Hello there, sailors!

Welcome to the Maritime Postal Service's April 2026 edition!

With no roleplay section this time around, this issue begins with a detailed overview of the early 2026 opinion poll by Security Councillor Agladnare. Agladnare will also take a look at the results of the latest elections.

Beyond the sea, recently re-elected Minister of Foreign Affairs Suvmia will update us on the latest international developments in the United Regions Alliance (URA) and Gameplay.

Francanada, the outgoing World Assembly Delegate and President of The Frontier Sea, will be interviewed by the newly appointed Vice-Delegate Pretiosa.

Finally, as usual, Suvmia will share a cocktail recipe with our readers!

Have a nice read!

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THE FRONTIER SEA EARLY OPINION POLL - RESULTS - Futurist State of Agladnare

Introduction

As a data enthusiast with some free time on my hands, I decided to conduct an opinion survey in early March. My goal was to gather the views of The Frontier Sea (TFS) community and share my findings during an election month, providing candidates with valuable insights for their campaigns and serving as an informative piece for the region's next government.

In the survey, I asked respondents to:

• Rate the importance of our community platforms (NationStates and Discord);

• Select which community activities they enjoy the most;

• Evaluate the performance of last term's officers (September 2025 – March 2026);

• Share their impressions on regional foreign affairs, the current state of the World Assembly, and TFS’s place in Raiding & Defending.

Who took part in the survey?

The survey had 30 respondents, of which 93.3% (28) were Citizens in Good Standing. Which indicates that roughly a third of the electorate responded to the poll.
According to my own census, 51 Citizens in Good Standing are members of the Discord Server. From this group, 25 took part in the survey, making them the most representative group in the results. It's also worth mentioning that 4 members that responded to the survey are not members of the Discord Server.

NationStates or the Discord Server?

The short answer is that NationStates is seen as most important by the respondents. But the gap between NS and the Discord is minimal, with the latter also receiving a high rating. What is really interesting is that more respondents highly agree on the importance of Discord than NationStates (which actually received more Agrees than Highly Agree), However, there were more negative and neutral answers to Discord’s importance compared to NationStates’, which were enough to lower Discord’s rating below NationStates’, and most likely were from a gameside minority that took the survey. Which reveals that the surveyed section of the community overall sees both platforms as important, with a Discord minority preferring it over NationStates.

What does the community like the most?

Unsurprisingly to many, Nation Roleplay is the flagship of the region, with 20 members picking it as one of the activities they most enjoy. Governance surprisingly came second with 15 pickings (are we seeing a surge in interest for regional administration?) and the newspaper, relatively new, came third with 13. Here are the activities respondents enjoy most, in order from most picked to least picked:

How is the government doing among respondents?

I asked respondents to rate government officials on a scale of 5 stars. The results indicate that the government has a mostly positive rating, with all officers getting more than 3 stars. The best rated member of government is Prime Minister Diatian Isles, boasting an unquestionable 4.30 star rating. Coming in second is the temporarily appointed Minister of World Assembly Affairs, Pretiosa, with a 4.03 star rating. Tied in third are President Francanada and Minister or Roleplay Eastern Osowiecs with a 3.93 star rating.

Unfortunately, the survey didn't cover the ratings of the new Minister of Foreign Affairs Suvmia, because of time constraints.

Are respondents satisfied with the political system of TFS?

The answer is: absolutely! When asked whether they were satisfied, all respondents Agreed or Strongly Agreed. And 29 out of 30 respondents at least agreed that TFS is a democratic region, with the remaining respondent choosing the neutral option. I also tested how much the members of the community trusts each branch of government.

The Security Council is the most trusted branch with a strong 4.28/5.0 trustworthiness, while the Executive Council got the lowest rating with a 3.93/5.0, although still quite solid. Most responders don't think any particular branch is too powerful, with the overwhelming majority rejecting ideas that there is a power imbalance between branches.

With TFS entering the anticipated First General Election of 2026, I had to ask who people were going to choose for President and what they think the government should improve. The acclaimed Prime Minister, Diatian Isles, proved her popularity with 40% choosing her amidst a great range of potential candidates, making her the favorite candidate of the surveyed group. Sitting President Francanada, who stated they won't be running for reelection got 5 of the "votes", with Security Councillors Futurist State of Agladnare and Suvmia receiving, respectively, 4 and 2 of the intentions.

About how the government could improve, answers gravitated toward 4 camps: Communication, Transparency, Activity and Roleplay.

The Frontier Sea’s place in NationStates

As mentioned in the introduction, the survey included questions about The Frontier Sea’s foreign affairs.

