Kantrias to the World; The Land of the Gavel and Sword
From the Kantrian Ministry of Foreign Relations
Roleplay of the Week
by Ulm Arastian Sea Treaty Organization
What is ASTO?
Arastian Sea Treaty Organization (ASTO) is a military alliance of numerous Kantrian nations. It's main goals are ensuring security and cooperation of member states. It currently consists of Reborn Empire of Ulm, Uclosa, Southern Sulter, Sydkai, Ramalia Free State and some of their puppets. It's headquarters are located in the capital of the Reborn Empire of Ulm:paradis. All decisions in ASTO are made by Councilors chosen by member nations and Chief of Staff who is chosen by them.
History of ASTO
ASTO was founded around 150 days ago in secret by three nations: Reborn Empire of Ulm, Uclosa and Southern Sulter. At this time Kantrias was engulfed in yet another conflict. It was started by Southern Sulter's attempts to prevent its historical enemy Rylolania from gaining colonies and even more influence. Conflict quickly escalated and soon not only allies of those two nations but third parties started fighting too. During the war it became clear that Arastian nations needed to stand together in order to prevent invaders from entering Sea of Arastia ever again. Before the fighting ended previous enemies entered a secret alliance made to protect sovereignty of Arastian states. In its early days ASTO was not involved in conflicts with any other alliances however relations between ASTO and Rylolania gradually worsened.
At that time ASTO also gained a new member: Too-Technical Japan. Later on tensions and rivalry between ASTO and Rylolanian allies escalated and those two factions were on verge of war many times. All member nations except Too-Technical Japan militarized themselves heavily and turned into despotic empires. At some point Reborn Empire of Ulm and later on Uclosa became known as nemesis of Zoygaria which was allied to Rylolania at that time. Suddenly the Neutral Nations Block (NNB) was founded by Rylolania and Exiled Canadians. Many nations joined in lured by prospect of alliance of neutral nations able to engage in trading and helping each other freely. However NNBs nature was total opposite of what the name suggested. It was made for one reason only: to act as a countermeasure against rapidly growing ASTO states that did not even try to hide their enmity towards Rylolania and its allies. If not for EC which had really good relations with ASTO members it is likely that ASTO would devote itself to destroying NNB back then.
ASTO and less neutral part of NNB were constantly at each other's throats and soon the situation developed into Cold War which has yet to end. In the recent past there were numerous changes in both of the organizations such as NNB being renamed into Union of Allied Nations(UAN). After this event there were changes in both UAN and ASTO. Too-Technical Japan left ASTO for UAN while ASTO welcomed it's new members: Sydkai and Ramalia Free State. Zoygaria left UAN which was far too belligerent for it's tastes and is enjoying neutrality. Some time later Bloomfairy and Saldagon joined UAN.
What is ASTO up to now?
As of now ASTO continues it's Cold War with UAN. It's short term goal is expanding its territories, tightening relations between member states and building new military bases around the Kantrias. It's ultimate goal is destruction of UAN as an alliance. Current Chief of Staff is from Reborn Empire of Ulm and he is determined to accomplish both of those goals.
Kantrias Celebrates their 8th Anniversary!
by Caldemar Leutria On October 24th Kantrias celebrated it’s 8th anniversary. To mark the occasion we held a festival in the Pláza Violetá. The plaza name comes from Zoygarian, the language of our Minister of Culture who planned this festival. The celebration also included areas like the Quadra Phloría (Verdant Square), and Caije Triumphi (Triumph Street). This is apt as it nods to Kantrias encouraging cultural role play in the region, most notably, as frequent visitors would know, on our RMB.
The success of the festival could easily be marked by the sheer number of the posts on our forums, which saw several hundred posts. Kantrians took part in a wide selection of games, and a festival contest. This contest involved challenging Kantrians to adopt a Kantrias twist to their nation's flag. The RMB was not to be forgotten with almost all of the flags to be seen on the RMB being in our distinct Kantrias purple. It was encouraging to see on the RMB people wishing Kantrias well, in between talking about their nations lore and roleplaying interactions with fellow nations
It is hard to believe it has already been eight years. In that time the region has seen many changes, both in the landscape of NationStates gameplay as a whole and in our region. Despite all these changes, we have continued to exist as a region, as a community, and as a family. May our next year bring more good times, new faces, and the continuation of that family.
Activity from October 16th, 2020 to December 15th, 2020
Kantrias befriends several new Regions!
by Skar Quilor As Minister of Foreign Affairs, I - Skar Quilor - have been very busy attempting to - and succeeding in - establishing relations with foreign regions. Just recently I have established diplomatic relations with the region of OmniOne, a slightly smaller region when compared to Kantrias, but with an active player base and really interested in broadening their horizons when it comes to the broader NationStates political landscape. They have expressed interest in establishing embassies and we have as recently as 12-12-2020 accepted their formal request for one! It was a joyous moment for all of us!
