The Rejected RealmsBoard

Index
I. Thanksgiving in Hell
II. Spotlight News
III. Ask Fredd!
IV. Should I Join the World Assembly?
V. Artwork of the Damned
VI. Presence of Satanic Culture in Video Games

Thanksgiving in Hell
Article by, Hellions

A lone mortal wanders into the realms and to the vast dark abyss he questions; "Today is Thanksgiving, tell me spawn of Satan, do the demons of Hell even have anything to be thankful for?"

Suddenly below him a voice speaks; "As an ingrate, I'm not sure I can answer this. No, really. I've been stuck in this grate for about three months now. Send help.." spoke Cynical Alcoholics.

The mortal surprised springs backwards bumping into something terrible, Zen beatitudes whispers. "I am grateful for the engines of chaos and madness that is Man- without them running around the universe we'd all have been bored to death aeons ago. Yawie really outdid itself with those guys, I mean can you imagine an Earth without the overwhelming lunacy Man brings with him? It'd be like an insane asylum sans the weirdly echoing screams...most unpleasant."

Then a light in the darkness appears, a figure approaches with a demonic lightsaber, in long mechanical breaths Donkervader, "I'm grateful that the new Star Wars is soon to be released. Wielding the lightsaber he began to skin the mortal alive.

As the mortal screamed the demons of Hell began to gather round. " I am grateful for the skin of mortals, it's so cozy to wear," said Galactic russian empire as he gathered up the fresh supplies.

As if swaying to the sound of the mortal's screams, "I am grateful for the invention of music, and my ability to think musically and experience the full effect of a work," remarked Domination republic as he pulled out the mortal's intestines to be used as his interments' strings. Striking a tune, another demon began to sing.

"I am thankful for
hellfire and brimstone and the
Mad King, The Stalker.

Oppressing people
and tormenting souls are my
yummy eat and drink.

I no longer give
out homework assignments: the
Lords of Hell hate them.

But I still teach them
philosophy and logic
in Hell's Bells' writings!"
Chanted Buer the demon.

Then one of the oldest creatures of the pit arrived on the scene and came upon the mortal dying whimpers. Grabbing him the by throat the demon pulled the mortal to him. In delusional state he repeats; "What.. what do you.. even have anything to be thankful for?"

As he cracked open the mortal head and fashioned a cup from his skull Freddland replied simply, "Maker's Mark," as he poured himself a glass.

The corpse was then taken to a great pyre, where dozens of mortals were being roasted and seasoned to perfection. There stood a figure before the hoards of Hell, The Stalker held up a glass of fine virgin blood wine for a toast, "TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELL!!! Let the feeding frenzy would begin! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!"

Spotlight News
Compiled by, The Stalker

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GaintFace knows what's up. Click on his mouth for a special message.
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(Hell's Bells welcome submissions for future Spotlight News articles, contact The Stalker for details.)

Ask Fredd!
Advice Column by, Freddland

Dear Fredd,
It's the day before Thanksgiving, can you send me some questions for Ask Fredd?

Sincerely,
Stalker
---
Dear Fredd,
Huh... what am I supposed to do if you don't send me question because I gave you no notice???

Sincerely,
Worried
---
DEAR FREDD,
I'm sending you psychic messages with my mind, so you'll tear away from some family event your likely at to provide me with Ask Fredd. Pink Elephants.

Sincerely,
Thinks he has psychic powers
---
Dear Fredd,
Happy Thanksgiving dude.

Sincerely,
Stalker
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Have a question for Fredd you'd like to see answered in the next issue of Hell's Bells? Submit here via telegram to Freddland.

Should I Join the World Assembly?
Article by, Buer the demon AKA Dr george

Should I Join the World Assembly? How Do I Accumulate Influence?

I think of being in the WA as akin to attaching your three categories to a small stock market: some days you're up a little, some days you're down a little, but the average "investor" doesn't necessarily see any great net movement over a medium period of time. Like the stock market, it's almost impossible to time, you know, "buy low, sell high." You might have two issues that successively lower Civil Rights, or two issues that bolster your economy, or two issues that improve your environment. Overall, I don't see a net direction--over the long run, the differences that WA issues make is quite small, but real. I've seen nations that were right on the border between two government types, that have stopped answering issues, actually change government types because of individual WA resolutions, but I consider it likely that in the long run, nations experiencing that will find themselves restored to where they were. My current WA nation has all three categories at their maximum levels currently (although not at 100% right now), so obviously it can be done, with or without WA membership. The WA typically reveals how much a resolution will affect the three categories; if your primary goal is to build a world-class economy, for instance, and you see that the present issue being voted upon will have Significant downward influence over your economy, you might consider temporarily dropping out of the WA unless you are that region's WA Delegate, in which case you have to remain a WA member continuously to remain the WAD for that region. If your WA nation is outside of its home region over an Update, it will lose all of its endorsements and, hence, the position of WAD if it has that office.

