Osiris Fraternal Order

The International Newsletter of The Independent Order.
5th Edition, November/December 2014.

Our Forum is at w11.zetaboards.com/Independent_Order_NS!
Our IRC room is at #Independence on irc.esper.net!

Our Current Government

Grand Chancellor: Beatrice
Vice Chancellor: CGJ

Premier: Major_Thom
Vice Premier: Tytor
Attorney General: Achkaerin
Minister of Culture: DaveIronside
Minister of Foreign and Imperial Affairs: Tytor
Minister for Defence: Sekkanar
Minister of Home Affairs and Integration: Major_Thom

Head of the Office of Accountability: Rhodes

Speaker: Vacant
Deputy Speaker: Achkaerin

Senator: Major_Thom
Senator: Tytor
Senator: Zachpack11
Senator: DaveIronside
Senator: Socialist Capitslists

Clerk of the Assembly: Cool101jr
Chair: Vacant
Vice Chair: Vacant Executive News Today the Independent Order brings you a special Foreign Update (well, it's no different to the other ones, we just said that so you might actually be bothered to read this) - we are going to tell you about not one, but two elections!

The first of these elections was relatively boring. With then-Premier Matthew Vinage choosing not to seek re-election due to RL commitments, the stage was set for somebody else for take the helm. Those expecting a close election would've been disappointed, though, as only one candidate put themselves forward. This meant that said candidate, Achkaerin, became Premier and oversaw a rather successful term. Achkaerin did vie for re-election, and one would've been forgiven for thinking Ach was a shoe-in to win it. However, someone else stepped up to put a spanner in the works. That person was Major_Thom. After a closely fought battle, it was Thom who came out on top, winning the election with nine votes compared to Ach's six. This means that he is only the second non-partisan Premier in the region's history (with Grand Chancellor Beatrice being the first non-partisan Premier for a term or so before founding the Progressive Democratic Alliance).

Achkaerin (left) and a festive Major_Thom fought to the death a close election But enough about those elections, you probably want to hear what our Ministries have been doing.

The Ministry of Culture has been as active as ever, planning various events over the past couple of months, which have been praised by the general populace. For example, the Ministry put together the region's commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI. The Ministry of Culture also launched the "RP on Tour" scheme, the premise of which is to bring Orderian RP to the NS forums in the hope of attracting new victims citizens to TIO. Additionally, as you may already know, the Ministry of Culture put together the Order's successful bid to host the 3rd NS World Fair, which you can check out here: http://s15.zetaboards.com/NSWF3/index/ - you could say the Ministry of Culture is definitely doing its bit to increase the Order's street cred.
The Ministry of Foreign and Imperial Affairs, as you may have noticed, has been a little bit inactive as of late as the previous Minister went AWOL during Achkaerin's term. However, Gadshack was called up by Ach to stand-in until the end of the term and got the Ministry back on track. With long-serving member Tytor now guiding the Ministry of Foreign and Imperial Affairs, many expect the Ministry to return to the levels of success it enjoyed soon after the establishment of the Ambassadorial Corps.

The Ministry of Home Affairs and Integration has seen its role diminish somewhat in the past month or so, mostly due to a lack of applications for mentors from newcomers. However, there are no major problems with the Ministry, particularly since the Independent Mentors' Corps was rebooted, so it is expected that nothing will go terribly wrong with it, though some may be hoping for an increase in activity in the Ministry at some point in the future.

And now for the Ministry of Defence. Its activity in the past has fluctuated, and recently it has been no different. Achkaerin drafted in experienced NSer Hobbes, hoping that his NS military gameplay experience would help to get the Ministry going in the right direction. Unfortunately, Hobbes soon had to resign, due to "responsibilities elsewhere". Nevertheless, Sekkanar was then appointed to replace Hobbes and has so far showed an eagerness to kick-start the Ministry of Defence, already performing a Roll Call (a.k.a. clearing out the deadwood) and organising a long-awaited training mission for the Order's current serving troops. Long may this rejuvenation continue!

Last but not least, the Attorney General's Office. As usual, it is probably a good thing that the Attorney General hasn't had much to do - the Order seems to have a good record in regards to keeping vagabonds, brigands and highwaymen out of the region. Plans for a Mock Trial were put in place but appear to have stalled due to a lack of signups. 'Tis a shame, however there just isn't much work for the Attorney General to do, a problem which is not only felt by the Order, but other regions, we're sure. This, of course, begs the question: what is the bloody point?

Stay tuned for more Executive News in our next update!
Legislative News Two Senate elections have been held since the previous update. The first, at the beginning of October, saw the following 11 Senators elected into office:

• Storm Thurmond
• Achkaerin
• Major_Thom
• DaveIronside
• Storm Thurmond
• Gadshack
• Tytor
• James_Ed
• Tener
• Sekkanar

The Senate elected Gadshack as their speaker.
Unfortunately, Storm Thurmond went inactive around hallway through his term, necessitating a by-election which saw MikeRaven elected to fill his spot in the Senate. The only bill presented before the Senate this term, was the eighth Constitutional Amendment, which made Ministers ineligible to serve as the speaker of the Senate.
The second round of elections was held at the end of October, and saw the Seante elected as follows:

• Major_Thom
• Tytor
• Zachpack11
• Achkaerin
• DaveIronside
• Socialist Capitslists
• Gadshack

Gadshack was elected speaker, and appointed Achkaerin his deputy, in a new position created by the eighth constitutional amendment. The new Senate is yet to debate or vote on any legislation, but the activity and commitment of the Senators bodes well for the future.
Roleplay News Oh have we got some roleplay excitement for you!

First, I must begin by saying that our headline tyrannical carbon copy of the Soviet Union, the United Soviet Russia, is on the verge of total economic collapse, falling to the same fate as the real-life regime it was based on. Its pointless wars and attempt to dominate the world with it's warped communist views have all but failed, leaving the nation in shambles and its government powerless against the publically protesting proletarians on its doorstep. This collapse is a big deal for the RP, as it effectively ends a torrent of recent wars, mostly caused by the USR and its non-existent foreign ministry. In other news, Toshikawa has been in trouble lately, with rebels overthrowing the government and starting a war with the entire CSTO and Illumic Command, but surely it will turn out well for the Toshi's right? Anyway, it seems the newly-proclaimed Toshikawan Empire is about to collapse as well. Meanwhile in southern Cotf Aranye, all hell is breaking loose in Aeternum as the country is overthrown by government challengers and the country is forever changing rapidly. Thomradia has gone the way of the USR's other allies, being swallowed by that country's military while Dyfedia, formerly the south coast of Thomradia, makes its rise to stardom. All around, this month's war RPs have brought interesting situations and new characters as well as engaging storylines and plots.
Thank you for reading!

This newsletter was brought to you by:

Matthew Vinage
Major_Thom
Gadshack

Thanks for the update, CQ