ORDER :: Roundup of Almscandidates

[Thaumantica]

*TUNING INTO 1000 AM RADIO ACROSS THE THAUMANTIC COMMUNAL ORDER*

Fern Maguire: "When'ya ken might be the last time you walked barefoot along the path of Kings? As we did return to Nieveland this week in avoidance of this next stage in the World War we was askin' what plans were for folks on their way out of the service. For most the return up-Nievie means cycling back to factory work, relief of honest labor, and assignments predetermined by parish elders enriched with communal obligations . . . But for some, perhaps the most adventurous of all, they claim to be keen on finding another adventure.

Several troopers we interviewed say they are interested in forming parties, or daresay individually, attempting King Padraig's Gauntlet. The barefoot journey of penance the first King of the Thaumantic isle took to absolve himself of the sins one comports themself with when forging an empire. A near 500 kilometer trek one wonders how such an act were possibly and why so many recreate it today. I asked a so-called Trail Faerie, known along the Gauntlet as 'Miss Ma'am' how those of us residing in this modern world do this today."

Miss Ma'am: "I'll let ye in on a secret, dear Fern - and it is that only a handful of the tens and hundreds of Thaumanticans and visiting foreign ones who march the Gauntlet every year attempt so with bare feet. Of course I do believe that royal one did so, and I have seen with me own eyes men of hardened hooves, but when I set out on me own journey some 30 years ago I did do it with boots common to all communalists and to be sure we watch those with plastic, synthetics, and all manner of strappings . . One does'na trek on god given paws unless, being terribly honest, they carry then heaviest demon to cast out along the way."

Fern Maguire: "Was there a demon in ye the first time you trekked that trail?"

Miss Ma'am: "Aye, I was so very angry and I started it alone in 1993 . . There were things were happened, things done in the DMZ that I needed to get away from. So, as many do, I started alone down-Lexkirk and that was already stressful enough because you must indeed rustle through an Engwahlian city, and at that time them and theirs were quite angry with Nievish folk and those Engwahlian teens of bare heads would lock arms and ask for ye to find a way past them along the urban set of the path. From growing up in the DMZ, must harder Engwahlians, I called them out as . . so sorry Fern, but I knew they were hand-peters, had not mounted and would'na me because they was pretendin' weren't they?"

Fern Maguire: "Do all in Engwahl spit at Niomonnach?"

Miss Ma'am: "There were good Catholics in Engwahl outside of Lexkirk that were at least indifferent to the trail, and then some too who would sit out there and offer a plastic bottle to exchange of water with my empty one or point advise on how far the next good shelter might be. I learned soon that they was Faeries. And as you embark, or as you rest in such a shelter, you find that Engwahlians are along this path with ye too. Their lives and their reasons for trekking the gauntlet were not so different such as me, whether it were exorcising a wee demon or pure curiosity . . There were foreigns out there I met, atheist ones, who were quite enraptured by the nature itself and saw this differently than we."

Fern Maguire: "And were you so alone at the end, did the demon subside?"

Miss Ma'am: "I was alone all through Engwahl but when I was approachin' that DMZ I stopped for 2 days, I could'na do it alone and I were afraid when some I had met came back for me - a Cannie couple who had walked the Aboriginal Walkacross of some 3500 kilometers. They sat and listened this time about why I were afraid to go back through the DMZ and told me they would not leave me side there or never beyond eye until we had made it across the isle. And so we did walk, and picked up other trail trash and riff raff such as me there and along the way."

Fern Maguire: "Now 30 years later you remain along this trail, and I repost my original question, how and why?"

Miss Ma'am: "There's a majesty to the land, a uniqueness to the people you meet there is beyond common, and yet ye find a common spirit with those you find along the trail. I keep a hostel in the DMZ now for trekkers, and we keep it like an alms hall of foods, water, and gears to post. There are so many struggles and triumphs in life, and on this compacted trek some experience their toughest and greatest. To pass through here, the DMZ, with communalists was my greatest triumph - hardly reaching the north, for that was triumph for Wee'PapaPa who I did marry after our trek."

