The Western Post - October 2023

Spooktober Puzzle

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By The Holy Principality of Saint Mark, Guardian of the West

Fantastic Phantasms – Full version here

Solve the anagrams to reveal the letters for the final message, and then use the circled letters from the words in the top part to complete the final word or phrase at the bottom. Each circled letter is used just once.

Send your finished answers to The West Pacific Master Dispatch to be featured in next month's paper!

The KHAN banner by Fujai.

War. I've been informed, reliably, that war never changes. But that's something I never really got. War changes all the time. Even in our little online multiverse, there's some kind of big new war going on as I write this article. Maybe they're just talking about human nature? Sounds pretentious, but who really knows.

I’m no psychologist, but I think lambasting the horror of war is a load of old baloney. It's easy to make war fun! All it takes is a little bit of elbow grease, a heaping helping of gumption, and a lot of chems. So that's what we did! We got together with our good buddies in the Pacific, Lone Wolves United, the United Regions Alliance (URA), and the Augustin Alliance, forming the Kingly Heathens Asserting Neighborliness. Our mission? Simple—to make sure the wasteland has a good time.

And hey, you know what? I think it worked! And as a gesture of neighborliness, I'll even share our secret recipe for making your next apocalypse as much of a banger as ours.

Step 1: KHAN (Killing the Horsemen of the Apocalypse with Neighbors)

The most important part of having fun is making sure you can have fun. As much as everyone loves the Horsemen, that means they had to go. Last time, in the gripping narrative of the Cosmic Corsairs, our achievements punching up were completely lost to the wayside as the Horsemen scrolled down the list and punched everyone into the dirt. Not so this time! It turns out that when everyone agrees to put the guns away for fifteen minutes and launch nine-hundred and eighty thousand missiles at the Horsemen instead, they can't ruin the game for everyone else. Neat!

There were other factors too, of course. I heard the CAPTCHAs were awful this time. But some folk got real mad, and it's funnier to gloat.

Step 2: Protect your friends

So, for some reason, we got targeted by a barrage near the start of the apocalypse, and then never meaningfully got shot at again. This is probably because everybody agreed with our mission. It also meant we could spend thousands of shields protecting our friends in the Potato Alliance.

Broadly speaking, killing the Horsemen early usually leads to a close game in the wake of their fall, which is way more fun for everyone. Part of that hesitant dynamic is the potential for megafaction alliances to break down. The KHANs were, despite being the most handsome and skillful group, also the smallest of the big three, and there was every chance for the Potatoes to benefit from a betrayal. It speaks to a strong friendship and good manners that we both stuck together to the end. Best vegetable.

Step 3: Enforce good taste

Anime is bad. This is a consistent factor in TWP's foreign policy, I think. Something like that. More importantly, I personally haven't gotten over the vendetta against ANAL (Anime Nations Against Liberals) from last N-Day. Bearing that in mind, it was only natural to try and make sure they didn't win once the Horsemen were out of the picture. After first punching the Starlight Brigade—who put on an amazing show for a small faction, big ups—and with the help of our spudly friends, the KHANs were able to eke just ahead despite both a radiation and a nation numbers disadvantage.

The moment our faction took the first place in score, around six hours and a half into the event.

Being targeted would probably have hampered things a bit, but we’ll take it.

Step 4: Pay it forward

Coming off of steps 2 and 3, it's important to emphasise that anime is bad. What kind of friend would we be if we let them take the second place from our starchy and stalwart friends? As we continued to not be targeted, the last-minute race to help the Potatoes ascend into second was almost as tense as fighting for our own lives at the start, and being able to pull it through right at the end was the most gratifying feeling in the world.

The final leaderboard featuring KHAN in first place and our allies, the Potato Alliance, in second place.

Step 5: Close it out gracefully

Coming in with a whopping score totalling more than twice that of the second place, I'm happy to assert that operation KHAN was a great success. There's probably plenty of actual mechanical discussion to be had, and that is ongoing, but things like the WA buff and stomping the field into something more level at the start contributed significantly on their own, and our faction partners were universally top tier. All told, I'm actually genuinely excited to see what changes come for next N-Day, and look forward to running with the gang a second time.

The challenge coin awarded to all TWPers participating in KHAN, made by Bran Astor.
Larger version here

So, with that said, see you in February!

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Catalog of Diaries: April 2023 ● May 2023 ● June 2023

I put way too much pressure on myself when I write.

