So I made a fun discovery. It turns out that I had never gotten around to publishing the summaries for four delegates in last year's Delegate Delirium. Seeing as neither McM nor myself are in this competition, and it's a bit odd to write one of these about myself, I am going to continue to refrain from posting. As for Elu and r3n, well, look there's some actual new content in today's post after all!
The rest of the delegates featured on the second part of Round 1:
Zemnaya Svoboda (Eluvatar): June 10-October 21, 2008 (133 days); May 29-November 10, 2012 (164 days); July 9-September 12, 2015 (65 days)
The 10th, 21st, and 28th elected delegate, and one who won two elections in a runoff and a third in a special election, and also has the distinction of being the first and only delegate recalled from office. Eluvatar's second and third terms as delegate were divided by the major constitutional reform in 2012, essentially an entirely new constitution but still a revision of the second constitution, and the version of the constitution that is still in use today. His priorities after the first election were to secure better participation out of the university, a stronger NPA, a more effective NPIA, and a better presence on the world stage, but like Flemingovia he also emphasized strengthening TNP’s community. His idea for this was to bolster roleplay and create a regional map, something he managed to do within that first term. Early on logs were released suggesting that Taijitu felt they owned TNP with Eluvatar’s presence as delegate, forcing him to state clearly where his loyalties lay and beat back opportunistic attempts to cast doubts on the new delegate.
The peace with Gatesville was a tenuous one, and would not last. Throughout the summer signs of trouble continued to crop up, including suspicious nations advocating for a takeover of TNP on the RMB and in telegrams. This was made more complicated by the fact that the NPA was in dire straits, despite Eluvatar’s efforts, with his defense minister proposing it be disbanded or turned into a militia. The Empire took over The East Pacific and Gatesville supported them, forcing TNP to decide what kind of action it should, or could, take given the peace agreement. While TNP initially supported The Empire in the early days, Lord Rahl’s threat to the region eliminated that as a continuing possibility. Although TNP did not take official action, a few players, including Flemingovia, moved to TEP to assist and denounce Gatesville and The Empire. Additionally, Eluvatar managed to get a treaty between TNP, NPO, TSP, and Taijitu passed, the Azure Alliance, which also appeared to offend Gatesville as they were not included or considered. This it seemed was enough for Gates to declare the treaty was violated, and he soon declared war on TNP. In response, the same few players acted to invade a Gatesville spin-off region, enraging Gates and causing the matter to deteriorate even further. Ultimately TNP would find itself at war with The Empire within a month. The Azure Alliance would be dissolved during Flemingovia’s final delegacy.
When Eluvatar returned to the delegacy, it was at the height of months of effort to fundamentally rework the constitution and legal system in the region. Notably, he had recently chosen to step down as a forum administrator during this time. He also set up his cabinet as an elected council of five, including himself, which puzzled more than a few people. The council set up the first formal delegate directives, which outlined the structure of the government (largely similar to the one most delegates utilize to this day). Eventually they would also set up the first automated welcome telegram for the region. A minor diplomatic incident involving TNPer Govindia and the region of Equilism happened late in the summer, a result of a court verdict that failed to adequately address Govindia’s conduct to Equilism’s satisfaction. Over the course of these two terms, Eluvatar successfully oversaw the new constitution and legal code, and the first elections of this new version of the legal system, the one we still use today, would be conducted, with Eluvatar handily winning re-election in his first win without a run-off. During this period he also contended with the revelation Evil Wolf had contemplated a coup of the region while he was delegate, leading to an unsuccessful trial, as well as a possible plan to set up a confederation of TNP offshoot regions which never came to fruition. One of the earlier raids and liberations of Stargate also took place during this time, prompting him to reach out to Stargate’s delegate and try to improve their security given their status as a target for raids, an interaction that would play out many times over the years. But sadly Eluvatar was most known by his second term for his frequent absences, culminating in a recall launched by Cormac that was ultimately successful. The fact Eluvatar had taken pains to try to restrict Cormac’s access and charge him with fraud for lying about knowledge of pile orders that had been part of Evil Wolf’s unfinished coup plot likely didn’t help to stay Cormac’s hand.
