Difference between revisions of "I Know Better Than You"
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===The Cold War=== | ===The Cold War=== | ||
| − | The Cold War took place largely between Calumnius and I Know Better Than You in the early days of The Spectrum. Though tensions had run high between the two nations since the Second Great Revolution in Calumnius their lack of a military meant that no major hostilities ever took place. The development of nuclear arms in The Spectrum shattered the fragile political balance between the two nations, plunging the region into economic turmoil as the fear of nuclear war brought economies to a halt. Ironically the economic powerhouse of I Know Better Than You capitalised on this, | + | The Cold War took place largely between Calumnius and I Know Better Than You in the early days of The Spectrum. Though tensions had run high between the two nations since the Second Great Revolution in Calumnius their lack of a military meant that no major hostilities ever took place. The development of nuclear arms in The Spectrum shattered the fragile political balance between the two nations, plunging the region into economic turmoil as the fear of nuclear war brought economies to a halt. Ironically the economic powerhouse of I Know Better Than You capitalised on this, its continued strength despite the falls in other nation's currency values enabling it to continue growing at an unprecedented rate. This along with Calumnius' lack of any kind of currency meant that the two instigators of the crisis were largely unaffected by it. |
While the financial implications were insignificant to the two large nations, many members of the Calumnius Secret Service lost their lives as they attempted to infiltrate the borders of I Know Better Than You, most falling foul of the sophisticated barcoding and tracking system used across the nation. | While the financial implications were insignificant to the two large nations, many members of the Calumnius Secret Service lost their lives as they attempted to infiltrate the borders of I Know Better Than You, most falling foul of the sophisticated barcoding and tracking system used across the nation. | ||
Revision as of 16:18, 15 April 2007
| |
| Flag of I Know Better Than You | |
| Motto: "We want ROOM SERVICE" | |
| Coming soon. | |
| Region | The Spectrum |
|---|---|
| Capital | Orien |
| Official Language(s) | English |
| Leader | unknown |
| Population | 1.856 billion (as of 25/3/07) |
| Currency | nick-el |
| NS Sunset XML | |
The Shiny Consumerocracy of I Know Better Than You is a massive, economically powerful nation, notable for its varied and spectacular landscape. Its hard-nosed, hard-working population of 1.783 billion are free to succeed or fail in life on their own merits; the successful tend to enjoy an opulent (but moralistic) lifestyle, while the failures can be seen crowding out most jails.
The medium-sized, government can be considered as either massively corrupt, or largely privatised and it juggles the competing demands of Defence, Law & Order, and Commerce. Income tax is considered a profanity. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Uranium Mining industry, followed by Information Technology and Gambling, though with such a booming economy this fluctuates often.
State subsidies are almost non-existant to help keep taxes to a minimum and to promote a free economy. Crime has been unknown for decades, since the government began barcoding citizens and equipped all inner-city police forces with heli-jets to aid in response times and the apprehension of criminals.
Contents
History
Ancient period
Civilisation in the Media region of The Spectrum can be traced back to c. 4000BC when the Western deserts and mountains were populated by nomadic tribes known as the Borra. These people are thought to have lived initially in small family groups, but in time they began to amalgamate and as the mountain passes that allowed passage from the summer camps of the highlands to the winter camps in the north plains forced groups into close proximity, communities began to form.
The Borra kept cattle and would drive them hundreds of miles, to escape the deep winter freeze of the mountains in favour of the desert rainy season in autumn and to the meltwater rivers from the desert heat in the spring. However as communities became increasingly large, the logistics of this bi-annual migration made it impractical and the remains of entire groups have been found in valleys where the heavy snowfall would have made the route impassable later in the autumn. The first evidence of permanent settlement was found at Borrego Springs (which takes it's name from the first documented leader of the settled tribes) where cereals were grown in the fertile ground.
Settlement in the Demetrian region predates the Borra civilisation as the fertile plains and the bountiful Saronic Gulf lent themselves to more permanent centers of population. City-states sprang up from the Kaftor mountains in the West to the edges of the Eastern desert, walled acropoli forming many of the major cities and much of the land beyond the walls being given over to farming. Despite the primarily mercantile culture that existed between the city-states, each city had its own army, although degrees of professionalism varied greatly between cities.
Historians consider the end of the ancient period to be around about 1800BC when the construction of the Colossusi at Saron, Kaftor and Orien began, marking the start of the Classical period.
Classical Period
As the trade routes across the Median planes became almost entirely free from bandits, the city states grew to remarkable prosperity and without concerns of drought or famine and with many natural defenses attentions were turned towards philosophy and the arts.
Theatre and debate became a popular pass-time for the increasingly educated populace and it was because of this that what is now termed "democracy" began to take shape. While each city was ruled by a "king" there was the constant threat of the populists that would draw vast crowds to the Forums of the cities to hear their public criticism of the incumbent government. Most cities in Media were tolerant of this and rather than suppress the dissenters, the kings found that while there were men that would argue against them, there were also those that would argue for them and so debate ensued. The inflexible kings were invariably removed through populist uprising and replaced (although not always by those that spoke against them) and the kings that remained in power did so by appeasing the masses.