Fern Maguire: "And so we did learn that Miss Ma'am, after this short interview, would be trying the trek again this year again after the death of her husband from the cancer. She will be joined with their Nievish Terrier of short strides, and I am sure, many Thaumanticans and foreign ones approaching warmer seasons with a sense of adventure.

 

[Thaumantica]

The Supper Sentinel
Vesper, Covenant Communes of Cantignia

In a rare event for this modern century leaders from Cantignia, Engwahl, and Nieveland that form the Thaumantic Order opted to meet in-person rather than utilize technologies well afforded by Clover Computer teleconferencing. Aboard a Communal Holiday Cruise the families of these leaders and their advisors set out for a restricted day and evening trip within the Bay of Amity. Such cruises are the lifelong dream of communalists from the first islands and a unique treat for families down-Cannie throughout the year assigned by lottery.

Between Linc Yeovil of Engwahl and Conor MacBain of Nieveland, reportedly, the inquiry over Catholic Revolutionary Army casualties in the Gutnish Reich was discussed in the embarking hours with a settlement reached to replace Nievish troops with Cantignian draftees in the coming weeks. These ground troopers, which will also include a wave of Engwahlian regulars and swelling air groups from their country will coalesce under a Cantignian General by the name of Rowen Berg who does contain Gutnish stock.

Indeed, the Nievish Communes aired lamentations about the ongoing expansion of communalism beyond Thaumantic Communes. The Nievish theorize that unlike communism, fascism, or other novel movements of the early 20th century that communalism was never meant to expand or proselytize beyond Thaumantica. Engwahlians such as Linc Yeovil, meanwhile, staked his leadership over the Order around a concept of "bushfire communalism" with arguably successful instances such as Jydsk-Austwegia yet more ruinous instances such as the Csengian Patriotic Council and adventures into Ebria fully rebuking these attempts.

Notably no new commune beyond the Thaumantic has joined the core Order, a serious point of contention for purists such as the Cantignians and Nieves. More seriously: the annual Democratic Revival, an Easter Day election tradition germane to the Communal Order, has not been instituted in newfound communes. The rituals, traditions, gripes, rivalries, achievements, and shared alms that comprise Thaumantica's communes are, as this quorum settled, incompatible with unaffiliated communes. MacBain of Nieveland specifically argued that forcing communalism on foreign ones was tantamount to forcing Christianity on them, a Neo-Colonialism that would necessarily breed resentments such as those that exist where the Thaumantic Empire once reigned.

Finally, the issue of contemporary Tiburan Catholicism was broached and reportedly went on night hours before cabin and bed were sought. Though Thaumantica long held out on issues such as women in the roles of men or the liberation of homosexuals there is an unshakable Catholic identity in the Communal Order that has not. When Thaumantica ended its relationships with mercantilism and monarchs, one century past, most European Catholic regimes saw these as revolutionary and dangerous in the same way Thaumanticans view gender politics as potentially ruinous.

It is expected that come the next Democratic Revival that another Nievishman will command the Communal Order with Engwahl's Yeovil retiring alongside the Cantignian Almskeeper. Recognizing this inevitability Conor MacBain was granted interim Commissar of the Communal Order status by the other two Almskeepers at the end of their voyage together. One week after new Almskeepers are selected in communal Cantignia and Engwahl, MacBain will ask for renewed recognition for the annum through the new keepers as they present themselves.

 

[Thaumantica]

*TUNING INTO 1000 AM RADIO ACROSS THE THAUMANTIC COMMUNAL ORDER*

Fern Maguire: "If ye possess a smart-block phone, a television, or licensed personal computer and are connected to CloverWeb or Television than you have already seen or been made aware through emergency alerts of what the penny papers and this humble radio program shall soon play . . . On the orders of Communal Commissar Conor MacBain every Thaumantican should know the fate which Fathers of our faith now face in this World War E:

*FOREIGN LANGUAGES FROM BEYOND THAUMANTIC-KIND ARE HEARD BEFORE A GUNSHOT AND SCREAMS FOLLOW*

Fern Maguire: "There it can be heard a series of foreign tongues where one Father Giorgio is heard saying 'Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen' before being shot dead by a person of the Pelasgian persuasion, and we ken that they must be part of some invading force in the territory due west of that empire called Aresura which until a day past fell under Radilan banners.