Eluvatar’s final stint as delegate would follow the aborted second term of Tomb, and would largely serve to stabilize the region after two consecutive delegates resigning from office. It would also see the delegacy surpass 600 endorsements. But the end of his tenure would see a deterioration in relations with Europeia after a formal complaint was filed by Europeia, TSP, and Albion over information revealed to the RA in its private chambers about ongoing discussions involving events in Balder that they had expected to be kept quiet. While the government’s response to this matter satisfied Albion and TSP, there were concerns on the part of TNP about how Europeia had the information that it complained about, suggesting that espionage of some kind had taken place. The next election would follow and the matter would be handled by his successor.
Flemingovia: August 19-November 13, 2005 (86 days); N/A; October 20, 2010-January 19, 2011 (90 days)
The 1st, 12th, and 16th elected delegate of the second constitutional era, he also served in many other capacities including the 3rd and 6th prime minister. Definitely one of the major heroes of the region and a founding father. He was one of the tireless champions during Great Bight and then Pixiedance's coups, the second requiring everything he had when things got dark. He was the one who organized the North Pacific Underground and returned the community to Old Blue, eventually developing the community-in-exile into the North Pacific Confederation with the help of Grosseschnauzer. The constitution they drafted eventually became the one that successfully won over the others in the constitutional convention, though some would come to regard that as a mistake. The return to Old Blue was short-lived, however, due to continued interference from Twoslit, and soon TNP migrated to the forum that would host the community the longest until it too required a migration in 2018.
Flemingovia would butt heads with a lot of players over the years, always striving for simplicity and common sense over getting caught up in obtuse rules and procedures, which appeared to be beloved by rivals like Grosseschnauzer. When he became the 3rd prime minister, Flemingovia was elected in a run-off, and accused of being an ADN puppet. He confronted these accusations head on, and focused on engaging the community and forging an identity as a feeder, with less focus on political or military action until those areas could grow into their own and fully recover from the coup. That said, he did believe that pulling out of the ADN and ceasing active defensive operations took away the NPA's drive and left it aimless, so he wanted to avoid the other extreme of being an isolationist region. He was especially concerned with fixing and cleaning up the laws, which continued to get tangled and messy, and would throughout the majority of subsequent governments.
His second election to prime minister, as the 6th, also in a run-off, proved to be a challenging one as problems with The Lexicon continued to mount. When The West Pacific went through troubles of its own, he had been accused of taking a side despite TNP's efforts to remain neutral. Now, with a feeder summit underway, he had an opportunity to solidify stronger relations with TWP through a bilateral treaty, especially as a larger multi-lateral effort looked unlikely given the feeders' relations with The Pacific. Despite an unendorsement campaign, and the revelation that Lexicon agents planned to rig the next election, Flemingovia had the Regional Assembly applications of Lexicon players suspended, and turned down a proposed peace deal given TNP did not consider itself to be at war with The Lexicon despite their claims that they were at war with TNP. When Equilism was itself couped by Westwind, he was the staunchest advocate for starving its new government of legitimacy despite a desire by many in the government to stay neutral, and closed the embassy with them. When his successor seemed to entertain talking to the new government, he ferociously objected, turning the cabinet against the idea and denying official recognition to Imperial Equilism.
By the time Flemingovia was elected delegate a second time, the first to defeat an incumbent delegate who sought re-election, the delegacy was the center of power in government. Aside from appointing the officers, however, Flemingovia was unable to do much else, suffering technical issues and personal tragedy, forcing him to resign the delegacy after 37 days, and before he even had a chance to take the in-game sea, making him also the first delegate to resign from office (this discounts Dalimbar and Westwind, who resigned after they had couped and maintained the delegacy beyond the point where an election should have taken place). Flemingovia's return to the delegacy nearly two years later would be under very different circumstances. Following the disastrous one-two punch of JAL and New Kervoskia leading again to a second JAL coup, Flemingovia stepped up again, facing JAL in a pivotal election which saw the highest turnout that year (the previous delegate elections had 10 and 12 votes total, and the most recent election, a special election for speaker, saw 4 total votes for Dalimbar, who ran unopposed). The issue of the day was whether TNP's system had to be entirely scrapped as a failure, and all candidates, including Flemingovia, agreed that was the course to take. Flemingovia promised to do it honestly, without a coup, but ran on anarchy and dismantling the government as TNP knew it, and he was elected on that platform. Due to personal life obstacles again, he was unable to fully realize this vision, leaving TNP with little working government infrastructure, barely a single active admin on the forum, and no direction as a region. He also failed to take his oath and maintain RA membership, forcing the RA to consider recalling him, and even after he renewed these things there was still the technicality that they had not been done in time; nevertheless, the RA let it go. Flemingovia realized he would need to break his promise not to coup to do away with the organized government, and allowed it to stand while he focused on RMB activity and better WA engagement. The result of his experiment in anarchy left him rather unpopular with several key TNPers and inspired the speaker, Dalimbar, to run against him despite his history as a rogue delegate. Flemingovia tried to challenge him on those grounds, but was unsuccessful. He became the second incumbent delegate to lose re-election, and the system as we knew it continued for another year until it was reformed again.
