MARNIE Archives July 2015

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

Midgard's Alpha Realm News
International Edition
July 6th, 2015

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

In Worldwide News:
Pride Event In Wyventon, page 9

In Regional News:
Northeast-Spawn Connection, page 28

In Local News:
Copyrights And Archives, page 40

Worldwide News

Autism List and Melon Check
(ar) On the page https://autism.dev-urandom.eu/ of the Autism Almanac, the autism scores of about fifty residents are listed and have confused Midgard Administration for some time. On July 2nd, God AlphaBernd gave a statement regarding the mechanics behind the list.
“Nether work does not count toward the score,” he asserted first off, then refuted the ongoing myth that rest periods (offline time) detract from said score.
God AlphaBernd explained that shown is the sum of a listed resident's changed blocks in Alpha Realm only within the last 60 days, meaning that blocks changed before that will be subtracted from that sum.
On a related matter, Moderator July mentioned a while ago that the tool 'lb tb' also has a time limit of two months, so blocks changed before that will not show any results when melon-checked.
However, getting the message 'no results found' does not mean that the checked block does not belong to anyone. It might just have been placed a very long time ago, in which case chances are good that it belongs to a veteran. It is therefore advised to always ask around before taking any action to such blocks, to avoid accusations of griefing.

Pride Event In Wyventon
(wl) King Niller of Winterlyn recently announced the staging of a Pride Event in Wyventon, the capital of Winterlyn, to be held around the end of July or early August. Pamphlets proclaiming the occasion have been distributed in major locations around Alpha Realm in so-called Pride Chests, and details can be looked up on the page https://dev-urandom.eu/events:pride in the Autism Almanac.
In an interview on June 30th, King Niller observed that, “We do nothing together on this server,” and recounted, “and then yesterday [God] Alpha[Bernd] was shooting gay fireworks. So I was like: let's have a pride then.”
The King further explained that, “It's not really like a normal pride, more like, let's have fun on this server. […] There will be mini-games, competitions […] with prizes. There will be an arena and the winner will win a beacon.” He suggested that people might be asked to either donate diamonds for such prizes, or pay an entry fee for it, but this is still under consideration and the decision will be posted on the Pride Event page in time.
The event's announcement has led to much controversy regarding its theme, and King Shakomatic of the Apostolic Kingdom of Breshik for one has stated that he will not attend, and his Kingdom “will be holding a celebration the same day” called “the feast day of the martyrs of Syrai.” He graciously stated that, “The Winterlyn pride people are allowed to come granted they honor the martyrs.”

Far Southern Settlement Calis
(ca) In the far southern snow regions, a Calisian outpost recently recovered from dire straits and developed into a strong settlement under the leadership of Superintendent Tablecat, who recently abdicated from his temporary role as Eyjan Hvíta's President in order to reconnect with the expedition he had long ago lost contact to. The settlement's has been named Calis, and its bleak chronicles can be read on Calis's page in the Autism Almanac.

New Moderator Appointed
(ar) On June 28th, God AlphaBernd approached Polish Chuck_Fiinley with “an offer for you you can't refuse” and promptly appointed him as moderator. When questioned due to his new abilities, Chuck_Fiinley replied, “Yes, Alpha hires sick people, and since I sometimes consider myself sick, well …” He can now be approached for support and judiciary. On the Staff Page of the Autism Almanac, the addition has not yet been documented.

Kriegstein's Duchies
(ks) During the past two weeks, King Sidmarcus of Siverny, also Monarch of Royaume de Kriegstein, afforded some land and titles to Tomoko Kuroki and Carluga. ¹⁾ Within his realm's territory, the Duchy of Aresia was established by newly-appointed Duke Tomoko, who doubles as Secretary-General for Royal Affairs and in turn gave his friend, now Duke Carluga, sovereignty over the Duchy of Orcaella. Both duchies have a nether rail connection to New Spawn.

Serial Killer on the Loose
(wl/ab) Last week, at least one serial killer left his mark on Alpha Realm. In three cases of mass murder, no evidence of their identity could be uncovered except that they were apparently familiar with the target locations. The Kingdom of Winterlyn was hit twice and suffered the loss of all its prized horses and trained farmers in short succession. Only days later, the Apostolic Kingdom of Breshik too had all its horses murdered. Suspicions and accusations flew in all directions but failed to achieve any solution.
Neither livestock nor populations seem to be safe these days; please take precautions to safeguard your most valuable individuals.