We have brought the Almskeeper of Nieveland, and Commissar of the Thaumantic Communal Order on for a few moments to discuss this act and why he thought every Thaumantican should be made aware of this moving picture story of the wider world war. Alms Macbain, why must we all suffer the trauma of this moving story?"

Conor MacBain: "Because if we are not vigilant now, tomorrow, the day after and ever more with awareness that those nations and those people who have embraced the Tarusan yolk soon after . . we will be that pathetic little pop kneeling and reciting prayers before being executed."

Fern Maguire: "As a veteran of the Northern War, from which I did report from, it was well recorded from pictures moving that during the encirclement of Sjokoping that many unarmed were pressed down with murder by the Engwahlian Marines pressing northeast and, without a doubt Nieveland's most troubling of acts, the assault on Sveasund."

Conor MacBain: "Our assault on Sveasund, us Nievish, followed over a month of calls for negotiation and surrender. They chose silence and violence beset that island's largest city alongside an incursion from Metsaama. Regarding the Engwahlian Marines: they are a historically sanguine entity . . . I will be looking into what they and them did there as I am sure while thrusting up through the marauding pirate reich there must have been a great many mistakes and injustices."

Fern Maguire: "Listeners are so very concerned that Nieveland and the wider Order might be drawn into this southern shuffle, the overwhelming violence happening down there around the muck of Meridian waters. Was your intent to draw us into this scuffle?"

Conor MacBain: "We do not ken any involved down and over there would know me from Adam or you from Eve. They will call upon or antagonize the Federation most certainly before speaking with us or ours. And if they dared so, as head of this Order, I would remember how agreements are repaid by Ebrians if all ideological persuasions, by Radilans of all breeds, or by perhaps the most perverse of all: the clergy-killing Pelasgians.

Letting down our guard for even a moment around these foreign ones leads to broken oaths, and turning ones back to them may show you kicked down and shot from behind. We will make fortresses of our communes and focus wholly on the Democratic Revival and obligations entwined with Easter."

 

[Thaumantica]

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Editors from around the Communes:

In 14 days good folk from this Communal Order will Revive Democracy in Thaumantica. War was brought in 2023, new communes in the North, and world wide webs crawled into the hands of SmartBlock carriers and participants of the CloverClub gaming apparatus. Troopers from every major commune shed blood in battle in the Gurarike, from Tarusan traps in the north seas, and directly with the Konstantinists who did rebel against our Ivanist allies so-deceased.

This message is meant to present the required voting populace a broad stroke description of leading Almsfolk in the wider Thaumantics. Communal nations will be presented alphabetically as well as the prospective figureheads duly presenting a featured two and a dark horse candidate. Nieveland will only be described in policy description of Conor MacBain, who did secure victory in special election 3 months preceding regular Revival. These broad stroke descriptions will include: Domestic Priorities, International Priorities, and Religious Priorities.

CANTIGNIA '24

LEADING CANDIDATE: Damperod Tharawal

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An Almskeeper already from the lesser-Order Willurae Commune: Tharawal has emerged as a realized dream for liberal Cantignians who believe that Indie-man (the Indigenous-Cantignians) deserve a time and representation at the highest posts of Thaumantic Order. Tharawal would be the first person of color to lead a Thaumantic national commune if elected.

Domestic Policy: Tharawal is generational a cattle rancher and advocates for them, crop farmers, and the greater Cantignian mining industry. Described as the 'countryside candidate': few knew his name in Vesper, the Cantignian capital region, until he splashed upon the international stage recently.