This extends far beyond this column into everything, by the way. Like, I've always claimed to be a writer, but the actual product is something like Agatha Christie’s Tim Allerton—"popularly supposed to write, but friends understood that inquiries as to literary output were discouraged." This was in my Discord "About Me" for ages for a reason.

You know what I can do, though? I can go on for hours about lore. So instead of a thought-provoking column, I'm loredumping about myself. It's my column and I'm the delegate, I get to do this.

The story begins, of all places, on the official Lego forum. Except it doesn't, because it actually begins in an ancillary community, one that primarily functioned as a means of being able to communicate like actual adults. I will point out that none of the people running this side community were up to the job, and in the years since, exactly one person from that site has ever run a safe and healthy community. Said person was banned from that community before I was ever there.

Anyhow. It was from this side community that I was introduced to NS. A user there had created a nation and had gotten some others to join him in his RP region, the Union of Independent Nations. I created The Dark Lawn, an entire nation based on "Grandpa Weirdo", a militantly territorial curmudgeon character I often portrayed on the Lego forum. Y'all, we're on so many layers I can't even keep track and I've barely started. Also I own that original region now.

Of course, my understanding of the game was very limited. With no interest in the regional roleplay (which was your pretty standard HOI4-in-NS), I was pretty much sitting there answering issues, which can only take up so much time a day. So I started making additional nations for additional experiments, most of which are forgettable.

The original flag of The Dark Lawn, the extent of my graphic and vexillological skill in 2016.

On September 2nd, 2016, I finally decided I wanted to make a nation according to my own ideals at the time. I called it "Overthinkers" (you have to understand, this was the nerd equivalent of naming myself "xX_ChildOfNight_Xx"). It was going to be a constitutional monarchy for some godforsaken reason and it was run by a guy with a PhD. Because they're a very intellectual people. I also decided two things: first, this was the nation that would finally join the World Assembly. I should point out that I thought a real committee approved or denied WA applications up until I actually clicked the button. The second is more important.

Up to this point, I had always thought of feeders as spawn points and spawn points only. Staying in one was like never leaving the tutorial level. But for Overthinkers I decided I really wanted to take my time deciding what region I would join, and hang out in the feeder where I spawned.

That feeder was TWP, and September 2 was a Karaoke Friday. This display of culture caught my attention. Looking further, I discovered that the primary personality points of this region were coffee, puns, and snark. To 16-year-old me, this was a perfect match. I decided I wouldn't move my nation.

Over the next few months, I started to pivot away from the Lego forum and the side community and devoted all my online time to NS. To be clear, I was using a Kindle at the time, and you could not get Discord on it; I was purely gameside. It wasn't all sunshine and roses—I remember BBD getting snippy with me on at least one occasion—but I was invested.

Towards the end of the year, Yuno, who was TWPAF Commander at the time, sent out a regionwide recruitment telegram. I didn't know it till I saw it, but I was ready to get more involved in the region and TWPAF seemed like as good an avenue as any. So I applied. And then went back and forth with Yuno over the course of about a month because I couldn't figure out how to use Discord. When I finally found a workaround, I was admitted to TWPAF.

My first operation—before even getting proper training—was the massive raid on Illuminati. There were a hundred people in the op server and at least 30 in the voice chat. This really impressed upon me the scale of what was possible in NS, and I was thoroughly hooked.

The rest is history. I came up through TWPAF, quickly earning my way into an officer position. On the civilian side, I was encouraged to serve as a Speaker of the Hall of Nations not long after the original Manners of Governance were introduced. I continued working my way up in TWPAF, finally becoming its commander when Altino stepped down—and receiving a Guardian appointment simultaneously. A more detailed history of OT's exploits in TWP will have to wait.

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The poster for Mystics & Monarchs designed by me.

Last year, the regions of TWP and Anteria organized the Star & Cutlass Travelling Carnival of Curiosities as the first festival between the two, after the Anteria-TWP Declaration of Friendship was successfully signed in March of that year. It was a very fun event held in late August, lasting for four days with various activities revolving around the circus theme of the festival. Since then, relations between the two regions have continued strong, with the treaty now having lasted for over a year and a half⁠—and as the anniversary of the first festival approached, TWP and Anteria once more held an interregional festival to celebrate!

The Mystics & Monarchs festival, as it was named, happened from September 14th to 17th after planning started in late August. Anteria's founder Emi, Prime Director Neuewland, Director of Internal Affairs Aramos (Trisk), and Jote Yeon-Hab were all part of the planning team, while Fujai and our Delegate Overthinkers were also in the planning team together with me representing TWP—later joined by Ageros who was interested in planning and volunteered to help for the first time, which is something great to do! The medieval theme was initially proposed by me and later enhanced by OT's suggestion to add a mystical twist.

