Metropolii
06-11-2006, 07:42
"There are stories of a city that bloomed out of an oasis in the middle of a vast wasteland, that nomads from all over the wastes flocked to this city because it was the only place they could settle and be at peace with the environment. People of many different national origins came to this blossoming town, and brought with them many different creeds and cultures. The city became a melting pot, blending all these separate peoples and ideas together in perfect harmony, the people working for the benefit of one another in this naturally capitalist trade town.
It is said, with the first traces of algebra and advanced architectural theory brought into the city and embraced early on, the city became home to the first skyscrapers. As early as the first century A.D., buildings as tall as five stories loomed over the landscape. It was then that foreigners gave the city the name, "the City of Giants".
Over the years, the city avoided plagues and wars due to its incredibly hostile setting - no army was foolhardy enough to cross the treacherous desert without help of one of the city's natives to guide them, and no disease could penetrate far enough into the desert to infect the populace. Realizing the success of its past acceptances of controversial technology from other parts, the city was the first to accept modern medicine as legitimate, and its otherwise vulnerable people were inoculated against outside pathogens.
This story, a city out of a storybook, is real. It floats in the vast desert, beautiful like a mirage, but tangible. This city, this Metropolis - the greatest city in all the world. This desert, the Metropolii desert - the most harsh surroundings for such an adamant people to rise from. The people, the Metropolites, the greatest and happiest people to ever grace the face of this planet."
Mayor-Emperor Mandius stopped reading as he finished the passage on the tablet.
"Very nice, it has my approval. Add it to the northern door of the Hall of the Dynasty, top level, if you would."
Mayor-Emperor Austin Mandius, 10th member of the Mandius Dynasty of the Dynastic Republic of the Metropolis, smiled as four members of the servant caste lifted the marble engraving and hauled it out of his presence. While the engraving was not altogether true, it would do perfectly. In reality, the Metropolis was not only prone to war but had experienced quite a few, but the old war-scarred buildings had been torn down and rebuilt. The wars the Metropolis faced were all civil ones, and most resulted after the Mayor-Emperor (or whatever leadership title du jour) left no rightful heir. A few were total revolutions with the goal of completely revising the government, and despite being quelled rather quickly the government was the most concerned about these, because they weren't nearly as predictable as the post-dynastic wars. As the Mandius Dynasty had lasted for 10 generations, Austin Mandius had the privilege of rewriting history as he saw fit. Peace had lasted so long, the stories of wars past had degenerated into faerie tales. As far as Mandius was concerned, his interpretation of history was the new fact. Of course, this would be backed by the liberal-minded senate. Their only concern was for their society to be a peaceful one, and if changing a history of war to a history of peace furthered that, then they would gladly hop on the bandwagon.
"We have such a nationalistic history these days," Mandius remarked to his Secretary of the People, Agitha Wright, "it'd be impossible for our people to not love our dynasty, as long as they keep believing what we feed them."
Agitha, as Secretary of the People, served as a PR rep of sorts for Mandius - she kept his ideas popular with the people and represented the city to outsiders, and often acted as a diplomat. She was a mere 25 years old, the age traditionally chosen for the post after Mandius the Third proclaimed that the emperor's voice to the people should be one of beauty.
"I wish you'd stop using the royal 'we'," Agitha grumbled in return, "If you get in to a habit of that it'll make you lose face with the people."
"I'm sure they'll understand that we have every right to be full of ourselves," Mandius chuckled, smugly, "Now let's retire for some tea."
Accompanied by Mayoral Guards, Mandius and Agitha boarded a private imperial train. One of ten that ran on the same track, upon boarding they were greeted with the standard issue tinted transparent carbon-60 ceiling and windows, the fixtures and furniture made of a menagerie of silks, plant-grown ivory, and gold leaf. The imperial trains rain on the top rail of the multi-level railway system of Metropolis, so that they had a constant view of the sun, a luxury many of the lower denizens of Metropolis were not afforded. "Lower" in this case literally means lower, in that the lower classes often lived at ground level or, more recently, below ground, where land was relatively cheaper and more plentiful than the rest of Metropolis.
