International Democratic UnionBoard

Welcome to the International Democratic Union’s Autumn 2020 Regional Update. Autumn, or Fall as it is known on the other side of the Atlantic from where I reside, is a busy time for Nationstates players with both N-Day and Z-Day taking place in this season. In the IDU, it has been exceptionally busy indeed, with lots of roleplay events taking place.

Contents of this update:
Recent Roleplay in the IDU - by Xiomera
The IDU Wiki - A Place to Expand - by Democratic Republic of Eiria
Case Study: Events in Slokais - by Slokais islands
N-Day 5: You Fall Down, You Get Back Up - by Lauchenoiria
Z-Day 9 in the IDU - By Xiomera

I hope you all enjoy the update!

Lauchenoiria
IDU Foreign Minister
(she/her)
Discord: Lauchenoiria#8454

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Recent Roleplay in the IDU
By Xiomera

Roleplay is one of the things that sets the IDU apart and makes it an interesting region to reside in. Among current RP events and news:

- the Artists of Progress RP continues to churn, with new twists and turns keeping it interesting. The latest Xiomeran ruler, Calhualyana, appears bent on preserving the Empire in the face of the ongoing revolt in the west. That revolt has spawned a new separatist state, Huenya, along with multiple other would-be independent former Xiomeran territories. As the Xiomeran Empire disintegrates and Calhualyana struggles to hold it together, the former ruler Yauhmi leads unprecedented reforms in the west. With two versions of the future at odds, and peace talks in the nation of Laeral looming, who knows where things will end up? You will, if you follow the RP: https://theidu.us/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2169&p=21860#p21860

- Terrorism has struck the IDU, as separatists in the restive Kaijan region of the Slokais islands have launched a string of attacks against the Tribal Council and central government. As investigators from multiple countries try to stop the terror, an online app appears to be the key to the terrorist strikes. Will the terrorists strike again before investigators can stop them? Find out here: https://theidu.us/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2241&p=21878#p21878

- The newly independent state of Maraix names its first diplomats, leading to some rather undiplomatic discussion among residents: https://theidu.us/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2232&p=21848#p21848

- In Sunemia, progressives rolled to dominating wins in legislative elections: https://theidu.us/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2233&p=21871#p21871

- In Lauchenoiria, a government building is occupied by environmentalists (or eco-terrorists, depending on who you ask): https://theidu.us/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2169&p=21876#p21876

There's quite a bit going on, so take a look and get involved.

The IDU Wiki - A Place to Expand
By Democratic Republic of Eiria

The Wiki website for the International Democratic Union is an interesting place, for both developing your own nation and seeing how your peers develop theirs. It's a huge vault of information that is open for anyone to see! It's great for when you're writing up roleplay posts, or for storing your ideas somewhere where everyone can see!

Now, I must admit, I haven't been as vigilant as my IDU comrades about writing Wiki articles (I only have four to my name, a couple of which are short and empty). But even though I haven't filled out a bunch of articles yet, there are still an absolute ton of detailed articles carefully written by other members of the IDU!

Take, for example, Lauchenoira. She runs two nations in the IDU, Lauchenoiria and Kerlile. And though she has detailed her nations a lot in roleplay posts as well, her wiki articles are astounding! Just by looking at the Country categories for both her nations, she has written thirty-two and thirty-four articles for Lauchenoira and Kerlile respectively. That's sixty-six articles! Not to mention that almost every one of them has a decent amount of information attached to them.

Another one to mention: Legionas. He has contributed a total of forty articles to the wiki, which is four times the number of articles I have contributed! And even though some of those articles are just starter articles, the amount of ideas he's transcribed, both on the Wiki and in roleplay, is truly astonishing.

And finally, I would like to recognize Sanctaria for maintaining and developing the wiki. Without him, the IDU Wiki wouldn't exist. He had added a surprising amount of Wiki Templates, giving nations a way to add the articles that they want. He's also contributed fifty-five articles of his own to the Wiki. It's safe to say that he has contributed a great amount to the Wiki community.

There are a ton of more people that I have not mentioned, and I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to everyone who has put valuable time and effort into making the wiki a thriving and information-rich place. I highly recommend that anyone interested in joining the IDU take a look at the Wiki page.