CIS Intact
(ar) It has been decided that the Confederation of Independent States will not be dissolved after the June tensions. The organization remains with mostly Commonwealth members except for the newly added City-State of Siverny.

Believe Banner
(ts) For residents open to other beliefs than official religions or gay rights, BlackB of Taushahar created an 'I want to believe'-banner that may be ordered from him. It is shown at https://i.imgur.com/PKtljBs.png.

Regional News

Decline of Eyjan Hvíta
(eh) On June 29th, President and Prime Minister Tablecat of Eyjan Hvíta officially announced his abdication from office. Since he was leaving to take up leadership of his own settlement Calis, Tablecat renounced citizenship in Eyjan Hvíta, leaving its current status as city-state in question. With a comatose resident (Moorglade) and its leader (Harcourtien) noted absent for months, Eyjan Hvíta should be considered an inactive settlement.

Northeast-Spawn Connection (ns) Many areas in and around the Northeastern Sea have become more easily accessible due to a new Nether rail connection with a switch-station that allows to choose any of four travel directions (or circle for fun). From New Spawn Netherhub, Rail #5 ('NEAR Transports', on the upper level, signposted) currently leads to the Wyventon (Confederation) Netherhub and the portals to Nouvelle Reims, the Duchy of Aresia and the Duchy of Orcaella. Its end point is Utgard Station, which is connected to Midgard Station. From there, the Valensiya Metro provides fast and safe travel to nearby islands. From Lauranya, further islands and the northern mainland are quickly reachable by boat.

Local News

Inauguration of Utgard Station
(ug) Since native guards and workers took the contract between Midgard Administration and Representatives of the Nether quite seriously, the construction of both Utgard Station and the rail connection to New Spawn could be completed in a matter of days.
On July 1st, the natives who had overseen and helped attended an inauguration party at Utgard Station with their families, congratulating the Midgard workers and themselves on a job well done and receiving praise from those who did not partake in the construction.
The celebration included a short journey through the portal to Midgard Station, where the natives took a fancy to the station's lava lighting. On the Nether side, free trial rides were offered, which the natives enjoyed heartily. One of the youngsters decided to practice for guard duty by accompanying our reporter in leading a horse from Wyventon, where King Niller of Winterlyn had amiably given him mare, through the Nether connection to Midgard.
The station and the party were very well received by the natives, who uttered regret only about the absence of Midgard merchants. Once Midgard Yews can join them in a safer environment, they would like to celebrate once more, and also invite residents from all around Alpha Realm. Photos of the occasion can be viewed at https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#21.

Griefer Warning
(mm/ug) Direct access to New Spawn brings the danger to be griefed to Midgard Municipality and its Utgard Station. Very shortly after the NEAR line was opened to the public, one such individual visited our town and left his fingerprints. Evidence against the griefer named Darkos has been collected and can be viewed at https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#22, and his minor offenses have been reported to Moderator Bikky as a precedent as the guilty party has not yet been available for questioning. In case of repetition, the incident will be treated as a theft of private property and, depending on severity, a request for reparation from and/or punishment of the thief will be addressed toward a moderator.

Copy Rights And Archives
(mm) Recently, one of our readers kindly suggested to publish copies of copies of our newspaper, rather than just copies of the original, in order to secure copyrights and profit. After some lengthy debate about this certainly sound point, our editor came to the conclusion that from the time of its very creation, the MARNIE newspaper “has never been about profit.” Its sole purpose is to spread information about recent events to as many residents as wish to be informed, which is why its current price will never change.
To that end, Editor Jinxauthor_Mel also wishes to give explicit permission for anyone who purchased a copy of MARNIE at the Midgard store, or otherwise came to own one, to copy that book however often they see fit and keep or distribute those copies at any price they deem appropriate to any resident they can find who is willing or unknowing enough to pay that. For historical purposes, an archive has been established in the Autism Almanac that can be accessed via the 'Books' page at https://dev-urandom.eu/books:start or via the Midgard page. The 'MARNIE Archives' will be grouped by month to keep the pages manageable, and updated weekly with the contents of four-week-old issues.

