Exhibition: Exclusive Carpets

(Year 235, Spring) This weekend a different exhibition could be visited at the Kasbah Gallery in San Myshuno. A total of 18 exclusive Victorian carpets could be admired, and high society was not hard to attract.

The rugs, all of perfect quality, share a story that might place them in our history book. They were crafted for the Year 150 coronation of King Tybe, and left Victoriania. Unfortunately cargo got lost in storage, and that's where the story ends. Nobody knows for sure how it could happen, and where the container spent the next 84 years. Last year the rugs were discovered and continued their travel to Mazaloom.

High Nobility Houses and their Crowns

(Year 235, Spring) This Spring all high nobility nobles were directed to renew the portraits showing their High Nobility Crowns, both Peer and Consort versions. The crowns are quite valuable desbite their relatively young age (crafted in Year 151), they are owned by the regional trusts and the portraits are used to illustrate the online Heirloom index (link to each House's heirlooms below).

Because they all (bar one) did visit the Photographer, it's a great opportunity for us all to take a quick look at those fresh portraits! Who are the current top nobles of Mazaloom kingdom?

Trouble in House of Thebe?

(Year 235, Spring) A delicate conflict seems to be building in the otherwise pristine House of Ross. And it looks to be caused by a two decades old interest conflict between House of Thebe and House of Ross. This might be the direct reason for Baron Rainert of Myshuno's very off-protocol behavior the other day - witnesses are still in shock!.

Members of aristocracy are deeply supporting Duchess Ribra Lynn - but everyone is still confused over her oldest son's reaction! To fully understand the conflict, which actually has the potential to grow much bigger unless handled in a civilized manner, we need to step back a few decades and look at past events involving both House of Thebe (Myshuno barony) and House of Ross (Rossie dukedom).

New Political Elite

(Year 235, Spring) Following the Year 235 Election, the new People Chamber was opened and Mazaloom has got a new political elite. This happens only every 5 years, so it's worth some highlight.

The election only affected People Chamber, while High Court and the Royal Chamber goes by their own rules, with no replacements currently.

A royal list of Candidates

(Year 235, Spring) In less than two years Crown Princess Emireza will grow up and everyone keep asking why is she not already dating at 23? Penny Peters is our fresh Romance Consultant, and she can assure us that King Tarriot and Queen Venezia have been busy for years already, picking the best candidates for their daughter.

Romance Consultant Penny Peters provides her services in San Myshuno.

In this matter nothing will be left to randomness.

People Chamber: The Ministers

(Year 235, Spring) Following Election Day, the RIGHT party managed to form a leading group of 11 seats, meaning Mr. Charloman Dougham (62) is our new Prime Minister. Now he also presented the 5 new Ministers leading each their ministry, as well as the ministries' members.

RIGHT party got 4 minister posts, but because they depended on MIDDLE party, MIDDLE's 1st candidate got one minister post.

As usual, several of the new positions might stir some protests in he future. Mr. Dougham explains:

- We tried to avoid many of the conflicting positions that might cause some questions, but there will always be a couple ministry members that might have suited better elsewhere. This time, at least we avoided siblings in the same ministry, as my sister Charlotta was not getting a seat at all. There is a married couple where both have a seat for the same party (the Peppersones), so we made sure they are in different ministries. In certain situations we also avoided multiple ministry members representing the same region, but with only 8 regions this was hard to go by all over.

The community section's political system overview has now been updated with the Y235 results.

Mazaloom Super Sim

(Year 234, Winter) This weekend the Mazaloom Super Sim was arranged in Oasis Springs. This is a bi-annual contest for Athletes, hosted by Mazaloom Weight Club. This time the club trophy, that it takes two following wins to obtain, switched hands!

Left to right: Paula (Mox) Adrian, Alice (Northdale) de Gould, and Mr John Phlum.

Seven Athletes reached the final rounds of the competition. Elite contestants have good skills in Fitness and Wellness, which is a requirement for participating at the Simlympics, but for the Super Sim contest the Wellness skill is not required. It still builds your score, though, so you would practically have no chance of winning without it.

New Dynasty emblems for Dukedoms

(Year 234, Winter) Today there was another ceremonial event taking place at the Royal Palace of Mazaloom. It was time to hand the framed new crest emblems to the first nobles, this time all five dukedoms were present.