As the train buzzed peacefully along on its maglev track, Agitha and Mandius enjoyed their tea and sunshine while the news broadcast on the in-train LCD TV detailed the renovation of the Hall of the Dynasty, and how Mayor-Emperor Mandius X was choosing a red, more patriotic theme.
"Agitha," Mandius finally spoke, his cup half-empty, "I've arranged for you to leave this city as an envoy to other lands."
Rousing from a half-doze in the sunlight, Agitha set down her cup and did her best to feign attentiveness. "It's nothing you haven't done before, of course," Mandius continued, "But you have to understand what we're aiming for with this round of missions."
"And that is...?" Agitha questioned, recognizing the signs of an incoming famous Mandius waffle.
"Well, Metropolis is a large city. Large and prosperous. The greatest city in the world, you see. Indisputable. We do lack some things, though."
"Is this another trade mission?"
"Hardly. Military power. We have our guard and MP castes, but we need protection. Your mission will be to trade protection for technology. Have another nation be our strength, and we'll be their brains."
"Sounds like a trade mission to me."
"You'd think that, but not really. Afforded the opportunity, many nations would use this to seize total control of Metropolis. Your mission is to find a military protector and preserve the Dynasty. The primary goal is to maintain our sovereignty - after that, all else is secondary. Understood?"
"Yes, Mayor-Emperor."
"Good. I have sent out telegrams to several potential protectorates. Expect them to contact you at their leisure."
Mandius rested his empty cup on the ivory saucer it came with. "Waiter," Mandius called, "More tea for the lady and I, if you please."
OOC:
Some specs:
The City of Metropolis, situated in the vast Metropolii desert, is an ancient city founded on the acquirement of technology through trade. Though its name has changed over the centuries, its goal has always been the same. One of the first nations to accept electricity as a viable alternative to human power, the currency is currently measured in Joules of electrical power, making the national power plants synonymous with the national mints. Private generation of power has led to inflation however, making such methods of Joule generation extremely inefficient.
While technically a modern tech nation, Metropolis rides the cutting edge of technology, so many technologies merely in their prototype phase in the real world will be completely incorporated into the Metropolite way of life (such as mind-machine interface, later on).
98% of the population of Metropolii lives in Metropolis, the remaining 2% being native desert dwellers and nomads. The desert is viewed by most Metropolites as a mystical place full of danger. Due to seismic phenomena that scientists have mostly left alone, enormous spiky crags are known to sprout out of the sand, stand thousands of feet high for several days, then collapse back underneath the dunes. There are reports of sand worms that roam the desert and occasionally prey on the nomads, but such worms would require a similar sized food source, and one has not yet been discovered.
Metropolis has placed a man on the moon, and the Metropolii spaceport is one of very few structures actually present in the high desert. The others are several MP training facilities and several research labs.
Being an ancient city, Metropolis has a unique style of government. In what could best be described as a constitutional monarchy, the Mayor-Emperor rules over the goings-on in the city and abroad, while the democratically-elected HUB (the Metropolan senate) governs urban expansion and land usage, and can check most any action by the Mayor-Emperor with an 85% vote. The Mayor-Emperor has many secretaries, all with vague names, ranging from the Secretary of Vigilance to the Secretary of Arborism, and each governs and advises him on a different aspect of the city. The Secretary of People is the most powerful of these posts, and is often considered the second-in-command of the nation.
A medieval caste system is alive and well in Metropolis. According to the Secretary of Numbers, the total number of castes in the city is 758. Mobility between castes is possible, most with a trial and acceptance period if the potential member is of a lower yet connected caste. Most of the higher castes are on an invite-only basis, and even if a member is invited, they must be voted in by the higher-ups within the caste.