Municipal Registries
(mm) On July 3rd, Midgard Administration ordered the first official Yew census to help plan the building of required residences. In the process, several registry books were started. For the Citizen Registry, every Yew's name, occupation and address were recorded and thus determined that currently four of them do not yet have their own place to live.
In the Street Registry, occupied addresses are listed to afford an easy overview of available houses or plots free to build on.
Since four residents have perished from known causes during the past two months, those are listed in the Death Registry with the grave numbers on the future cemetery.

Midgard's Alpha Realm News
International Edition
July 13th, 2015

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

In Worldwide News:
Library Projects, page 16

In Regional News:
Renewed Vigor in Skellie Farm, page 33

In Local News:
Zweiyurten Management, page 40

Worldwide News

'Competition' Failed
(ab) Due to an apparent lack of interest in the building competition proposed by King Shakomatic of the Apostolic Kingdom of Breshik, the completion of the dome on the Imperial Parliament in Nova Bydlograd turned into a contract by process of elimination. Since the only person who applied was King Sidmarcus01 of Siverny, he will likely be the one to design the new dome. However, no progress or finishing date has been announced since his participation, and for now the building is still missing its dome. The parliament building can be viewed at the coordinates https://map.dev-urandom.eu/#/1839/64/-721/max/0/0.

Pride's Carnival
(wl) After his first proposal led to much controversy among the residents of Alpha Realm, King Niller of Winterlyn tentatively suggested turning the Pride Event into a Carnival instead. Compared to the uproar the original campaign caused, this adaptation was met with few and much more subdued reactions. While a carnival might certainly attract more residents and offend less, it seems the curiosity level was somewhat downgraded by the proposed change.

Suspicious 'Hacker' Attack
(ar) On June 6th, Resident Moonw41k was accused of griefing and invasion by Residents Claire and QuarteXSoija. During this event, Moonw41k also seemingly attacked Resident Monocle_s fatally several times.
However, a snapshot of the actual aggressor was uploaded to http://rghost.net/7WTQmgLyT.view showing a named skeleton as the four-time killer, and who exactly named the hostile mob was not disclosed. It should be noted that, in order to be shot dead by a skeleton with an unenchanted bow in broad daylight where it will not move out of the shadow, even an unarmored resident would have to stand still for several shots.
With the photo, Resident Moonw41k was called a 'hacker'; whether this was done out of ignorance or with intent of slander could not be discerned. Resident Moonw41k escaped before authorities could be notified.

Spawn Complaints
(ns) When God AlphaBernd visited Alpha Realm on July 9th, he was almost immediately showered with complaints about the cramped layout of New Spawn. He strictly forbade any demolishing of existing buildings there, even ones without purpose, but offered a compromise: If someone were to create a more open area on the wooded land north of the Marketplace (“across Putin Bridge”, it was described), God AlphaBernd would move the Spawn Position over there. The offer was mostly blindly rejected despite its merits, as the complainers apparently were more interested in demolishing 'trash' than creating space.

Library Projects
(ar) Within the last couple of weeks, a renewed interest in written books has stirred among Alpha Realm residents. Several people have started, independently from each other so far, to collect books and plan libraries.
Prime Minister Salah of Umm Al Asufli is making great efforts to recover the lost literature of the Library of Al-Iskandariya, restoring the originals and selling copies to collectors. Moderator Tangaloa is one of those collectors and apparently already owns a private library, where he stores all worthwhile literature in safety, and for his eyes only (for now). He is asking people to donate books to keep them safe, or else sell them to him for he “can pay handsomely”.
In contrast, Duke Speermen of Skellie Farm has great plans to build a prestigious library in Skellsborough that will be accessible to the public, and mentioned intentions of founding a collaboration of sorts among enthusiastic book collectors, possibly an academic circle. This idea has yet to fully evolve, and potential partners need to be officially approached.
Chief Tsaryu of the Commons of Valensiya has contributed to some collections with the German book 'Svari' and mentioned considering writing more books. Duke Speermen offered to translate in order to have 'Svari' reach a broader audience.
Midgard Administration has longstanding plans to establish a bookstore within the station mall; however its very concept was meant to be a small and quaint island shop attracting few if any outside customers, and in its present layout it might not be able to offer all of the books that are currently being written in our world.