Remember that resolutions that pass the WA immediately take effect. One time, many years ago, the WA was about to pass a resolution that I considered to be anti-gay, so I resigned before the vote was done, both as a symbolic protest but also because I didn't want that law to affect my nation.

As a reminder, especially for newer nations reading this, that you, the player, can only have 1 nation in the WA at any given time; having 2 or more is called "multying" and is considered a prime TOS violation. If this is the first time you've been caught and you only had two nations in the WA at the same time, the Mods might just issue you a stern warning and strip one of the two nations of its WA membership. Being caught multiple times or multying egregiously will carry considerably harsher penalties, up to and including having all of your nations barred from ever again having WA membership to even being banned from the game (all of your nations are deleted and a DOS "delete on sight" tag will be placed on your IP address so that future attempts to join NS will likely be immediately thwarted). Some people try to find clever little ways to avoid being caught multying, but my STRONG recommendation is not to try-- the benefits are too small and the penalties too great to make multying worth the risk. I can envision a future time in which one might legally be allowed a second WA nation for a significant payment or significant contribution (maybe tied to having your nation Commended in the Security Council), but I consider such unlikely.

The only ways to gather significant Influence are:

(1) to be one of a few members of a small region, especially being the sole occupant of your own region;
or
(2) to be a WA nation with a significant number of endorsements, held over time.

In this second regard, nations who become the WAD of one of the feeders or sinkers in the game will usually have more endorsements than your region has members, so they will tend to zoom up the Influence ladder very quickly. On the other hand, regarding (1), a truly ancient nation that has never left the large region to which it has belonged and has never been a member of the WA, even after 10 years, will still be among the lowest one can be. For most people, most of the time, the only way to improve Influence is to stay a WA member with many endorsements in ONE region over the course of time. Region hopping will tend to destroy your influence, as you immediately stop gathering influence in the home region and begin accumulating trivial amounts of Influence in the new region. I speculate that perhaps you lose half of your Influence within a region simply for leaving it, although if you return to that same region fairly quickly, you will gain back your remaining Influence, i.e., you don't start from 0 again. If you have a wanderlust or want to be a member of a region that travels to the Region of the Day, for instance, do so with your non-WA nation(s)! Raiders and defenders who routinely go on missions will seldom accumulate much Influence; to overwhelm a native or R/D delegate in power, it usually takes a coordinated attack with many nations right before an update successfully to snatch away the WAD in a region. Keeping or losing the WAD is a strict matter of total endorsements in a region, but for a new WAD in a Founderless region, all actions, from setting up a regional password to banjecting your opponents, require Influence to do, so recently invaded regions tend to be more vulnerable to a counterattack than comparable other regions which have not been invaded recently. Recent changes to allow new WADs to set up multiple Border Control officials who can eject or ban an incoming nation without cost seems to be tipping NS towards the raiders. Hopefully, this imbalance will be corrected quickly so that Defenders/attackers will have a sporting chance.

Artwork of the Damned
"Guy Fawkes Mask"
14x11 Oil Painting by, The Stalker

Presence of Satanic Culture in Video Games
Article by, Assanria

It is of no surprise to most that many popular video games, such as The Elder Scrolls or World of Warcraft, have elements of Satanic culture in them. Though many of those games do not concentrate on the aspect of Satanism, they do use it to construct equivalents of Hell or demons in order to enrich their stories and add some spice to the gameplay. In World of Warcraft, the "Burning Legion" is a group of demons and evil creatures gathered by the corrupted titan Sargeras, who was once the champion of the titans. This is a very obvious replica of the biblical depictions of Satan and his army of demons and abominations, where the titans stand as a group of deities(or angels) and Sargeras fill the role of Satan and turns against them whilst unleashing all the evils and terrors he has captured over the millenias. The whole story of the expansion of World of Warcraft, officially named The Burning Crusade, centers itself around Sargeras attempting to conquer Azeroth(the equivalent of Earth, in which the main story of the game unravels) by opening up a dark portal and sending fort his evil minions and corrupted beings. The game also has a playable class which manipulates demons and demonic power with the intent of fighting and stopping the Burning Legion, referred to as Warlocks. They are viewed by the people of Azeroth as a necessary evil in the quest of eradicating the demons and Sargeras.

