Braxes
02-11-2004, 19:45
The Dominion of Braxes is a somewhat unwelcoming nation. It is bordered on one side by tall, barren mountains and its climate is bitter all year around and prone to very harsh winters. The Dominion is ruled, ultimately, by Minister Mah Sakai, a former revolutionary who overthrew the previous, left-leaning democratic government in a bloody coup d’etat two decades ago. He is a brutal leader, although no-one would dare say so, and the Ministry of Peace’s officers are rightly feared across the nation.
The people of the Dominion are, theoretically, represented in the Senate, a body of some one hundred politicians elected from the various territories of the Dominion. This is where the last few, if subdued, voices of political opposition lurk, although their elimination has been delayed due to the Senate’s increasing loss of power to the Minister and his inner circle and the content of the masses brought by this toy of democracy. Above the Senate is the Council, formally a select few, mostly elected from the Senate but also, in part, appointed by the President, which debated matters of immediate national importance and had to approve important appointments in the government. Now, it is merely an assembly of the Minister’s loyal cronies and yes-men, which includes his top military commanders.
The population is mainly centred in the nation’s conurbations, especially the capital, Boralis. The Dominion’s cities are a bleak affair; tall bare, ugly, concrete blocks housing dozens of desperately poor families where crime and chemical abuse is rife, are juxtaposed with the decadent, well-furnished homes of the ruling class and businessmen. The working classes are only prevented from breaking into another, terrible revolution by keeping them in a constant state of fervent patriotism by the terrible punishments dealt out by the all-pervasive agents of the Ministry of Peace and the power of the huge amounts of propaganda that are produced by the Ministry of Public Information, centred around, often fictional, military victories and the glory of their great leader. The emphasis on the military in the Dominion is strong, young men are strongly influenced towards the military and its many academies by relentless propaganda from the age of 16. The Dominion has a strong military history, although it can be noted that it has taken care not to pick fights with the real powers of the world stage.
The people of the Dominion are, theoretically, represented in the Senate, a body of some one hundred politicians elected from the various territories of the Dominion. This is where the last few, if subdued, voices of political opposition lurk, although their elimination has been delayed due to the Senate’s increasing loss of power to the Minister and his inner circle and the content of the masses brought by this toy of democracy. Above the Senate is the Council, formally a select few, mostly elected from the Senate but also, in part, appointed by the President, which debated matters of immediate national importance and had to approve important appointments in the government. Now, it is merely an assembly of the Minister’s loyal cronies and yes-men, which includes his top military commanders.
The population is mainly centred in the nation’s conurbations, especially the capital, Boralis. The Dominion’s cities are a bleak affair; tall bare, ugly, concrete blocks housing dozens of desperately poor families where crime and chemical abuse is rife, are juxtaposed with the decadent, well-furnished homes of the ruling class and businessmen. The working classes are only prevented from breaking into another, terrible revolution by keeping them in a constant state of fervent patriotism by the terrible punishments dealt out by the all-pervasive agents of the Ministry of Peace and the power of the huge amounts of propaganda that are produced by the Ministry of Public Information, centred around, often fictional, military victories and the glory of their great leader. The emphasis on the military in the Dominion is strong, young men are strongly influenced towards the military and its many academies by relentless propaganda from the age of 16. The Dominion has a strong military history, although it can be noted that it has taken care not to pick fights with the real powers of the world stage.