Cielonia

Cielonia

Flag of Cielonia
Motto: "Strength in Liberty, Prosperity in Freedom."
Unavailable
Region	Wysteria
Capital	Arceline
Official Language(s)	Arceline Siloni, Siloni (Native)
Leader	Prime Minister Alcion C. Vicherie
Population	> 2,600,000,000
Currency	derac
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The Democratic Federation of Cielonia is a nation of islands occupying the central area of the Millennium superarchipelago in Wysteria. The nation is populated by generally compassionate people of mixed ancestry with a generally libertarian mentality; they value social freedoms and tend to frown upon social conservatism and religion. Cielonia is a former member of the United Nations.

Geography, Climate, and Nature

Cielonia occupies the plot known as MI3 to the Wysterian Geographic Society - specifically, it claims three major islands in the Millennium superarchipelago. The largest, Arcel, is home to the greater bulk of Cielonia's population and houses most of its oil and land-based agriculture industries. The capitol, Arceline, is set at the head of the Bay of Arceline; the port of Ciel guards the mouth of the bay. The coasts of Arcel are highly arable, while the heart of the island is forested, with a few mountains rising near the heart. These mountains, known as the Yashi Mountains, are known for their deposits of hessonite, sinhalite, rhodochrosite, and sources of antimony. The island has a single river, the Vitan, flowing from the mountains down towards Arceline, which straddles both banks.

Southeast of Arcel sit the islands of Matrille and Shizenrin. Matrille is fairly heavily populated and sports a massive logging industry thanks to the thick forests covering it. Shizenrin is thickly forested and not heavily inhabited, though its eastern end is home to Coronet National Park, home to a huge population of beautiful birds and animals.

Cielonia is not tropical despite its subequatorial location, as currents running along the coast carry cooler air across the islands. It is a warm and hospitable country prone to heavy rains in the spring and summer. Snow never occurs. The islands are occasional victims of hurricanes and tropical storms, though construction tends to take this into account and hurricane casualties are rare.

Culture

The people of Cielonia have their roots in the native Siloni civilization but have mingled heavily with foreigners, corrupting much of the original culture and language. Few Cielonians lack Siloni blood, but most have some foreign ancestry to offset it. A typical Cielonian is slim, with pale olive skin and hair that can range from pale blond to dark black. Their eyes tend to be almond-shaped and a bit angular. They tend to be a graceful, long-legged people. Cielonian women are famed for their elegant, exotic beauty.

Much of Cielonian culture is based in the Sironi tradition of wisdom and honour. While the actual concept of honour is considered archaic these days, Cielonians tend to treat each other with respect. Impoliteness and intolerance are frowned upon. Cielonians place great value on intelligence, and the nation is full of universities and colleges of all sorts. They are a highly friendly people, and it is not uncommon to see complete strangers dining together in public cafes. Most Cielonians hold to a liberal or left-leaning frame of mind. Religion is a passing fad and considered primitive, and all marriages - gay, straight, transgendered, monogamous, polygamous, polygynous, or whatever else applies - are handled by the state. The government also runs brothels in all major cities. Cielonians are liberal about love and sex, and adultery is considered acceptable so long as all parties involved are kept informed of it.

Cielonians are highly respectful of nature and place great stock in the serenity of mother earth. Virtually all Cielonian cities feature numerous parks, and major thoroughfares are lined with greenery. Genetic alteration of foods is illegal. A favorite Cielonian dish is the ruby-backed salmon, a fish which inhabits the Catas River and the shores around the island of Cielamon; baked ruby-backed salmon in a light but salty red sauce known as taiko is considered a great delicacy. Also popular is a dish known as puuretoyama, which consists of white rice, chicken, and shredded cheese melted together and served in a bowl.

Cielonians are at home with high technology. Their society is heavily modernized, relying on the latest technologies, most of which they manufacture right at home. As space is at a premium, Cielonian cities are a bit crowded, and houses are often narrow but sporting several storeys, while homes and businesses span roadways or rest on artificial bases built out from the shoreline. Room is always made for greenery, which adds to the space problem.

Commerce and Industry

Much of Cielonia's economy is supported by the automotive industry, which receives a significant amount of funding from the government in order to keep the nation's economy competitive. The industry's three main corporations are the Etsuya Motor Corporation, Cielonia Dynamics, and the Cabriolet Motor Company. Etsuya is renowned for manufacturing highly efficient cars running on more efficient, environmentally friendly fuel sources; their top brands are the popular Rakuda family sedan and the sleek Inuwashi sportscar. Cabriolet specializes more in burly vehicles such as trucks and jeeps, though they do produce standard cars as well; their most popular vehicle by far is the Yagyuu truck line, though the Atemi jeep is popular for military use. Finally, Cielonia Dynamics produces mostly military vehicles, including the KU44 attack motorcycle and the Marauder-5 model of HUMVEE, which is offered in a stripped-down civilian model, the Marauder.

Government

The Cielonian government is administered by a Western-style parliamentary government. The highest power in the nation is held by the Prime Minister, who heads up the House of Commons, made up of four hundred and thirty-eight elected members of parliament from ridings around the country. The second house of government is the Senate, a body of one hundred elected officials. While Cielonia has an Emperor, he is a figurehead.

The Prime Minister is not independently elected despite being the head of state. Rather, the position of Prime Minister is decided by the result of the House of Commons election and depends on which political party holds the most seats in the House. The leader of the majority party in the House is appointed Prime Minister by the Emperor. The Prime Minister may appoint his own Cabinet from members of the House and is the only member of the government capable of submitting the following types of measures to the House: Declarations of war, ratifications of treaties, foreign trade agreements, the federal budget, appointments of ambassadors and judges, and invocations of the Wartime Governance Act or Crisis Governance Act.