If you want to participate in this RP, you could be one of the diligent military nations that has demonstrated an unparalleled trustworthiness worthy of turning our national defense over to. Or you could be a civil rights abomination that somehow received a telegram by mistake. Whichever, really.
It is said, with the first traces of algebra and advanced architectural theory brought into the city and embraced early on, the city became home to the first skyscrapers. As early as the first century A.D., buildings as tall as five stories loomed over the landscape. It was then that foreigners gave the city the name, "the City of Giants".
Over the years, the city avoided plagues and wars due to its incredibly hostile setting - no army was foolhardy enough to cross the treacherous desert without help of one of the city's natives to guide them, and no disease could penetrate far enough into the desert to infect the populace. Realizing the success of its past acceptances of controversial technology from other parts, the city was the first to accept modern medicine as legitimate, and its otherwise vulnerable people were inoculated against outside pathogens.
This story, a city out of a storybook, is real. It floats in the vast desert, beautiful like a mirage, but tangible. This city, this Metropolis - the greatest city in all the world. This desert, the Metropolii desert - the most harsh surroundings for such an adamant people to rise from. The people, the Metropolites, the greatest and happiest people to ever grace the face of this planet."
Mayor-Emperor Mandius stopped reading as he finished the passage on the tablet.
"Very nice, it has my approval. Add it to the northern door of the Hall of the Dynasty, top level, if you would."
Mayor-Emperor Austin Mandius, 10th member of the Mandius Dynasty of the Dynastic Republic of the Metropolis, smiled as four members of the servant caste lifted the marble engraving and hauled it out of his presence. While the engraving was not altogether true, it would do perfectly. In reality, the Metropolis was not only prone to war but had experienced quite a few, but the old war-scarred buildings had been torn down and rebuilt. The wars the Metropolis faced were all civil ones, and most resulted after the Mayor-Emperor (or whatever leadership title du jour) left no rightful heir. A few were total revolutions with the goal of completely revising the government, and despite being quelled rather quickly the government was the most concerned about these, because they weren't nearly as predictable as the post-dynastic wars. As the Mandius Dynasty had lasted for 10 generations, Austin Mandius had the privilege of rewriting history as he saw fit. Peace had lasted so long, the stories of wars past had degenerated into faerie tales. As far as Mandius was concerned, his interpretation of history was the new fact. Of course, this would be backed by the liberal-minded senate. Their only concern was for their society to be a peaceful one, and if changing a history of war to a history of peace furthered that, then they would gladly hop on the bandwagon.
"We have such a nationalistic history these days," Mandius remarked to his Secretary of the People, Agitha Wright, "it'd be impossible for our people to not love our dynasty, as long as they keep believing what we feed them."
Agitha, as Secretary of the People, served as a PR rep of sorts for Mandius - she kept his ideas popular with the people and represented the city to outsiders, and often acted as a diplomat. She was a mere 25 years old, the age traditionally chosen for the post after Mandius the Third proclaimed that the emperor's voice to the people should be one of beauty.
"I wish you'd stop using the royal 'we'," Agitha grumbled in return, "If you get in to a habit of that it'll make you lose face with the people."
"I'm sure they'll understand that we have every right to be full of ourselves," Mandius chuckled, smugly, "Now let's retire for some tea."
Accompanied by Mayoral Guards, Mandius and Agitha boarded a private imperial train. One of ten that ran on the same track, upon boarding they were greeted with the standard issue tinted transparent carbon-60 ceiling and windows, the fixtures and furniture made of a menagerie of silks, plant-grown ivory, and gold leaf. The imperial trains rain on the top rail of the multi-level railway system of Metropolis, so that they had a constant view of the sun, a luxury many of the lower denizens of Metropolis were not afforded. "Lower" in this case literally means lower, in that the lower classes often lived at ground level or, more recently, below ground, where land was relatively cheaper and more plentiful than the rest of Metropolis.