I first asked if people liked that The Frontier Sea was a Frontier region. 89.6% agreed that they liked, with only two picking the neutral option and a single respondent stating they disagreed. Conclusively, the community identifies with and enjoys the region's Frontier status.

When I asked if the respondents supported the current diplomatic partners, the response was moderately positive, with 62% agreeing and 38% being neutral. Following this question was the inquiry whether The Frontier Sea should pursue embassies/consulates with more regions, with 72% agreeing, 21% choosing the neutral option and 7% disagreeing.

Regions cited as examples of who respondents would like to see The Frontier Sea establishing/improving diplomatic relations with, in order of frequency, are: Europeia (3), Communitas (2), Carcassonne (2), The League & Concord (2), Karma (2), The Kodiak Republic (1), The Plains of Perdition (1), Lazarus (1), The North Pacific (1), Empire of Great Britain (1), Aeternum (1). Even if by a small margin, it is noticeable that citizens would like to see The Frontier Sea closer to other Frontiers.

World Assembly and the United Regions Alliance

In a World Assembly dominated by the Sovereign Seven in the last several months, The Frontier Sea finds itself in an uniquely curious position. A growing Frontier and largest member of the United Regions Alliance, an organization with almost seven years of existence.

Furthermore, the last term saw the appointment of Pretiosa as the first Minister of World Assembly Affairs and the passing of Repeal GA399: “Responsability in Transferring Arms”, authored by Suvmia, making it the first TFS World Assembly Resolution passed!

Therefore, I asked respondents to choose between 1 and 5, which roughly translates to Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree and Strongly Agree on five sentences regarding the World Assembly and the United Regions Alliance: (1) How do you feel about the World Assembly lately? (2) I'm hopeful about the WA 2026 plan. (3) TFS should have a more active role in the World Assembly. (4) How well do you know the United Regions Alliance (URA)? (5) The Frontier Sea should continue being a member of the URA.

The results show that the surveyed section of the community has mixed feeling about the World Assembly lately, this divide could be attributed to the different range of opinions about the sequence of repeals in the General Assembly, which can be noticed in World Assembly parliamentary votes getting tight results, like Repeal: “Ban Profits on Workers' Deaths”, which got 22 FORs. 20 AGAINSTs and 22 ABSTAINs (weighted votes).

Furthermore, it seems that The Frontier Sea is moderately hopeful about the 2026 World Assembly Plan, with 54% agreeing that they are looking forward to it (the remainder were uninterested). It is also interesting to see that 64% of the respondents agreed that the region should get more involved in the World Assembly. In fact, data analysis shows a strong correlation between wanting more active TFS involvement in the WA and feeling hopeful about the 2026 Plan. This indicates that a group of TFSers sees this renewal as an opportunity for the region to positively impact the new World Assembly.

On another note, the survey reveals that there is a general unawareness about the United Regions Alliance among TFS citizens, with only 23% expressing they know the Alliance well. This is a serious issue that the next government will have to address. Due to the lack of knowledge about the URA, the results about if TFS should remain in the URA are somewhat unreliable, however, from members that do know about the Alliance, the prevailing sentiment is that TFS should maintain its membership.

Military Gameplay

The Frontier Sea is not an active, relevant military force in NationStates. The region has declared itself as aligned to Defenderism and occasionally has sent tiny forces in Liberations over the years. However its citizenry have not engaged in military gameplay meaningfully and the region has remained largely insulated, apart from the threats raiders posed in the early history of TFS.

Therefore, I again presented 3 sentences to be rated in the survey: (1) I'm familiar with Raiding and Defending (military gameplay); (2) I support TFS's alignment as a defender region; (3) TFS should have a stronger military presence in NationStates.

The results show that a large portion of the community (52%) isn’t familiar with Raiding & Defending, with the “Strongly Disagree” option being the most selected. Among those that are familiar with R&D, there is a very strong defender alignment, which is also noted among those that know little about military gameplay.

Additionally, the community expressed a mixed response on the idea of The Frontier Sea having an increased military involvement in NationStates, with 28.6% disagreeing, 28.6% choosing the neutral option and 42.8% agreeing. Notably, there weren’t any “Strongly Disagree” answers, indicating that among those that disagree, the position is more moderate. It’s also worth noting that the data indicate the existence in TFS of a small group of staunch Defenders that are familiar with R&D and think the region should have a more prevalent military culture.

Important issues

Finally I can address the things that are actually relevant.

