[Stretch]

To the Noble Pretenders in the Mists of Time,

I believe that I have your attention.

We have fought one another long and hard for nearly 10 months and 83 turns, now. Some of us have been here from the beginning. Some of us have bravely taken up the standards of mighty nations when their guiding principles could stand no longer. I want to start with saying that this has been an amazing game, a great learning experience, and that I deeply appreciate and respect the quality of opponents that made this world so rich and fun to wage war in. Whether we fought each other or worked together, the pretenders here and the guiding principles behind them have shown a classiness, level of sportsmanship, and ability for entertaining prose that I am proud to have been a part of.

Now, down to business.

I have the Nexus. You will not be able to dispel it. By the time you make an attempt that is even close to good enough, I can recast it such that it is impossible to dispel. The amount of pearls it grants me every turn is indicative of the massive amounts of forging, rituals, and in the end, time that we invest into this war. Time that we find ourselves ever shorter of.

The armies of Vanheim are large and varied. Our bag of tricks is nearly limitless. They can destroy any massive army and even chayots fall before them. Banding together, the forces of this world may be able to destroy us, but it is no sure thing, and due to our preparations it would take an eternity in additional turns before Vanheim fell. The victors would be left with an even more interminable war amongst themselves, and they would find that it took ever longer to give orders to their commanders. Perhaps, the war would never end.

You would also face my most mighty ally, the Slayer of Tien Chi and Niefelheim, she who charges into the teeth of Atlantis' tartarian and angel-filled armies with nary a backward glance, though ritual and earth attack besiege her on all sides: The Mighty Queen Pony. With her against me, the balance could be tipped to my defeat, but if she is with me we form an unstoppable core in the center of this world that would slowly crush all foes on the periphery to paste, and let us decide the fate of the world between ourselves.

You may also face, should he choose to stand with us after this new revelation, the fearsome Lanka, who fought T'ien Chi and Niefelheim combined to a standstill for years on end. His wit is incomparable, his demons feared by all, his battle-savvy unquestioned. With his aid, the Blood Alliance would be a powerful threat to all other nations and even if we were somehow defeated, it would take quite literally years to complete the conquest, at which point those who defeated us would find themselves fighting their old allies for an equal amount of time.

Were we to enter this coming conflict, the war would last for eons, and our guiding principles would soon find themselves sapped of all willpower. (OOC: These turns are taking forever to do and we're hosting slower and slower... let's not end such a good game like this!)

We have a better way.

Let us not go softly into the dark night. Let us not bow down to the tragedy of stagnation. Let us free our spirits, one way or another, to pursue other goals. Let our valor light up the sky.

We propose a vote, yes or no, to finish before the next turn hosts. Please give us all the time to see the results of the vote and respond accordingly before sending in our turns, theJeff.

If the vote is unanimously "Yes", or if at least the nations who still have a legitimate shot at victory (Vanheim, Pangaea, Atlantis, Lanka, Mavreni), then I, PIMPDROTT 5000, Lord of Vanheim, will do the following.

This month, I will wish for a death match. We will all forge or acquire whatever we can in order to slay our enemies. Given my absurd number of resources, I do not expect the loss of a wish to significantly impact my chances of winning the tournament.

Next month, we will send our champions forth to do battle.

The month after that, the tournament will be fought. Keep in mind that, though 8 nations remain, those who are strongest also have the best chance of fielding a powerful champion. However, all nations will field a champion, and may find that cunning and skill can enable a victory over a better-equipped adversary.

The nation whose champion wins will become ascendent over all others, their pretender exalted as the new Pantokrator, ruler of this world, victor of this contest. We will form a pantheon of gods behind this transcendent entity, and together our reign shall never end. United behind the ruler of this world, we will be free to explore and wage war on countless other worlds using the tricks we've honed to such razor sharpness against each other, to sow the seeds of strife and blood wherever we may choose, unshackled and unstoppable!

And now I ask... what say you?!