The House is divided into several 28-member committees, generally consisting of proportional representation from each party. Committees include the Defense Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, the Finance Committee, the Social Services Committee, the Health Committee, the Trade Committee, the Education Committee, the Environmental Committee, the Internal Security Committee, the Intelligence Committee, the Transportation Committee, the Business Committee, and the Judiciary Committee. Each Committee is chaired by a Cabinet Minister, generally a member of the majority party appointed by the Prime Minister. The ranking member, or vice-chair, is typically a senior member of the largest opposition party.

The legislative system in effect operates entirely in the House of Commons. Legislation can only be introduced in the House. All bills are read three times. The First Reading occurs among the members of the appropriate House Committee and the chief sponsors of the legislation, ending in a majority vote to send the bill to the floor. The Second Reading occurs in the House in general, allowing all members to debate on the bill. There is no voting during the Second Reading. The Third Reading also occurs in the House and ends in a vote to send the legislation to the Senate. Generally votes in the Third Reading are matters of majority, requiring 220 votes in order to pass. The minority is permitted by parliamentary procedure to invoke a filibuster to force continuation of debate on legislation. A two-thirds majority vote of 292 members is required to break a filibuster. By law a vote may not be held up for more than three months, and votes on the budget are not permitted to be filibustered.

Should the bill survive the House of Commons it is sent on to the Senate for analysis. The Senate's function is to act as a check on the House by rereading the legislation and ensuring that it is in fact constitutional. This is generally not an issue, and as such the Senate tends to seem like a rubber stamp for the House, though should constitutional issues arise the Senate will file amendments with the House to be added on a simple majority vote. Once the bill passes through the Senate it is given to the Chancellor and ratified, and finally turned over to the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to be implemented into law.

The current Prime Minister is Alcion Carver Vicherie, a thin, cadaverous man who is in his forties despite appearing pale and emaciated. His hair is so blond as to be almost white, and his eyes are pea-green and typically very flat. He has the uncanny ability to hold just about anyone's gaze indefinitely. Despite his skeletal build Vicherie is almost six feet tall and has a low, deep, hollow voice. He favours charcoal suits over ox-blood red shirts and monochrome ties and is seldom without his glasses. Though he is devoted to upholding civil liberties he considers conservatism to be a radical ideology and has spearheaded many initiatives towards stamping it out. He is an authoritarian at heart, though he is extremely coverty about trying anything objectionable.

Vicherie is the successor to Lucien Sito Leblanc, the youngest Prime Minister in Cielonian history and the first openly gay man to lead Cielonia. A young man in his early thirties, Leblanc is slender and graceful, with smooth, delicate features, an aristocratic nose, tumbling strawberry-blond hair, and almond-shaped grey eyes. A soft-spoken man, Leblanc is somewhat effeminate but is a devoted social democrat. He was the first Social Democratic Prime Minister to be elected but was replaced as party leader after his first term by Vicherie, who was propelled to party leadership by a corrupt wing of the party frustrated at the failure of Leblanc's minority government to make headway against the Conservative Coalition.

Vicherie's term has been marked by militant policies against conservative politicians and activists, and it is believed that his huge Social Democratic majority is the result of massive election fraud. In protest, Leblanc and a small core of Social Democratic loyalists left the party and now sit in the opposition as the White Party.

The current Empress is named Hiromi Arai. She's a young woman of twenty-three and is stunningly beautiful in a sophisticated sort of way, with thick dark hair and vivid blue eyes. Though she disapproves strongly of Vicherie's policies, she has no political power and ends up sitting idly by while the corrupt government does whatever it pleases.

Military

Cielonia maintains a large standing combat force, collectively known as the Cielonian Federated Forces.

By far Cielonia's largest combat body is the Cielonian Federated Naval Command. The Democratic Federation's navy is massive and well-equipped, fielding massive warships capable of carrying a devastating bombardment to distant targets. The flagship of the Cielonian navy is the CFWS Masamune the Unifier, a behemoth Kunai II-class citadel ship - practically a floating city in its own right, armed with banks of guns and missiles and several strike jets. The Masamune the Unifier typically docks at Aisun and serves mostly as a command ship.

Cielonia's air force is large and well-equipped, working closely with the navy. The Cielonian Federated Air Command makes liberal use of VTOL aircraft. The main strike fighter of the CFAC is the NAK-84 "Storm Petrel", a versatile multirole fighter with VTOL capabilities. The O-4 "Albatross" fills the role of a main bomber.

Cielonia is known for its heavy use of long-range missiles in warfare. They dislike wasting lives and prefer to solve their military problems with a round of cruise missiles. The nation maintains a large supply of nuclear weapons but has never deployed them.

General History

This is a stub section.

Before the foundation of the Democratic Federation, the three islands of modern Cielonia were occupied by a number of feudal kingdoms. For centuries the various Sironi kingdoms did war upon each other. In the 19th century foreigners began to appear in the local conflicts, hired as mercenaries by the various warlords of the islands. Soon the mercenaries became nationalized, and foreigners began to marry among the Sironi. Over the years the various kingdoms modernized, and foreigners brought in new technologies.

In 1871, however, one Masamune Kunai took power in the Kingdom of Aruserinu. A skilled tactician, Masamune used his abilities to fulfill his ambitions, leading his troops throughout the islands to swiftly conquer the nearby kingdoms. Gathering a larger and larger army as he conquered, he soon wrung loyalty from the other kingdoms and forged them into an agreement. On March 3, 1871, Emperor Masamune proclaimed himself sovereign ruler of the Empire of Silon. The islands remained unified thenceforth, with the title passing through Kunai's family until democratic reforms led to the Document of Federation being drafted and signed by Emperor Ban on October 11, 1934. This document founded the Democratic Federation of Cielonia.