Kzuu Mai
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| Flag of Kzuu Mai | |
| Motto: "Oppression free for 26 days" | |
| Map of Listibaldia, Map of Kzuu Mai - will be improved! | |
| Region | Listibaldia |
|---|---|
| Capital | Mai Jun City |
| Official Language(s) | Maian, English, Russian, Arabic |
| Leader | President Laylae Hachi |
| Population | 1.5 billion + |
| Currency | Free Shilling |
| NS Sunset XML | |
The true nation of Kzuu Mai is a very young nation; it is barely thirty-five years since the bloody Revolution when it was founded. Its people are, according to themselves, some of the unluckiest people on the planet, and have gone through an awful lot to get to something which is only now beginning to resemble a just, peaceful nation. The leaders' enthusiasm that they are free - which gets into everything from the National anthem to the currency - is outweighed by the ordinary people's cynicism, and it was they who coined the phrase which became Kzuu Mai's motto: "Oppression free for 26 days."
Contents
Overview
- Government Type: Democratic Socialists
- Official Name: Free Socialist Haven of Kzuu Mai
- Nationality: (both noun and adjective) Kzuu Maian (informal: Maian).
- National Sport: Tae Kwon Do
- National Anthem: "Free but we know it"
- National Animal: Free Flamingo
- National Flower: Free Daffodil
- Internet TLD: .kzm
Calendar
The Kzuu Maian Calendar uses the same months as a standard calendar, but instead of measuring from the beginning of the Christian Era, they measure from the Revolution, using the suffixes "BKz" (before Kzuu) and "AKz" (after Kzuu). The Revolution was in 1971 AD.
History
Ancient History
Kzuu Mai’s border is almost entirely mountainous, and it is believed that humans didn’t manage to find a way into the rest of the nation until approximately twelve thousand years ago. The caves in the Yaii mountain range include sparse paintings of animals from the other side of the continent, giving away the first settlers’ original homelands.
Farming began around the River Jun and in the rainforests of the south, and soon the land was scattered with small settlements, which predictably began fighting each other for supremacy. Eventually, these were united under a single man, the God-Emperor of Kzuu Mai, beginning the long, bloody history of the Kzuu Maian monarchy.
Age of the God-Emperor
The God-Emperor of Kzuu Mai was all-powerful, and held the people in near-slavery. The average life expectancy of a God-Emperor was twenty-five; he was usually poisoned, assassinated or otherwise 'dealt with' by his heir, although sometimes a rival lord would pay the assassin.
From 1056 BKz to 597 BKz there was civil war, when the various Lords of Nir Kra (as it was known then) fought for the Imperial throne. Three quarters of the nobility of the nation were wiped out, and countless thousands of peasants, workers and soldiers. The most famous event of the war was the assassination of Lord Techii in his so-called impregnable palace in 601 BKz; after this, an end to the war was inevitable, as Lord Techii had been the last remaining rival of Lord Maya III (soon to be God-Emperor Maya I). The line of Maya, improbably, continued all the way up to the Revolution.
The Revolution
By around 20 BKz, a revolution in Nir Kra was inevitable. In fact, the more intelligent members of the aristocracy were surprised the nation had gone through thousands of years of oppression with only four attempted revolutions, and none had been at all successful. The plan of the monarchy - for schooling to involve only brainwashing patriotism - worked perfectly. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that the true inspiration for the Revolution came from outside Nir Kra.
In 5 BKz, Karl Yokavic, who was born in Akran, moved to Mai Jun City, Kzuu Mai. He was there for barely a month before he knew he had to do something about the conditions that the people were kept in, and founded what he expected to be a small organisation: The People's Front for the Liberation of Nir Kra (PFLNK).
A year later, he met Lii Dan Kzuu. A young factory slave, Kzuu had a confidence and brilliance which made him a natural leader, and within a year Yokavic gave up leadership of the Front to him. Together with Muu Kting and Kalaya Sun, they planned the Revolution.
The storming of the Imperial Palace happened on the 6th October, 0. It was short, violent, and catastrophic for the monarchy. A thousand of the citizens of Mai Jun City attacked, half led to the south by Karl Yokavic, the other half to the east by Kzuu. The attack on the south was a disaster; they got barely two hundred yards into the vast Palace before all, including Karl Yokavic, were killed.
However, the distraction worked so well that Kzuu's group were barely touched by the time they broke into the Throne Room. Kzuu himself shot God-Emperor Maya IX, but, in his final moments, the insane Maya set off the explosives which he had inisted were packed into every wall of the Palace. The only thing which saved Kzuu was Kalaya Sun's lightning reactions, who grabbed him and dived through the nearest window.
Lord Hyuun II, Chief Advisor of Maya IX and the real power in Nir Kra, had been shot by a rebel sniper - Muu Kting herself, in fact - as he fled minutes before the entire Palace was decimated, with all the rebels but Kzuu, Sun and Kting inside it.
Kzuu Mai Under Kzuu
A few days after the Revolution, Kzuu seized power and declared himself Supreme Chief Executive of Kzuu Mai (renamed on the spur of the moment by Kalaya Sun, after the square where the rebels congregated in before storming the palace (Mai Square) and Kzuu Himself). He devoted the country to its economy, severely limiting the civil rights the people had hoped the Revolution would bring. In fact, they lived in conditions barely more acceptable than those under the God-Emperor.
