MARNIE Archives 2016 Second Half

This page holds archived editions of the MARNIE newspaper which is published on every first of a month. The Archive contains up to the current issue, and links are clickable despite what the Editor's Notes of the paper editions say. In order to keep the reading content manageable, each page combines half a year's editions.

Midgard's Alpha Realm News
International Edition
July 1st, 2016

Editor's Note:
Pictures can be viewed at https://dev-urandom.eu/_media/books:newspaper_pictures:???.png when exchanging '???' with the photo number given in the articles. Other links lead to this server's wiki.

In Worldwide News:
Currency Exchange Survey Completed, page 20

In Regional News:
Sponville Spreads, page 38

In Local News:
Great Cavern Jump Club, page 47

Worldwide News

NEAR Transports Extends Network
(mm/ne) Due to the immigration of new residents into Alpha's Realm, as well as the return of veterans, two new lines were added to the existing NEAR Transports Network, leading to Prystanak in the south via Yagira Falls, and beyond Barriada in the north via East Sorra, Nautica, Phiagrica and Sponville. The northern existing line is being extended to Zapadnyi Krest, with stations currently being under construction.

Trashcan Supplied
(if) After repeated complaints about the Iron Farm not working and usually finding poppies clogging the pipes, a poppy trashcan was added to the Iron Farm's machinery on June 16th. Two double chests were left for flower storage, and any overflow will automatically be disposed of. The addition does not affect the iron ingot collection which has been stable and abundant for the past two weeks.

D.I.D. Discovered (ar) Around the beginning of the month, two residents suddenly re-introduced themselves by stating, “I am not [this person], but his girlfriend.” For confidentiality reasons, their names will be omitted.
Adhering to the symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder, both personalities inhabit the same body and therefore the same settlement, leading in some cases to rather distinct differences in architectural style.
In order to lessen confusion, both personalities are usually addressed by the primary's name even after the second one named themselves. In one of the affected residents, the secondary personality has taken dominance during this month to a point where it becomes unclear whether the primary personality will ever return.
There is a possibility that more than the two people who outed themselves publicly are afflicted with the disorder, but the dark figure is estimated to be low enough so as not to cause concern.

Elevator Terror Claims Three
(er) On June 13th, Resident Spon2007 reported a defunct portal at the end of the netherrail to Hinoarashington, the capital of the Republic of Ender. Since neither evidence of tampering nor official signs were found upon inspection, the portal was re-lit by Midgard Municipality's Administrator Jinx on the assumption of too-old griefing.
After stepping through, a wayward horse was discovered doggedly trying to enter the portal. Even after being led onto the streets, the steed showed unreasonable determination to return to the portal. For his own safety, he was escorted into a nearby building where he seemed to settle down. There were no traces of his master.
As Resident Spon2007's reason to visit the Enderian capital had been to ride the famed elevator in one of its skyscrapers, he was shown to that building after some exploration. At first try, the elevator got stuck midway when called to ground level, but eventually descended after repeated button-pressing.
Both visitors entered and enjoyed the trip halfway up, when a sudden explosion ended both the rise and their lives.
An investigation of the attack found that an unknown suicide bomber had hidden within the elevator's machinery, hopped into the cabin when it reached his height and immediately blew his explosives. Due to the narrow space, most of the three victims' remains and personal belongings were lost; what little was found during the investigation was handed to the two visitors' descendants.
The reason for attacking in a then-unpopulated town can only be guessed at, just like there is some speculation whether the steed discovered earlier had belonged to the terrorist. Two weeks later, President Hinoarashi repaired the elevator, which had been stuck again. On a side note, he also informed that the nether-side portal had been disabled by the Enderian government as it was no longer in use, and access to the new one would be provided someday.

Currency Exchange Survey Completed
(ar) Since the influx of immigrants since the end of May, trading has become a challenge due to differing opinions about the values of various currencies, as well as their accessibility for individual residents.
A currency exchanger had been asked for by one of them, and after giving the idea some thought, Administrator Jinx of Midgard Municipality offered to set one up in the Admin Office which is otherwise unused to date.
In order to find an average from people's estimations, a one-week survey board had been set up since the last Friday of June on the Spawn Plaza. Three new residents offered their assessment but also demonstrated a lack of understanding of the circumstance that out of gold, emeralds and diamonds only the latter is a non-renewable resource which ALSO is used for crafting, thereby wasted as a currency.
However, in accordance with their estimates, during the month of July a currency exchanger will be set up on a trial basis with the following rates:
1 diamond = 4 emeralds,
1 emerald = 8 gold nuggets,
1 diamond = 32 gold nuggets,
and vice versa.