Here's the link, if you're interested! https://www.theidu.us/wiki/Main_Page

Case Study: Events in Slokais
By Slokais islands

In Slokais Island a terror group from the region of Kaijan has carried out attacks against Slokais's Tribal Council and the central government. Investigators trying to track down the perpetrators have found an online application called Golden Circle, which appears to be connecting members of different terrorist organizations to exchange information or collaborate.

In other news in Slokais elections are upcoming as well as elections for the Slokaisan Legislature, also known as the House; the National Alliance Party and their allies are projected to win while in the presidential election there is expected to be a 5-way runoff between National Alliance, Centrist, Green, Conservative and New Right. They may also be a 3rd runoff a few weeks after the December 30th Election.

N-Day 5: You Fall Down, You Get Back Up
By Lauchenoiria

For the fifth time, Nationstates devolved into the kind of alarming state of mutually assured destruction that is the annual nuclear war themed N-Day event. This year, the IDU joined the Potato Alliance (in-game faction name An Alliance of Potatoes). During previous years, we have joined forces with our friends and allies in Forest in the Canopy faction, which this year merged with the Potato-themed faction originally founded by Spiritus.

Our faction got off to a rocky start when, before the end of the second hour, we were targeted with tens of thousands of nukes pointed at us by last year’s winners and the faction to beat, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Despite our goal of achieving zero radiation, a goal that has always been upheld by Canopy, this was to prove impossible when we received our first nuclear impacts and resulting radiation just after 8am UTC. This was a huge disappointment to many in the Alliance, particularly former Canopy members.

The Horsemen may have thought we were dead but they were, however, wrong. After deciding to adopt some guerilla tactics, jumping in and out of the Horsemen’s own faction to accumulate production and launch against them, we triumphantly returned to An Alliance of Potatoes after ensuring the Horsemen received their own dose of radioactive destruction. Our return heralded the beginning of a comeback unknown in previous N-Days, and we were determined to get our score, approximately -61,000 back into the positive.

We achieved that, and more besides. Not only did we manage to climb back from the last place the Horsemen had bombarded us into, we managed to gain a place in the top ten, climbing ever-higher. At some point in the final hours, as I slept, we briefly snagged the top spot, before returning to second behind the Augustin Alliance. It was there that we finished N-Day, having returned from destruction like a phoenix rising from the ashes. And the Horsemen? Well, they were destroyed, falling to last place and over 800,000 rads.

Overall, it was a very exciting and unpredictable N-Day, with many incidents for the record books - most radiation, biggest comeback. Puppets won the day, with puppet masters responsible for much of the score and much of the shielding which protected many factions from absolute destruction. We are disappointed in our failure to achieve zero radiation, but the comeback of the Potato Alliance will be remembered, and we had fun - the most important thing.

Z-Day 9 in the IDU
By Xiomera

Z-Day for the IDU was a bit of an oddity compared to previous years, due to the clever tricks played on us in this year's version. It was unclear that the event would even be taking place, and when it did actually happen, the IDU and its residents were caught a bit off guard. However, the residents of the region quickly sprang into action, manning their stations and helping to beat back the zombie scourge from the shores of the IDU.

Despite certain misdirections delivered by the "news" messages received during Z-Day, the IDU stuck to its strategy of focusing only on cure missiles to rid the region of zombification. Keeping this strict focus proved highly effective, as demonstrated by our final results:

Infected: 0.0% (zero zombies, 826 billion survivors)
Z-Rating: -10.3 Safe Haven
22nd for Most Survivors
15th for Most Survivors + No Zombies

The nations of Lauchenoiria, Sunemia, Legionas, Aertemedia, Democratic Republic of Eiria, Maraix, Laeral, New Lusitania and the Algarves, -Astoria, Trive 38, Gardavasque and Libertas Omnium Maximus, among others, all chipped in even despite real-life complications and distractions to make sure the IDU survived the zombie apocalypse.

In the end, the IDU was able to emerge from Z-Day with nary a blemish. Our Z-Day success is a testament to the continued endurance and resilience of the IDU as a region.