Gladio II: January 28-May 12, 2018 (104 days)
The 33rd elected delegate, and one unlucky enough to take on the job at one of TNP’s lowest points in terms of its international standing. The NationStates World Fair scandal continued to reverberate, as it had impacted the very election that brought Gladio into office. Much of the term was simply keeping our proverbial heads down and hoping to find a path forward. As a result, TNP was one of the most prominent regions left out of the scramble to decide Lazarus’s fate, and had no stake or opportunity to assist with the constitutional convention that ensued. Communications continued to produce at similar levels to the previous term, and culture highlighted every holiday in the region and finished up the latest iteration of The Lennarts. The NPA finally figured out how to get around its leadership issue, and over-reliance on Gladio, and put together a promising crop of soldiers and officers which would keep it in good shape for the next few years.
There was definitely a feeling of restlessness at the time, and frustration for being pariahs in the game. The RA moved one bill to Gladio’s desk, a tweak of the citizenship oath, but otherwise stuck to confirming officials and dealing with the fallout of the nesting doll of R4Rs the Court had recently had to deal with. Much earlier than usual, prospective delegate candidates began to jockey for the role, posting early campaign threads before it was even clear Gladio would seek another term. They needn’t have worried, as he was too busy to do the job for another four months. But it was a signal that there was growing dissatisfaction with how things turned out by the start of summer.
Gladio’s service to the region would briefly continue on the security council, but ultimately he would be forced to reduce his activity. A final break with the region would sadly occur when he would become involved with the revival of The Brotherhood of Malice, putting him fully at odds with the region he served, though he would avoid attending any operations that involved direct conflict or antagonization of TNP.
Blue Wolf II (Evil Wolf): October 19-20, 2010 (1 day); March 23-May 29, 2012 (68 days); March 8-April 7, 2013 (30 days)
The 20th elected delegate, and two-time interim delegate as the vice delegate. Evil Wolf had just been elected vice delegate when he had to step up and overtake JAL for endorsements during his second coup, which would last a day. Much later he would win his own narrow 9-6 victory over the sitting vice delegate, though for more than half his term the vice delegate he served with, Pasargad, would hold the seat. Such is normally the difficulty with being an active part of the region’s military, however when Evil Wolf came to the delegacy, there was no currently active NPA, something he was keen to remedy. The first big test however came from Flemingovia, who tried to petition the delegate for redress of grievances (as outlined in the constitution) and request that the ongoing JAL trial end with charges dropped. After initially stating he had no authority to do so, Evil Wolf decided to rely on the bill of rights provision and declare the charges dropped, pending Court confirmation such a move was legal. Ultimately charges would be filed again when the Court ruled Evil Wolf’s dropping of charges to be unconstitutional, reviving the trial and prompting Flemingovia to request correspondence records between the speaker Felasia and Grosseschnauzer as a member of the security council. Naturally Grosseschnauzer objected, but Evil Wolf ordered the disclosures. He also agreed to order an official section on the forum for Flemingovianism, but Grosseschnauzer pulled rank as an admin to have that subforum shut down.