In the fourteenth of September, it was time for the Queens Emi of Anteria and OT of the West to open the gates of the castle where the festival would take place. Thirty festivalgoers from both gates passed through the castle gates and gazed at the magnificent sight of the Grand Hall, the main meeting place for participants to chat and get to know others attending the event. There stood the Herald, giving important announcements about the festival, pointing out the various events that would take place in different castle rooms, and by the end of the festival's duration also awarding a challenge coin to all who joined.

A challenge coin that I designed for all who attended the event.

Several participants pondered which medieval role they could choose for the event, later stopping by the castle's dressing room to share their outfit. Use of image generating AI to improve the experience was costume, such as my costume of a sage with lavender robes, referencing the Discord role 'Sage' chosen for event organizers and the lavender color associated with my delegacy, and Varanius choosing to be the Priest of the Holy Meat Tree as a reference to his roleplay nation. As a continuation of last year's faux tarot readings, this year Trisk hosted medieval fortune telling for users' characters presented in the dressing room, revealing the future of one's medieval character through the magic of differently-colored potions and crystal balls, a quite fun activity.

Other rooms of the castle focused on the sharing of festivalgoers' creations fitting the event's medieval and mystical theme. The Arts and Crafts room was the place for arts and crafts as diverse as painting, graphic design, and handicrafts to be added to the castle's museum. Similar to last year's event where I posted some circus themed drawing prompts, this time there were also medieval themed pages for people to color, while other participants contributed with designs of their own, like OT's medieval drawings and Campa Simpatica's digital design of a sword. Near this room was the Writing Tower, where I and CSB PM Union each shared several poems about the Middle Ages or referencing the festival itself, for example.

Furthermore, the Photo Exhibition was a very popular castle room with its pictures of medieval places! There are many beautiful ones worthy of mention, including but not limited to Candelu's photo of two towers in the Italian city of Bologna, the various medieval sites in Turkey photographed by Occidius, and Nas Crustium's photos of the Imperial Castle of Nuremberg with a beautiful view of the German city. Also, both Maëlys and Hertfordshire and Jammbo chose images from the English city of Ely, the former sharing two pictures of the Ely Cathedral and the latter displaying several photos taken during a rail trip.

The Mystics & Monarchs festival also featured several successful medieval games, one of the best parts of the event! For Thursday and Sunday I hosted Gartic Phone, a game of coming up with initial sentences, drawing pictures according to these sentences, and then describing these images, continuing the two last steps for however much is needed—many of the sentences had a medieval theme or referenced the two regions, and other playing modes were also explored, such as complementing each other's images, or having to repeat the previous drawing by heart with decreasing timers. Another game was the Medieval History Trivia, in which I asked questions about Middle Ages history from different cultures around the world. A point was given to the first correct answer, and whichever player reached ten was declared the winner of that round, twice achieved by Maëlys, although Nas Crustium and VB (The Demoractic Peoples Republic Of TNET) came close.

The results screen of the King of the Castle game.

Last but certainly not least, the King of the Castle game session hosted by Neuewland during Friday was the best game in my opinion! In this game, the host plays the role of King and must guide the kingdom to an era of prosperity to win; while the other players are Nobles participating in the ruler's council, coming from three main regions of the realm, which must coordinate within their respective regions to meet goals and eventually overthrow the monarch should they want to achieve victory. Friday's game featured three factions called the Grandees of the South, the Barons of the March, and the Patricians of the Coast, chosen from the five available regions—Grandees Maëlys and VB, Barons Gio and Campa, and Patricians Zoran and Jote all plotted for the glory of their respective regions while conspiring against the other ones and the monarch King Neuew I. The regions made progress but fell short of their goals at the end, allowing Neuew I to get support from the Church and establish a lineage with their heir, thus ending the game with a King victory.

On the whole, a wonderful time was had by all who attended the Mystics & Monarchs festival! After TWP and Anteria signed the treaty last year, the regions have now held two interregional events to strengthen our friendship, which hopefully lasts for many more years to come. That concludes this article, but be sure to look out for more articles covering interregional events in upcoming editions of the Western Post!