The Median League was formally formed in 1790BC as a defensive alliance, as all the city-states of the Median plain had an interest in ensuring the natural borders remained unbreached. Signal towers were established in each city to relay messages across the League faster than any messenger could run, but went unused for hundreds of years as the Median League went largely unchallenged due to its lack of expansion.
The Rise of Democracy
While the people were able to exert their wishes through the public speakers throughout the peak of the Classical period, there was no actual democratic process until 1480BC. The true democratic movement began in Oriens as the newly elected populist leader turned to the crowd that had accompanied him to his new palace and asked them to elect his officials, there and then. Historians have quite accurately branded this "Mobocracy" rather than democracy, but it marked an important and sudden step towards true power for the people. This move turned the Forums into a political arena wherein intellectuals could campaign for popular support and rather than oppose the King specifically, target the members of his government in an attempt to replace them personally. Naturally this led to life as an incumbent politician being particularly gruelling, though several politicians managed to lead life-long terms in office due to their exemplary service to the city.
In 1267BC the Governor's Palace in Oriens was converted into a Council chamber and the Assembley was formed. Every man of the city over the age of 20 was entitled to attend the Assembley whenever they wished and votes were made by a simple show of hands. Unlike many early democracies the Orieni democratic system was only gender exclusive and all men regardless of social standing were eligible to vote. This often led to cries of "Quiet! Men are talking!" In the columnades around the Assembley, when women that refused to respect the importance of democracy insisted on turning up to watch procedings.
The Colossi
In 1640BC the architect Annocles, with the help of the natural philosopher Merides, requested permission from the King of Oriens to construct a Colossus at the Eastern gate of the city, facing the Kaftor Mountains. Due to the expenses and the seeming impossibility of such a large construction, Oriens decided it was an unrealistic vision, although this did not dissuade other cities that were eager to succeed in making the Colossus a reality where the leading member of the League had dared not try.
The mountain city of Kaftor was the first to begin construction of a Colossus, 160 feet tall at completion and standing astride the Pass of Kaftor at the Eastern gate of the city, it depicted, in bronze, a Kaftori guerilla armed with a shield and javelin with a machette at it's waist and a fur cloak around it's shoulders. Despite the isolation of Kaftor in the mountains, it was able to monopolise the trade of many rarer commodities that could only be found in the east, so it was capable of accumulating enough wealth to begin such a project.
Construction of the Colossus at Oriens started two years later and after the final height of the the Kaftor Colossus could be estimated. Not content with having a Colossus that would surpass the Kaftor monument by a whole 30 feet, the Orien Colossus was armed with a bow and arrow, the head of which was tipped with a large clear quartz crystal that caught and reflected sunlight across the city from dawn til dusk. A beacon could be lit behind the crystal and metal salts added to increase the intensity or change the colour, an idea later adopted by the rest of the League.
The Colossus at Saron stands at the mouth of the Saronic Gulf, with one hand raised palm up to the sky holding a vast oil beacon, 16 feet across, upon it's finger tips. Unlike the rest of the beacons of Media, it is lit every night to mark the mouth of gulf to approaching vessels and light the precipitous coastline. Keeping the beacon lit is an almost fanatical preoccupation of the Order of Helle. Without any ladders or pulleys in place to hoist oil up to the beacon the city warrior cult spend hours a day climbing the statue, carrying oil in skins tied to their waists. As a maritime city the Immortals of Helle were primarily seamen and the physical strength and endurance developed on the Colossus made swinging from the rigging of ships armed and armoured seem like a holiday. Though there were no permanent ropeworks on the Colossus, so as not to disrupt its aesthetics, the Immortals were skilled in the use of ropes to ascend the structure.
The Cold War
The Cold War took place largely between Calumnius and I Know Better Than You in the early days of The Spectrum. Though tensions had run high between the two nations since the Second Great Revolution in Calumnius their lack of a military meant that no major hostilities ever took place. The development of nuclear arms in The Spectrum shattered the fragile political balance between the two nations, plunging the region into economic turmoil as the fear of nuclear war brought economies to a halt. Ironically the economic powerhouse of I Know Better Than You capitalised on this, its continued strength despite the falls in other nation's currency values enabling it to continue growing at an unprecedented rate. This along with Calumnius' lack of any kind of currency meant that the two instigators of the crisis were largely unaffected by it.
While the financial implications were insignificant to the two large nations, many members of the Calumnius Secret Service lost their lives as they attempted to infiltrate the borders of I Know Better Than You, most falling foul of the sophisticated barcoding and tracking system used across the nation.
Repatriation of the Secret Service agents led to outrage, as on several occasions the bodies were dessicated to cut down on postage costs. Many nations saw this as a barbaric and unjustified act, but as I Know Better Than You does not tax its citizens on their income, and keeps taxes in general to a minimum, the price of repatriating the bodies intact would have crippled the Foreign Office for the remainder of the fiscal year. This incident led to the signing of a treaty that stated that all member nations would pay for the repatriation of their own citizens.
After the launching of the RSS Icarus, Calumnius and I Know Better Than You re-opened diplomatic channels, with Calumnius later adopting the Nick-el as their currency for all international trade agreements, making the Nick-el by far the most powerful currency in the region.