International Policy: Tharawal's international stage introduction secured a potential peace between the Jydsk-Austwegian Communes and he is expected to attend a Peace Banquet for the World up-Ostie soon on behalf of the Thaumantics in @Jydsken-Østveg.

Religious Policy: Born to parents of forced-indigenous boarding schools Tharawal remains a born and raised Tiburan-Catholic. In public life he advocates for the revival of indigenous folk faith in the hinterlands of all Thaumantic nations. He encourages the "universal religious" education present in Cantignian schools.

LEADING CANDIDATE: Steve Ricks

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Having never held public office before this newcomer to communalism is an immigrant and dual citizen born in the Federation to Engwahlian born parents. Ricks is a popular author of travel guides to foreign lands and has appeared on television and radio programs that resonate in the mind of Thaumanticans when they think of "travelers" for better or worse.

Domestic Policy: Ricks would be the first openly homosexual Almskeeper of a national-commune and flaunts this alongside his partner who stake Vesper, Cantignia's capital, as a prospective party place for the world. This entices investors, both foreign and domestic, who see Vesper as a host for various world celebrations for tomorrow as it was in the Thaumantic Empire's conservative yesteryear.

International Policy: Boasting friends with international chefs and designers: Ricks suggests he can charm the world into Cantignia for investment and visit. He carefully skirts talk of animus and war and begins to speak in Rheinish when pressed.

Religious Policy: Ricks returned to the Catholic faith upon the recognition of homosexuality, but advocates for a destruction of religious education. Instead, Ricks recommends, a "moment of meditation" every day for Cantignian school-children to "reflect on the miracle of life."

DARK HORSE CANDIDATE: PRUDENCE GALILEE

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From the settlers comes a proud Cannie-woman, daughter of an Almskeeper from the 1990s/ Galilee prays with Nievish living-Saint Aelis Pherson and commands what up-Thaumanticans fear is a "christian bushfire" akin to protestantism.

Domestic Policy: Inter-trading with fellow communes is a priority and relates to her international policy. Galilee embraces a "saintly-starve" policy common to radical communes and thinks that the food shortage common to Thaumantic communes "informs our resolve."

International Policy: Galilee promises that she will invite and entice the Federation into protecting Cantignia while condemning the Nieves and Engwahlians for warfooting with the world. She is a warhawk that professes to choose battles, however, all she spouts off about tend to be Federation battlefronts.

Religious Policy: This candidate advocates for a separation of Thaumantic Catholics from the Tiburan strain and represents a vibrant and committed Cantignian "Contemporary Saints Movement" led by Aelis Pherson.

 

[Thaumantica]

Continued from above^

ENGWAHL '24

LEADING CANDIDATE: Balthazar Austin Drake

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Balthazar A. Drake previously kept alms for the Engwahlian Communes from '08-'09, and '11-'13, and has renewed a thrice winning campaign slogan of "Modesty & Grace Again", fitting for a nation of communes who have rejected the slick and boisterous efforts of outgoing Almskeeper Linc Yeovil. Many Engwahlians view Drake as a known and predictable quantity without flare or menace.

Domestic Policy: Engwahlian Communes under his previous kept regimes broke down or outright eliminated inter-communal planning of trade on the lowest of levels. Careful not to use the term "free market", Balthazar uses terms like "prosperous proclivity" or "easement for honest tradesmen."

International Policy: Drake rarely remarks on battles beyond Thaumantic shores and has made point, reportedly, of requesting a ban on questions of foreign policy. Under his previous regime trade bans were eased and comport Engwahl with the widest selection of foreign goods to this day, and it is suspected that this trend will continue.

Religious Policy: Joining Nieveland's trend of rejection of Catholic modernization he has platformed redaction of same-sex marriage rights carried through in years hence, and recommends that women elevated by Tiburan doctrine "return to public service should no maternal duties bind you."

LEADING CANDIDATE: Oliver Niven

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Having served in the Serault & Gutnish War, retired Colonel Niven presents the only veteran well-considered in any Democratic Revival race. Under a campaign platform called "Our Method", Oliver Niven suggests he can reclaim captaincy of the Thaumantic Order from MacBain in Nieveland.