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As the Photos of the World section enters its 4th iteration, we at the Western Post thought it is about time we have a minigame to spice up the experience of seeing the world through photographs. Readers might have been familiar with the game GeoGuessr, where players are given a view of a location (using Google Maps) and have to make their best guess on where they are with that view. The difficulty can range from very easy with the answer clearly written on signs, flags and buildings, to incredibly challenging with almost no way to tell the location apart from the soil and the trees. Sounds interesting enough? Welcome to the first edition of CityGuessr on the Western Post.

CityGuessr, as the name suggests, will ask you to guess which city of the world the photos are showing (both refer to the same city). We will keep the scope of the game to cities only, as we don't have the luxury of moving around to check for clues. We will also provide a single clue of the continent where the city is located. Once you have your answer, send it to The West Pacific Master Dispatch for a chance to be featured on our next month's newspaper (only the first answer will be accepted).

To add a bit of competition to the game, we will rank all guesses based on how close they are to the correct answer. The top 3 answers will be given points: 3 points for 1st, 2 points for 2nd, and 1 point for 3rd. The highest scorer will gain the bragging right of being the CityGuessr Champion of the Month, and the top scorer across 12 editions of the game will be crowned CityGuessr Grand Champion.

And remember, no using outside resources to figure it out, otherwise it wouldn't be a guess!

Are you ready? Let the game begin!

We are heading to Europe for this one. (Photos courtesy of Giovanniland)

Full quality photos here

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Hello, West Pacificans and readers from afar! I am Sekiya, and I bring to you the first part of my travel blog on the land of the rising sun, Japan! In this first article I will focus on the places we visited and some of the landmarks I saw.

Tokyo & Kanto

My journey kicked off in the summer of 2023 with four close friends right in the heart of Japan, the capital Tokyo. The metropolitan region called the Greater Tokyo Area is not only just Japan's biggest but also the world's largest, home to a staggering 37 million people—more than the entire population of Canada! Our base camp for Tokyo was in the notorious Shinjuku ward. Even at the early (or late) hours of the morning at 4am, the place was buzzing with activity. Each towering building seemed like a world of its own, boasting at least five floors of bars, clubs, restaurants, arcades, and more. Shinjuku was also home to the planet's most bustling train station, a fact that I feel perfectly sums up what it was like staying in Shinjuku.

Tokyo is full of diverse attractions, making it an absolute must-visit for anyone exploring Japan. As one of the world's technological powerhouses, Tokyo has an exaggerated futuristic charm, evident in every corner of the city. For those looking to explore this side of the capital, I can highly recommend TeamLab Planets, an interactive experience using lights, water and holograms to provide a truly unique experience. For an unparalleled panoramic view of Tokyo's grandeur, look no further than the Tokyo Skytree in Ueno. Standing tall at a towering height of 650 meters, the Skytree offers an observation deck at its summit. From here, you can grasp the sheer enormity of the city, with views extending over 50 miles in every direction. The spectacle even grants you a glimpse of Mount Fuji, an astounding 80 miles away.

My view from the Tokyo Skytree, and a picture of Osaka's Dotonbori district. Full quality photos here

Nevertheless, amid Tokyo's modern marvels, you'll discover traces of ancient culture quietly nestled within the bustling urban landscape, with serene shrines and temples hidden away in every street.
One of the most renowned and expansive of these is Senso-ji. With a history dating all the way back to the year 645, it stands as the city's oldest temple. Adjacent to this venerable sanctuary lies a vibrant market, offering an array of treasures, from traditional fans and chopsticks to intricately crafted masks and delectable cuisine.

Osaka & Kansai

Our journey continued as we ventured to Osaka, a vibrant port city situated in the southern-central region of Japan known as Kansai. The city has plenty to display, such as a rich culture, unique food, and lively nightlife scene. In the heart of Osaka, you'll find the iconic Dotonbori district, famous for its picturesque waterways and dazzling neon signs. It's a place that truly comes to life after dark, offering an unforgettable experience of the city's energetic spirit.

Furthermore, the Kansai region has more treasures to unveil. As we journeyed further down the coast, we reached the city of Himeji, home to the magnificent Himeji Castle. Those of you who've explored the Civilization series might find this place familiar, as it stands as one of the most prominent and well-preserved Japanese castles to this day. Further up from Himeji is the city of Kobe, which many will recognise for its distinct Wagyu beef! The two mentioned cities of Osaka and Kobe, together with Kyoto which will be talked about soon, notably compose the Keihanshin metropolitan region, the second largest in Japan with a population of 19 million after the Greater Tokyo Area.

