add their own paragraph and continue on the stories. As long as you are a member of Forest, the Rejected Realms, or one of our embassy regions with access to posting on our RMBs you can participate. Each RMB will feature a thematically different story with different characters so if you can, you are encouraged to participate in both.

When

The opening paragraphs for each narrative will be posted on the respective RMBs on February 21st, 2019 at 12:00 AM GMT and the event will last until February 25th, 2019 at 12:00AM GMT.

Rules

• When adding to the story, quote the previous entry and add a number. This is so we can keep track of the stories in a logical way. For example

• Don't double post for the story
• Please keep things PG-13 and follow site rules!
• Please do not ruin either story with implausible events and try to stay within the story's universe
• Have fun!

Sneak Preview of Starting Paragraphs

In case you wanted to know what the stories will be about and start brainstorming some ideas see below.

Opening Paragraph on Forest RMB

Mielikki woke up in a cold sweat after having a dream that her favorite maple tree had been destroyed by a rogue lumberjack. She saw a flickering orange glow lighting her room and was able to easily find and put on her glasses before looking out the window to see that her prized maple was ablaze. This realization made her feel like her stomach was being eaten by snakes. She had planted the maple as a small child and grown up with it. She had her first kiss under its ruddy canopy. She cannot remember who she kissed there many decades ago but had become to consider this tree to be her best friend. She had watched her son play under it before the incident. She grabbed her cane and rushed outside to futilely attempt to douse the flames with her garden hose. Despite failing to stop the blaze its light revealed a gas can, a lighter, and footprints leading away from the tree toward the woods. A sense of resolve grew in her. She went back inside and asked her wise old spider plant if she should follow the footprints and get revenge on the arsonist after sunrise. The spider plant whispered, 'Do it if your arthritis won’t stop you! You should go for a walk in the woods in any case because it will calm you."

Opening Paragraph on TRR RMB

The march out of town was mostly quiet. Not surprising for such an awkward endeavor. Every year, the young lives of all those who had completed all the years of their formal education were evaluated based on how they fit in with the community and the order of things. Free thinkers, with radical ideas were nothing but troublemakers in the eyes of the elders. The community had been ravaged by power struggles in the past and so the elders designed this process to weed out the biggest rebels and misfits. On this day, the misfit in question was a boy named Adam. Despite the warnings of his parents throughout his childhood, he couldn’t help his inquisitive, opinionated nature. And so Adam was being escorted out to the woods miles from the community, banished forever. They finally arrived at the edge of the vast woodlands and stopped. One of the armed escorts asserted gruffly, “The penalty for contacting or returning to the community is death. Good luck”. And then they left.

If you have any questions please contact one of us and we'd be glad to help. We're excited about this and we hope you have fun writing some interesting stories with us.

Turbeaux
Deputy Forest Keeper


Dead I Jack
Culture Officer of The Rejected Realms