Much as he is today, Evil Wolf was willing to test limits and patience by agreeing with alternative viewpoints or taking risks rather than playing it safe. For April Fool’s he flew the flag of The Empire with a mocking TNP Empire theme, and was taken to task for doing so. But he was not joking when he informed the region of Eluvatar and Grosseschnauzer’s endotarting efforts as security council members, alleging they were in danger of breaking the endorsement law by surging to 248 and 240 endorsements, respectively, compared to his 303. He also put out a call to the RA to authorize a request for foreign intervention to increase his endorsement count. This did not sit well with many in the RA, who felt Evil Wolf was seeking to restrict people whose job it was to serve as a possible check on him, especially with the prospect of a recall. Earlier in the month, Grosseschnauzer put forward a motion to recall him as delegate when he had yet to secure the in-game seat and had been absent for most of his term with no appointed officials. He would also be criticized for making his appointments on the region’s IRC, and for not posting an election calendar a month before the next election cycle. And because he provided a pre-announced leave of absence, the vice delegate legally was unable to act as delegate, despite the fact the RA passed legislation that he did not address (legislation, ironically, for an endorsement cap that would be vetoed by his successor 4 months later). And in the midst of the recall, Evil Wolf lost his membership in the RA, which some felt was necessary as part of his role. The recall passed 12-3 with 4 absentions, easily clearly the ⅔ requirement. Evil Wolf challenged the result, arguing that the presence of abstentions needed to be included in the supermajority based on the constitution’s wording, and the Court sided with him, rendering his recall defeated and years of court precedent on abstentions, which had guided the current legal language, overturned. Grosseschnauzer would not be so lucky a second time, and the second recall vote failed 6-12, with no now-illegal abstentions included. As an aside, the RA would later recall the justice who made that ruling that spared Evil Wolf, who was also one of the three to vote against the initial recall. The whole affair caused Limi (formerly known as Limitless Events, and later Abstain) to resign as speaker and citizen.
Much of that term was spent agonizing over revisions to the constitution. The region was fully fed up with the continued feckless direction and the delegates who would slip into inactivity shortly after taking office. At one point Flemingovia suggested moving to an entirely different forum and recalling Evil Wolf as delegate to facilitate a temporary delegate for the duration of the constitutional convention. But instead the RA just debated various constitutional drafts and settled on one they liked the most, a process that would conclude beyond Evil Wolf’s time in office. While the election for his successor was underway, he managed to ban Govindia from the region, which prompted a court review so long that it would not be settled until after Evil Wolf left office, though they would ultimately decide that his ban was improper. Evil Wolf would also enlist volunteers to join his cabinet during the period where he tried to get those done while under fire. He prides himself even today on his work rebuilding the NPA, and the results speak for themselves. With McMasterdonia brought on as Minister of Defense, the military was built up from scratch, training soldiers on both disciplines (raiding and defending) with tutorials, and a lot of effort tracking progress and membership and just having superior branding and optics. This would indeed be the most crucial aspect of his legacy. Evil Wolf would hold the delegacy one more time for a month following McMasterdonia’s sudden resignation, and would seek the delegacy again in the special election that ensued, but he would be defeated in a run-off, becoming the first acting delegate to seek an elected term and lose in the special election.
Simone Republic: June 17-September 29, 2024 (104 days)
The 47th elected delegate, and one of the more polarizing ones, though for rather harmless reasons compared to polarizing delegates of the past. Simone Republic was one of the surprisingly few delegates the region had who was primarily known for activity in the World Assembly. Compared to others who were known for their involvement there, he was probably the only delegate known for being a World Assembly author, having been one of the most prolific authors of his day at a particularly low point for participation in the assembly outside of a very small handful of dedicated players. Ultimately this lack of diversity in authorship would prove to be an existential problem for the institution. The other significant innovation he brought to the office was in how he got there. It helped that he had an unpopular opponent, but he exhibited the most comprehensive campaign yet, personally reaching out to every possible voter and asking for their input on his platform. To the more savvy players, he collaborated with them and arranged for them to join his prospective cabinet, winning key votes from big players in the region in the process. Some felt that he had practically bribed them, though no evidence of such ever emerged. He was underestimated until he secured a comfortable win, albeit one that required a second round of voting.
Simone’s approach was not that of a gameplayer, but of someone who had been tangentially attached to gameplay. He expanded the cabinet to probably its greatest size and struggled to get a feel for the demands of a politician. The plan appeared to be a focus on internal and cultural activities, with an aspirational goal to do them daily. He tried to increase Discord activity through polls and the weekly cultural diversions, despite the staff thinning out the whole summer. He single-handedly recorded radio shows in the form of interviews and spent weeks publishing them to the YouTube channel. Despite being mostly a one-man show, he caved into criticism that consolidation of ministries affected output and revived the Ministry of Radio, only for it to be a hollow department with little output and no staff engagement, due to its lack of actual staff. He was particularly proud of the increase in recruitment efforts, as Home Affairs shifted gears to this important task, as well as the slight uptick in WA voters in the region, despite the usual decline in summer. And every proposal that he wrote that passed he credited to TNP.
