Xsampa

[DueWizard70]

Nurse taking care of Pasang
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After receiving news from the Royal Palace back in March that Queen Dolma-Ceicile was pregnant with her and King Ratna's first child, today we raceied the news from the Royal Palace that the baby has been born. His name is Prince Pasang. He was born on the 18th of December 4865, but we were only told today, one day later. According to the Palace he is healthy and there doesn't seem to be any problems with him. Many were happy to see the outcome be so good, as the pregnancy had been rather unconventional for reasons undisclosed to the public.

After the announcement many people went out to the streets to celebrete the auspicious moment. Many temples were open to massive pujas and meditations. A massive mandala made of sand was constructed in the city centre by hundreds of monks in under 4 hours. It was later thrown into a lake after thousands gathered around it to bless it.

Pasang and the Queen will remain in the hospital for a week and will then return to the Royal Palace.

[DueWizard70]

The King giving the announcement
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Today the news that everyone had been fearing for the past few years finally came. King Ratna has announced that the Government of National Unity (GofNU) will be dismantled. Although many were disappointed to see this happen, no one was really surprised, as the Royal Court of Justice and the Board of Ministers had previously been abolished on June of 4863. Still, most people were hoping this would not happen.

The GofNU had acted as a lower chamber of sorts and was overseen by the Royal Court of Justice and the Board of Ministers. They were the only body in the Serene Empire of Utembo to be elected by the public in democratic elections. They were also in charge of making certain decisions, such as the appointment of kings when a royal bloodline died out.

With the abolishment of the GofNU King Ratna now has absolute power over all of the government; executive, legislative and judiciary. Many are concerned that this will lead Utembo to aa dark path, as having a sole person in charge of the nation could be dangerous, especially since the system of checks and balances that used to exist is now completely gone. Only a small board of advisors exist now, but many speculate that it exists only as a front to prevent the public as well as other governments to believe that King Ratna has absolute control. It seems that when the members meet, they don't actually discuss anything of substance.

[DueWizard70]

The Rinboku Lama
OOC Note: Rinboku Lama is the equivalent to the Dalai Lama and the Pandita Lama is the equivalent to the Panchen Lama. If someone knows if something similar has been done before please tell me so I can rectify my mistake
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Today, we received shocking news from Qulho-Coho Temple, as they announced that the 67th Rinboku Lama passed away today at 4 in the morning at age 85. He had just returned to the country last year, coming back from a 40 year-long exile. This exile had begun because the previous Royal House. the House of Mohlabi, had cast him away. They used to have a strongly secular world view, and as such they wanted the spiritual leader of Xsampan Buddhism to leave Utembo. The temple that was his home, located in Qulho-Coho, was demolished. He lived in Ntoto for this time. When Durga I became King, the Rinboku Lama had expected to come back to Utembo, this, however, did not happen. King Durga, I had a lot of power over the population and denied the Rinboku Lama permission to re-enter the country, fearing that the Rinboku Lama would gain support and oust him as King. After his death and the subsequent abdication of King Durga II, King Ratna visited the Rinboku Lama to talk. He told him to wait a few years before returning. He explained that the country was going through a transition period and that his return would complicate things. He also said that his temple was gone. He offered to rebuild it and to tell him when to return. Now, over 10 years later, the temple has been completed and as such King Ratna gave the go-ahead. The Rinboku Lama was received with joy and celebration after his 40-year long absence. Now, however, the nation mourns as he died. Now the search for a new Rinboku Lama begins, headed by the Pandita Lama, the sort of "second in command" to the Rinboku Lama. The search will happen all through Utembo, searching for the reincarnation of the Rinboku Lama.

This is a process that repeats itself every time a Rinboku Lama dies. In Xsampan Buddhism, it is believed that they will reincarnate. When a subject is believed to have been found, they will be presented with dozens of objects, of which only a few used to belong to the deceased Rinboku. If the kid picks the same objects then they are thought to be the reincarnation. Although this process has now begun, it will most likely take between 2 to 4 years to find the right kid.

Now everyone is eager to see who the new Rinboku Lama will be

[DueWizard70]

PTN during FOMAT VII
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Following the announcement of FOMAT VIII in Deltaria, the Ministry of Culture announced that the Utemban representative will be the national sensation Pemkili Ngapo Thapa, better known as PNT. The singer returns to FOMAT after achieving third place in Lourenne in FOMAT VII, losing only to Yingdalan band "We Rock" and Deltarian singer "Mirat". After the competition, he said that he was happy to have given Utembo so much visibility and honour and that he was glad that his performance gave his compatriots joy.

This was a very fun experience, and I hope I can do this again. I was honoured to represent Utembo, and I am surprised at the result. Not only that, but I was amazed by the reactions of everyone here. I was concerned that the song would not be accepted, especially since it is in a completely foreign language to them. Let's be honest, no one speaks Xsampan outside of Utembo and Bazgaristan. Im also very glad that everyone back home was so supportive. After my song, I talked to my wife and she said that in the plaza thousands of people had gathered to see me. It made me very happy to see that my song brought so much joy to everyone there, and it motivates me to try harder and do better. Hopefully, I will see you all again in Deltaria!