Domestic Policy: Ret. Col. Niven recommends a "revolutionary refit" most similar to Nievish domestic economic policies. Next, he would expand funding 'Neighbors', the secret police, then restoring Communal Justice Brigades - a national guard and paramilitary that well-exists in Nieveland, but consists today in Engwahl of elderly pensioners.

International Policy: Calling the Federation "our one and true ally", Niven does not differ from Almskeeper Yeovil on any pressing foreign issue significantly. It is expected, however, that his trade policies are more traditionally communal and will limit international enterprise moreso than his primary opponent B.A. Drake.

Religious Policy: Taking an aggressive stance to place and polity: Drake promises that if elected he will order Engwahlian Troopers to secure the Vatican. Of course, it is not today under attack, though this implies a belief in 'Holy War' that is common and uttered to his followers rather than his own public words. This candidate has not commented on the homosexual issue, nor has he verbalized a response on record to the ascension of women in the clergy.

DARK HORSE CANDIDATE: John "Jimothy" Orange

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Hitherto a Comedian by trade this Engwahlian funnyman, who was known for political jests already, batlled a bout with rectal cancer that made him folk-celebrity as a cancer survivor. His career in the early 00s was described by WAHLIA Mag. as "absurd, raunchy, and without tact." However, in 2022 this same magazine remarked that "Orange perhaps represents a generational experience for Engwahlians, well bonded, because he made every foolish mistake for us while making us laugh, cry, and now think."

Domestic Policy: A historical 'Communal-Renegade' his early career as a celebrity was based on individuality and self-expression and Orange represents what Engwahlians call "Generation I". He claims that he will sack the Engwahlian Neighbors, or domestic intelligence agency, and "not beg for peeps where ye sleep."

International Policy: On air this comedian turned prospective Almskeeper claimed he would dose other world leaders if he did meet with them. Related thusly to domestic policy, Orange believes in what we deem seriously that psychedelic experience informs his worldview, policy, and campaign.

Religious Policy: A self declared atheist this candidate recommends an end of the church in Engwahl's position and presence in the state, and a return to public house benefits that comported Thaumanticans prior to the Nievish Catholic Revolution.

 

[Thaumantica]

Continued from above^

NIEVELAND '24

UNCHALLENGED INCUMBENT: Conor L. MacBain

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Descended from royal one's blood MacBain ended the near-century reign of the MacKinnon and MacPherson revolutionary clans' control over Nieveland. By defeating Pherson in special Electoral-Revival late last year he has been granted this traditional Easter Revival by the Nievish Almshouse without challenge. Regardless he has much to prove a nation and order that looks at blue blood with suspicion and severe consternation.

Domestic Policy: MacBain saturates a sense of Nievish supremacy over the Thaumantic Order and assumptive wider race. That a Nieve commands Thaumantica is important, essential, and he embodies a traditional reflective quality that resonates with elder ones and burgeoning families seeking security. NIEVE magazine called Conor a "leader that picked up with the Order like an old friend without skipping a square, he is who we missed and remembered though we only just met him."

International Policy: Wearing the tartan of a kingly clan MacBain represents Nieveland's domestic international dilemma: a severe disinterest in matters beyond the internal-Nievewahlian struggle. Still, it is important to him and his followers that Thaumantic marks or agreements are guaranteed with the Federation and those Northern Communes of which he criticizes as "black-ice elves." He is fully critical of outgoing Order-Almskeeper Yeovil's "foreign follies" and wishes to slowly draw back troopers and investments from abroad.

Religious Policy: Often an advocate of the long sought after Thaumantic schism with Tiburan Catholicism this Almskeeper has not pressed the issue since becoming Almskeeper of Nieveland and the wider Thaumantic Order. It is perhaps the ultimate question of MacBain's reign, a wonder if suppressions of homosexuals and Tiburino culture content will lead to full separation.