Much of the expanded cabinet did not amount to much and many of the individuals he recruited, some suspect in order to secure their votes in the prior election, ended up disappointing or leaving. A lot of effort was spent trying to revive the university, even putting the head of it in the cabinet despite its lack of connection to any other ministry, but like the many delegates before him who tried, Simone realized it was a good effort going to waste. Worse was his early response to events concerning the League of Christian Nations, a bigoted region targeted by TCB and initially one that defenders initially tried to liberate before learning more. Simone was initially counseled that no action was necessary and sought to lay groundwork just in case, drafting a liberation and directing the NPA to divert some forces from The Wellspring to the liberation. It was a public humiliation for the region and a subject of intense backlash both at home and abroad. Following this incident, and following a poor reception to his ministers of defense and foreign affairs during awkward and badly managed planning to capture the Confederation of Corrupt Dictators after its founder disappeared, other regions pulled back their communication with and inclusion of TNP in their affairs, preferring to wait for a new administration.
Internally there were some promising signs. The capture of CCD was ultimately successful and good for morale. The group he assigned to look at cards created a new directive and organization which he put into place. The WA ministry eventually shed its awkward start by putting in ministers with some sense of what they were doing, and he established a new form of recognition for players with delegate service medals that are still available for use today. He also returned the WA voting policy back to the delegate’s control rather than the WA ministry’s. Culture was able to host a good collaboration with TNP’s allies to celebrate Pride Month. And after some hiccups with the RA, the RA rules were changed to make it easier for proposals to be withdrawn even mid-vote, cleaner confirmations of election commissioners were made possible through a legal code amendment, and the vice delegate check was further refined.
Francois Isidore (Robespierre): June 12-October 17, 2021 (127 days)
The 41st elected delegate, and one of the few to have been elected straight from the speaker’s office. Of course, Robespierre had already served a partial term as vice delegate, which also made him one of the few delegates to have experience in all three elected roles. If McMasterdonia's win against Tlomz was a response to Tlomz's failings, Robespierre's win over Nimarya, seen as McMasterdonia's hand-picked successor, was seen as a response to the excesses and blind spots of McMasterdonia's final term. It was an even closer race than Tlomz's first election, and in no small part to questionable decisions made by Nimarya's campaign, including a possible pre-filled ballot strategy that backfired. Robespierre was quite popular with the same NPA cohort that had been in revolt since Tlomz, and had largely turned against McMasterdonia by the end of that term. He scored early points when he and his FA minister MadJack secured a quick and acceptable resolution with The South Pacific (TSP) over the quorum raiding dispute that raged for most of McMasterdonia's previous term, and as an avid NPAer and a beneficiary of a certain faction's dominance there, the NPA continued to have solid activity during the term. Less successful was his attempt to establish a treaty between TNP and St Abbaddon, as he was unable to articulate what benefit the treaty would bring to both regions and what relationship they even had. In response to disputed decisions by forum administration, a bill empowering the vice delegate to reject fascists for citizenship was signed and successfully upheld by the court. Citizenship laws were also changed to allow for high-performing residents to serve in government, a change meant to benefit Boston Castle (later known as Hulldom) and allow him to serve as the WA minister. And with MadJack as his FA minister, Robespierre effectively set up two future delegates in his cabinet. Home Affairs had some promising new talent and set new records in outreach to the region, though it is unclear how many of those good statistics translated into a wider playerbase. Radio output increased as well, playing into a new kind of activity on the Discord that had accelerated in the months leading up to his delegacy and continuing through the summer, regular voice chats with a consistent crew of players. It all seemed to begin unraveling by the end, however. An early sign of this was when Robespierre failed to provide the traditional delegate message in the Democracy Day pocket constitution. That was his biggest issue in general: rather than rage or pick fights, if Robespierre was at odds with someone or an idea, he would withdraw and take no action. Given McMasterdonia's criticism in his last term was the lack of consistent engagement, Robespierre's decision to check out entirely, and shrug off the patchy activity as an inevitable aspect of the "summer lull," was a significant misstep and let down the people who hoped for something different. It showed a limit to how far he was willing to go or push himself, and the confidence in him began to wane. After losing one of his advisors in large part because of this, he was faced with the prospect of being challenged for delegate by MadJack. Rather than step up his game and take it on, he chose to bow out and let the inevitable happen.