The June Purges
(er/ru) The series of skirmishes taking place in and around Perdyusheno during the last decade of June has been termed the 'June Purges' in the Autism Almanac entries. Distinguished into three 'Raids of Perdyusheno', the background and outcome is cited as follows.
'The June purges were a series of raids by [the Republic of] Ender into Russian territory meant to purge Russians from using Cyrillic. In two raids, the Enderian forces manage to sack the city of Perdyusheno. Outnumbered but better supplied, the Enderian forces met heavy resistance from the Natives, in their second and third raid. The conflict ended formal[ly] on June 26th.'
Links to the individual battle accounts can be found on the page https://dev-urandom.eu/battles:russian_purges.
As a result, a new nation was founded on June 29th, named the Rumine Union, with details about its creation described on its page https://dev-urandom.eu/nations:rumineunion.

First Water Road in Prystanak
(pk) After building a wooden condo and inviting wandering immigrants to start out from his new settlement named Pystanak, Resident Feliin decided to build the first working water road of Alpha's Realm.
As a prototype he built it underground with the entrance immediately accessible from the portal facing the condo. The water road itself stretches over 350 blocks north to Ghoul's Base in the desert and can be traveled without the need to accelerate or steer manually, at a speed of 1.38 blocks per second. The whole trip takes a little more than four minutes.
Each direction has its own lane and cannot be traveled automatically in the wrong direction. It is also ill-advised to exit a boat while on the way, as the ceilings are held rather low anywhere but in the stations. Aside from the noise, the journey is enjoyable for anyone who does not tend to get seasick on waves.

Regional News

Boat-Impeding Walkways Removed
(oi) Resident Variobond of Oppai Islands discussed at length with Editor Jam from Midgard Municipality the walkways interconnecting his island group. After being informed about veteran residents' general opinion about similar practical and aesthetic matters, and provided with material regarding the Invasion of Aestland (see early October issues and Autism Almanac) for just such reasons, he decided to adapt the walkways so that they no longer impede boats.
Midgard Municipality's Architect Mel suggested to him three methods: a floating underwater tube system, a supported raised bridge system or the periodical insertion of wider and/or higher bridges.
After careful consideration, Resident Variobond decided on the raised version which provides the highest safety from flooding. “I'll work on putting my roads 5 blocks upward […] and make a sky rail,” he stated and showed a monorail example he had seen.
For the removal of the existing walkways, Midgard's DACU Company was hired after Resident Variobond heard it mentioned in negotiations with another resident. Due to disregard for the loss of materials, the work was finished swiftly.

Sponville Spreads
(sp) During June, the small settlement of Resident Spon2007 started spreading fast and far. In addition to a fully automatic sugar farm - the first innovation of the month, a hotel, stable, Yev village and roundtrip monorail were constructed in quick succession. All of those display a vastly different architectural style than the original buildings, adding cultural flair to the settlement. Resident Spon2007 already managed to draw in villagers willing to settle and trade.

Lolifarm Complete
(ai) On June 3rd, Resident Lolibernd briefly returned in order to complete Adschman Al-Ilol's guardian farm in the Northeastern Sea. He laid out a proper floor on the ground level and provided access to the maintenance areas.

Metro Extension
(vy) During the second decade of June, Chief Tsaryu of the Commons of Valensiya extended a line of the Valensiya Metro to Zappaya, where Resident Zapp002 recently resumed working on his farm project as well as a lighthouse.
Beyond Zappaya, Chief Tsaryu constructed a floating tube all the way to Sikiliya. Tracks have not yet been laid and the tube currently dead-ends, likely until the island's owner, Count P_P_A of Klamdorf, creates the station according to his own wishes.

Doran Stronghold
(dv) Another returnee from Omega Realm, Resident Dora of the Doran Villages, embarked upon a giant stronghold project near Dorville, the steady progress of which can be followed around the map coordinates X5360 and Z-3380.

Oppai Event
(oi) While developing the Oppai Islands settlement, Resident Variobond created a jump tower where survival depends on skill and practice, and invited several residents to compete with him on June 13th. The first and most eager visitor was Resident Anhud, who tested various methods and invented additional tricks; he also set (and broke) all records.
Resident Variobond considered hosting an actual competition event, teams and prizes included, but due to reconstruction of the tower, vacation and the June Purges distracting the possible participants, the event has been postponed until further notice.
One of the perks of the trial event was a growth of the Oppai Island population.

Local News

Great Cavern Jump Club
(mm) Around the Pillar of Midgard, the excavation and planting of vegetation in the great cave was concluded on June 13th. On the following day, with the assistance of our visitor Resident Spon2007, a bright red jump tube was added on the western wall. The installation of a spiral track around the perimeter leading upward at the slowest pace possible, called the 'Scenic Route' for full appreciation of the pillar and ease of photographing, took a little longer than two days. Access to the surface was added during the next week, and as soon as a proper building was finished, the Great Cavern Jump Club formed and bought it as an on-site office.
Already, several tickets and even one Year Pass were purchased by various visitors, a good sign that Midgard Municipality's newest tourist attraction is being appreciated by our guests.