Kelene
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| Flag of Kelene | |
| Motto: maSuv | |
| No Map Available Yet | |
| Region | Genosha |
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| Capital | Raven's Peak |
| Official Language(s) | English, Kelerese |
| Leader | Beò Lasair |
| Population | |
| Currency | Kelene Mark |
| NS Sunset XML | |
Kelene is a young, socially progressive nation that prides itself on its ability to balance science and knowledge, religion, spirituality and philosophy harmoniously. Since the ratification of the Kelenian Charter, Kelene has gone from strength to strength.
Contents
History
75 years ago a group of citizens representing most of Western European countries colonised a large and empty island within the Genosha area. They had been searching for a space of land for five years prior to this, and had not succeeded. In one attempt the group had landed upon an area thought to be abandoned, however this was disproved when a group of insane Baseball fans descended on the group brandishing bats. While some of the group were injured with injuries sustained from repeated blows from the baseball fans, they all escaped intact for the most part.
Group Beginnings
This group was led by Paul Douglas, a man from the South of Ireland. During his formative years, he had been repeatedly accosted by his parents and teachers for having opinions that went against the accepted status quo for his region, and from an early age was branded a 'trouble maker.' Douglas, dissatisfied with his life, left Ireland at the age of 18 before he was due to enter the family leprechaun hunting business which is father had been training him for. Travelling to mainland Wales, he found camaraderie among the people of Llanissip, all of whom had been exiled from the South for also having conflicting opinions to the government. His arrival there sparked a change from the normal mediocre level of activity within their community, and pretty soon they all left to explore Europe, and discover other people.
One such person was a Frenchman by the name of Jean Jacques-Merue. Merue was an outspoken social commentator and considerably further left wing than the majority of his contemporaries, and as such was being ousted by the 'respectable' communities he had been brought up in. Merue wrote in his autobiography, published shortly after his death,
- I had always told myself that should the opportunity ever arise, I would leave this God-forsaken place and travel to pastures new. And while I most certainly had the means to pack up my belongings and ship off somewhere else, the question was where would I go? And on my own, I'll be honest - I didn't have the impetus. The drive to leave wasn't there. No, what I needed was someone to kick me in the rear and get me moving. A viable opportunity to leave.
And an opportunity he got. When Douglas and Merue met for the first time, Merue knew that this was where his future lay. Merue managed to convince Douglas that moving away from Europe was the best option. Douglas agreed, and this was brought to the group. It wasn't until Cadarog Williams brought up a new land that they agreed to find an entirely new place of their own.
Merue went off to find for the group ships and supplies that would carry them around the oceans searching for a place to live, while Douglas scoured Western Europe looking for people who would join them in their quest for a new home. What he found were a lot of disaffected people of the higher classes, and the dedicated yet concerned members of the lower classes. From respected scientist and philosopher to builder and cleaner, he found people to join him in his crusade. His only requirements for being part of the group was that they were dedicated to the group, and that they had an honest, true opinion on subjects that were important. Out of all of the people he found, the ones that came were the progressive, intelligent individuals, who would shape the face of Kelene today.
5 years on, Merue has found his fleet, and Douglas has managed to obtain close to 1,000,000 (one million) people to join him. Between them they took only what they needed, the tools for creating a new home, and set off around the world.
Inception of Kelene
On the trip, Merue and Douglas, along with a group of representatives from self-created social groups on the ship, wrote up legal documents that included a Constitution, Bill of Rights and various other legal statues that would form the basis of Kelene's social and legal structure.
Upon arriving on the island known now as the Dominion of Kelene, Merue and Douglas were pleased to find nations in the nearby region were very willing to trade for supplies. This trade relationship ensured that Kelene made friendly relations with its neighbours, and provided Kelene's citizens with everything it needed to build a functioning nation.
After housing and industry was completed, the first priority was the education system, which meant the creation of not just schools and universities, but also research centres, museums, libraries and houses of philosophy. The Raven's Peak Science and Technology centre, which is currently recognised as being the forefront of scientific research in today's era, was created in the first two years of Kelene being settled.
During time on the carrier ships, people from each community had started to splinter into various groups, but one commonality existed - the barrier of language. Due to the fact that the number of languages on board were huge for such a small community (including English, Welsh, Breton, French, Dutch, German, Arabic and Hindi), the people started to form their own language, seemingly spontaneously. Over time this language was refined by linguistic experts originally from the Netherlands and created Kelerish. This now runs alongside English as the official language of Kelene.
Merue married several times in Kelene, having one child with each of his wives. The three Merues as they became known were instrumental in keeping the government running smoothly once their parents had resigned (each of the wives had been civil servants).
Douglas married twice, once to Gwyneth Black who he met in Llanissip while they were on ship, and again when she died to Paul Joseph Marlen who he met while in London.
The account of the events leading up to and including the creation of Kelene come from Merue's autobiography '"Outside the box"' and the few remaining eye-witnesses from the time of creation. Douglas never wrote his memoirs down for us meaning that the only source of information we have on him is from those close to him who did write personal accounts.
Principles
The principles of Douglas, however, are well known. He was known in the down of his birth for being a staunch liberal, going against the more conservative and conservatively religious ethos of the government and community he was part of. These principles have carried straight on into the policy of Kelenian government, with equal rights and liberties for all citizens enshrined into the constitution. Privacy is a big issue to Kelenians, and any attempt to intrude on this is barely tolerated. There was an outcry when CCTV cameras were installed in public high streets, with certain Kelenians worrying that they would soon be facing cameras in their personal private homes.