Great Bights Mum: September 7, 2006-February 10, 2007 (156 days); February 12-19, 2007 (7 days); August 20-October 21, 2007 (60 days); October 26, 2007-January 23, 2008 (89 days); April 29-June 10, 2008 (42 days)
The 5th, 7th, and 9th elected delegate, the first delegate of the era to serve two consecutive terms in office, and the first to start at 0 endorsements due to her former work in the NPA. Great Bights Mum mostly served during a period where the delegate was not a chief executive, and therefore she was mostly removed from those matters. But of all the delegates who served, she had to contend with the most coups, temporarily being ousted for Emperor Mathuis twice, taking the delegacy after Dalimbar’s coup, and then serving as delegate after another elected delegate, Lewis and Clark, went rogue.
Great Bights Mum was the force for stability and reason that would save the region after times of trouble. A mainstay on the security council and vice delegacy in those days, Great Bights Mum was the most trusted figure in the region next to Flemingovia, and a staunch advocate for democracy. Even when it was hard, she would insist upon it, and to the surprise of a few, she would be one of the first to offer amnesty to those delegates who betrayed their oaths, arranging for Dalimbar to come back into the fold even as he was still a rogue delegate, and making clear there were no real hard feelings with Lewis and Clark and those who backed him, though there was a period where it seemed TNP may be permanently split in two by the Crimson Order.
She held on during two periods where the coups caused the election cycles and laws to change dramatically, and was the outgoing delegate when the office became the chief executive of the region, going on to serve in that capacity after Lewis and Clark’s coup. While she was a defender, her experience with coups also taught her that some raiders could be friendly or even allies, and she had a new appreciation for the diversity of the faction, at least in those days. Great Bights Mum’s very identity came from combating rogues, in her case Great Bight, with her original nation being forgotten. In turbulent times, when the region needed a kind and selfless leader, they turned to her, and in the years that followed Great Bights Mum would become a fixture on the security council and admin team, continuing to serve as a mother figure to the region and even making the jump to Discord in the modern years.
Former English Colony (Erastide): November 13, 2005-February 23, 2006 (102 days); May 16-August 9, 2006 (85 days); November 10-18, 2012 (8 days); November 23, 2012 (12 hours)
The 2nd and 4th delegate, and the first to be elected a second time under the new constitution. Like the other early delegates, she was not involved in matters of governance, and served alongside the 2nd and 5th prime ministers, Poltsamaa and Hersfold. Poltsamaa’s election was a controversial one, given that one of the candidates, Fulhead Land, was excluded due to being a known crony of Cathyy and Insane Power. The government during this time made an effort to reach out and invite back those displaced by the Pixiedance coup, while looking to make the diplomatic corps more independent so stronger ties to gameplay and other regions could start to take shape again. The NPA was also planned for reorganization with a promotion and rank structure once membership made that feasible. During this time the Comms ministry handled reporting of the government’s tasks and accomplishments. A power struggle and displacement of some players in TWP caused some question as to how TNP would respond to one of the closest regions it had at the time, and the government decided to take no position at all, while it condemned the destruction of The Invaders’ forum by the RLA. Poltsamaa also created a Civil Progressive Party which allowed the return of some disgraced or controversial players, including Lone Wolves United (LWU) members Evil Wolf and Scardino, as Blue Wolf and Fedele respectively.
Initially Erastide was to work with Tresville, who had been elected a second time as prime minister, but due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts in his life, he was forced to resign just days after taking office. As a result, the RA held a confirmation vote for his replacement, which ended up being Hersfold, known for extensive work done to organize the new forum. Hersfold also made a point to have TNP condemn the forum crashing that was prevalent at the time, going so far as to issue persona non-grata (PNG) status to anyone who was responsible for it, if they happened to join TNP. During this period Lexicon went on a concerted spamming spree, posting messages on the forum encouraging people to leave TNP “before it is too late.” It was also during this time that Lexicon became more involved on the world stage, raiding alongside Lone Wolves United, and the NPA would meet them on the battlefield. When an incompetent spy for the NPIA was discovered, The Lexicon decided to declare war on TNP, though TNP did not return the favor. The NPIA’s denial of the spying incident, and the war declaration, galvanized the rank and file of The Lexicon and bolstered their commitment to the trolling and interference they would continue to attempt in the months ahead, including a very forceful endorsement campaign on Erastide, who also had to contend with the newest gameplay mechanic, influence. Fortunately, she was assisted by concerned parties from other regions who made up for the hits in endorsements. Erastide would have stayed on for the transition to her successor, Great Bights Mum, except there was some incident involving Insane Power that prompted her to resign instead, putting the vice delegate Unterwasserseestaat into the seat until Great Bights Mum had all the endorsements needed to proceed.