As the train buzzed peacefully along on its maglev track, Agitha and Mandius enjoyed their tea and sunshine while the news broadcast on the in-train LCD TV detailed the renovation of the Hall of the Dynasty, and how Mayor-Emperor Mandius X was choosing a red, more patriotic theme.
"Agitha," Mandius finally spoke, his cup half-empty, "I've arranged for you to leave this city as an envoy to other lands."
Rousing from a half-doze in the sunlight, Agitha set down her cup and did her best to feign attentiveness. "It's nothing you haven't done before, of course," Mandius continued, "But you have to understand what we're aiming for with this round of missions."
"And that is...?" Agitha questioned, recognizing the signs of an incoming famous Mandius waffle.
"Well, Metropolis is a large city. Large and prosperous. The greatest city in the world, you see. Indisputable. We do lack some things, though."
"Is this another trade mission?"
"Hardly. Military power. We have our guard and MP castes, but we need protection. Your mission will be to trade protection for technology. Have another nation be our strength, and we'll be their brains."
"Sounds like a trade mission to me."
"You'd think that, but not really. Afforded the opportunity, many nations would use this to seize total control of Metropolis. Your mission is to find a military protector and preserve the Dynasty. The primary goal is to maintain our sovereignty - after that, all else is secondary. Understood?"
"Yes, Mayor-Emperor."
"Good. I have sent out telegrams to several potential protectorates. Expect them to contact you at their leisure."
Mandius rested his empty cup on the ivory saucer it came with. "Waiter," Mandius called, "More tea for the lady and I, if you please."
OOC:
Some specs:
The City of Metropolis, situated in the vast Metropolii desert, is an ancient city founded on the acquirement of technology through trade. Though its name has changed over the centuries, its goal has always been the same. One of the first nations to accept electricity as a viable alternative to human power, the currency is currently measured in Joules of electrical power, making the national power plants synonymous with the national mints. Private generation of power has led to inflation however, making such methods of Joule generation extremely inefficient.
While technically a modern tech nation, Metropolis rides the cutting edge of technology, so many technologies merely in their prototype phase in the real world will be completely incorporated into the Metropolite way of life (such as mind-machine interface, later on).
98% of the population of Metropolii lives in Metropolis, the remaining 2% being native desert dwellers and nomads. The desert is viewed by most Metropolites as a mystical place full of danger. Due to seismic phenomena that scientists have mostly left alone, enormous spiky crags are known to sprout out of the sand, stand thousands of feet high for several days, then collapse back underneath the dunes. There are reports of sand worms that roam the desert and occasionally prey on the nomads, but such worms would require a similar sized food source, and one has not yet been discovered.
Metropolis has placed a man on the moon, and the Metropolii spaceport is one of very few structures actually present in the high desert. The others are several MP training facilities and several research labs.
Being an ancient city, Metropolis has a unique style of government. In what could best be described as a constitutional monarchy, the Mayor-Emperor rules over the goings-on in the city and abroad, while the democratically-elected HUB (the Metropolan senate) governs urban expansion and land usage, and can check most any action by the Mayor-Emperor with an 85% vote. The Mayor-Emperor has many secretaries, all with vague names, ranging from the Secretary of Vigilance to the Secretary of Arborism, and each governs and advises him on a different aspect of the city. The Secretary of People is the most powerful of these posts, and is often considered the second-in-command of the nation.
A medieval caste system is alive and well in Metropolis. According to the Secretary of Numbers, the total number of castes in the city is 758. Mobility between castes is possible, most with a trial and acceptance period if the potential member is of a lower yet connected caste. Most of the higher castes are on an invite-only basis, and even if a member is invited, they must be voted in by the higher-ups within the caste.
If you want to participate in this RP, you could be one of the diligent military nations that has demonstrated an unparalleled trustworthiness worthy of turning our national defense over to. Or you could be a civil rights abomination that somehow received a telegram by mistake. Whichever, really.