In the Elder Scrolls series we have the expansion Oblivion, in which gateways to a place of destruction and fire open up and evil supernatural creatures with demonic features, referred to as the Daedra, come through with the intent of conquering Tamriel. The Realm of Oblivion has sixteen major planes, each ruled by a Daedric Prince, and tens of thousands of minor realms and pocket realities which are connected to it or are part of it. This bares a striking resemblance to Dante's Inferno, which is a place of fire and chaos consisting of nine different circles, or planes. Though it should be noted that different planes within Oblivion have different aesthetics, ranging from barren wastelands to beautiful lush realms, and some are in a constant state of change. The monarchy which rules Tamriel has a very western European theme to it, and draws it's inspiration from the Christian Kingdoms of the medieval age.

The Diablo series shows us a very troubled world, in which we can see angels, demons, monsters, humans with unimaginable powers, and many other supernatural and mythic beings such as dragons or necromancers. The story of the game tells us that the Heavens and Hell have been at war since the very creation of existence, and that neither has made any great progress for their cause. The conflict between the two sides has brought destruction and suffering to reality, and has been spread among many battles and wars(such as the Sin War). Diablo is actually the best example of satanic culture in video games, since it straight out applies the stories and concepts of the bible into the lore of the game. There are no equivalents, such as in The Elder Scrolls or World of Warcraft, but actually biblical concepts and names. The game's plot also centers itself around the conflict of Heaven and Hell, good and evil, angels and demons. This offers for a very fun and intriguing gameplay and rich scenery, which makes the game very enjoyable.

So, why is satanic culture so popular in modern culture, to the point where it is implemented into popular video games(both as side-stories and as main lore)? In the 20th centuries, many cultural boundaries and limits were broken, and even completely removed. Satanism, originally a great taboo in western society, started to be much more appealing to the now more open minded populace. It has both the forbidden fruit appeal, as well as a rather interesting concept which can be nicely implemented into any form of entertainment and art. Free thinkers have also used the symbolism that Hell, the devil, and all things connected to that concept, to construct new philosophies. Lucifer is referred to as the Prince of Darkness, and rules over a land of chaos and fire. Where darkness represents the unknown, that which is beyond human knowledge or even comprehension, and where fire is the light which shines over the darkness and reveals it's secrets. Fire is also harmful to the touch, and can be very painful and even lethal. I don't think people could have asked for a better metaphor than that. In my view, Satan is not the evil creature which only seeks to corrupt and destroy. Instead, he is the Christian Prometheus, the bringer of fire(knowledge) who has been punished by the almighty authority, the creator. The fact that many are corrupted by Satan's words only represents human nature. How we are easily swayed by great revelations, and how we are often burned by unbearable truths. It seems as though the church has misrepresented not only Satan, but God as well. It is stated that God has created everything, and is omnipotent. If that is the case, then he has created Satan with the exact intention of him becoming the Prince of Darkness. The world needs a Satan, someone to make them face the horrific truths and go forward with the new knowledge they have gained.

And with the spread of Satanic philosophies, such as LaVeyan Satanism, pop culture has started to accept Satanism more and more. It is only natural that a subject which was previously a taboo and is full of great metaphors would be tempting for authors of these games. It's a fun subject to work with and, more importantly, can be heavily capitalized upon. Which, ultimately, is why game development companies exist. To bring entertainment to us all, yes, but also to profit from their art and hard work. Personally, i found interest in satanic philosophies and culture through Skyrim, which lead me to Oblivion, which lead me to everything else. And i am very happy that it did, because it has really changed the way i think, and has also brought many fun and happy times into my life. It's a game i still enjoy playing, and don't plan on stopping any time soon.

We hope you've enjoyed our twelve issue of Hell's Bells. Nations interested in contributing to future issues should contact The Stalker for details.

Important Note: In payment for having enjoyed our Newspaper you are expected to up arrow this factbook. Failing to up arrow this factbook means you are willing choosing to forfeit ownership of your soul to The Stalker for all eternity instead. Thanks for reading.