Erastide would try a comeback much later, facing off against JAL, but would come up short by 3 votes, 9-6, marking the first time a former delegate seeking a return to office would be unsuccessful. She would later go on to serve on the Security Council with intermittent breaks, and become of the forum administrators. She would hold the delegacy two more times during McMasterdonia’s first time in office, when she would serve as interim delegate until McMasterdonia could take the in-game delegacy, and again when McMasterdonia was briefly removed from the delegacy for a single update due to a moderation error.
Prydania: June 23-October 4, 2020 (102 days)
The 38th elected delegate, and one notable for being the most prominent roleplayer delegate, considering he had basically no background in gameplay matters. Prydania was fortunate, or unfortunate depending on your point of view, to take office during a relatively peaceful and quiet time in the game. Despite being elected in the highest turnout election in history, it was a modest win, and the first to utilize recently changed election law to allow for instant runoff voting. During his administration the foreign ministry did an extensive study on the collapse of relations between The East and West Pacifics, and he made an effort to work with regions formerly targeted by the Civil Defence Siren for their ties to fascism which claimed to be reformed, and see if the list could be updated to recognize where improvement had been made. He was best known for being a good mediator and leader, who managed his team well and was always the adult in the room.
Foreign events were not really a factor during this term, but Prydania shined when it came to domestic matters. Prydania's bonafides as a former Culture minister and roleplayer really showed as his government worked on keeping people busy with fun activities they could do with a variety of friends and allies. The cards guild flourished under his watch, growing to the point it would become its own ministry in the next administration. The comms ministry continued to have a great output, with an emphasis on roleplay given his status as a key roleplayer in the region. The second World Assembly Symposium was managed by his WA minister, with a roleplay symposium organized and planned to follow. Pacific-Con was launched and concluded early in his term, and a sequel festival with The South Pacific to one that had been done three years earlier, A Drop in the Ocean, was also concluded.
MadJack: October 29, 2021-May 13, 2022 (196 days)
The 42nd elected delegate, MadJack famously found success after having been a DoS player for many years. Above all else, MadJack is probably best known for releasing the statement On Alignment, in the wake of all major raider organizations at the time participating in a thorn of TNP’s ally Stargate. This was also the end of a period of defender domination, where it seemed there was no feasible way to raid successfully, though that would change dramatically in his final months in office.
MadJack is often credited with pioneering the shift to defending in TNP, though he continued to try to find raids with his raider-dominated high command in the NPA, and relied exclusively on raider or independent ministers of defense. In the RA, MadJack’s government sponsored significant legislation that would greatly expand the Freedom of Information Act, make it possible to vote on diplomatic sanctions before the MGC sanctions were even conceived, and to make it possible for prospective citizens to appeal rejection by the forum admins in the continuing effort to reform the citizenship process. In Culture, roleplay had one of the strongest bridges to the main government compared to most delegacies, due to MadJack’s prominent status as a significant roleplayer in that community. He also had the rare opportunity to consider an expansion to WALL, when The Leftist Assembly looked into possibly joining the bloc; ultimately, this did not come to pass due to the lack of relations with any of the signatories, and because the possibility amounted to a passing fancy of the person running their WA affairs.
While the term was largely unobjectionable, especially compared to the worst fears some had about how he might act in office, MadJack’s record on the world stage would be solidified in the years to come, with his many other roles outside of the region, though he would serve again in Culture and FA in subsequent administrations.
Picairn: November 9, 2024-January 16, 2025 (67 days)
The 48th elected delegate, and the first delegate to win as a result of a re-opened nomination, in one of the closest races in TNP history defeating a five-term former delegate. It would also be his best showing, as he would go on to lose re-election and the subsequent election too, becoming only the fourth sitting delegate to lose re-election but the first to lose to a non-former delegate. That being said, Picairn's was a rapid, meteoric ascent. From being a strictly gameside player until TNP was invaded the year before his delegacy, he distinguished himself as one of the government's best staffers in Home Affairs and one of the NPA's finest soldiers, serving as a leading officer in the early days of the war with BoM and TCB, and eventually becoming the head of both Home Affairs and then Defense. Picairn was one of the few to step up to run in a RON campaign for delegate when one of the only two candidates in the race suddenly dropped out. Despite facing much more experienced players, he ran a fierce campaign and managed to win. What was initially expected to be a long transition also ended earlier than anyone had expected, causing an initial plan to explore once again separating the head of state and head of government roles in the delegacy to be scrapped.
