New Amargosa
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| Flag of New Amargosa | |
| Motto: Discover Greatness in Yourself | |
| No Map Yet | |
| Region | Europe |
|---|---|
| Capital | Atrus City |
| Official Language(s) | D'ni, English |
| Leader | Prefect JEFF of the Surface |
| Population | 7 million |
| Currency | New Amargosan Credit |
| NS Sunset XML | |
Contents
General Information
The Commonwealth of New Amargosa is a small, socially progressive nation, remarkable for its absence of drug laws. Its hard-nosed, hard-working population of 8 million enjoy extensive civil freedoms, particularly in social issues, while business tends to be more regulated.
The medium-sized government concentrates mainly on Defence, although Healthcare and Social Welfare are secondary priorities. The average income tax rate is 18%. A large private sector is led by the Basket Weaving industry, followed by Information Technology and Furniture Restoration.
Voting is voluntary, military spending is on the increase, all recreational drugs are legal, and New Amargosa's children are widely acknowledged as the most foul-mouthed in the region. Crime is a problem. New Amargosa's national animal is the squee and its currency is the New Amargosan Credit.
New Amargosa is a member of the United Nations.
History
During a recent expedition to the ruined D'ni cavern, a group of 400 survivors had been located on an Age called Amargosa, linked to by a Book found in a secluded area on Ae'gura island. The expeditioners, having previously learned the D'ni language, planned with the survivors to make a new community where surface-dwellers and D'ni could co-exist, and the Art of Writing Ages could be passed on to a new generation.
The group settled in a small area of Europe and established their new home: Atrus City. The new city grew at a rapid rate as fans of the Myst games and D'ni culture settled there. Eventually, the city became so large that new residents were forced to found new cities near the original. The city council of Atrus city decided to unite the nacent cities under a single government for their own mutual benefit. As a result, the Commonwealth of New Amargosa was born on Saturday, June 6, 2005 (Leebro 7, 9661 DE).
Government Structure
The supreme governing document of New Amargosa is called the New Amargosan Charter. It was originally drafted in order to unite Atrus City and its daughter cities under one government. The Charter outlines a representative democracy based on the old D'ni government and the governments of surface nations such as the United States of America and divides the government into three brances: legislative, executive, and judicial.
Legislative
The legislative branch is known as the Council of Grand Masters. Each grand master is elected to his or her position by the members of the respective guild. As a result, there is one grand master representing each guild in the Council. Since each citizen of New Amargosa is a member of a guild, this system ensures that each person recieves representation in the Council.
Executive
The executive branch is known as the Prefecture, headed by the prefect. The prefect is chosen from among the grand masters by his or her piers through a secret ballot. A grand master can not vote for himself in the prefectorial elections, in order to prevent deadlocks. Traditionally, each grandmaster holds a plebiscite among the members of his guild to determine where his vote goes. However, this is not required. A grand master may vote of his own volition.
The prefect serves a similar role as the President of the United States. He ratifies bills proposed by the Council of Grand Masters, and appoints judges to the Tribunal of Elders. He also serves as the 'face' of the New Amargosan government. The current prefect is Jeff of the Surface (Guild of Linguists).
Judicial
(Judicial Branch goes here)
Description of the Flag
The Flag of New Amargosa was originally designed by Herat of Alsendar'en, winner of the New Amargosan Flag Design Contest. The following description of the flag's symbolism comes from Herat himself:
- "My entry consists of a black D'ni letter 'ah' on a field of white. While this design may seem simple, it contains symbolism appropriate to our new nation. The white field represents the white of the pages of our Linking Books, which are the basis of our culture. The black letter 'ah' represents the D'ni written word, which allows us to communicate and gives us access to the Ages. The 'ah' represents the first letter in 'Amargosa'."
Some critics have noted that the flag favors the D'ni minority while leaving out the surface-dweller majority. However, these complaints are rare; most citizens of surface-dweller descent are content with the flag. If a problem does arise in the future, The New Amargosan government has promised that if enough people become dissatisfied with the flag design, a plebiscite will be held to choose a new flag.