Breadbasket Settlement
(er) On July 6th, President Hinoarashi of the Republic of Battkhortostan informed his citizens Speaker BearMonger and Duke Tomoko Kuroki of a personal idea to create “a rustic agricultural settlement some time” that could serve as “a breadbasket for both Kriegstein and Battx.”
For the most outspokenly democratic nation in Alpha Realm, the President quite brazenly suggested to “utilize Yew slavery,” but it should be considered that any Yew population might quite happily settle and farm in safety within the “gay little French rural town” that President Hinoarashi has in mind.
As different from the most modern city of Alpha Realm, Hinoarashington, as the concept sounds, with the most experienced constructors of the Republic of Battkhortostan at work, the future town will certainly be integrated impeccably into the nation.

Umm Al Asufli's Sentinel Statue
(ua) On July 8th, Prime Minister Salah of Umm Al Asufli invited a Midgard reporter to his city-state to present the huge statue he recently finished working on. The sculpture depicts a steadfast and noble warrior, holding a lava scepter in his right hand and a golden dagger in his left hand, to bring light and safety to the land he is guarding.
Aptly, the warrior monument was named The Sentinel by its creator Salah. It was built using many rare and valuable materials, assembled into an awe-inspiring figure especially when you walk beneath it. The statue is therefore visited many times a day by citizens and tourists alike, and rather avoided by monsters at night.
Photos of the statue can be viewed at https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#23 and https://imgur.com/a/NKMgW#24.

End of the War
(er/cw) The Commonwealth-Ender War officially came to an end on July 8th when King Shakomatic of the Apostolic Kingdom of Breshik publicly renounced all claims on Altschwabenland or the surrounding disputed area. With the Treaty of Somerset finally observed by all parties, President Hinoarashi of the Republic of Battkhortostan declared it in effect again, granting a peaceful state between both nations.

Regional News

Renewed Vigor in Skellie Farm
(sf/vy) After checking out the proposed colony mountain on the main continent, sought after for its closeness to other member nations of the Danikan Commonwealth, Duke Speermen of Skellie Farm decided to focus most of his attention on his original settlement. Now known as Southern Skellie Farm, its main town Skellsborough is growing handsomely, and prestigious future projects (like a great library and an overworld rail to Nova Bydlograd) have already been planned to attract more attention to the area.
Also to that end, Duke Speermen decided to get connected to the Valensiya Metro System, and Chief Tsaryu of the Commons of Valensiya responded quickly to the request by redesigning his planned network, in order to simplify the connection of both Skellie Farm and, at a later point, Eyjan Hvíta toward the “Financial Heart” of the Northeastern Islands, Lauranya.
The actual construction was finished within days, and the new line called 'Kassiopeia' is already in service between Skellsborough and the station Südwestkreuz which has been moved farther east. An updated map will be published after revision.

Breshik Claims 'Eastwatch'
(ab) On its newest map, viewable at https://dev-urandom.eu/nations:citystates:rakb, the Apostolic Kingdom of Breshik claims an area named 'Eastwatch' on the southeastern continent, apparently for military purposes. No details have been publicized except for the markings on this map, so it remains a mystery what is to be created in the area, or by whom, or even when or if at all.

Local News

Zweiyurten Management
(mm/sf) Before Duke Speermen settled in Skellie Farm, he started a tiny settlement in the eastern plains. The place was left abandoned, with a sign offering anyone with interest to take it. In an agreement with Skellie Farm, Midgard Municipality was afforded management over the place. It was named 'Zweiyurten' in keeping a provisory designation written on the Valensiya Metro map, and Chief Tsaryu has added a station at its location. Midgard Administration will use the area mainly for flower farming and refrain from mining or building in order to preserve the land as is.
Duke Speermen's offer still stands, and in the event that a new settler finds interest in the land, Midgard Administration will step back from its management position and cease using the plains for farming, unless an agreement can be reached with the new owner.

Newer issues are not yet archived but can still be bought at the Midgard Store.