The singer expressed that he was extremely honoured to return to represent Utembo. He also wished best of luck to his competitors and that he was excited to meet them.

The song itself is "Ghongsa Rinbaley". The song is dedicated to the Rinboku Lama. It is a prayer to him. This time, however, he is not going alone, as he is joined by Ngapo Giri and Tempa Kaka, number 2 and 3 in Utembo's most listened to artists respectively. Although not confirmed, it appears as they will be wearing traditional clothing in their performance. He has said that he is performing the song to bring all of the blessings it contains to Deltaria.

They just went through a brutal conflict and a massive change in power. I hope my song can help bring some people peace!

We wish them the best of luck!

[Rogue]

Utembo signs onto the Trade Protection Clause

[DueWizard70]

The New Rinboku Lama
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News from Qulho-Coho Temple! Today, they gave the announcement that the Pandita Lama found the reincarnation of the late Rinboku Lama. The boy in question is almost three, which makes sense since the Rinboku Lama died on December of 4869, and was born in a small village in the Ring Po Mountains.

The first notion of where the new Rinboku Lama might live came in a vision to one of the Lamas travelling with the Pandita Lama. Then, the embalmed body of the 67th Rinboku Lama did something strange. Initially, his face had been turned to the east, but one night, a monk noticed that his face had turned to the north. Many senior Lamas discussed and ended with the conclusion that the boy lived somewhere in the north of the country, possibly in the Ring Po Mountains. The Pandita Lama was already there, and when monks arrived, he gave them the names of 4 children who had had unusual births and were born shortly after the death of the 67th Rinboku. After one of the monks in the search party had a vision in which he saw a small village deep in the mountains, they were headed that way. The village was home to two of the children. They visited them both, disguised as pilgrims. They reached the house of a boy by the name of Ang Giri. His parents were farmers and did not speak Xsampan, instead, they spoke a local dialect, spoken only by the people in that and neighbouring villages. There he was given a choice to pick between many objects. One of them was a mala that belonged to the 67th Rinboku. Out of all the objects, Ang chose that one. After this, they revealed who they are and asked permission to test him multiple times. He would be given a choice between 2 or 3 objects, one of them belonging to the late Rinboku. Furthermore, he approached the Pandita Lama and said "Pandita, Pandita!" in Xsampan, a language that no one else in his family spoke. The monks then had a vision whilst meditating, that showed the house of Ang. This confirmed it, and the boy then travelled to Qulho-Coho Temple.

There, he was ordained as Rinboku Lama and given the spiritual name of "Tenzin Punzoc". He will now spend the next few years studying about Xsampan Daenism before he can be granted the title of Rje Bo (རྗེ་བོ་). This title is the equivalent of having a doctorate in Daenism.

We wish him our best!

Tashi Delek Tenzin Punzoc!

[alaskancrabpuffs21]

Queen of Dolgava Visits Royal Family in Utembo, Possible Trade Talks Ushered In

[alaskancrabpuffs21]

Dolgava and Utembo Sign Free Trade and Friendship Agreement

[DueWizard70]

Members of the Dolgavan delegation meet Foreign Minister Dorji
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After many months of deliberation, today we finally ratified the agreement previously signed by the Queen of Dolgava and Dolgavan Prime Minister Lia Hergenröther on June of this year. Although King Ratna had initially intended to sign the treaty then, a landslide in the Ring Po mountains required his attention and he was unable to sign at the time. Now that the crisis is over though, he was able to meet with the Queen of Dolgava again and sign the treaty.

The treaty will lower tariffs and improve trade with Dolgava, as well as introduce military cooperation and mutual defence. This is expected to greatly improve Utembo's status in the international scene, as well as improve our economy. This treaty will also bring us even closer to Dolgava, who is becoming one of our most important allies in Terra.

There are, however, many who are sceptic regarding the mutual defence, seeing how in the event of Dolgava being attacked, we would have to join them. With Utembo having a military so small it is almost non-existent, they say it would mean that Utemban soldiers would go to die. King Ratna assured this is not true.

Many hope that this is the first amongst many new international treaties.

[DueWizard70]

King Ratna giving the announcement
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Today we received the announcement from the Royal Palace that a new national act will be implemented. The bill is called the "Protecting from Misinformation Act". Its objective is to protect the general public from media outlets that might look to spread misinformation, especially news outlets. A committee will go over the topics that these news outlets want to publish. If the committee sees something that could mislead the public or that could be spreading lies, it will be banned from being published. All news outlets MUST provide the committee with their content. If they don't give the content, or if they only give parts of it, then they will have sanctions. These could go from a mere financial sanction to the entire organisation being shut down.

Many have taken to the streets to protest about this change. They say that this is a front to allow the government to censor things they don't want the public to know. They think it sets a precedent that is very dangerous, as it allows the government to meddle too much. They also say that the purpose of the media is to act as a way to question the government and that this bill is destroying this freedom that the media has. King Ratna has denied these allegations saying that he only has the best interests of the people in mind.

We in The Utembo Times are very excited about this new change.



This message has been approved by the government of the Serene Empire of Utembo for its public broadcast.