Starting with the serious debate whether the sport is called Football or Soccer. The Footballists win again with 56.7% of respondents choosing Football, which most definitely settles the debate once and for all. I’d like to note that an anonymous member has complained that there wasn’t a “Hockey” option. In another note, the community overwhelmingly supports the Deep State of the Frontier Sea, with French rebels only having 23.3% support (they are cooked).

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HOTTEST FRONTIER SEA ELECTION EVER, RECORD TURNOUT RECORDED - Futurist State of Agladnare

Democracy triumphs once again, reaffirming its place at the core of The Frontier Sea’s identity. This March, the third General Election under the Second Constitution took place in the region.

I’ll spoil and reveal that multiple records were broken in this cycle. Notably, we saw a record-breaking eight candidates step up to present platforms across five positions:

• President

• Prime Minister

• Minister of Foreign Affairs

• Minister of Integration

• Minister of Roleplay

The Presidential Race

In the race for President, newcomer and gameside resident Joelligrad challenged the favorite Diatian Isles, former Prime Minister. Diatian Isles ran a campaign focused on involving more players in governance, pushing Roleplay reforms and an emphasis of promoting TFS culture.

Meanwhile, Joelligrad promised to settle the Football x Soccer debate by hosting a region-wide referendum. He also highlighted the need to be more inclusive to gameside players by proposing the creation of an officer tasked with publishing the weekly happenings of the Discord Server in the Regional Message Board, argued for more game nights featuring a broader variety of games, and echoed Diatian Isles’ policy of involving players in governance through secretaries.

Despite the constructive environment with serious debate on regional policy, their campaigns also put forward unserious proposals in order to gain the attention of the electorate. Diatian Isles vowed to create the Secretary of Goop, while Joelligrad promised (sea)horses for everyone, which granted him the nickname “Great Seakhan of TFS”.

The Boring Section

For Prime Minister, Hornmoguelesland, a citizen known for his sharp comments on drafted legislation and French Anti-Deepstatist tendencies, ran unopposed. On the other end of the spectrum, The Suvmia, aka Deep State and incumbent Minister of Foreign Affairs, also enjoyed an unopposed race to secure another term.

Culture + Internal Affairs = Integration?

Dutch States and Territories and The peaceful man of the peace faced off to see who would hug more newcomers and plan the coolest cultural events as the newly created Minister of Integration, which merged the duties of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Culture.

Duel of Fates

Meanwhile, the duel of fates was unfolding for the position of Minister of Roleplay. Incumbent Eastern Osowiecs, who held the position since January 2025, stood against spreadsheet-maxxer Arlanda. Both roleplayers have great prestige in the community and different styles, making it feel like it could go either way.

Results

The voting period of this election opened March 28 and concluded April 1. The polls received 46 responses, with 44 valid votes cast out of the 87 Citizens in Good Standing.

This resulted in an impressive, record-breaking 50.6% turnout that surpassed the 49.1% of last General Election, which had a total of 28 valid votes. Showing the impressive growth The Frontier Sea experienced translated to active, engaged citizens.

President/Vice President:

• Diatian Isles: 31 (70.4%)

• Joelligrad: 8 (18.2%)

• None of the Above: 5 (11.4%)

Prime Minister:

• Hornmoguelesland: 39 (88.6%)

• None of the Above: 5 (11.4%)

Minister of Foreign Affairs:

• Suvmia: 39 (88.6%)

• None of the Above: 5 (11.4%)

Minister of Integration:

• Dutch States and Territories: 29 (65.9%)

• The peaceful man of the peace: 8 (18.2%)

• None of the Above: 7 (15.9%)

Minister of Roleplay:

• Eastern Osowiecs: 16 (36.4%)

• Arlanda: 24 (54.5%)

• None of the Above: 4 (9.1%)

Diatian Isles shall be the 5th President of The Frontier Sea, with Pretiosa assuming the Vice Delegate’s position in the Security Council alongside former President Francanada.

Congratulations to the winners and best of luck in the term ahead!!

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BEYOND THE SEA - Suvmia

News from the United Regions Alliance

The United Regions Alliance had a relatively quiet month, releasing 5 binding recommendations throughout March. For the General Assembly, we saw binding recommendations in favour of Repeal: Medical Facilities Protection (now GAR#835) and in favour of Conserving Oceanic Reefs and Ledges (now GAR#837), as well as a binding recommendation against Repeal: Don’t Kill the Poor Act (now GAR#839). In the Security Council, we saw two resolutions come to vote in March - a rarity - each with a binding recommendation issued. The URA recommended a binding vote against Condemn Sambuca, which was defeated with 87% of voters, and a binding vote in favour of Condemn Davelands, which appears well on its way to passing at the beginning of next month.