Images of the Himeji Castle and a torii path at Kyoto's Fushimi-Inari Shrine. Full quality photos here

Kyoto & Nara

The final gem on our journey was Kyoto—the historical heart of Japan. As the ancient capital of Japan, Kyoto served as the venerable seat of emperors and their families for centuries. This rich history left an indelible mark on the city, especially during the late Middle Ages, when Kyoto witnessed unprecedented growth, resulting in the proliferation of hundreds of shrines and temples. Kyoto boasts some of Japan's most iconic landmarks, including the renowned Fushimi-Inari Shrine, known for its enchanting pathway lined with vibrant red gates. There's also Kiyomizu-Dera, a Buddhist temple with a history spanning over a millennium. Personally, Kyoto stood out as my favourite city along our journey. Unlike some historical Western cities, Kyoto has masterfully balanced its cherished traditions with modern entertainment, offering a blend of ancient charm and contemporary delights, from historic temples to lively arcades and karaoke bars.

Before I conclude my travel blog, I must give an honourable mention to Nara, a city merely an hour away from Kyoto and Osaka. Nara, once Japan's capital before Kyoto, presents itself as a sizable city with the heart of a small town when compared to bustling metropolises like Tokyo and Osaka. The most unforgettable memory of my trip was at Nara Park, were thousands of deer roam freely. The park serves as a testament to the harmonious coexistence of deer and people for centuries. The sheer wonder of approaching these graceful creatures, who even bow when offered food, left an indelible mark on my heart.

My experiences with the deer! Full quality photos here

Japan was a truly unforgettable experience, and whilst we were there for a month, I feel like there is so much we missed, such as the northern expanse of Hokkaido, and the south of the country around Hiroshima and Okinawa. Stay tuned for next month's edition of the Western Post, where I will be going into more detail regarding Japan's diverse cuisine and culture!

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Welcome once more to Photos of the World, a column of the Western Post dedicated to showcasing photos from different real life countries! After three very successful editions, we continue our travel around the world with more photos to share. This time, there are pictures from Apexiala, who has been to many different locations and also suggested to spread the photos over several issues of the Western Post. I'm of course thankful for their interest in this series of articles and dedication in taking many photos, as with Aftokratoria whose pictures were displayed in the previous edition you can check out above.

Furthermore, I have two other comments to make before we proceed to the photos! Firstly, I am always open to suggestions of what I could feature next, so feel free to know if you have any or even if you want to participate by submitting photos of your own. Secondly, I also want to acknowledge Tam dao's idea of the TWP CityGuessr game, with its inaugural edition in this newspaper! The reason I mention it here is because it will appear together with this article in future issues of the newspaper, and some of the places that you have to guess there might afterwards make an appearance here.

Full quality photos here

Some of the photos Apex shared are in England and depict cars, since they comment that, besides video games and playing NationStates, they're also enthusiastically passionate about cars! Apex has often travelled for car spotting, a popular hobby and pastime for those who have a keen interest in identifying and observing various types of cars on the road, often involving photographing them. The three photos displayed in this edition are from 2017—the first two were in the Belgrave Square of London and feature a Koenigsegg Agera RS "Naraya" with blue carbon fibre bodywork and 24 karat gold leaf. One of them shows the car's front while the other displays its rear, allowing for a better view of this car, which I should add is very expensive with its price of several million dollars.

Meanwhile, the third photo was taken in the Gunwharf area of the city of Portsmouth, where at the time an event was hosted by Ferrari as a celebration of their 70th anniversary. More than fourty Ferraris visited the venue, which included a promotional display of their latest model at the time, the Laferrari Aperta. I like the way the three photos were taken, allowing the viewer to focus not only on the cars but also on the background and things around them, such as city buildings and nature in the first two pictures, and the beautiful bay in the third.

Full quality photo here

As we walk towards several editions of the Photos of the World column, I hope everyone is appreciating this series of articles and the interesting photos of various places in the world it brings. If anyone is interested in participating by sharing some photos, I am accepting submissions through Discord message (username: @.giovanni_) or a telegram to Giovanniland and would be happy to answer any questions about the column. That's all for this article, and see you next month for another edition!

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All your chocolate belongs to Darkesia
The Western Post Staff - Delegate: Overthinkers - Editors: Fujai and Giovanniland - Staff: Ageros, Bran Astor, Hertfordshire and Jammbo, Occidius, Overthinkers, Podium, Sekiya, Tam dao, The Holy Principality of Saint Mark, Varanius, Zhiznovsk, and YOU
All your chocolate belongs to Darkesia

spooky!