The event took place in Mazaloom Great Hall, which is the entrance area of the palace, regularly used for smaller exhibitions and concerts etc. The press was there, and a few curious commoners had arrived, to witness the whole thing.

One by one the five dukes stepped forward to get their new framing. The crest will identify their brand new dynasties, as Mazaloom had no such thing in the past. Someone might need to make a few adjustments to get the symbolic deco object up on the wall...

Duchess Ribra Lynn turns 70

(Year 234, Winter) This year Duchess Ribra Lynn of Rossie celebrates a new life stage. She turned 70, which is traditionally the magic number for becoming an elder. She celebrated with a gala dinner at Rossie Palace in Henford-on-Bagley, joined by family and friends.

Duchess Ribra Lynn turns 70.

Ribra Lynn is consort to the Duke of Rossie, whom she married at 36. They have been a steady couple for three decades, resulting in five handsome young men aged 4 to 32. But she was also the daughter to secure the House of her late father, Robert Thebe, Baron of Myshuno. This made a special twist to her life and is still a mission, as it stopped her from becoming a central member of her husband's Huse of Ross.

She accepted a short birthday interview, few hours before the gala event.

Do you descend from King Baltazar II? (Part 1 of 5 - Windenburg and Rossie)

(Year 234, Summer) Mazaloom kingdom is nearly 235 years old. There were numerous monarchs during all those years, but historians agree that the most important of them all - to this date - was King Baltazar II. With 46 years on the Throne, he is still the nation's longest reigning monarch. Current King Tarriot has already reigned for 36 years, but is atm only 3rd.

Baltazar II was our monarch Years 2-48, replaced by his son Rupert, and later by grandson Wizar (who reigned for 37 years). During his reign, King Baltazar established the foundation of many community structures that we still benefit from today. After the Great Revolution (Year 118) the monarchy was ditched, but later reestablished with House de Luxe-Hamper in Year 150.

Today there still live many descendants of King Baltazar II. With a few exceptions, they are all found within aristocracy. We'll track them all in this mini series of 5 articles.

Agatha Crumplebottom Honored

(Year 234, Spring) Yesterday there was a small ceremony at region Rossie's recreation center, located at Gibbs Hill in Britechester. The main guest came from Henford-on-Bagley, to receive the Rossie medal of honor; Agatha Crumplebottom. The honor is only given to residents with a positive reputation, and they must have contributed to the community in a way that stands out a bit, positively.

Proud honoree: Agatha Crumplebottom (95).

Agatha Crumplebottom (95) was honored for founding and idealistically running her garden shop at Finchwick for decades. Most of those many years she ran the stall alone, but the recent years she was assisted by her cousin, Agnes.

Old Penelope Military School

(Year 232, Winter) Couple years ago, Year 230, a new private high school opened at StrangerVille Plaza, Old Penelope Military School. The lot is owned by Mazaloom Military Forces and serves as Operational Quarter including the office of Grand Marshal and more. The boarding school offer is in addition to other daily matters, and only a limited number of students are permitted.

On a rainy day of Fall a new term started, and a new student showed up: Bincky Tocker (18) from Chestnut Ridge. He did not need to travel far, but brought some belongings as this will be his new home for the coming 6 years.

At first, you might think of a Military School as a place where rather few chose to spend years of their lives. In the past, we recall students doing very poorly at school was sent off to military school. But, Old Penelope is different. This is a popular offer among teenagers who like to focus more on sports and work out than academic books. The disciplinary aspects of such a school will be a reasonable cost to most.

Mazaloom Basketball Cup Year 232

(Year 232, Fall) The popular Mazaloom Basketball Club arranges a club Cup every other year in Fall. The club has many members, but - as for many sports organizations - only the so-called elite members can enter the Mazaloom Basketball Cup. Contestants are aged 20-50, and Elite members have minimum 5 Fitness skills and 2 Handiness skills. The higher skills, the better chance to win anything, being this national contest or something international like the Simlympics, that is only every 6th year.

This year's national arrangement was a great event with perfect weather and a good cheering crowd. These cups are played outdoor, so bad weather will make it harder to everyone involved. Two years ago it was all cancelled - first delayed one week, but the rainstorm continued.

Current Head of the club is Stig Pratt-Anderson, and he says they really hope for a modern indoor arena soon.

