Current events

The current year on the Esperian calendar is 48 WR. On the Guardian Calendar it is 2331 AD. On the Tasnican calendar it is 1430 SBR. The current month is Febraury.

Politics

Recent elections in Tasnica, Guardia and Medina have resulted in the regimes of Prime Minister Kenneth Brackhaven, Chancellor Khalid Morris and Prime Minister Gorgon Wells (respectively) being re-affirmed by the electorates of their nations.

The Grand Army budget cuts continue to trim away at the muscle of the venerable Charter Alliance. Meanwhile, the Alliance Congress continues to flex the Charter's newfound diplomatic muscle, though with two Great Powers once again on the verge of open war, the fate of the New Peace is uncertain.

The slow march to war between Guardia and the Communist Protectorate is finally resulting in actual combat, particularly in the Merge Dimension. While Guardia, as a Great Power, dominates center stage in the fight against web communism, other players (such as Eblan, Bal and Hyland) have already engaged various Protectorate agencies. Guardia is slowly enlisting such mid-tier nations to its cause; Eblan and Guardia are actively allied, and following the Quelban revolution, Bal is being near entirely supported by Guardia in the Merge Dimension. Kuat is also rumored to be in talks with Guardia about the development of new weapons to fight the Scandians.
- Surgate has fallen to the "coalition" of Guardia and Bal. The coalition forces are preparing to organize a referrendum among the Surgatians to elect a new government.
- Guardia, together with forces from Eblan, Bal, Hyland and covert elites from Medina, has invaded Quelb. Predictably, the Merge League has moved its forces into occupied Bal to counter the invaders.
- A small number of Core-world mercenaries have arrived in Worus to help defend that kingdom from the Merge League, expanding the war in Merge to a smaller front on Merge I.
- Major warfare has not broken out in the Core (yet). The Scandian League is rumored to be contemplating possibilities for escalation but has not pursued them at this time. Notable buildups on both sides have begun to occur in Eblan and Mysidia.

Irzoile, new Mana Knight and King of Forthena, has begun an effort to consolidate the Northern hemisphere of Alter-Mana under one singular Dominion. The principal driving force of this Dominion is the alliance between Forthena's King Irzoile, and the Beast Kingdom's King Larc.
- Altena's succession process, which the Forthenans and Bestians attempted to insert themselves into, has installed Irwin son of Mephianse on the throne as Witch King. After a summit between Irzoile and Irwin, Altena was brought into the inner circle of the Dominion.
Naba'al's Great Khan Hawkeye Navarre has begun to position himself to oppose the southward expansion of the Dominion. He is covertly colluding with Queen Reisz of Laurent.

The cooperation of the Guardians, Tasnicans, Esperians and SRAN has resulted in a noticeable drop in incidences of pirate attacks. New pirates and pirate leaders, especially among the Unbound, are growing bolder, however.
- Old school rogues, like Talina Svensgaard and Horus the Burning, have been silent for a long time. But new pirate leadership has emerged on the Fringe, in the form of the undead Marbles Marlowe. His recent raid on the Gatian colony of Redemption in Merge has moved him to the top of the Guardian Bounty Register.

Several figures in the Guardian government (especially in the Ministry of Defense) have gotten behind a project to secretly fund research into developing a way to slip between parallel timelines. Four scientists -- Professor Maxwell Arthur, Doctor Mehmet Brown, Doctor Dan Bloom and Malcolm Quinn -- were selected for the project and have been holed up in a secret Defense Ministry outpost in the Keldark mountains.

Last we left off, the Grey Man assassinated Viper District Director-General Gail Courtry in her Pravz-Viper Executive. Tundra betrayed his compatriots in the Cadre, blowing up the SUV that Echo was in.

Next Episode: Charlie Bravo visits a secret FTSR base in his search for Dain Kordridge.

On the horizon: There will be a battle of the bands in South Town. All participants welcome.