The Order of the Paradox

The Order of the Paradox (TOP), also known as Paradoxia, is a large upper tier alliance. TOP was on the Orange trade sphere from 2006 until 2011 when it moved to the Pink sphere with its allies in the PillowFort bloc. It defines itself as a "democratic alliance dedicated to the protection and betterment of its members in times of war and peace." It is the unofficial alliance of the [http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php? Paradox Interactive forums].

Charter
The Charter of The Order of the Paradox is the document by which TOP governs itself. In it is contains the government structure and the powers and responsibilities of each government position. The Charter goes on to defines elections, War and Foreign aid in the document.

Brief History
The Order, Paradoxia, The Order of the Paradox, more commonly referred to as TOP originally hails from the Paradox Interactive forums. In the beginning nearly every member of The Order came from there. TOP still retains a substantial part of the original core group and although it has become more cosmopolitan during the course of its history, it retains its strong ties to Paradox games and forums.

TOP was unofficially formed on May 19, 2006, and officially on CN forums on May 31, 2006. It remained isolated for most of its first half-year of existence, with incidents that were brief in duration and minor in scope. In November 2006 that changed with the signing of the "Non-Treaty Treaty" with the New Pacific Order. NPO had help to set up TOP during our early days. This was TOP's first and for a very long time, only, MDP (excluding multilateral treaties).

About a month later, TOP signed the World Unity Treaty and it is through its membership in The Initiative that the Order reached its greatest achievements to this date. Great War II started for TOP when GATO declared war on every single member of The Initiative. While TOP was a bit undecided about what its role in that war would be, GATO's entrance made the choice an easy one. While TOP lacked GATO's sheer size in NS and member count, it was made up for by having high strength nations, active members, and high levels of cooperation, morale and discipline. TOP's military was capable and sent one high strength nation after another into disarray.

The Non-Treaty Treaty and WUT was TOP's way of saying hello diplomatically, and GWII was TOP's way of showing what it could do militarily. After these events the Order amended its charter to allow admitting nations not affiliated with Paradox Interactive.

Then GW3 came along, with a Legion sneak attack on TOP and FAN, again setting TOP up against the biggest adversary on the opposing side. The Order performed well, as it was organized and regrouped based on the experience from its first war. Following the war TOP entered a time of peace, broken up by a brief day long military encounter with a splinter faction that broke off under circumstances that could not be tolerated. TOP remained neutral in the Initiative attack on VE and on FAN (although aiding those allies that had been struck by nuclear weapons). In between these two happenings the Order's second MDP was signed, this time with a long standing friend on Orange, IRON. This was the result of a long process conducting by major orange alliances like TOP to stabilise and unify the orange team via the Orange Unity Treaty and a senate sharing agreement between TOP, ODN, and IRON.

Around this time, TOP found new and great friends in FOK and The Grämlins. This friendship led to MDPs with both alliances, and together with The Grämlins and others, work was started on the next big step TOP would make in foreign affairs. In internal affairs the Heptagon was introduced in August 2007 in an attempt to streamline the legislative process. It has been a great success and has allowed our democracy to run more efficiently.

Between the creation of the Heptagon and the beginning of the Unjust War, TOP signed its fifth MDP, this time with the Old Guard. Then came the Unjust War which broke WUT apart and forced TOP to make a very difficult choice. In the end, after reviewing all the ups and down, neutrality in the conflict was deemed to be the best course of action. Much of the time after that was invested in re-aligning The Order in the post-war political landscape. The establishment of the Citadel with FCC, The Grämlins and Old Guard came not shortly after, and work on what eventually became the Continuum was begun, with TOP playing a significant role in its formation along with NPO.

In February 2008, TOP fought alongside other members of the Continuum in the Woodstock Massacre. This would be followed by a long period of peace. However, considerable tension between TOP and the New Polar Order and other members of BLEU had been building since the previous fall; this tension eventually developed that August into the War of the Coalition, in which TOP, MCXA, FOK, The Grämlins, FARK, R&R and Umbrella launched a joint attack upon Polaris. The war ended with Coalition victory over the opposition.

In April 2009, after extensive internal discussion on the topic, TOP withdrew from the Continuum; it had been decided by the alliance that TOP did not share the goals and aspirations of the bloc as a whole. Soon afterward, the Karma War broke out. While unsure of the proper course at first---allies were participating on both sides of the conflict---membership discussion produced a consensus that TOP enter on the side of Karma. TOP thereafter joined the war, targeting Invicta, UPN, Echelon and BAPS; later in the conflict, war also broke out with OMFG. TOP helped Karma to victory on all fronts on which the former was engaged, though TOP's official foreign affairs stance did not consider the alliance an official part of the coalition.

The aftermath of the war saw TOP ascend to the #1 spot in alliance nation strength and alliance score.

Paradox Culture
TOP has a diverse and unique culture within CN. The internal community of TOP is regarded as one of the best reasons to join the alliance. Many older members are more than willing to offer support and aid to the smaller nations and newer members. TOP is a very active alliance with many things going on.

Many members play Paradox Games and share hints and tips for their favorite games. An AAR subforum allows for people (even non-TOPers) to post AARs for PI games and discuss strategies. TOP has a Chapter House where members can go and spam to their hearts content. A member of TOP may join any Chapter they desire, and the various games and competitions between them allows for members to have fun and friendship in a relaxed and (somewhat) family-friendly atmosphere. The largest internal debate is over the preferences of Beer versus Mead and which is tastier. The platypus is a beloved animal within the halls of TOP and many members use the platypus for a sig or avatar.