In other news, readers may recall that in February, URA Secretary-General Suvmia became an author with GAR#829, Repeal: Responsibility in Transferring Arms; Suvmia has now partnered with former Frontier Sea President and URA WA Affairs Director Futurist State of Agladnare to pass a replacement to the repealed legislation, titled Regulations on International Arms Transfers. Given the length of the current General Assembly queue, the proposal would be unlikely to go to vote prior to the GA reset - keep an eye out in July for this proposal to be submitted!

Lastly, URA Secretary-General Suvmia announced their intention to resign the role at the end of April. In a statement released on the 7th, they remarked,

Suvmia wrote:

It has become increasingly clear over the past 2 years that the URA, while a noble and long-lasting enterprise, will not last forever. I still strongly support the underlying purpose of this organization - to help UCR's make their mark on the WA, and band together in common purpose - but I no longer believe that the United Regions Alliance, particularly with myself at its helm, can accomplish this in the modern environment.

It is unclear where the URA will go after April 30th, considering no Alliance member has yet stepped forward to run for the role of Secretary-General. Without clarity as to future URA leadership, the organization may be on shaky ground come May.

NUKES FLY, FRONTIERS FALL

March saw the loss of two prominent Frontier regions, with both New United Kingdom and Vibonia’s governments closing down, albeit for wildly different reasons. While both occurrences were relatively notable in NSGP circles, Frontier Sea citizens will also recognize both regions as (former) long-standing embassy partners of TFS - as a Frontier ourselves, major events in other Frontiers always feel closer to home.

New United Kingdom had long been experiencing issues with activity since the abrupt departure of their former monarch and delegate, Tinell, leaving the region with an empty delegate seat and a succession crisis. Despite course correcting after a few weeks of internal deliberation, and ultimately the selection of a new monarch, New United Kingdom never regained the level of activity that it enjoyed prior to Tinell’s departure. With assistance from the new Annexation feature, however, the stagnant community is expected to join Concord after the ratification of the Whitecliffs Agreement, which will see NUK’s residents join Concord, with the original region being archived for memorial purposes.

Vibonia, on the other hand, did not have (and, arguably, did not deserve) a death as quiet as New United Kingdom. Former Vibonian President Picairn resigned relatively abruptly, after internal disputes threatened the stability of the region. Upon their departure, several members of the Modern Gameplay Compact (MGC) deployed to assist with the new delegacy transition, several of these regions allied via treaty with Vibonia. While successful in the transition efforts, members of the Plains of Perdition discovered evidence of particularly poor culture and behaviour in the region, leading to the severing of ties from all allied regions, the wholesale collapse of Vibonia’s government, and now the managed closure and annexation of the region by the MGC.

March also saw N-Day 14, where the Frontier Sea joined her allies in the West Pacific by participating in Supreme Powers Eviscerating All Rivals, or SPEAR, placing third overall. With a hearty showing throughout the event, Frontier Sea members contributed significantly to SPEAR’s success, with over 7% of SPEARs intercepts and nearly 6% of SPEARs strikes being attributed to Suvmia, Arlanda, and Futurist State of Agladnare alone. While SPEAR didn’t end up in 1st or 2nd place, the faction certainly played a key part in assisting its ally, Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in placing 1st.

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A FRAN-TASTIC TERM - AN INTERVIEW WITH OUTGOING PRESIDENT Francanada - Pretiosa

Pretiosa: How did your career in The Frontier Sea start?

Francanada: It’s a very funny story, because it all happened by complete chance. Back in December 2023 (if I remember correctly) I was doing a history school project about the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and had to google the term “Nation-states”. I was very curious to see that the first link on the browser page was not a Wikipedia article, but instead a nation simulation game. I was interested in political simulation games at that time and decided to check it out. My nation, Francanada, spawned in the Frontier Sea region. I was very confused about how stuff worked in the beginning, but members such as Holy Anderele and Taz welcomed me warmly. To this day, I feel incredibly lucky that I got into this region, I think it's the Frontier which experienced the biggest growth in the past few years.

Eventually, I really got into the game, trying to achieve the ideal version of a country in my eyes: first through stats, and then through roleplay and role-building in the region. At the beginning, there wasn’t so much going on in the region, we were mainly trying to establish some roleplay and create a new map. I decided to run for prime minister (in April 2024?) and won the election, mainly campaigning on drawing a better map with different biomes. It’s still the basis of our current map, didn’t expect it to get that far! I had a great time as prime minister, started roleplaying a lot with EO and Aglandare, and that’s how it all started.