Exhibition: My Estate is my Palace

(Year 232, Summer) We already heard about the adjustments of the large peerage, where 12 high nobility peers were reduced to 8. A final confirmation of these changes is expected this Fall. The Royal Chamber, which is overseeing the large peerage as well as initiating these changes, now wants to focus more on the 8 high nobility peers that are still considered high nobility. And why not do so through a mini exhibition?

A dedicated crowd attended the exhibition opening of «My Estate is my Palace».

This weekend the exhibition «My Estate is my Palace» opened at the Casbah Gallery at Arts Quarter in San Myshuno.

The 15th Queen Evez Championship

(Year 232, Summer) Every other year Mazaloom's society enjoys a day with show jumping, and mingling along with some punch and cake in hand. This is the 15th competition, and a new Champion is to be found!

Queen Evez Championship is originally intended for the finer families. All Houses gets invited, and some of them will even participate in the show jumping contest. Check back a couple blog posts for more details on preparations.

Nobility Descending from Kings

(Year 232, Summer) Mazaloom kingdom has a wide aristocracy including a level of high nobility. Today this level includes 12 Houses, but come the Regional Reform Y233 the exclusive list shall count only 8 high nobility Houses, one for each region. Let's have a look at the current 12 Peers; Who can track their lines back to our kings? And, will those royal lines affect what 4 Houses that will shortly drop to regular nobility (often referred to as low nobility)?

Let's check the House by House. There are 5 dukedoms, 4 counties and 3 baronies. Only the dukedoms are secured a position as high nobility. Here is how they rank by royal heritage:

Birthday at Shiningham Hall

(Year 232, Summer) This weekend there was a celebration at Shiningham Hall, Henford-on-Bagley. The occasion was Robin Hump celebrating his young adult birthday.

Left to right: Dr. Nivert Hump, Robin Hump, Lady Elvy Rab-Saxor Ross, and local Mayor Chopra.

Despite residing Shiningham Hall, Robin is considered a commoner. Young adult birthdays will normally not get a mention here, but let's spend a moment to look into this household and to learn why Robin might fare a bit better than most of same age youngsters.

Gossips #11

(Year 232, Spring) I hope you had a nice Winterfest! Here is my latest bunch of gossips to entertain you while you cuddle in front of your fireplace and stuff yourself with those final Winterfest cookies! It's my 11th edition, and I really can't believe I am still doing this thing! *shrug*. Winter is less busy than Summer, but I've searched high and low to please each of you!

So, let's go! We will start in the celebrity ghetto, also known as Del Sol Valley! Super popular singer-songwriter Suzi Sushi (42), has grown up and is now married a Prince! Last year they had a son, and Suzi has complained about her own fame! She has considered giving up the limelight.

The Apple Nectar Lord

(Year 223, Fall) If you ever visited the Armed Gnome Pub located at Finchwick in Henford-on-Bagley, you probably saw the painting of a man wearing a white wig, raising his glass of nectar. You might have thought that he is proposing a toast, but in fact he is inspecting a new batch of locally produced Apple Nectar. The man is no other than the first Lord Rossie, or to use his full name: Duke Schubret of Rossie.

Did you know that this nectar loving man lived in Henford-on-Bagley 200 years ago?

The duke died before the «Great Apple War», which took place around Year 50. Still, many locals often refer to that war victory when describing this painting. Apples was a local tradition already back then, and the Apple Nectar was an established local product, although not yet very well known outside the Rossie dukedom. The war was not about apples at all, but it's said the victory was possible thanks to locals throwing apples at the foreign soldiers. It tells us that the Henford locals were protecting their area, but also that they must have had a huge storage of this red fruit, most likely intended for nectar production.

Top 10 Wealthy Residents

(Year 230, Winter) So, let's take a look on the gossip-ish side of things. Who is the wealthiest resident of Mazaloom kingdom?

I keep pretty detailed lists of every resident's investments, stocks, land property, cash and other possessions like valuable heirlooms and jewelries. Head of top nobility houses will also possess the house's Trust. And some have large bank loans.

You can find most of these details in the online residents registry (history and heirlooms section, but some tidbits also list on the individual Profile pages. When a sim dies, heritage rules tick in, and in some cases the rank gets affected.

When all this sums up, who make it to the top 10 list of today?