The December War
By 15 AKz, another revolution was almost inevitable. However, instead of an internally led revolution, Kzuu Mai was attacked by a coalition of a half dozen nations. The war is now known as the December War. During this, Kzuu had plans so idiotic that in the end, to preserve the nation, his former comrade and War Secretary, Kalaya Sun, shot him. Kalaya Sun subsequently signed the Christmas Day Peace Treaty with the leaders of the coalition, and was later elected the nation's first democratic president.
Geography
Much of Kzuu Mai is taken up with huge areas of Savannah and scrubland. This land is not particularly fertile, apart from around the two major rivers (the River Kaar and the River Jun, after which Mai Jun City is named), where the vast majority of the farmland in the country is concentrated. The extreme north of the country, mainly on the Kzuu Maian Peninsula, is desert, although some areas (mainly those near the coast) are quite habitable.
The south of the country is dominated by dense tropical rainforest; it is believed that there are still unknown tribes living in Kzuu Mai.
There is a mountain range (the Yaii) in the east; the mountains' vast rainshadow is the main reason for the Kzuu Maian Desert. The tallest mountain in Kzuu Mai is Mount Karlikae, at 6, 789 metres.
Major cities include Mai Jun City, Gayoshi, Alaya, Akasaki, and Jini.
Religion
Under the God-Emperor, as his title suggests, it was mandatory to worship the Emperor of the nation; he was not only the gods' representative on Earth, but also the super-human son of the Father of the Gods, Ishaya. There were vast temples to the Emperor, and other gods, dotted all over Kzuu Mai; these projects killed thousands, and often took decades to construct, but remain some of the most spectacular buildings in the country.
After the Revolution, Lii Dan Kzuu strictly enforced atheism in Kzuu Mai; anyone found to have been worshipping any form of deity - or even mentioning praying - were periodically rounded up and locked away, or shot on the spot.
Now, freedom of religion is encouraged, and any religion or belief system is tolerated and respected. However, the majority of the people in the country are now beyond caring about religion, and therefore it is over seventy per cent agnostic; there are also many atheists, Buddhists, and Hindus in Kzuu Mai.
Culture and Sport
Music
The music of Kzuu Mai is dramatic, simple and loud. It is based far more around rhythm than melody (it is intended to be danced to rather than simply listened to), with complex djembe and conga rhythms providing the basis for almost all of its music. These are often supported by marimbas, which play simple, repetitive melodies, and cymbals.
There is little real singing, although a lot of scat is used; most voices added to the music simply speak (or, at most, rap) in time to the music. A good example is the national anthem, "Free but we know it"; it is predominantly spoken, but has an interval in which the singers are encouraged to improvise nonsense syllables. This can cause chaos during international sports games.
Dance
The dancing of Kzuu Mai is similar to its music; it involves a lot of stamping of feet and clapping of hands, as well as the more impressive break dancing which sometimes occurs. The movements are dramatic and jerky, rather than graceful, and often represent scenes from history or literature.
Tae Kwon Do
Although it is the national sport, Tae Kwon Do is not a particularly popular spectator sport in Kzuu Mai - it is far outweighed in ticket sales and general popularity by football (soccer) and basketball. However, it does have a certain cult following, and those who have it as a profession are relatively well-known, and grossly over-paid. By far the most popular Tae Kwon Do competition is the annual KMTA (Kzuu Maian Tae Kwon Do Assosciation) Championships; these usually manage to fill out the Nukes4U Stadium in Mai Jun City.
Literature
Kzuu Mai has few writers - until the Liberation at the end of the December War literacy was a rarity, and most books were burned by the government - but there are now some writers emerging. The most famous Kzuu Maian novel is Over the Jun, a tale of people living in Mai Jun City during the time of Kzuu. There are considerably more non-fiction books - often philosophical - than fiction, but a lot of poetry.
Art
Again, art was usually supressed by the government - unless needed for the government itself - until the December War, and there are few artists in Kzuu Mai at present. There are examples of statues of some of the Emperors, as well as the giant Kzuu by Seysi, Kzuu Mai's most famous sculptor.
Football
Main article: Kzuu Maian Football League
Economy
Kzuu Mai has a powerful economy, and it is the richest nation in its region by a considerable amount. Its major industry is Information Technology; many computers, games consoles, mobile phones and other electrical goods are manufactured in the factories of the industrial towns of Jini, Alaya and Gayoshi. The next most powerful industry is Uranium Mining; Kzuu Mai is lucky to have abundant resources of uranium, and more than 75% of the nation's electricity is provided through nuclear power (the other 25% is mainly hydroelectric and solar power).
Kzuu Mai currently has a trade deficit; the government is working on exporting more uranium abroad and using less for power.
Natural Resources
As well as uranium, Kzuu Mai also mines nickel, salt, zinc, diamonds and copper ore. The copper is used in the information technology industry, while the nickel, zinc, salt and diamonds are mainly exported abroad.
Due to the large tropical rainforest in the south, there is also quite a large timber industry. However, the rainforest is sustained and replanted, without too much damage being done to the ecosystem, and much of the rainforest is a protected area where it is illegal to fell trees.
Currency
Kzuu Mai's currency is the Free Shilling, usually referred to as simply the shilling. Its symbol is the lower-case form of the Greek letter delta (δ). On 08/05/05 it was worth more than 1.5 times the US$.
There are 100 Free Pennies (p) to the Free Shilling. There are coins for 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 25p, 50p, 1δ and 2δ. There are notes for 5δ, 10δ, 20δ, 50δ and 100δ.
Allies
- Free Eagles
- Shamoley
- The nations of Listibaldia