Pretiosa: Could you give us an overview of the positions you've held in the region?

Francanada: I was prime minister for two terms, elected in April 2024 and April 2025. In between those, I had a busy period so I decided to take a more relaxed position of Minister of Internal Affairs (September 2024), which I also enjoyed. Finally, I decided to run for delegate in September 2025.

I’ll also give you a cheeky fact: the second term as prime minister is the one I enjoyed the most, had some great collaboration with Agladnare and others, and it was also the period where the region really got shaped to what it is today. A word of advice: always run for a second term if you can, you might enjoy it more because you already know what you need to do well.

Pretiosa: As we near the end of your presidency, what are your thoughts on the current government's record?

Francanada: If I had to summarise the term into one feeling, it would be pride. I was really proud of the work done by some of the ministers, especially Diatian Isles and Pretiosa. A lot of members got to try themselves out in a new position, which is very important for the region’s further growth. A HUGE shoutout to Suvmia for the bot, new legislation and recruitment programs, and just everything they’ve done for the region (I’m definitely not part of the Deep State).

Of course, not everything was perfect. Some of the ministers were rather inactive in their responsibilities and I think we could have achieved more in this term. I take responsibility for it and will try to learn from it, so that if I ever run again I will improve this aspect. But a lot of reasons for the inactivity are understandable, real-life issues, study, work, family, etc. You have to establish priorities, and I respect that.

Pretiosa: In retrospect, would you have done anything different during your term?

Francanada: Absolutely. I am myself guilty of not being so proactive in this term. It proved to be more responsibility than I expected. The main thing that I would change is initiating new legislation. I saw the region working well and so didn’t put new legislation as a priority, but seeing initiatives from other members like Suvmia and Xeraphine I think I should’ve given it a second thought. I was also unfortunately rather busy with my studies during the term, so hopefully next time I’ll choose a less turbulent period to run for delegate.

Pretiosa: What motivated your decision not to run for a second term?

Francanada: As mentioned, I became very busy with real life, mainly my studies but also social life in the past year. I decided to prioritise. I’d hate to be an inactive delegate, and I want the best for the region, so I wanted someone else to run for this term. There are some very active and inspiring members running, so I’m 100% happy with my choice.

Pretiosa: Do you plan to seek any other elected offices in the future?

Francanada: Absolutely! I would love to run for delegate again in the (relatively far) future. Somewhere in 2027-2028, when I’m hopefully less busy? We’ll see! My experience in TFS tells me that second terms always go better than first terms, because of the learning curve. I will also definitely consider running for vice delegate or prime minister if I see that a new government needs support.

And of course, if a Goop Bums ministry will ever be established in TFS, I will 100% run for it!

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RUM RATIONS - Suvmia

Ahoy, sailors!

For this month’s edition of Rum Rations, I wanted to take a quick detour to talk about a cocktail family - Sours! Sours are one of the oldest cocktail families, being described all the way back in 1862, and are a simple type of cocktail to create or improvise on. An easy example (which some should be familiar with) is a Whiskey Sour. Classically created with 3 parts whiskey, 2 parts lemon juice, and 1 part simple syrup, you can also see an enormous number of variations upon that theme - the New York Sour, for example, taking the basic form of a Whiskey Sour and adding a float of red wine. A Boston Sour is also popular, with an egg white serving as a foamer.

Other famous sours include the Gin Sour, which can be varied with the inclusion of carbonated water to create a gin fizz, or a Rum Sour - more commonly known as a Daiquiri. Clearly, with a recipe as varied and versatile as a Sour, the possibilities are endless! To experiment on your own, start with that basic Whiskey Sour ratio (3 parts spirit, 2 parts sour, 1 part sweet) and insert your own choices for various ingredients you feel would blend well together. For this article, I’ll present a variation on a New York Sour that I enjoyed a few months ago, called the King of New York Sour (I did not receive a recipe for this one, so take my measurements with a degree of caution).

Recipe:

• ½-¾ Oz Amaretto

• 1 ½ Oz Peated Scotch

• ½ Oz Port (dealers choice)

• ¾ Oz Lemon Juice (Fresh)

• 1 Barspoon of Saline (saturated water and table salt)

• ½ Oz red wine, floated

Combine Amaretto, Scotch, Port, Lemon Juice, and Saline in a shaker, and shake over ice. Pour into chilled rocks glass, and float red wine to top. Enjoy!

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