Under Picairn, recruitment was expanded, with some of the best manual recruitment numbers that had been seen since the Frontiers and Strongholds update occurred. TNP accelerated a trend that had been growing and took its first official National Sovereigntist position with respect to the World Assembly. Raiding was also greatly expanded in terms of military activity, in an effort to boost turnout and engagement in the NPA. Blue Wolf formed The Commandos, a dedicated raiding team which was intended to find viable targets in the war effort. The NPA was unfortunately largely sidelined in piling efforts for friends and allies, including The Wellspring and Carcassonne, and later The Outback. Restrictions on raiding activity were suspended entirely with a blanket exemption for fascist regions, allowing The Kerberos Collective to be refounded. Sophia, originally on the shortlist for a military strike, cut its treaty with Sparkalia and was the most significant victory the MGC sanctions had seen. The frontier Talonia joined the MGC, and TNP was able to successfully negotiate a treaty with the Augustin Alliance and normalize relations with Lone Wolves United, thanks to their partnership in securing The Outback, one of the two new sinkers that was created during this period. There were challenges too. Picairn had to contend with the treachery of his second foreign affairs minister, which came out of secret peace talks he had authorized with BoM to see if a peaceful resolution to the war could be found (it could not). One of the NPA's missions involved a quorum raid, something he loosened by repealing the delegate directive on quorum raiding, but The Kodiak Republic was hit and Picairn was too slow to reach out to patch things up, causing the UCR to publicly rebuke TNP and force an apology. Additionally, the continued effects of major gameplay changes saw the continued sapping of activity and engagement from staff, and his efforts to turn around a mismanaged staff left by his predecessor did not achieve noticeable gains by the time the next election took place in January. Picairn was the victim of the same anti-incumbency sentiment which swept him into office and swept him out just as quickly. That trend seemed to have been beaten by May, when he sought a rematch against the one who beat him, only to lose again.
HMS Unicorn (r3naissancer): May 16, 2014-January 14, 2015 (243 days)
The 25th elected delegate, and most significant technological contributor the region. Initially known for his extensive work in foreign affairs and his focus on the world assembly, something not many delegates invested much time in prior to his tenure, r3n would become the beating heart of TNP’s technological machine that led it to dominate in so many areas for the next five years. His tech fed the impressive growth in endorsements on the region’s delegate, so much that long after it stopped working and game administration kneecapped the feeders, TNP still has more endorsements than any other feeder delegate. His efforts also spread to the region’s law. The modern citizen legislator model, where all citizens are part of the Regional Assembly, is thanks to his bill finally doing away with a separate Regional Assembly, and a model and inspiration for future citizen legislation that would make RMB posts part of qualifying to maintain citizenship.
During this period, r3n balanced triumphs like TNP’s leading role in the capture of Nazi Europe against the immensely controversial debate over whether Flemingovianism ought to remain the official religion of the region. He oversaw the creation of the Home Affairs ministry, celebrated the milestones of 500 and then 600 endorsements with the aid of the new World Assembly Development Program (WADP), which revolutionized endorsement gathering in the region, but also had to respond to numerous FoIA requests as veteran players sought to pursue old controversies and grievances. The NPA flourished and professionalized while TNP took bold steps toward communications by instituting The Northern Light, and on the world stage TNP enhanced its reputation and expanded its diplomatic reach through the Aurora Alliance with TSP and the World Assembly Legislative League (WALL), which of course would go on to be highly influential in WA affairs in the years ahead. He was less successful culturally, as his theme week initiatives were not consistently deployed by the end of his tenure, nor were his efforts to enhance the roleplay community entirely what he imagined, but these efforts combined with the others led to the most active and engaged executive staff in memory, gave the many new citizens his law created something to do, and laid the groundwork for the next couple of years, which would see a brand new generation thrive and become involved in the region.
The ties r3n had to Europeia also led his technology to initially have a significant impact and importance there as well, and it is likely the regions would not have grown nearly as closely together if not for this shared heritage. Years after his delegacy, he also pioneered the cards community at its earliest iteration, personally fueling TNP’s card farm and establishing a script to make card rewards a viable and attractive incentive for players to participate and get involved in the region. TNP was known simultaneously as a WA and cards powerhouse thanks to his efforts.