The work of Foreign Affairs doesn’t always happen without hiccups. One example of this would be our attempt to ally with the Kingdom of Canada, who while we were in the middle of diplomatic talks decided to disband their entire government and region, leaving us with empty hands - though not to worry, for we were referred to our next point of interest; the Empire of Great Britain.
With my personal attachment as diplomat to the Empire of Britain, I have expressed my - or rather, Kantrias’ - wish to ally with them.
Something far more interesting is also in the works, but I am not yet ready to discuss this as of yet. Maybe in a later issue of this dispatch.
Ministers elected
by Sara and Caldemar Leutria On December 14th, 2020, Kantrias went through their annual Minister election. Three candidates stood up for the challenge of being elected. Their names were Ichika A. Zobieski, Skar Quilor, and Saldagon.
The Minister position had three seats. With 8 votes total for each candidate, all three of them had made it in their preferred area. Ichika made it to being Minister of Culture, Skar as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Saldagon as Minister of Recruitment.
In Kantrias the Ministers are the ones who get things done in the executive government, and face reelection every two months. By knowing who they are and what they plan to do you can know a lot about the direction the region is heading.
Skar Quilor is returning as Minister of Foreign Affairs for a second term. In the previous term he initiated diplomatic relations with three regions, and his proudest accomplishment is having identified an LGBTQIA+ positive region, OmniOne, who is interested in closer relations including a treaty and sharing security information for our mutual safety.
In the current term Skar plans to draft and finalize a treaty with OmniOne, Initiate closer relations with the Empire of Great Britain, and find more regions to build our security information network. He is also aiming to strengthen our ties to our ally Europiea, and generally assist the other Ministries.
Ichika A. Zobieski has been a Kantrian for about 7 months, and this is her first time serving as Minister of Culture. Her main goal for this term is to “make their experience in Kantrias a bit more perfect than it already is,” as well as making sure everyone feels included and cared for in the region.
Her first task in the Ministry is to oversee a winter festival in the region with the assistance of the Supreme Chancellor. Expect more details on this festival soon.
In addition to overseeing that festival she plans to start discussions on the RMB and forums to promote more continuous activity. Finally she plans to host occasional games, playing things like Skribbl and Among Us for nights of bonding and fun.
Saldagon will once again be serving as Minister of Recruitment to build on the progress he has already made. In the previous term we went from 107 at the start of the term to our current 140 thanks to his efforts. He has indicated he feels this is a critical moment in our region's history, and he is determined to see us seize the moment.
He will be conducting a review of our current recruitment practices to see where we can improve, and ensure we always are making an effort to invite new people to our community. Beyond just getting people to move to the region, he will also be assisting the Minister of Culture in maintaining engagement on the forums and Discord.
The Family Register, reimagined!
by Skar Quilor Back on the 22nd of June in 2020, during my own term as Supreme Chancellor I passed the executive order that reimagined the ‘family’-mechanic that is well-known throughout NationStates and brought it back to Kantrias in a more official shape and form. This executive order was the fifth executive order ever to be put in effect by the office of the Supreme Chancellor. It was met with joy and anticipation. Soon after the executive order was published the first families were registered and children were adopted. It was truly a sight to see!
The Legislative Update
by Caldemar Leutria Since our last report a lot of time has passed, and over that time a fair bit has happened legislatively in Kantrias. Laws have been passed by the Delphinium Council, and executive orders have been issued by the Supreme Chancellor. As a large amount of time has been covered, this report will be brief on each event.
The Delphinium Council went through a bit of a summer slump, but since has been quite busy. First on the agenda was an act defining when roleplays, media outlets, and societies could officially have their subforums archived, and the procedure to follow. It is natural for a community to change over time as people come and go, and interests change. This critical law will help keep our forums from expanding uncontrolled as new organizations and roleplays are started up.
After that, two more acts were passed, one to speed up the process of holding by-elections, and the second a reorganization or RP based on nations in the region. The first will allow the region to more swiftly recover in the event an elected official is removed from office or resigns. The second is an experiment in tapping into the rich culture of nation RP in the region’s RMB by providing a designated place for it to take place, be archived, and cannon kept track of.
The biggest move made by the Delphinium Council was a Constitutional Amendment establishing a judicial body in Kantarias, the High Tribunal. This proposal sparked a lot of debate, namely on the separation of powers and who could be a Justice of the High Tribunal. In the end a compromise was reached, and it passed without a single vote in opposition. Even with approving Justices still to come this is a major step for the region!
The executive orders issued in this timeframe began with a simple one reorganizing the process of applying to work in government ministries to streamline the process, and make the application easier to find. The next major executive order was on creating a family registry, and then a silly one recognizing the posting excellence of Mihai on the regional forums.
The most noteworthy executive order in this period was also the most recent. Executive Order 008 - On Visas and Embassies finally set out to formalize the process of granting embassies, both on the forums and within the region. In addition to this, the privileges granted to tourists and visiting diplomats was formally set out by the order, as well as the process for granting aforementioned statuses.
With that, we have reached the end of this brief summary of legislation passed in Kantrias since the previous update. Future updates will go more in depth with passed legislation, closer to when they have been passed.
